Thread: propping up brick veneer

Ask for a work method statement. Guys who do this regularly will have one.

I've seen guys who have been seriously injured doing this type of work.

You obviously cannot put acrow props under the area where the beam will end up. The way I've seen it done involved taking out bricks in the courses above and having beams going through the wall with a prop on either side. This will hold the brick skin. (Bricks are not generally load bearing on BV homes).

The timber frame holds all the weight. I'm only guessing here (not being able to see your frame) but I would imagine that the joists will be supported by props and beams. The joists would then in turn hold up the upper level. During this operation, they will be cantilevered until the new beam is installed (C chanel with L beam welded to it I assume)

For those who do it regularly, it isn't that complicated if you take all the guess work out of it. Getting rid of the plasterboard in the area is obviously step one. The second is to have an engineer inspect the job and provide a plan. Sounds like that's been done.

Also make sure his insurance is current.

What boban says, specially the bit about insurance.

After that, you are paying for an expert, leave it to the expert. What you don't know can't hurt you.

I'm not being flippant, can you expect to know enough so that when the guy is half way through you can with some authority say... do it my way? I don't think so!

He'll either get it right and do a perfect job, or you'll be blueing with him afterwards, getting a preconceived idea of what he should be doing won't help.

Now to contradict myself: It's nice to understand the process, so good luck!

Cheers,

P

Greetings oldbones.
The procedure as mentioned is straight forward but I still get the 'heebie jeebies' with this type of alteration (more so with a 4m penetration) - not so much for the execution but for the expertise required by the engineer & the builder.
I'm sure he would have, but it is critical that the structural engineer has taken into account all loads on the wall especially transferred roof loads from propping beams and the like. A thorough inspection within the roof space would/should have been done removing any assumption of what would have been constructed.
The builder should have had first hand experience with this type of operation to the point where I would be asking for previous references.
Being 'registered' does not automatically mean that they are qualified to do this type of work.
I am assuming things here but basically as prev. mentioned the upper storey floor joists will be propped with a beam supported by possibly 4 or 5 acro's as close to the opening as possible (after all the ceiling & wall plaster has been removed). If it is a timber floor a beam will be under the acro's or the acro's positioned & fixed directly above floor joists if they are running at right angles to the wall. If not there will be additional 'bottom plates' to ensure that the load is transferred onto a solid base.
There is no room for any settling here when the load is taken up as even a 10mm shift can cause problems. - holding the weight is one thing but jacking it back to the right position succesfully is another.
Externally individual bricks will be removed and individual props located along the wall.
Let us know down the track how things went with maybe some images if possible.