New window in an existing brick wall...

**jackiew** · 8th November 2004, 11:00 AM

been thinking a bit about safety and the wall. At the risk of stating the obvious.

getting a structural expert to look at it might cost money but would be cheaper than rebuilding your house ( or paying your hospital bills ) if it all went pear shaped.

you would probably need to fence off the external area while you're doing the work, you don't want to smack next door's kid on the head with a brick as you knock it out of the wall and they are retrieving their football from the garden next to the hole.

you would also probably not want to do this when no-one else was around to call for help.

**dallas** · 8th November 2004, 02:23 PM

gee, isn't it great to have so many good points of view in one place... thankyou

to all that have provided input to this thread...

From what I can establish, whilst it MAY be ok / possible to work unsupported,

it would definately be best practice in regards to structural / safety to

install temporary supports etc...

I will get the window sized based on the brickwork, and will cut away the mortar

at the top of the opening to allow me to slide a new lintel inplace, and repack

with mortar before I start removing the bricks out...

although, I do have a comment that may give you somthing to think about... I was

once told that the main reason that lintels are installed (in small ish openings

that is), is to actually hold teh bricks up above the opening during the laying

/ curing process, with the bricks / mortar courses above and around the hole

doing the work of structure, rather than the lintel itself!... hence one of the

main reasons why the bricks are laid in the pattern they are, to interlock, with

each brick supporting the other...otherwise the lintels on downstairs windows /

doors would be quite significant with another floor of brickwork above it!...

food for thought??

D

**adrian** · 8th November 2004, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by dallas

I was once told that the main reason that lintels are installed (in small ish openings that is), is to actually hold teh bricks up above the opening during the laying curing process, with the bricks mortar courses above and around the hole doing the work of structure, rather than the lintel itself!... hence one of the main reasons why the bricks are laid in the pattern they are, to interlock, with each brick supporting the other...otherwise the lintels on downstairs windows doors would be quite significant with another floor of brickwork above it!...

food for thought??

D

I'm no structural engineer but I think you could bet that an unsupported opening in a brick wall would collapse at some stage. The first you would know about it would be when a crack appears in the glass at the top of the window for no apparent reason.
The only way you could get away with it would be to use an arch which, if built correctly, is self supporting.

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