how do i knock a hole in a wall and fit lintel?

Question

i have a solid brick wall and i want to make an opening into the dining room. Do i prop the roof or the 5-6 courses above the opening then fit lintel.

Answer 1

get a builder to do it, if it is a supporting wall, you need to be very careful.
Ive seen some real damage caused by the DIYer trying this.

a couple of hundred pounds will be well spent and then at least you have some comeback

Answer 2

I agree with the other answers about getting a builder in to do the job for you as you seem quite unsure about what you are doing. I am not a builder (just a keen DIYer who will have a go at most things), but I know a load-bearing wall when I see one and it really is not worth attempting this yourself if you dont know what you are doing and you do not have the correct tools for the job. You could cause severe damage to your property of which you would not be insured for and would ultimately have to spend a lot to put right.
Saying that, it sounds like you want to put some kind of serving hatch through from the kitchen to the dining room and this would be a reasonably straight forward job for a builder and should take around two to three days to complete - so it would not be massively expensive.
Get a few builders in to get some quotes - listen to what they say and then decide the way forward!

Answer 3

If you have to ask then you are not qualified to do this job!! I'm not a builder but even I know that you start by knocking out enough wall at the top of the proposed window and put in a lintle. Phew!! Go to someone who knows or you house will be falling down.

Answer 4

how wide is the opening?
how well bonded are the courses above?
i'd prop both side of roof around new opening, with a good strong battens to spread weight across all props. Maybe scrape out some mortar and use props with lazy boys fitted to hold bricks directly

but get some professional advice, dont blunder into this, as it will be very expensive if something goes wrong

Answer 5

do the floorboards in the room above run parallel to the wall your knocking down ?

if so that wall is taking the weight of the upstairs floors prop the ceiling on both sides of the wall using an old joist or something similar (to spread the weight) and acro props spaced no more than 2 and a half feet apart .

and its good advice to remove the brick as gently as possible .

when you see the cost of renting equipment you might decide to call a builder .

Answer 6

I would suggest you don't attempt this yourself. It is not for amateurs.... the whole house could come down round you. You would also need to install an RCJ and not a lintel to take the weight. You also need to consult a planning authority and structural engineer.
Leave it to the experts

Answer 7

you will need scaffel boards and acrows. if you have wooden floor boards put the scaffel board on the floor, then put the acrow on the board place another board between the top of the acrow and the ceiling, gently screw up the acrow until it feels tight,. repeat this in the other room.you will have to leave brick piers for the lintel to rest on.best to have a builder look at it before you start could save you a lot of trouble.

Answer 8

chop out 3 courses of brick, and fit the lintel first ,else the wall will fall down

Answer 9

If you dont know much about building then be very careful. If there is a load bearing wall above and you do not secure it .. then it may fall down and it may fall on you ....

Answer 10

If you need to ask this question, then I really think you should ask a professional builder to do it for you.