Hi Guys I hope someone can help me here. I've seen a few similar problems but unfortunately not similar enough.

My business has relocated to a new building and we are currently redesigning the layout from scratch.

The problem that I have is that the building is very old and has several odd shapes and features both inside and out. Anyway, there is a single toilet located downstairs with very high brick walls (not load bearing) separating it from the rest of the floor.

Due to limited space we have to move the existing door from the side wall which is roughly 8 foot, to the other wall which is only about 5 foot. Because the walls are very high, there must be quite a bit of weight involved with all those bricks.

Originally we intended to insert a lintel into the new location for the door and cut away the space needed with a grinder. However, after measuring more accurately, it turns out that due to its awkward positioning there will only be 6 inches of masonry left on one side of the door to support the lintel and all those bricks above.

Can anyone advise me whether this is enough?

I’ve attempted to illustrate below:


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|Side wall
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Existing Door
____________|

New Position

Cheers for any help or suggestions

 

mambo,

First, welcome to DoItYourself.com and the Door and Window forum.

Since these brick walls are non-bearing, why not just remove them and frame in stud walls to do what you need to do?? It'll be cheaper to do that than it will be to cut and patch the brick walls. (I'm guessing that you are having to comply with ADA rules about handicap access to the bathroom. If that's true, I have yet to figure out how to do it with a bathroom smaller than 8' by 8'!!)

 

Hi Lefty and thanks for your quick response.

Firstly, you are absolutely correct about the disabled access. However, as I am in the UK it’s not the ADA but the British equivalent which states that within reason, we have to make the toilet as accessible as possible for a wide variety of different disabilities. However, unfortunately due to our very limited space it would be impossible to make the toilet completely wheelchair accessible. Therefore we have decided to cater for as many other disabilities as possible with the view to add an extension to allow wheelchair access as and when time and resources (cash) allows.

As for your suggestion, we have considered completely removing the brick walls and replacing them with stud walls. However, the problem here is that although the walls are non-bearing in relation to supporting the structure of the building, they are very high and do partly support a small raised ceiling which we do not have permission to remove. This is one of the many odd shapes and features mentioned in my original post.

My latest theory is to remove the 6 inches of remaining brickwork altogether and replace it with a very sturdy support of some description. In order to reduce the stress placed on this support (located on the corner where the two walls join) I think I will also have to brick-up the old door space to distribute the weight of the bricks above more evenly.

It has also been suggested to me that I could remove the 6 inches of brickwork and use a large 4x4 or two to support the wall above. Please let me know any opinions you may have on this suggestion.

Cheers, mambo.

 

Hi,

Just in case anyone has the same or similar problem I thought I'd post my final solution.

1. I used a prop to support all the brick work above the existig doorway,
2. Slowly removed enough bricks in the other wall to slide a strong lintel into place for the new doorway,
3. Removed the bricks in other wall under lintel for the new doorway,
4. Replaced prop with very stury stud wall,
5. Attached other 4x4 supports to secure all.

Well there it is, not as complicated as I had thought but a daunting prospect for someone new to DIY like myself.

Cheers