I am planning on replacing a window with a sliding glass door. The window is wide enough to accommodate this. I am thinking of doing the demo work myself and having the door installed by whoever I buy it from. I know that all doors are 6'8". I am trying to figure out how much I need to demo vertically. I thought on the interior I should demo everything between the sole and top plate and of course the studs on the out side. I have a brick house and am trying to figure out what height I should cut the brick. If I measure from the above the existing window...How far down do I need to demo? 6'10"? 7'? Any ideas? All the examples that I have found are for houses with siding.

 

The minimum finished clearance I would suggest is 83 1/2" from your current floor level to the top of the brick opening. This will give you room to mortar in a steel lentil and will leave room for the nailing fin, flashing and 1x4 or 2x4 face trim. As far as your side clearance is concerned, you would need an additional 3 1/2" per side in addition to the width of the door. If your door will be 71" wide, then your brick opening should be at least 78" wide.

If you prefer smaller face trim such as 2" brickmold your opening could be as small as 75" wide, but be aware that 2" doesn't leave you much room between the door and the brick to flash the nailing fin.

You also should not demo the studs in a load bearing wall without having temporary support, and the header is ready to be installed.

 

The outside opening of the brick measures 6'6"X4'2" so I would have to cut at least 33 1/2" further down for a 6' sliding glass door.
Would I need a steel lintel? or could I just add another 2X4 depending on what I find when I demo the window. I've been reading that I might need 2 2X4s, but I realize that this is a pretty big opening.

 

Sorry, your comment about doing demo between the sole and top plate made me think you were demolishing the entire interior, so I forgot that you have an existing window with a header. You won't be doing demo all the way up to the top plate, only up to your header. You'll be removing the sill plate beneath the window and the cripples below it. You won't be disturbing the header or the trimmers, but you might be adding a 2x4 below the header to reduce the height of the opening, if needed, as well as adding additional trimmers to the sides until your R.O. is the correct size for your door. you might also run into electrical beneath the window that will need to be relocated.

The steel lentil I was referring to is for the brick. The brick will need to be mortared to a steel lentil after the opening is cut out. Perhaps someone in the Exterior> Bricks, Masonry forum can help you out in this area, giving you advice of how to go about it. If I was to do it (As a window & door installer, not a bricklayer) I would have to remove the mortar between the bricks on the upper corners of the opening in order to slip a long 4" x 4" angle iron into the mortar joint, so that the angle iron would span the entire opening and rest on the bricks on each side.

 

I'm sorry about the confusion. I am having a hard time putting my thoughts down in writing. I should have said header not top plate. I'll go check out the brick site too.
Thanks for your help today

 

Glad to help. If you're lucky, you'll already have a steel lentil that's 83" from the floor and won't have to cut out any brick above the window!