Lintel Help

Gloomendoom

A photo or two would help.

spongybobby

here is a picture i took on my phone last night:



i cant view it on the PC im working on so i hope this works.

the lines i have marked up as parrallel (blue marker going Vertically with a / type marking going through it is where the door will be...

and the mains cable i am having to move is underneath the sheath that i has chased away.
the markings to where the breeze blocks are are at the top (sorry this is the only picture) but you can see the mortar layer between the breeze blocks (i hope).

teneighty

I think you will be better off taking out the course of blocks complete rather than trying to cut out half a block. It looks like you will need to pack out the ends of the lintel anyway as the mortar bed joint looks lower than the existing door head height. You can then brick up above the lintel to infill between the new lintel and top course of blocks.

I suspect the remaining course of blocks will stay in situ whilst you put the lintel in so you probably wont need the strongboy but you still have to make sure the the floor joists do not bear on the wall or otherwise support the floor whilst you do the work.

spongybobby

Thanks for your response teneighty.

So you recommend removing a whole breeze block where the new lintle will go? That will mean that a section of approx 1m will be left unsupported.... and possibly the Coving removed.

By removing a rough length of 1m of blocks.. I'm pretty sure the joists running at 90 degrees to the wall are around 600mm apart.. will try and confirm tonight.
So I think it would need some support... but due to the height of the breeze block... supporting seems almost impossible as I'm right near ceiling level... and I don't fancy having to remove part of the ceiling just to do the job!

To pack the mortar bed higher.. should I use slate as someone suggested earlier?

teneighty

From the photo it looks like you should have a mortar joint below the coving so you should be able to remove without disturbing the coving and ceiling. You should also just about squeeze in a strongboy if you decide to take that route. I'm assuming the kitchen units will be removed or you insert the strongboy from the other side.

If you decide you dont want to remove the whole blocks the only way you will cut them out is with a disc cutter, the amount of dust those things throw out is horrendous, you'll be hoovering up dust for weeks afterwards.

Again from the photo it looks like the lintel will need to come up about 75mm so you'll need a brick (maybe cut down to fit) or coursing block under the bearing. You'll know better when you work out the door head height exactly.

spongybobby

yet again, thanks for your advice!

the kitchen units / worktop will be removed.. so will all the white goods in the kitchen.

i have a feeling & as you say cutting out the mortar will produce a lot less dust and be a bit more 'friendly' to clean up!
I hope i will be able to cut the 1/2 blocks off to get the door way opened up correctly.

Everything that has been done so far has had to be family friendly as i still have my wife and daughter living at home!
As of next week we will leave the house and i will crack on with the kitchen! causing as much mess / damage as necassary to get this job done.