Hello!
We want to create an opening for a new patio door. We have a brick house (plastered on the outside and with reed in the plaster on the inside, the house is from the 1940s). The wall is about 35 cm thick. The door is intended to be 140 cm, and from what I understand, there should be a beam above to prevent the house from collapsing. What kind of beam could this be and where can one purchase it?
We want to create an opening for a new patio door. We have a brick house (plastered on the outside and with reed in the plaster on the inside, the house is from the 1940s). The wall is about 35 cm thick. The door is intended to be 140 cm, and from what I understand, there should be a beam above to prevent the house from collapsing. What kind of beam could this be and where can one purchase it?
It depends on whether you're making the opening in a gable wall or a long wall. The load from above is different. If it's a long wall, you'll have at least one truss resting on the beam.
Your question could also be misunderstood as if there is already a beam there. However, I read it as you asking which beam you should use and where you should buy it?
Get back to me with information and also provide measurements of the house width x length and how close the trusses are (if it's a long wall) as well as the roof pitch and what is on the roof. It's also of interest if the upper floor is furnished or not. If you can also see where the opening will be in relation to the trusses, that's even better.
You'll probably have to carve out a groove on the inside and insert a steel beam and embed it in mortar before making the opening. Problems with dust fallout may occur, but you can solve this by building a 'tent' of plastic film between the floor and ceiling, connected to the walls on either side of the future door opening.
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The Builder
Your question could also be misunderstood as if there is already a beam there. However, I read it as you asking which beam you should use and where you should buy it?
Get back to me with information and also provide measurements of the house width x length and how close the trusses are (if it's a long wall) as well as the roof pitch and what is on the roof. It's also of interest if the upper floor is furnished or not. If you can also see where the opening will be in relation to the trusses, that's even better.
You'll probably have to carve out a groove on the inside and insert a steel beam and embed it in mortar before making the opening. Problems with dust fallout may occur, but you can solve this by building a 'tent' of plastic film between the floor and ceiling, connected to the walls on either side of the future door opening.
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The Builder
Thank you for the excellent response!
The hole is intended to be in a gable wall that is 8 m wide (the house is 10 m long). There are no windows/doors on the ground floor of the gable today, but there are 2 windows on the second floor (which is furnished with normal ceiling height). The house is about 7 m high. The door should be 1 m from one corner of the gable and is 140 cm wide. There is also a finished basement with a 100x50 window on the gable.
As far as I know, there are no beams in the wall today, so the question is what type to use and where to buy one?
Should there be one beam on the inside and one on the outside?
The hole is intended to be in a gable wall that is 8 m wide (the house is 10 m long). There are no windows/doors on the ground floor of the gable today, but there are 2 windows on the second floor (which is furnished with normal ceiling height). The house is about 7 m high. The door should be 1 m from one corner of the gable and is 140 cm wide. There is also a finished basement with a 100x50 window on the gable.
As far as I know, there are no beams in the wall today, so the question is what type to use and where to buy one?
Should there be one beam on the inside and one on the outside?
Since it is a wall that is 35 cm thick and a gable, the gable peak usually bears on the outside. It is in turn loaded with half the weight from the roof that a rafter carries. On the inside, the gable wall is loaded from the floor of the upper floor. You therefore need to insert beams on both the inside and outside to handle the load.RolfC said:Thanks for the excellent answer!
The hole is intended to be in a gable wall that is 8 m wide (the house is 10 m long). There are no windows/doors on the first floor of the gable today, however, there are 2 windows on the second floor (which is furnished with normal ceiling height). The house is about 7 m high. The door will be 1 m from one corner of the gable and is 140 cm wide. There is also a furnished basement with a 100x50 window on the gable.
There are no beams in the wall today as far as I know, so the question is what type and where to buy one?
Should there be a beam on the inside and one on the outside?
For suggestion (for a 1.4 m width in the hole), you need a beam that is 170 cm long. 15 cm on each side then forms the support, and the support in turn counts 5 cm in from the edge of the hole from a load perspective due to a slight angle change in the beam under deflection. However, the load is not so great in any case that these beams become any larger lumps. Viewed as a 2-support beam, an IPE 140 is sufficient. It can handle a little over 320 kg/m beam or about 450 kg over the entire length, and so much does not come down on it from roof or floor. For reasons of slenderness, however, an HE120A is a better alternative, which is also 37% stronger. It weighs/costs a bit more (7kg/m x steel price), but in return is 26 mm lower in profile height and has better pressure distribution against the masonry by being 47 mm wider in the flange. Both beams can be found at the scrapyard in length 170 cm x 2 pieces at a lower price than if you buy them new. Together they weigh just under 70 kg x the steel price. They are thus manageable by hand.
Therefore, hack out a channel at the top of the hole on the outside, 175 cm long, centered over the future door hole, which is 13 cm in height and 15 cm deep. Insert the beam and wedge it up on each side of the door hole with some flat iron pieces and cast underneath with earth-moist mortar that you stamp in with a wooden piece and a hand sledge. Also stamp in mortar over the beam against the top of the masonry. Let it harden. Then take the inner side and do the same. Plaster the holes with brick and mortar. Then you can safely open your door hole without anything happening, even though it's always best to be cautious in old houses.
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The Builder
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