Drilling holes in a load-bearing brick wall from the turn of the century?

[Klockanpå]

We are planning to make an opening with double doors between two rooms. The wall to be cut is about 50cm thick and made of brick masonry. From the turn of the century.

We hope to make an opening about 120-140 cm wide and 250-260 cm high.

We currently already have two smaller openings about 70cm wide and 230 cm high.

What do you think about our chances of opening up 120-140 cm wide and 250-260 cm high?

 

[cpalm]

Is this a multi-family house?

 

[Klockanpå]

Is this a multi-family building?

Yes, in a BRF. Why?

 

[Dowser4711]

Well, it will probably work out fine, but it will probably need to be reinforced for it to work.

You will nonetheless need to bring in a constructor to calculate this before the board will approve for you to start.

 

[BirgitS]

And then a construction notification must also be submitted to the municipality, which they must approve before the work begins.

 

[cpalm]

Yes, in a BRF. Why?

A wall like that in a larger building is most likely a vital part of the building's load-bearing structure, i.e., it is not 50 cm thick just for appearance's sake.

As others point out, you will likely need to present a very convincing case to get the board's permission to make such a change. Many associations would probably outright deny it regardless of how good your case is.

 

[Klockanpå]

Such a wall in a larger building is most likely a vital part of the building's load-bearing structure, i.e., it's not 50 cm thick for appearances.

As others point out, you will likely need very convincing documentation to get the board's permission to make such a change. Many associations would probably outright deny it no matter how good the documentation is.

Only the constructional aspect is of interest in our case.

As mentioned, we will have steel beams to support the opening. The steel beams are supposed to compensate for the removed brick wall.

Today, there are already two smaller openings of 70 cm each, which we can close up and reinforce with additional steel beams. The picture is taken from one of the openings without the house collapsing over my head.

 

[cpalm]

We will, as mentioned, have steel beams to support the opening. The steel beams are supposed to compensate for the removed brick wall.

OK, sounds like you have things under control, so let's go ahead then?

 

[Klockanpå]

OK, sounds like you have a handle on the situation, so is it just a matter of proceeding then?

Handle on the dialogue and approval with/from the board but not on the construction technical part, hence the thread start.

 

[BirgitS]

It's probably impossible for anyone in the forum to know how much load is on the wall. That's why you need a structural engineer to review drawings and check on-site to be able to make a sizing calculation.

A good board would not have approved the opening without seeing a report from a structural engineer. It is the association that will have problems if the floor above starts to sag in a few years.