Hello!
We are currently looking at an apartment (1920s) where the bathroom was newly renovated at the end of 2014. The door to the bathroom is set in a brick wall (probably non-load-bearing as it is ½-stone. The door to the bathroom is only about 180 cm high, and it is tiled against the original trim on the inside. How do you go about installing a taller door without damaging the bathroom more than necessary? It is a foil membrane.
We are currently looking at an apartment (1920s) where the bathroom was newly renovated at the end of 2014. The door to the bathroom is set in a brick wall (probably non-load-bearing as it is ½-stone. The door to the bathroom is only about 180 cm high, and it is tiled against the original trim on the inside. How do you go about installing a taller door without damaging the bathroom more than necessary? It is a foil membrane.
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If there is no structural support to consider, it is easy, but quite dusty work. Saw with a diamond blade, possibly from both sides. There are quite simple and inexpensive blades that fit angle grinders that are excellent for this job.
Can't agree with Mikael L unfortunately.
Since you want to make the hole larger upwards, you will be forced to cut into some form of load-bearing function for the part of the wall that is above the hole. The brick (wall section) that remains above the hole doesn't stay on its own but must be supported downward by something.
If it is an original wall and original door hole from the 1920s, you likely have a vaulted masonry that supports the wall above today's door. It could also be an iron beam, but this is less likely since it was both simple and cheaper to make an arch at that time.
Creating and either building a vault or placing a beam cannot be done without damaging the foil around the door. Then it depends entirely on where the door is located whether there is any risk of damage due to repaired foil in that area. But you should probably expect that the foil and tiles from the top of the door to the ceiling will need to be replaced, and probably some on the sides as well.
Since you want to make the hole larger upwards, you will be forced to cut into some form of load-bearing function for the part of the wall that is above the hole. The brick (wall section) that remains above the hole doesn't stay on its own but must be supported downward by something.
If it is an original wall and original door hole from the 1920s, you likely have a vaulted masonry that supports the wall above today's door. It could also be an iron beam, but this is less likely since it was both simple and cheaper to make an arch at that time.
Creating and either building a vault or placing a beam cannot be done without damaging the foil around the door. Then it depends entirely on where the door is located whether there is any risk of damage due to repaired foil in that area. But you should probably expect that the foil and tiles from the top of the door to the ceiling will need to be replaced, and probably some on the sides as well.
It is a brick wall, and how do you think the bricks above are going to stay in place if you remove the existing support?smurfen72 said:
I have neither seen nor heard of a case where a door opening or a window opening has been bricked without having a brick beam (a modern invention that didn't exist in 1920), a steel beam, or a bricked arch that holds up the bricks above. They don't hang in the air by themselves but are bricked on support.
Even earlier, they had wooden beams, like in half-timbered houses, but that's not what we're talking about here.
Edit: You can always extend the opening downward but not upward without putting in new support for the bricks above the opening.
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No, that is the part I have been thinking about as well. If you have to insert a new beam to support the stones over it, it feels difficult not to damage too much of the bathroom. The door is on the opposite wall from the shower corner, so there's no risk concerning the waterproofing on the walls in my assessment.
Yes, I read.smurfen72 said:
And of course, door openings are made every day at construction sites, but that doesn't mean one refrains from creating a support for the bricks above the opening. No one lays bricks hanging freely in the air; a form of support must be made to be able to lay bricks above the opening. You lay bricks from the bottom up, not from the top down.
If you tear away the support, the bricks above will collapse, and you will definitely get a triangular-shaped opening above, regardless of how modern the house is or what mortar has been used. Especially in a house from the 1920s with lime mortar, no bricks will stay in place for more than a couple of minutes before they come crashing down.
One builds from the bottom up, and sometimes one just builds a form to start building from, but is anyone actually going to build now? I've worked on construction sites for too long, so I know that openings are created without reinforcement, but whether it works in this case cannot be answered 100% without seeing it on site.
If you've worked on construction sites for a long time, it surprises me that you claim that in a brick wall with a doorway, you simply remove the support at the top of the opening and expect the bricks above to hang in the air.smurfen72 said:
Please show an example where this has been done; it doesn't exist!!! Instead, it has been secured with, for example, a steel beam or another type of beam like murmas beams, or simply built a new arch.
Building on a form is exactly what you do when constructing an arch, but the arch is then built in such a way that it's supporting for the bricks that will later be placed on top, and not just like a regular wall piece.
And you don't need to see anything on the site if it's a brick wall from the 1920s that TS has, because it is certainly necessary to have new support.
Not claiming that the frame is removed in an existing doorway, but I know that new holes are made in brick walls without reinforcement for smaller openings. For larger openings, L-iron is often embedded. Those I've seen who have built on a frame have built as usual with possible reinforcement between each row and not like otherwise, for example every third, and in any case the lower brick hangs in the air, possibly supported by the door frame later. I don't know the year of the house I've been to, but they are at least newer, around the 1950s, I guess.
Not much for us to argue about really, but check with your masonry friends next time and we'll see what they say 
For TS, naturally, most things are possible, but expect to have tiles for at least one row on either side of the door and all the way up above the door before you start because it will certainly be needed. It's usually difficult to find the same tiles, so check that. Then there are good beams to use if you don't use regular angle irons. Check out Murma's website; they have some support beams that can be used.
For TS, naturally, most things are possible, but expect to have tiles for at least one row on either side of the door and all the way up above the door before you start because it will certainly be needed. It's usually difficult to find the same tiles, so check that. Then there are good beams to use if you don't use regular angle irons. Check out Murma's website; they have some support beams that can be used.
TS, listen to oceanis you. Seems to have significantly better knowledge than me.Mikael_L said:
So it probably needs something to support over the opening, even if the wall is not a load-bearing wall for the whole house as it were.