CraigJ

Moving into our new house next week and we are wanting to open-up the doorway from the living room to the kitchen, Normal doorway at the min. Want to take it to at least 6ft wide and a bit higher and make it look like an archway. Been told i need a servayer (sp) in when i do it. How much will this cost and what will he do? My friend is a builder and is going to help me do it so will be done right so is it worth telling any one?

Benni

BTTT For you before it falls off the page.

Benni.

mark2

hi fella
you will need a structual engineer to take a look or a decent builder its hard to state whats what without looking but in general it will be a steel h beam which will be needed about Ł200/Ł300 but this will have to sit on a pillar each end to distribute the load evenly as if you just put it in the wall either side may cause you to get to much compression on the bricks which are there already and loads of cracks will appear
if its a singal coarse wall you may beable to have a concrete lental but a double coarse wall is a steel
does the wall you want to change go from the ground floor then upstairs as one wall which is what i call load bearing check the wall upstairs to see if its brick or plaster board which will have a hollow sound when hit with ya knuckle
once you have your desired hole then arch it after with a kit which you plaster after
if you got someone in and you need a steel h beam you might pay 2k and 1k for a concrete lental but doing it yourself i would say about a third of each quoted to do in either but with the h beam you will need some mates to help with the lifting and you need about 4 strong boys which are acrows with a arm to hold the wall up whilst you fit the lental
mark2

liammcl

iTrader: (4)

Best thing to do is find a one-man-band structural engineer. I'd trust one of these guys over a surveyor. Make sure they carry proffessional indemnity insurance.

This all depends what the wall is carrying obviously, you might not need an engineer.

TIFF

Get hold of a good builder.....they will tell you what you need.

liammcl

iTrader: (4)

And once you have the steel size get round the local scrappy to find a suitable beam, get them to cut it to length and paint it yourself - will save a few Ł

mark2

yeah agree with get round scrappy as long the steel aint been in a fire and cooled quickly with water as this changes the metal on a molecular basis (snap) down goes the house
try looking in local papers for a h beam i have found loads for my jobs
mark2

mark2

if you was closer i would advise you and do whats what but my rs drinks fuel like an alcholic on heat
check your local papers loads of builder give free estimates book up 3 or 4 and take it from there
mark2

CraigJ

Thanks for the help guys.

danneth

dont know of any good builders on here, but if you get really desperate ask my reynolds

Iain Mac

You may need a Building Warrant from the council before starting the job too.
It is hard to sell a house without the right paperwork for modifications.

SteveH

All good advice above, the only thing I will add is dont arch it, IMHO they look a bit shit. Only my taste of course, but i just spent a week ripping 3 of em out on my house and squaring em up, think they look much better. Good luck with it