Need some advice. I seem to remember reading comments on a similar situation, but my mind has left me.
Customer has a brick veneer home, wants to replace a bedroom window with a door. Window is 6 ft wide x ’bout 3 ft high. Door is to be 6068 inswing french. Preliminary dimensions look ok. What pitfalls am I looking at with cutting out the brick below the window? Here’s my (ignorant) plan: carefully chip out the mortar and remove the bricks directly under the window, take out enough bricks to the sides so the mason can tooth them back in and turn them in to make a proper jamb, etc. I don’t know, guys, on the surface it seems pretty straightforward, so I’m afraid I’m missing something.
I had planned on starting on the outside first so that I could expose the framing and re-route any electrical while minimizing the mess in the bedroom.
Replies
I would use a saw to cut out the brick. Go rent yourself a cutoff saw if you don't have one , 2 cuts either side plumb down the existing jambs. Remove this brick inbetween.Then hold the saw sideways and cut through the brick bed joints where you will toooth-in, then it will only take one whack with a chisel at the head joint to pop out those bricks. easy.
listening for the secret.......searching for the sound...
taking out the stuff under the window should be a piece of cake......it's the brick above the window that'll get ya in trouble.
Sounds like a good plan......sawing them out is a good option too.
Either way......the lintel should do it's job.....as long as it's support isn't disturbed. Jeff.......Sometimes on the toll road of life.....a handful of change is good.......
Theree's no brick above the window. The roof line is pretty low, so low that the soffit is about 2" above the window frame. That's why the doors will swing in. I have a 4-1/2" side grinder with a diamond blade, would that work to cut the brick loose? It only cuts about 1-1/2" deep, but that should be enouygh to get a good break line on the brick.
Suddenly I'm having second thoughts. 2x4 walls with 1/2" gwb and 3" (?) brick = 7" +/-. Should I order the doors with jambs wide enough to reach the outside face of the brick? I had initially thought about 4-1/2" (or so) jambs to cover the framing cavity so a little bit of brick is visible in the opening.
While it might cut the brick, I don't think you'll be happy with the end result unless you cut clean through with a diamond blade and a saw intended for this. And no, I wouldn't go with 7" jambs. You want the brickmold to be inset inside the brick facing. A 7" jamb width would push the unit too far to the exterior. Picture insulated vs. un-insulated spaces here. If you don't have the saw and have serious trepidations, you're already subbing some of this out to the mason. Give him your BM dimensions and have the sub do the cut for you as well. You want about 1/4" fudge room over the total size of the brickmold, which gives you just enough room to slip things in and have a nice little 1/8" caulk bead around the trim.
I have just finished a project exactly like the one you described.
I'm not a pro but a pretty competant diy'er but not a doofus--okay had a window that I wanted to turn into a door in our brick veener ranch. Used my old circular saw witha masonry blade from HD about $25 to cut the then chiesed out the the bricks.
It was easy except for a few things:
1. As I was "toothing" the new opening the old bricks kept breaking so I had to remove alot more brick than was needed--although I'm not sure if that could be avoided. Also as I was banging on the mortar to remove bricks other bricks would come loose.
2. I decided to learn how to lay bricks on this project and now I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to paint the house as the results are not pretty--we were going to paint anyway--but this pretty much decides it, I'm sure a pro would do a fine job.
I say go for it--it's alot of bang for the buck and really not that hard.
good luck
cje