Expansion of the doorway in the bearing wall

The typical layout of the apartment does not always satisfy the wishes of its owners. In this case, there is a need for its redevelopment, and often requires an extension of the doorway.

Performance of such works is performed after accurate calculations and the availability of a special tool. How to do this article prompts.

Ways to expand openings

Any redevelopment of the apartment requires compliance with building codes and structural features. When transferring or widening the opening for the doors, in the supporting wall one should not allow the weakening of the house structure, the appearance of deformations. Because of this, the redevelopment project must be coordinated with the state supervision authorities.

Some ways to expand the doorway are presented in the table:

Way to expand the opening	Special features
	For work with their own hands can be used: Perforator. In the quarrel. Jackhammer. At the same time, contours are preliminarily outlined, and then excess material is knocked off with tools. The process is quite time-consuming, and the formation of microcracks, which appear due to a strong shock load, can lead to a decrease in the strength of the wall structure.
	In this case, the grinder is used, with the help of which it is possible to quite easily increase the door opening along the outlined contour. The disadvantage of the process is to cut the wall on both sides. With dry cutting, a lot of dust is produced and the diamond disc is quickly worn out.
	This method is accompanied by the use of a spray gun, which irrigates the working surface in the process of working with the grinder. More efficient is the use of a special construction cutter equipped with a diamond disc of a large diameter and a water tank. At the same time, in one approach, it is possible to cut off excess portions of the doorway in the wall of the desired size with minimal contamination. But the price of such equipment is quite high.

Doorway standards and tolerances

Regardless of the purpose of the building, it has an opening for the door to enter the building and for communication with neighboring rooms.

There are several reasons why you need to increase the size of the doorway:

• Many people want to visually expand the space, make it bright and spacious, without changing the dimensions of the living space, as in the photo.

• The opening can not accommodate the acquired modern fashionable door construction.
• Making doors to order.

Tip: Before increasing the opening in the panel house, it should be borne in mind that this is a painstaking and not entirely simple work with the existing risks, in compliance with the standards and norms of admission.

There are no special problems to increase the door opening in any wall.

But in the bearing wall they are quite large:

• In the absence of a building plan, it is impossible to determine the purpose of the wall, whether it will be carrying, which will require additional reinforcement of the structure, or it is sufficient only to reinforce the ceiling with beams.
• Necessary to have agreement with the BTI. This will be a confirmation of the fact that the load on the wall with an increase in the width of the door will not exceed the impact norm.
• You need to get the appropriate permission to perform the work.

When redeveloping an apartment, it is necessary to take into account the parameters of the standards specified in the SNiP.

For door units are provided such dimensions:

• The width of the structure is from 55 to 80, which depends on the purpose of the opening.
• Doors for sanitary units, transitions to the kitchen - 55 centimeters.
• For living rooms, bedrooms and the entrance - at least 80 centimeters.
• The height of the opening can vary from 190 to 210 centimeters.
• Thickness - 75 millimeters.
• Manufacturers offer ready-made blocks, the frame width of which ranges from 15 to 70 mm.

Tip: Determining the size of the future opening, you should adhere to the requirements of the SNiP, and familiarize yourself with the restrictions on its expansion.

The extent to which you can expand the doorway, and other recommendations for the work, offers instructions, which combine the following rules:

• The maximum permissible dimensions of the pier wall for the bearing wall can be: width - 2 meters, height - 2.1 meters.
• When increasing the size, the spans between adjacent rooms of increased size, it is necessary to further strengthen the ends of the supports.
• Extended to the maximum size and more passages in the main walls, it is recommended to strengthen the support and in the center.

Important documents when extending the passage between the rooms in the apartment are:

• Plan stages of work.
• Architectural plan.
• Floor plan of the building.
• Extract from the house book, if available.
• Inquiries from the BTI for permission to conduct redevelopment.

Preparation for work

Having decided on which wall the doorway will be expanded, you need to know about it:

• Is there hidden wiring inside the wall?
• The presence of valves or pipes.
• Is there a chimney and where is it located.

To obtain this information, you must use a metal detector. If any obstacles in the wall are detected, they can be eliminated:

• Move the wiring to another place.
• From the chimney to retreat at least 300 millimeters.
• Dismantling the pipes and moving them to another place - but this will require the help of a specialist.

Expansion Procedure

Increasing the doorway in the walls of any material includes the following steps:

• Marking the required dimensions of the structure.

• Dismantling the desired site.

• Strengthening the opening to ensure its strength and prevent collapse or deformation.

To dismantle the structure, you can use percussion tools, sawing or equipment for drilling holes.

Depending on the material from which the wall was erected, these could be:

• Perforator.
• Jackhammer.
• Special circular saw with diamond wheel.
• Bulgarian.
• Electric drill with a diamond drill.
• Hand tools: chisel, hammer, sledgehammer.

Tip: More attention should be paid to work with high-strength concrete walls, where very precise work is required, and switching vibration and damage to surrounding structures.

For the work will need the following materials:

• Wooden beam.
• Corner, dimensions not less than 35x35x4 mm.
• Components for the manufacture of concrete solution.
• Boards.
• Hardware.

To better present the process of increasing the opening for the door, it is worth getting acquainted with the video in this article.

Expansion of the opening in the brick wall

The work is performed in the following sequence:

• Marked doorway on the contour.

• If necessary, the jumper is transferred.
• The top laying is strengthened by a metal channel.
• Bulgarian cut part of the wall on the marked marks.

• For cleaning the perimeter are used: chisel with hammer blows, drill or hammer drill.
• It is better to remove the extra elements from the wall by hand, after removing the mortar from the seams (see How to make a doorway in a brick wall - in a few simple ways and one difficult).
• Along the perimeter of the welded construction is mounted.

Tip: After completing the work, you should check the integrity of the wall of brickwork. If splits are found in the joints and cracks, they need to be plastered.

Expansion of the opening in the concrete wall

To make the process correctly, you must first:

• To prepare the space for the performance of work: furniture and other objects are covered with a building film, which will save them from excess dust.
• Buy special bags for assembling pieces of the wall and other garbage, which are then quickly and easily taken out and loaded into the trash machine.
• Use a respirator and special glasses to protect the face and eyes from dust and small fragments, when dismantling the opening.

Stages of increasing the size of interior openings:

• The old door structure is being dismantled:

1. The nail puller breaks down the platbands and dobory.
2. Removed from the hinge canvas, prying it from below with a crowbar.
3. The vertical stands are cut by the grinder and come off with the same nail puller.
4. The upper jumper is torn off or left in place.

• Marked along the perimeter of the wall contour of the increase in span.
• Along the contour, holes are made with a percussion drill to facilitate further destruction.
• Panel cutting is performed in turn from each side.
• After cutting through the reinforcement, the remnants of the wall are eliminated with a sledge hammer.
• The opening is enhanced by metal corners, planks or pieces of metal rod.

Whatever way the expansion of doorways is carried out, it is necessary that the whole process is carried out in accordance with the requirements of safety, and compliance with the necessary requirements of technical documentation.