How to expand a doorway?

Repair work in a private house very often involves redevelopment of premises. One way is to change the doorway to improve the practicality or decoration of the room. This process is not always straightforward as it requires many rules to be followed. You can find out how to expand the doorway correctly only from a specialist who will perform all the necessary calculations.

Expansion of a doorway involves an increase in its basic dimensions by certain values. Such operations are performed not so often, since all dimensions are adjusted to the standard dimensions of door leaves. But still, sometimes it is necessary to widen the hole. There are several main reasons that lead to such actions:

1. Redevelopment of the premises. This process involves changing the basic positions or dimensions of the main structural elements of the house. It is performed quite rarely, since in most cases it requires coordination with various government organizations.
2. Door installation. Many owners of apartments or private houses decorate their premises with beautiful wide door leaves. This additionally provides several advantages, since, if necessary, it allows large items to be carried through the doors.

Wall expansion technology is quite complex and cannot always be done manually. Very often, auxiliary tools are used for this. Depending on the destruction technology, such operations can be divided into several types:

1. Manual. Changing the dimensions of an opening in a partition or a load-bearing wall is carried out with the help of a person's physical efforts. For this, several types of chisels, scrap, hammers, etc. are used. One of the advantages of this method is that it is carried out practically without dust, but at the same time for a relatively long time.
2. Mechanical. This approach involves the use of a power tool, which greatly simplifies the destruction of materials. Such operations are performed using rock drills, percussion drills and grinders of various capacities and sizes. With their help, you can quickly increase the width in both brick and concrete walls.

The technology for expanding the doorway also depends on the wall material:

Often, all elements are reinforced concrete walls. The procedure for dismantling some of this material begins with marking the opening with chalk or a marker. After that, with the help of a grinder, a thread is made along the drawn contour.

But such an operation requires a powerful tool that not everyone has. You can destroy the wall with a puncher and a drill. To do this, holes are made around the perimeter of the future opening at a distance of about 5 cm from each other. After that, concrete particles are successively chipped off with a perforator. If reinforcement is found, then it can be carefully cut with a grinder.

Brick is much easier to dismantle than concrete. But there is a nuance here. The upper part of the doorway assumes the presence of a metal mortgage (support).

If you are increasing the width of the opening, then a new support beam will need to be installed.It should be 10 cm wider than the new dimension on each side. Dismantling works of a brick wall are carried out after installing a new support.

Increasing openings in such structures involves conventional cutting. To do this, you can use both a chainsaw and a grinder with a special circle.

When performing such operations with load-bearing walls (regardless of the material), new structures should be additionally reinforced. For this, both metal corners (wooden buildings) and large channels can be used, which are fixed around the entire perimeter of the new hole.

Very often, doorways have non-standard dimensions that need to be reduced. Here it is already necessary to apply material build-up to one of the surface ends. This can be done in several main ways:

• Brickwork. This method involves erecting a small frame on the side of the wall. To keep the structure high quality, you can connect it to the supporting element using concrete and reinforcement.

• Drywall and wood. This option involves the construction of a frame inside the opening. If drywall is used, then a metal frame is pre-built to which it is attached. This approach allows both width and height to be reduced. But if you plan to install doors, then the plasterboard structure should not be located on the side where the hinges are placed, since there is a high load here. As for the tree, to change the opening, they simply sheathe the perimeter. For this, a wooden beam of a certain thickness is used. It can be fixed using self-tapping screws or anchors. It all depends on the type of wall to which they are attached.

• Plaster. This approach is used when you need to narrow the opening by a small amount. This substance can be applied both to brick and concrete, and to wood. It is important to use special strengthening systems for this.

Expanding a doorway does not always imply a change in its width. Very often only the top of the system needs to be dismantled, which will increase the height. Impacts of this kind are not always easy to implement. This is due to the fact that a metal lintel is often installed above the doorway, which takes all the main load.

The algorithm for increasing the height involves performing several sequential operations:

1. Initially, supports are installed, which, when dismantled, will not allow the material to fall on a person's head.
2. After that, with the help of a grinder, cuts in concrete or other material are made in the right places. In this case, you also need to get the jumper.
3. When everything is ready, the material is knocked down with a hammer and chisel. You can also use a grinder, hammer drill, etc. After the wall has been removed, a new lintel must be installed at the top of the new opening. It is fixed with a concrete screed.

Expansion of doorways can sometimes disrupt the structural features of the wall. This often applies to load-bearing structures that carry the main load of the building. If a change in the parameters of this system significantly affects the characteristics of the wall, then this is considered a redevelopment, which must be agreed with the relevant government organizations.

All architectural documentation is in the BTI, where you need to apply for permission to change the dimensions of the opening.

It is only important to indicate information about the result obtained so that the organization can make changes to the corresponding plan.

If the redevelopment (enlargement of the doorway) is carried out in the load-bearing wall, then it starts only after preliminary agreement. To do this, you need to submit an application to the BTI, after which specialists will analyze the state of the entire structure. Then calculations are made to understand whether a significant load will be created on the wall.

The extended opening with unusual glass doors, decorated with natural wood with carvings, looks great.

The huge opening leading from the living room to the kitchen is a very successful technique in interior design.

And in this case, the opening is made specifically for glass sliding doors, as if moving apart the space of the room.

You will learn more about how to expand a doorway in the following video.