Cutting an external door into a garage - maxes out at 28 bricks high to wall plate
TLDR; I want to cut a 28x4 brick hole into my garage wall to introduce an exterior door, however the garage is 28 bricks high above the damp proof membrane level. This means I will just have the wall plate above - what steel lintel can I use to support the roof above?
Hi, I’m a pretty experienced DIYer looking to cut out an aperture for a standard external door - aperture size of 850-860mm x 2100mm. This would be roughly four bricks across x 28 bricks high roughly. I have drawn the lines for the door on the photos. The issue is there would be no brickwork left at the top and so a standard concrete lintel wouldn’t work as there is a wall plate above. I’ve explored three options:
- Using a shorter door.
I’ve explored lowering the door to roughly 1950-2000mm high rather than the full 2090mm size. This would mean I can have a course or two of brick above the door and be more ‘standard’ in terms of lintels.
- Lowering the door
Cutting the DPC and starting 1 brick lower so I can have a row of bricks below the wall plate , however this would risk water ingress/damp issues.
- Using a standard door with an angled steel lintel
Keeping the standard 2090-2100 x 850-860?(28 bricks x4 bricks) door aperture size which is what I’m leaning towards. However I am not sure what the ideal lintel would be - there is one joist above the proposed door frame so it is very mildly load bearing (new build garage). I don’t want to get a structural engineer in ideally at this stage (may consider later). For this approach, are there any other things you’d advise me to think about? What cement mix is best - I’m hoping for a very thick mix so it’s super secure. What silicone would you advise above the DPC membrane to ensure no water comes in?
Appreciate your help! Thanks