Widening garage door opening

[Cupramax]

Hi all,

Bit of a silly question really but I have a boat which I want to get into my garage for the winter... here the fun begins. The garage door opening is 7ft, the boat is 7ft 6 wide and the total width of the garage inside wall to wall is 8ft 6 so it will fit easily once in.

Is it much of a job to change the brickwork to accept a wider door? The bricks facing out at the front are 1 and a half length both sides, could the half be cut using a disc cutter both sides and a wider door put in without affecting the structure of the garage? Note the garage front is set forward 2 feet or so from the front door.

[GuinnessMK]

Can you not tip the boat up, so it's at a angle as it goes through the door?

It's going to be a lot easier than making that any wider.

Mike

[Cupramax]

It weights a ton and a half so no, thats not an option unfortunately...

[eps]

How thick is the frame? It looks as though it's about 2 inches, so you'd only need to find another 2... If 3, you might be in luck (as that would add 6 inches to the overall gap...)

You can fit a frame to the inside of the garage, although the door still needs to be smaller than the aperture.. and the internal frame
size you'll need will have to be 7ft 6 inches +..

You need to check what the lintel is above the opening and see what the end bearings are.. Ideally they should be a minimum of 150mm at both ends. If you've got more than that atm then you may be able to widen the opening below it.. It's going to be a right pita though and could involve cutting bricks out.. If you have 7ft already and add the frame +2 inches either side and can remove one brick width, 4 inches, then you should have enough.. But it will require a bit of work to tidy it all up once bricks have been cut, replaced and re-pointed.. and this is with the lintel above having enough end bearings, once you've removed some of the brickwork, otherwise you'll have to get another lintel in and hold up the opening whilst doing that work...

[Duke Thrust]

You could fit double doors on the outside and make the internal width of the mounting frame the same as the brickwork.

(On the assumption that the brickwork is wide enough)

[JR]

Cupramax said:

could the half be cut using a disc cutter both sides and a wider door put in without affecting the structure of the garage?

Short answer is no but it's quite easy to change that to a yes: longer lintel, new bearings and a galvanised angle as large as you can fit vertically on the outside corner attached to the inner leaves should be enough; needs checking.

[Cupramax]

I think the lintel runs the whole length of the garage and porch, would that change things?

edit: width not length

Edited by Cupramax on Tuesday 27th October 16:21

[JR]

Cupramax said:

I think the lintel runs the whole width of the garage and porch, would that change things?

Yes, since you wouldn't need a new lintel although the existing one may need strengthening. Is it deflecting at present? What happens if you swing on it? Can you fix it to the new vertical angle proposed?

[Simpo Two]

JR said:

What happens if you swing on it?

When you get back from hospital, you send the footage to 'You've Been Framed'

[eps]

Cupramax said:

I think the lintel runs the whole length of the garage and porch, would that change things?

edit: width not length

Edited by Cupramax on Tuesday 27th October 16:21

Check it. There doesn't look like there's much load on it, but you really, really, need to make sure.

End bearings are your friend here, as I said they should be a minimum of 150mm. If you've got more than that you should be okay - there isn't much load onto that front part, from what we can see it just looks like it's the roof, but you need to check if anything
else loads onto it internally, such as the ceiling or some more of the roof load from the garage is transferred onto there.. A photo or diagram would help a lot.

[Sam_68]

Get a structural engineer to look at it and do the sums for you.

Apart from the issue of adequate bearing for the lintel, the brickwork pier at the corner serves a butressing function to the the side wall, and garages are usually pretty marginal at best.

[jeebus]

Could you remove the door and frame and put an electrically operated roller shutter there instead,they can be fixed to the back face of the brickwork and need about 30cm above the lintel.

[aberdeeneuan]

Could you not just get a smaller boat? :-D

[GKP]

Which is the widest part of the boat/trailer combo?

If it's just the beam of the boat then lop a chunk out of each side of the wooden frame at the appropriate height. Does the boat have a rubber rubbing strip that can be removed? This will give you an extra half inch either side.

If it's the wheels on the trailer that's the widest area take a chunk out of the frame at the height of the mudguards.

[B16JUS]

GKP said:

Which is the widest part of the boat/trailer combo?

If it's just the beam of the boat then lop a chunk out of each side of the wooden frame at the appropriate height. Does the boat have a rubber rubbing strip that can be removed? This will give you an extra half inch either side.

If it's the wheels on the trailer that's the widest area take a chunk out of the frame at the height of the mudguards.

Id try above first even remove the mudflaps if thats the problem or remove the bit of frame which is the widest bit then alter the removed bit so it slots back in when the boat is in the garage.

[Cupramax]

eps said:

Cupramax said:

I think the lintel runs the whole length of the garage and porch, would that change things?

edit: width not length

Edited by Cupramax on Tuesday 27th October 16:21

Check it. There doesn't look like there's much load on it, but you really, really, need to make sure.

End bearings are your friend here, as I said they should be a minimum of 150mm. If you've got more than that you should be okay - there isn't much load onto that front part, from what we can see it just looks like it's the roof, but you need to check if anything
else loads onto it internally, such as the ceiling or some more of the roof load from the garage is transferred onto there.. A photo or diagram would help a lot.

Phil,

Thanks for the offer mate, I'm in Dorset so a bit far really... also I dont move into the place for a couple of weeks yet so cant start ripping it apart yet.

Thanks all for the constructive comments.

Edited by Cupramax on Wednesday 28th October 08:47