Hi all,
I am looking at doing a pretty minor job, it is the widening of an internal doorway that is currently 450mm wide, taking it out to 650mm. The house was built in the 60s and the wall is a single skin of what I presumed to be block. The wall is not an extension and was there when the house was first built.
I had proposed to take the plaster back to find out how long the existing lintel was and see if I could get away without having to replace the existing lintel. However, upon taking the plaster back I have come across an odd construction. See photos.
There is a timber beam sitting on the top of the doorframe, which is only the length of the doorframe, so it is not acting as a lintel. Also, in the wall I have exposed it doesnt appear to be block, it looks to me like reinforced concrete given that there are rust spots and no mortar joints to be found. The fact that the concrete is formed perfectly around the end of the timber also suggests an in-situ pour. Im not 100% certain it is concrete but I dont know what else it could be!
This seems really strange to me - I would not expect to see an in-situ poured concrete wall for an internal wall. Its not supporting anything in particular - the joists for the floor above run parallel to the wall, and there is no wall along the same line above (it is just a landing) - im confident that its not working very hard.
If it is an in-situ pour, I suspect that the timber shown was only put in to strengthen the doorframe during the pour.
I can't see any major issues with the slight widening of the doorway still, particularly if I do add a new lintel.
Any advice on what I am looking at, or suggestions would be much appreciated. I am planning on taking more of the plaster away to see if that gives me any more clues, but just wondering if anyone has seen this before.
