knocking thru the original external sandstone wall

[kezza]

I have a sandstone property in the Scottish borders that has a 1980s kitchen small extension on the rear I am wanting to knock through the external original wall of the house to link the dining room and the kitchen together. I have been let down by so many builders that I have begun to lose count, people saying they’ll come and give a quote don’t turn up, people give a quote that’s ridiculous, people that give a quote and you make contact to discuss the quote then they don’t return calls so I’m now at the point of thinking that I need to tackle the project myself I do have property maintenance experience and if it was a traditional brick built house would have no concerns about undertaking the job myself however with it being sandstone and the age of the property I am just looking for advice on how best to tackle it as a DIY project.

 

[aockenden]

Sry to hear about your experiences with builders, ours were largely the same for a good year straight (on a project to rebuild a bulged and cracked stone wall) until we finally built a rapport with a decent local team. I think that behavior from builders is despicable and speaks volumes about the quality of person working in the industry.

What were the ridiculously high quotes you got? We will need to knock an entranceway between our old stone house and our new build extension and we got a price of around 1k from our current trusted building team. I believe that includes reinforced concrete lintels.

 

[kezza]

nearly 10k was the highest and 4k was one of the lowest

 

[stuart45]

The key thing is getting the wall safely propped before you start. Generally you need more needles than with a brick wall. I've done this kind of work with stone walls, bricks walls, even Bungaroosh. If you're practical and plan it properly, there's no reason why it can't be done.

 

[paulc]

A structural engineer will be able to advise as to the size of steel and propping the wall whilst doing the work. Building Control will want to see the calculations for the steel anyway, so it is worth getting one in before starting the project.
And yes, I too have had enough of trades saying they'll come and quote and/or go silent after visiting. The worst are the ones that do turn up and then do a crap job. I've had enough, so will now do all the work myself including plastering.

 

[stuart45]

He has a plan made up which shows 6 150mm x100mm lintels bearing on the new jambs built with engineering bricks and a concrete infill.

 

[kezza]

yep we have building warrant in place and structural engineer has been involved

 

[stuart45]

Have you decided whether to DIY the job or just thinking it over?

 

[kezza]

was hoping to use a builder that i could labour for/help but looking more likely that will have to do the job myself

 

[stuart45]

The trickiest bit will probably be building the jambs. Engineering bricks tend to float around, but it's easier if you use plumb lines instead of a level.