Reducing a window aperture by about one brick's length.

[Peter]

After the outside loo - which was really space stolen from the corner of my tiny 7'6" x 7'6" 1920s kitchen - was taken out I asked for as big as poss. a window in the resulting West facing wall. The casement window installed is too big, with less than 6" between the left hand of the frame and the re turning wall.

10 years on I want to re-make the kitchen and ideally reduce the width of t he window as it looks dodgy and extends behind where I want to hang a wall unit. The wall it is set in is brick cavity. I only want to reduce the widt h by about 9" and hopefully keep the frame, shortening the width and instal ling a smaller glazing unit.

Wondering whether to extend each leaf by one brick - tied to existing stub with metal brick housing channels - or just build a solid pier to fill the gap. Beacause everything is so close to the corner I don't think toothing i n a course of bricks is practicable. How to attach this bit? And if I exten d the two leaves how to close the cavity?

Thanks for any suggestions,

Peter

[Tim Watts]

I've done this - on a window opening with a half brick reduction in width.

Get a packet of galvanised resin anchors, a tube of Screwfix NoNonsense resin and a blow tube (tube with a little pump or lashed to a bicycle pump).

Following resin anchor instructions, drill hole in the centre of each brick course. Use blow tube to blow *all* the dust out of the hole (important!).

Inject resin, insert anchor stud, ensuring it sits horizontal. Repeat until all courses are done.

Leave for a day and build brick "pillar" to infill the gap. The studs will be incorporated into the mortar courses and will stitch the bond very solidly.

This will sort you out:

[stuart noble]

Blimey, £18 for a resin pump? Couldn't the the vacuum cleaner clear the dust from the holes?

[Tim Watts]

No. You really do need a sharp puff of dry air[1] to clear it. If you dont the resin will bond to a layer of dust and not the substrate.

[1] You can't get a good sharp puff with breath either. I vacuum my resin holes to get the worst of the dust out but the pump still dislodges quite a bit more.

I did say "bicycle pump" and a pit of tube would probably also work - but is it worth the effort?

[Lobster]

On 04 Apr 2014, Peter grunted:

Not sure why toothing in the new bricks isn't possible: if you don't, isn't it going to look really... yucky?, apart from any structural considerations?

If you want to build a single solid pier, I've used screw ties for bricking up doorways before; very easy to do:

You drill the existing bricks at an angle, and as you build up the new pier you screw in the ties, and then bend the protruding part parallel to the ground and it gets embedded in the mortar between the new courses of brick, reinforcing the vertical joint between old and new.

[ss]

"I vacuum my resin holes to get the worst of the dust out but the pump still dislodges quite a bit more. "

Would it be worth flushing out with water from a hose.

[fred]

No, the resin would not bond correctly to a wet surface.

Whilst dry air is ideal I have done plenty of these using my lungs to blow out the dust with a large bore bendy[1] drinking straw and have been happy with the results.

[1] Bent at right angles to avoid blowing a whole passel of brick dust back in your face

[GMM]

Criminal huh? Tool station do one for about 7/8 quid though.

[PeterC]

I've an old bike pump for which I made a connector with nylon tube. Replacement/original connectors (back in the '70s - 80s, before I started using push-on pumps) often had polythene tube and tended to go bang at 5 bar+. When the old type of connector became redundant I cut of the tube-end's connector and now have a 5mm OD tube that would clear out any hole (constipated large mammals excepted!).

[Tim Watts]

Fischer's instructions (theirs was the first resin I used) where very clear. I've always done that and it's always worked :)

[Roger Mills]

Would you care to elaborate on that? Seems to me that, if you fit the anchors half way up each course, they'll get in the way of the new bricks - and won't be in the mortar course anyway. Am I misunderstanding what you said?

[Roger Mills]

I assume that, if you have a compressor, you could blow the dust out with that?

Does the official £18 pump blow or suck?

[Tim Watts]

Half way front-back wise and *in* the mortar course.

[Tim Watts]

That would be ideal - the sort of *puff* you get would kick butt.

Blow - but it can deliver a very sharp puff - hint, do not look into the hole the first time you hit the end of the pump - it hurts!

[polygonum]

Does it do more than, for example, one of the canned "air" dusting cans might achieve?

[Tim Watts]

Decent canned air would work I reckon.

[Roger Mills]

Ah, I see! But isn't the resin stuff designed for holding the anchors in solid brick rather than crumbly mortar?

[Tim Watts]

It works very well in most substrates - including celcon blocks that make crumbly mortar seem substantial.

In this application we are not looking to resist much pulling force, but more lateral forces. And the OP will using over half a dozen anchors.

[Peter]

my tiny 7'6" x 7'6" 1920s kitchen - was taken out I asked for as big as pos s. a window in the resulting West facing wall. The casement window installe d is too big, with less than 6" between the left hand of the frame and the returning wall.

the window as it looks dodgy and extends behind where I want to hang a wal l unit. The wall it is set in is brick cavity. I only want to reduce the wi dth by about 9" and hopefully keep the frame, shortening the width and inst alling a smaller glazing unit.

b with metal brick housing channels - or just build a solid pier to fill th e gap. Beacause everything is so close to the corner I don't think toothing in a course of bricks is practicable. How to attach this bit? And if I ext end the two leaves how to close the cavity?

Thanks for all that - I had not considered setting studs in resin, however that does mean drilling into mortar courses rather than solid brick. I like the simplicity of David's screw tie at an angle through the brick idea.

Aside from that, should I be thinking of two one-brick length leaves and th en a closer, or just building a soild pir across the cavity? In either case the outside is rendered so appearance should not be a problem - just want the thing to stay put.

Peter