I had a fun DIY day yesterday putting a doorway in a loadbearing wall (first time I've ever tackled this). Before I remove the Acro prop I'd just like some reassurance that what I've done is OK! I'm not sure my method was exactly kosher, but I think the result should be alright.
The wall is a 4" internal brick wall; I supported it using a Strongboy/Acro prop while fitting the lintel (a Catnic box-section h/d one). I took out two courses of bricks, which meant there was almost
2" of vertical space to fill. The doorway is 27", and the lintel is supported by 8" at either end. I pushed the lintel up against the lower surface of the bricks above, and packed up the supporting piers with slates, before realising this really wasn't going to work effectively due to point loading. I carefully removed and repositioned the Strongboy prop underneath the lintel and cranked it up to take the load, then removed the slate packing. I replaced the slate with a fairly dry, 1:1 cement:sharp sand mix, ramming it into the gap with a lump of wood; and used the same mix (or slates where more appropriate) to fill any small gaps I could see above the lintel.Now, next morning, it all looks very firm and rigid, but I was going to leave the prop in place for a couple of days to be sure it's set fully. The BCO will be inspecting it in due course, but before he comes round, does it sound OK?
I think I should probably have set the lintel up so the main gap to be packed was above it; is that right? If so, how do you avoid point loading on the two piers? In my case, the top surfaces of the piers were pretty old brick, and certainly couldn't be made perfectly flat. Also, the lintel is now slightly off horizontal, does that matter?; but it does faithfully reflect the level of the bottom of the course of bricks immediately above it.
Thanks David