Hello,

I have a window in my garage that is completely rotten and beyond
repair. How easy is it to DIY remove the rotten frame and brick it up?
I haven't done any brickwork before! So is this something I could do,
or would I need more experience first? Should I get someone in and
what sort of figure will they charge?

Thanks,
Stephen.

On 3 Aug, 15:41, Stephen
wrote:
Hello,

I have a window in my garage that is completely rotten and beyond
repair. How easy is it to DIY remove the rotten frame and brick it up?
I haven't done any brickwork before! So is this something I could do,
or would I need more experience first? Should I get someone in and
what sort of figure will they charge?

Thanks,
Stephen.


ideal start - go on have a go yourself -
if the frames rotten the biggest risk will be slicing your arteries on
the glass when you carefully take it out..
after that the frame should basically fall apart with a few pokes and
belts from your medium/large hammer

Presumably as it's your garage you aren't going to be too bothered how
neat it ends up? (despite how hard you can be bothered to try - tis
for practice after all?)

measure the opening, decide how many bricks you need they arenlt
expensive so buy a good few more "just in case" - wickes will sell you
bags of "mortar" - sand with a small bag of cement inside - repeat til
done!

Enjoy
Jim

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Stephen wrote:

Hello,

I have a window in my garage that is completely rotten and beyond
repair. How easy is it to DIY remove the rotten frame and brick it up?
I haven't done any brickwork before! So is this something I could do,
or would I need more experience first? Should I get someone in and
what sort of figure will they charge?

Thanks,
Stephen.

It would be a lot easier to replace the window! You can get a new uPVC frame
made to fit the opening easily enough.

It's very difficult to brick up an opening without it *looking* like a
bricked-up opening. To do a proper job you need to get matching bricks -
which may not be easy, particularly if the garage was built with imperial
sized bricks - and you need to take out the half-bricks either side of the
window so that the new ones key in properly.

An alternative is to make a 'feature' of it - using bricks which are
intentionally different (good contrast better than bad match, and all that),
keeping the existing outline without cutting out the half-bricks, and
insetting the new bricks about 15mm.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 08:37:24 -0700 (PDT), jim
wrote:

ideal start - go on have a go yourself -
if the frames rotten the biggest risk will be slicing your arteries on
the glass when you carefully take it out..
after that the frame should basically fall apart with a few pokes and
belts from your medium/large hammer

measure the opening, decide how many bricks you need they arenlt
expensive so buy a good few more "just in case" - wickes will sell you
bags of "mortar" - sand with a small bag of cement inside - repeat til
done!

Thanks for the encouragement.

There is a concrete lintel above the window. Should I leave that alone
or take that out too?

Do I need to support the roof when I take the window out?

Is there a bricklaying FAQ to help me? Buying ready-mixed mortar will
help, but what about adding water? What consistency do I need to mix
it to? As long as I follow the instructions on the bag, will I be
alright?

Have I got this right: I chisel out the half bricks around the frame,
apply a layer of mortar the same thickness as on the exiting
brickwork, place a new brick on, and work my way up?

How do I fill the gap above the last brick?

Thanks,
Stephen.

In article ,
Stephen writes:

Thanks for the encouragement.

There is a concrete lintel above the window. Should I leave that alone
or take that out too?

Leave it there is easiest.

Do I need to support the roof when I take the window out?

Not if there's a lintel.

Is there a bricklaying FAQ to help me? Buying ready-mixed mortar will
help, but what about adding water? What consistency do I need to mix
it to? As long as I follow the instructions on the bag, will I be
alright?

I would suggest practicing first. People usually start by building
a plain wall. You could do it using just sand and water, and the
bricks you buy for the job. When you take it down, leave the bricks
very loosely piled (with big air gaps) to dry out before using them
again. You could even practice bricking up some of the window with
just a sand and water mortar to see how easy/difficult it is, before
taking down and using cement in the mortar. (Be careful of the
possibility of it falling out, particularly if your ability to get
it vertical is someway short of the mark.)

Have I got this right: I chisel out the half bricks around the frame,
apply a layer of mortar the same thickness as on the exiting
brickwork, place a new brick on, and work my way up?

Sort of. There are things to consider such as getting the rows
straight and level, getting the brick faces and the brickwork
vertical, getting the brick spacing even and the perps in line,
pointing, etc. The sort of thing a brickie is trained to do.

How do I fill the gap above the last brick?

By pointing it all the way through, using a drier mix than normal
so it doesn't shrink (and preferably after the lower rows have
set enough to have done their shrinking).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

ideal start - go on have a go yourself -
if the frames rotten the biggest risk will be slicing your arteries on
the glass when you carefully take it out..
after that the frame should basically fall apart with a few pokes and
belts from your medium/large hammer
measure the opening, decide how many bricks you need they arenlt
expensive so buy a good few more "just in case" - wickes will sell you
bags of "mortar" - sand with a small bag of cement inside - repeat til
done!

Thanks for the encouragement.

There is a concrete lintel above the window. Should I leave that alone
or take that out too?

no leave that alone it's holding the rest of the garage above the
window up. If it was a house then yes I would take itout buta) it's a
garage, b) you're new to this

Do I need to support the roof when I take the window out?

no unless the lintel above window is obviously cracking/falling out/
dubious - if it is - call a builder

Is there a bricklaying FAQ to help me?

try a google

Buying ready-mixed mortar will
help, but what about adding water?
What consistency do I need to mix
it to? As long as I follow the instructions on the bag, will I be
alright?

consistency is a bit trial and error to start - it should be wet yet
hold it's shape - bit like a cow pat - check the FAQ you will get the
hang of it soon enough - remember it's cheap! buy an extra bag - if
you don;t need it Wickes will take it back and refund...

Have I got this right: I chisel out the half bricks around the frame,
apply a layer of mortar the same thickness as on the exiting
brickwork, place a new brick on, and work my way up?

I wouldn't bother with the 1/2 bricks just brick it up as is, you
could try and take one 1/2 out - if it's easy and you can be bothered
then OK do it - I would be worried about knocking more than just the
1/2 bricks out.......depends on how good the rest of the garage is
(apart from the window :))

See if your "new" bricks are the same size as the old,
a) if they are do as you suggest - tho cut all your halves first so
that you can just bosh them in when you've mixed your mortar;
b) if not you won't be able to match the courses as you describe so
will have to ensure you end up with a reasonable brick&mortar sized
last row - or you;ll be p**ing about for ages- so measure hole and
divide by total of "height of brick" + "1 layer of mortar say 10mm"-
if it's nearly exact adjust your mortar thickness figure up or down so
that you fill the hole without having to cut bricks horizontally.....

How do I fill the gap above the last brick?

see above and....
butter all sides of the brick with mortar and gently persuade it in -
you could save some mortar (dry) to one side, brick up the window
except for top row - leave that to go off overnight then mix up fresh
mortar and do last row - that would prolly be easier.

This is DIY book stuff by the way - ask for a good one on your Xmas
list

hope it helps tho please don't try and sue me if you run into
difficulties!
Jim