I'm new to the DIY game, but I'm hoping to a buy a house shortly, and somone has knocked a small window-sized hole (around 2'x3') through a brick wall between the kitchen and dining room, as kind of a pass-through.

However, all that is there at the moment is a rough hole. I will need to apply some cement to finish and sqare off the hole.

What would be the best way to do this? I would like to use cement and someone suggested using a timber frame which I can then fill with cement.

I have attached a quick picture of how it looks now, and how I would like it to look, but I'm not sure how I would apply a frame that I can fill with cement - especially the top part. Would the cement be firm enough to hold it's place in a verticle space if I just put in a sqaure frame and try to fill around it?

Can anyone give me some help or point me to some "how-to" sites for this kind of thing?

"scoobz" wrote in message
...

I'm new to the DIY game, but I'm hoping to a buy a house shortly, and
somone has knocked a small window-sized hole (around 2'x3') through a
brick wall between the kitchen and dining room, as kind of a
pass-through.

However, all that is there at the moment is a rough hole. I will need
to apply some cement to finish and sqare off the hole.

What would be the best way to do this? I would like to use cement and
someone suggested using a timber frame which I can then fill with
cement.

I have attached a quick picture of how it looks now, and how I would
like it to look, but I'm not sure how I would apply a frame that I can
fill with cement - especially the top part. Would the cement be firm
enough to hold it's place in a verticle space if I just put in a sqaure
frame and try to fill around it?

Can anyone give me some help or point me to some "how-to" sites for
this kind of thing?



Fit architrave to both sides of the wall, making sure both sides are in
line, keep the void not bigger than 12mm deep, apply a coat of water/pva mix
3/1 to 2 of the sides (opposites), leave until becomes tacky, then apply a
one coat plaster (looking for a moist but stiff mix), get as smooth as poss,
if to wet leave for 20 min and resmooth if to dry sprinkle water on the top
with a brush. Let it set, then repeat on other two sides.

On the top (and sides) just make sure the mix is not to wet, otherwise it
might slump!

In article ,
scoobz wrote:
I'm new to the DIY game, but I'm hoping to a buy a house shortly, and
somone has knocked a small window-sized hole (around 2'x3') through a
brick wall between the kitchen and dining room, as kind of a
pass-through.

Usually called a serving hatch.

However, all that is there at the moment is a rough hole. I will need
to apply some cement to finish and sqare off the hole.

Normal way would be to face the opening with wood - about 1" thick - to
the exact thickness of the walls. The bottom piece might well be larger to
act as a sort of shelf large enough to take plates safely. Make good with
one coat plaster up to the wood, then fit architraving of your choice to
form a frame. Some would also fit doors to close it off from the kitchen
when not needed.

--
*To be intoxicated is to feel sophisticated, but not be able to say it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

scoobz wrote:

I'm new to the DIY game, but I'm hoping to a buy a house shortly, and
somone has knocked a small window-sized hole (around 2'x3') through a
brick wall between the kitchen and dining room, as kind of a
pass-through.

However, all that is there at the moment is a rough hole. I will need
to apply some cement to finish and sqare off the hole.

I think I would be more interested initially in whether it was a load
bearing wall, and if they had put a lintle in over the hole to stop the
wall collapsing!

What would be the best way to do this? I would like to use cement and
someone suggested using a timber frame which I can then fill with
cement.

How thick is the wall? single course of bricks?

I would have thought if you tidy up the edge of the brickwork so that it
is reasonably square, then stick in a frame made from rough 4x2" timber,
followed by a wider planed timer lining that is as wide as the wall is
thick. Then render/plaster the gaps between the outside edge of the
lining and the existing wall to get it all flat. The finally fit
architrave round the edge which will tidy up any remaining messy bits.

Can anyone give me some help or point me to some "how-to" sites for
this kind of thing?

Well this newsgroup is a good place to start, although you have found it
via a less conventional route it would seem (the DIYbanta site is just a
web based "wrapper" round a number of ordinary usenet groups).



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Usually called a serving hatch.

Quite!

Normal way would be to face the opening with wood - about 1" thick - to
the exact thickness of the walls. The bottom piece might well be larger to
act as a sort of shelf large enough to take plates safely. Make good with
one coat plaster up to the wood, then fit architraving of your choice to
form a frame.

Then wait a few years and brick it back up again ...

First put a lintel in, then buy a bag of bonding plaster and some skim beads tell them you want it for internal plastering. Stick the beads to the edges with a little bonding, and when it's stuck render all edges just short of the beads with bonding. Finally use a small amount of multifinish plaster to make up the last few mil. get it as flat as possible but go back when it's nearly dry with a wet clean smooth float and press out the track marks (known as polishing).

Don't forget the lintel or you'll end up with a ton of bricks on your head one of these days.

Cheers for the info!

Although will the plaster be strong enough to support any shelf/door/shutter etc, that I might want to screw on/around the hole? (That was why I thought cement might be better?)

scoobz wrote:

Cheers for the info!

Although will the plaster be strong enough to support any
shelf/door/shutter etc, that I might want to screw on/around the hole?
(That was why I thought cement might be better?)

That is what the wood lining is for...

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/