Garage renovation

[vlv8vic]

We've done pretty well so far with "operation commission home" but have hit a snag with the garage that brings me here for clues.

The garage is bricked as per the pictures. the ONLY access to the rear year is via a normal sized doorway in the side of the garage which makes any heavy work in the back yard difficult.
We want to get the cars off the driveway and into a double gal shed in the back yard (to be built once i sort this hole out) but in order for this to work we need to cut an 'exit' in the back of the existing garage to make it drive-through.

Can anyone tell me the best way to attack this? It is an oddly built garage (though the pictures don't show the odd bits) and the side wall is in fact the boundary to the neighbours place.

Can i just cut a hole and put a lintel in? Do i pull the whole back off? The other bit that bothers me is the supporting bricks inside (you can see this in one of the photos), hang out a fairway so i'd like to move these without making the place unstable.

Any suggestions at all would be appreciated, this isn't something I'm willing to go in blind at but is also the same old story of keeping costs down.

Thanks, Jon.

I'd usually apologise for the mess... but you guys know what renos are like!

[echnidna]

The back wall is not load bearing so you could remove all the bricks safely.
So you don't need a lintel unless you want bricks over the top of the opening.

[pawnhead]

Whilst it doesn't bear any vertical loads, it probably takes lateral loads, and adds to the structural integrity from a bracing point of view. Especially if there's a garage door in the other end. You can't just leave two parallel walls with a roof on top. Those blocks look to be only 90mm thick which isn't all that stable on its own. A big storm may blow the whole thing over on your neighbours' head, and you'd be in all sorts of trouble then.

The only way to cover yourself is to have an engineer design and certify something. It may mean building an opposing wall outside the garage for bracing, or perhaps installing some sort of steel arrangement to stiffen up the opening.

It almost certainly won't be as cheap and simple as just taking a sledge hammer to the wall, unless you're prepared to take a risk as far as your safety and the safety of your neighbour is concerned. Not a good idea.

[vlv8vic]

Thanks Pawnhead, thats the thought i had. There is a door in the other end and the only reason i could see for the closed end being so high and solid was so the whole thing doesn't fold in. I'm not sure if you have ever been down this way but we endure some of the steepest wind straight from Antarctica which blows the daylights anything not bolted down.
The father in-law is a professional welder. i wonder if a really decent frame with substantial thickness would be enough to keep things steady?

Also, any idea why the end wall goes so much higher than the shed? It is a good few rows of bricks higher then covered with neatly folded tin. I'm sure there is a reason but i don't know what it is!

[pawnhead]

Also, any idea why the end wall goes so much higher than the shed? It is a good few rows of bricks higher then covered with neatly folded tin. I'm sure there is a reason but i don't know what it is!

Parapet walls such as this are usually required as a fire barrier when building right on, or within a certain distance from a boundary (Anything within about 450mm depending on the council). Since your garage is built on the boundary, a fire rated wall would be required for the boundary wall, and for a certain distance along any returns. Less chance of any flames from your roof jumping the fence.

[vlv8vic]

That makes perfect sense.... but the high part is only on the end i want to cut out, not the side that is the fence.

Damn all these things! i thought this part would be easy enough just a bit of hard work and a little bit more cost than it looks. regulations are the most painful part of the renovation!

[Jacksin]

As said by an earlier poster, IF you remove the rear wall without an Engineers report I think (apart from being crazy) you are leaving yourself open to a horrific legal fight and expenses to send you bankrupt should it ever fall down.

[vlv8vic]

lol legal fights will never send me bankrupt. But i don't like the idea of being on the other side of the bench. like you said... you think.

[echnidna]

Have a talk to the Building Surveyor,
Before you spend money on an engineer,
I expect all you need is a brick pier each side of the new doorway.

[vlv8vic]

Have a talk to the Building Surveyor,
Before you spend money on an engineer,
I expect all you need is a brick pier each side of the new doorway.

thanks bob, do you know who i contact for that around here? nearly took a job in your town. I grew up just around the corner.

[echnidna]

I'm pretty sure you'll find them in the yellow pages.
Maybe the council employs one.