MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Evening,
Looking for a bit of help here...
I have a 1940s ex council end terrace house.
Its epic and I love it!
However its a bit cold... there is a bit of a draft coming through the bathroom floor under the bath and coming up through the laminate floor. I was thinking that this would be easy enough to sort by squeezing under the floor into the crawl space, about 2 to 3 foot hight, maybe more, and then hanging insulation between the floor joists on netting to trap a bit of heat and block the drafts. A few houses I have stayed in before have had this and it seems to work well.
This is where the problem is, I can only get under the floor in one location, under the stairs, everywhere else is laminate or tiled. This wouldnt be a big issue but there are no holes in the sleeper walls big enough for me to squeeze through. Every house I have had previously have had holes in the sleeper walls to crawl through. They have all looked like they have been bashed in by someone in the past.
Can I safely make holes in these sleeper walls to squeeze through? Is there a best place to do it? Near the middle? Under a door? Between two doors? do I knock away from the top or bottom of the wall?
Thanks!
David.
'sleeper walls' stop at the underside of the ground floor and support the ground floor structure only - the joists. if it has a door over, then there must be a wall over, and it's not a sleeper wall, it's the underbuilding or simply 'a wall'. the holes you have previously seen are often made during the installation of central heating. under a long length of uninterrupted wall is the best bet, under a door after that. knock away the middle or bottom. leave at least three courses of brick over the hole and/or install lintels if you have time. this will support the floor joists over. don't remove more than you have to to squeeze through. [b]don't go under the floor on your own[/b]. check for asbestos first with a proper face mask on. watch for exposed electrical cables. use hammer and chisel not a sledge hammer.
Thanks for that! I didnt think that some might actually be a wall continuing down - makes sense though! If its got a honeycomb structure does that make it safer to knock a hole in? Im best to get a cold chisel and a hammer and work the bricks out one at a time to I can squeeze through yeah?
Cheers!
David.
Hi Sorry for the hijack but I'm in need of doing the same thing as dmiller, would a lintel like this be sufficient or could you recommend another?
I dont think I have enough courses to leave 3 courses of bricks above the opening so am I correct in thinking that putting lintels in is my only option?
I'm planning on have a wood floor installed so would like to sort out access sooner rather than later.
http://www.wickes.co.uk/Concrete-Lintel/invt/244002
Cheers
Rich
From memory I remember a mate using something similar to one of these http://www.wickes.co.uk/Angle-Section-Lintel-1200mm-x-90mm/invt/152854 upside down. He hammered them in where there was a gap between the supporting walls and floor joists before removing any bricks
Hope this makes sense...