Video summary
The video documents a challenging construction project involving the relocation of an external door to a new position by moving it over a brick and a half. The primary obstacle is the existing lintel, which currently supports the wall above and acts as a cavity tray to manage water drainage. To execute the move, the team must carefully demolish the brickwork surrounding the opening while leaving the lintel in place temporarily. This process requires significant preparation, including removing old plaster, cutting through thermalite panels, and stripping away mortar that has hardened over time, though they note that recent weather conditions have made the mortar surprisingly soft and easy to remove.
A major focus of the video is the critique of poor workmanship found in the existing structure, particularly the excessive use of silicone sealant. The builders express frustration with how previous tradespeople have "gobbed" silicone everywhere, including between the lintel and brickwork where it traps water rather than allowing it to drain. They explain that water entering the wall will settle behind this sealant on the lintel, leading to potential rot and structural damage over time. Additionally, they highlight other issues such as bricks laid "frog down" on an uneven lintel, which creates an unstable condition, and the presence of rust caused by silicone attacking metal components.
To safely proceed with the demolition, the team employs a methodical approach using props and acrow stands to support the wall sections overnight. Since they only have two strong boys available for lifting, they plan to use temporary brick stacks and timber to hold up specific sections until additional equipment can be brought in the following day. The strategy involves cutting out four courses of bricks at a time and ensuring that all frogs are properly filled with mortar during reconstruction to maintain structural integrity. They also address the need to secure loose beam filling with screws and galvanized bands to prevent it from dropping too far, which would make reinstallation impossible.
The project is scheduled over two days, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions in the northwest of England, where temperatures are mild despite a heatwave forecast. The team plans to use the downtime to order necessary supplies, including clear silicone for sealing temporary works and additional blocks for rebuilding with block work rather than tuck pointing. By converting the opening back into a window after moving the door, they aim to restore the building's original design while ensuring all new joints are sealed correctly to prevent water ingress. The video concludes with the team preparing for the next phase of demolition, confident that their careful planning and proper techniques will resolve the structural issues without compromising safety.
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Cuz if it drops down too high, you can't
put it back.
All right, we're propped up. We've got
an actual under the lintel just so
there's no sagging it.
>> And then he's going to take up that bit
of floor.
>> I feel like I've been fishing and caught
an eel.
>> What's that?
>> I'll show you this thing. This
stupid silicone again.
Such a bad thing.
You've got this little box.
Silicone just little box trim stuck
underneath.
Just trims everywhere. There's no no
need.
That's that gone. And then you've got
this thing here, this piece of
trim
stuck underneath, stuck to the lintel.
And then it's sealed there.
You mustn't seal there. You seal
underneath.
You don't seal between the lintel and
the brick.
That's where the water escapes,
especially there's no vents.
So, any water that gets in that wall,
it'll come down
naturally hit the cavity tray lintel
and
basically sit behind that silicone.
And no no matter how good the lintel is,
if it's got water sat on it, it's not
going anywhere. It's it's it's bad for
it.
So, what we're doing here now, we're
moving over a brick and a half.
We're moving over a brick and a half.
So, we're going to take out to that
brick there.
So, we're breaking up We're breaking up
to here.
So, we're going to take the brickwork
out to here.
And we can just cut it straight up
because
it's going back in block.
So, cut there, four courses.
And then
we go past
by again a brick and a half, and then
I'll seat in. So, we're probably going
back past about there.
To there. We've only got two strong boys
with us. We're we're to get in.
Put two in and put two acros. We'll
probably put strong boy acro, strong boy
acro. And then tomorrow we'll bring all
the all the other stuff that we need to
bring in with the two strong boys
and just swap them cuz there's no way
this brick brick work's going to fall.
Yeah, London brick work. That's actually
not the worst I've seen,
but it's still horrible.
So, yeah, we're going to
run along that with the knife
just to pop this thing off now.
And pull up.
Do the pointing Charlie.
Here we go.
Oh, it's through.
So, the knife didn't go deep enough. So,
we need to do that.
I think we'll get the insulation knife
for that cuz there's actually blade on
it.
And I'll get back to you.
Ow.
>> [music]
[music]
>> I feel like I've been fishing in cotton
here.
That
is ridiculous.
That's what the snagging guy says.
Bloody hell.
Yeah, there you go.
That was definitely pre um
COVID before
silicone went up to like six 10 pound a
tube. That's when it was cheap.
Nobody putting that much silicone in
nowadays. That's just
Anyway,
it's like a stress toy.
That's only half of it.
This trim is just gobbed in.
Clear on the outside.
A load of white on the inside.
Jesus.
And this lintel is coming out.
Could reuse it, but we're doing one skin
at a time.
Rather than putting needles through, I'm
putting big holes in the house.
It's a much safer way of doing it.
Yeah,
can't get this damn thing out.
Right.
>> [music]
>> Let's uh recap that.
Can't you take the brick work out of
there cuz the lintel has got to come
out.
Christ. And then we do have to take both
skins out cuz it's covered in lintel.
Bloody hell.
Yeah.
It's going to be a big hole tomorrow.
We'll have to get
um
some extra acros.
But it's it shouldn't be too bad cuz
it's all going back in block work. So,
it's there's no tuck pointing. Well,
there's a bit of tuck pointing, but um
it's it's obviously blocked which is
it's back in and I think I'm pretty sure
we won't bother with the uh
the weep vents.
The uh the job we did in Bearsco they
just rendered over them all. So it's
pretty pointless really.
Yeah, that's the plan.
>> [music]
[music]
>> There you go.
Nice four courses.
Wow.
Honestly, we're going to see what that
We've got to get a job to straighten
this up somehow.
On that, against that wall.
God.
Look at that.
That should be called
semi beam filling or beam filling ish.
God.
We've got to take this out. All this is
probably going to drop.
It's going to be a right pain, that.
Yeah, we'll have to do all the patching
from this side.
Maybe get a couple of screws in to stop
the bulk of it dropping down.
Shouldn't have to, like, but out of
sight, out mind, isn't it?
See the joists are packed up onto the
lintel
with
I don't know what that is.
I'm guessing it's 80s this.
Cavity tray lintel as you can see it's
pretty solid as one tray.
The lintel acts as a cavity tray.
Any water comes down, hits the lintel,
comes out. Should really put a
a DPC over it really.
You got to do nowadays. But as you can
see there's no rot on it. Just a little
bit of rust on the the leading edge with
the silicone.
Silicone seems to attack metal.
You know so the silicone and you see
silicone gun where it's it's been stuck
and you take it off it rusts underneath.
So there's something in the silicone
that attacks the metal.
But um apart from that it's fine. Shame
we have to um rip it out, but like I say
it's going over.
That's anything you can do with it.
So the plan today is get this all out,
prop up.
Take that section down as well. It's
coming out.
Demolish all that.
And leave the lintel in obviously today.
We'll put a couple of
Put up a couple of props cuz we're
leaving it overnight. We'll prop it off
the lintel as well. Bit in between the
acrows. Don't like leaving stuff open
overnight, but it's a two-day job.
Anyway doing it. It's great that it's an
extension cuz it's got the rock wool
inside it so the cavities aren't empty
and not on top of us. It's staying put
where it is anyway.
That's always a big help. It's going to
be a pain tuck pointing bloody
all those um
frogs. But again we do it properly so
all the frogs will be full.
Yeah, let's just try to find the other
strong boy. He should get this get it in
here.
And then the last one we'll just put a
we'll put an acrow under it for now.
Like I say temporary.
I might even do this with an acrow
actually.
Just put it up on an angle. Just stop
these bricks dropping.
Yeah.
And then there's I think there's a brew
coming, so
hopefully
Yeah, we'll just have an early dinner.
We've got to get off early with today to
take this
take this um 3-m lintel back. And we've
we've measured this.
This could be only 2.7.
Which is kind of annoying.
But at least we've got we're cutting 300
off the bloody
300 off the off the big lintel.
Ooh.
Do I call this a t-shirt, by the way?
Look at that.
Right, after lunch
and we're start of the um
What's it called? Heatwave number three.
Which is meant to last 10 days now, but
as we're in the northwest
we're much more or less central England,
nearly Well,
we're very close to Liverpool, anyway.
Southport, right on the coast.
So, we've got a lovely breeze. It's
overcast.
And it's probably not even 20°.
It's absolutely lovely.
We're going to be saved spared the worst
of it. Let's have a look. It is
19°.
Absolutely Oh, it's perfect for working
in.
So, new plan.
We've only got one strong boy.
So,
I'm going to put a another little stack
of bricks here.
I'm going to take some more out.
Basically, I'm going to do this.
Prop it with bricks and timber
until tomorrow. And then tomorrow we'll
put the strong boys in.
So, we're going to get get the rest of
this out.
Get that cut down and out.
And then we're going to go inside and
get the planks and prep all the sealant
ready. Maybe not the plaster off. We'll
see what we see how far we get, but um
basically get a lot of prep done for
tomorrow.
This mortar is so soft. It's absolutely
great. It's just popping off the bricks.
It's coming out really easy.
Makes a massive change.
Just makes you smile when it when it's
like that for you. Not You're not
battling it.
So, we're just using the Evolution for
what it's worth. It's a big garden. The
dust is dispersing. There's no washing
on the line. So, we can just crack on.
So, I'm just like taking three at a time
out. In fact, I'll put I'll put it I'll
film it just to show how quick and soft
the mortar is.
To put you on Should put you on the cup
holder.
And because it's the Evolution 10-in
blade,
and then
soft as.
>> Now, this is a strange one.
It's all done frog down,
which is wrong, of course.
They've even done the bricks over the
lintel frog down,
which is so unstable doing it frog down
on the lintel cuz the lintel's not flat,
and it's just not not advisable. So, you
should have frog small.
See, that's solid.
So,
and it's
the bottom two courses that the mortar's
A BIT TOUGHER.
ONCE YOU BREAK THE SEAL,
THAT'S THE JOB.
Bit of silicone in the way, SO
SOME MASTIC.
AND I JUST CHIP THAT
OOPS, THAT'S THE TIME LAPSE.
>> [music]
[music]
>> All right, we're propped up. We've got
an actual window and there's no sagging
in it.
That looks That looks like it to do
that. Good thinking that.
This is in. That's staying in.
We just need to move the scaffold up a
bit now cuz I'm
I'm at the end of the scaffold here and
we need to go over to here at least.
We've got We've got to wait to the
window and the seating for the lintel.
So, um
Now, don't move anything yet. Move all
the from by the wheels on. It's
going nowhere.
>> There's nothing by it.
>> Yeah, I'll take them.
I'm getting down as well.
>> [music]
[music]
>> We're inside.
So,
let's get this
get this plaster off.
This was
a window
as you can see.
We've had it plastered and patched.
And the bricks have been chopped.
So, it was a window
chopped out to be a door
and we're now converting it back to a
window and moving it over.
So, pretty much everything destructive
you can do with it, so it's going like
that.
I got halfway through the cut and the
battery ran out. So, the battery is just
charging.
And this side, cuz it's thermalite,
that'll be sawed all down there.
That's the double. And then we'll get a
get all this plaster off to expose the
lintel
and we'll get the props in cuz it's all
ceiling
floor joists, not ceiling joists,
ceiling stroke floor joists that go
across there. That'll hold the wall up.
And it's only there's a big window above
and it's only thermalite, so there's not
a lot of weight to hold up.
Basically, it's just that panel in
thermalite.
Which is not a lot.
So,
just make it a bit of a mess.
And then we need to head off at 3:00.
Go to the builders, get some supplies
and take take one of the lintels back
and order some more supplies.
Another pack of blocks cuz we're going
to use quite This is all block both
skins, so we're we're going to use a few
more blocks.
Right. Let's find you somewhere to go
and then get some
demo done.
>> [music]
[music]
>> That's where the dust has been up, too.
So, we've got the lintel exposed. We've
got this part marked out ready to get
removed.
And then obviously, this will get built
out that much. I think that's going to
>> driving lesson day tomorrow. I can do
stuff like this on my own tomorrow.
>> Yeah.
And he's going to take up that bit of
floor to build properly on, since it's
going to be still supporting
>> it's to window there. The whole thing's
getting built. Oh, yeah.
>> Yeah, whole thing getting taken up then.
But yeah, so that's us for today. I'll
see you tomorrow afternoon. You'll see
you tomorrow morning.
Right. Just had a little side quest on
our way home. We went to uh
Home Bargains for some clear silicone,
cuz we just need to um seal up all the
work we've done around the windows and
that.
All the temporary stuff we've done.
Um we needed
this.
I still don't know what it's called.
From Screwfix.
To secure the loose um all round band.
12 mil by
so many meters.
If you try typing 12 all round band into
into the Screwfix thing, it doesn't find
it.
And
also
some long screws.
Look.
Keys out.
There you go.
These are screws from Band-It, gold
screws.
Yeah, some 6-in screws.
Some big rascals.
Mainly to um
secure the beam filling, stop it
dropping out.
Cuz if it drops down too high, you can't
put it back.
So, that's that sorted.
So, that's the screws,
the galvanized
all round band.
I'll be on me only in the morning cuz
Alex has got his driving lesson then.
So, maybe dropping him off in Formby for
me. Get him Get that lintel done. At
least get the back concrete one done.
Uh
yeah, that's pretty much it.
Um
yeah.
He's just nipped to get his his ham for
his lunch tomorrow, and then we'll get
going and get home. So, we'll see you
tomorrow in Formby.
>> So, thank you very much for watching. If
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This has been Brick Home with Stephen
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ongoing
>> [bell]
>> big project, and we'll see you in the
next one.
>> [music]
[music]