ᐅ Garage Door Too Narrow: Can the Opening Be Safely Widened Structurally?

Hello everyone,
we have purchased a house built in 1960 with a garage. The original garage door is quite narrow for today’s cars. We have heard that, in principle, it is possible to widen the opening and install a new door. The garage is made of masonry, and on the driveway side, the walls extend a bit around the corner. From a space perspective, it would be possible to cut back about 20 cm (8 inches) on each side to widen the opening.

The question is whether this can simply be done from a structural point of view. There are no original plans available. We were told that hiring a structural engineer for such a question would probably be excessive.
The garage roof is reinforced with cross beams, which would remain untouched.

My question is: Does anyone have an idea how and from whom one can obtain a statement about whether the opening can be safely widened? This statement should be reasonably reliable, even if not legally binding, as that would probably only be possible from a structural engineer.

Many thanks in advance and best regards,
Andreas

Arcplane schrieb:
Purely in terms of space, you could cut off 20cm (8 inches) on each side and thus widen the opening

It needs to be determined whether there is a lintel/steel beam above the gate. If so, it rests on the mentioned 20cm (8 inches) on...

Arcplane schrieb:
And we were told that hiring a structural engineer for such a question would be excessive.

Who said that?

Arcplane schrieb:
Purely in terms of space, you could cut off 20cm (8 inches) on each side and thus widen the opening.

Is that your assessment or from the person who said a structural engineer is excessive?

Some would just go ahead and do it, but

Otus11 schrieb:
It needs to be determined if there is a lintel/steel beam above the gate. If so, it rests on the mentioned 20cm (8 inches)…

Arcplane schrieb:
Does anyone have an idea how and from whom one can get a statement about whether the opening can be safely widened? This statement should be reasonably reliable, though not legally binding, since that could likely only come from a structural engineer.

From a structural engineer/civil engineer. This isn’t even really about legal certainty. But after an on-site inspection, they should have no problem giving an answer; calculations might still be necessary though.

Otus11 schrieb:
It needs to be determined if there is a lintel/steel beam above the gate. If so, it rests on the mentioned 20cm (8 inches)…

Additionally, the corner masonry provides a certain stability to the whole structure. So it’s not just about the load from above.

Arcplane schrieb:
There are no plans from back then.

2. the building authority might have them after all;
1. without those, no renovation planning—just a series of costly surprises. No diagnosis, no surgery.

---

https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

My parents’ garage, built in 1970, is also masonry and narrow. New doors allowed the drive-through width to be increased by 8cm (3 inches) – the wall opening and thus the structural integrity remained unchanged.
An extra 8cm (3 inches) made a noticeable difference. Maybe your door is also unnecessarily wide, and you could manage with a different solution.