ᐅ Door opening 196 cm too small. What are the options?

Created on: 26 Jul 2017 08:21
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roadrun87
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roadrun87
26 Jul 2017 08:21
Hello everyone,

We retrofitted underfloor heating in the upper floor. Since the concrete ceiling of our 1980s house was apparently less level than we thought, we now only have door openings of 195 - 196cm (77 - 77 inches) from the finished floor surface when the screed is installed.

There are 4 doors on the upper floor in 11.5cm (4.5 inches) calcium silicate block walls with a concrete lintel above. Above the walls, there is only the wooden beam ceiling.

Of course, I could have the mason set the door lintel higher or buy custom-sized doors. Am I missing any other good ideas?

Currently, the screed is not yet installed, but I also don’t see any potential for reducing the floor construction height: 20mm (0.8 inches) staple panel, 17mm (0.7 inches) underfloor heating, 45mm (1.8 inches) screed plus final floor covering.

I had also considered cutting the 11.5cm by 10cm (4.5 by 4 inches) lintel in the middle, so it would only be an 11.5cm by 5cm (4.5 by 2 inches) lintel. After all, it would then only support about 40cm (16 inches) of calcium silicate blocks. But that was also discouraged.
Koempy26 Jul 2017 08:40
What type of screed are you using?
When we renovated our place, we used flowing screed because the coverage didn’t need to be very thick. If I remember correctly, flowing screed only requires a thickness of 3.5 cm (1.4 inches).
How many lintels are we talking about?
I would suggest having the lintels installed higher rather than fitting lower doors.

PS: Usually, standard doors and frames can be shortened by up to 5 cm (2 inches) without becoming a special size.
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roadrun87
26 Jul 2017 08:54
The offer includes C25-F4 cement screed. According to the screed installer, it must cover the pipe by 45mm (1.8 inches).

There are 4 doors.
RobsonMKK26 Jul 2017 09:10
How about shortening the standard dimensions of doors and frames by 5cm (2 inches)? That would be the pragmatic approach.