New UPVC Window Installation

Okay, this wasn't a standard window replacement, this was creating a new window opening and installing. May seem daunting but like most things providing you do your homework it's pretty straight forward.

The reason for making this window opening was simply to bring more light into a very badly lit stairwell area. I considered all the options of increasing lighting etc but nothing beats natural light. The craziest thing was that from new the designers hadn't even bothered incorporating electric lighting into this particular stair area yet it was almost totally closed off both sides with brick walls!

Anyway, I was advised by the council that the new opening couldn't be larger than 1m². I was actually told this afterwards but luckily I hadn't gone over the limit!

Put very basically, I needed to do the following:

- Place in support
- Knock out wall to allow for lintel installation and window
- Install lintel
- Make good all brickwork to secure lintel and window opening sides
- Install window

The property is a 1970 built town house using cavity walls - block on the inner and brick on the outer. Given this, I used the relevant lintel required which in this case was a cavity lintel - these are lightweight galvanised lintels and very easy to handle by one person. If you have a single brick wall as in most older houses you'd most likely use a concrete lintel.

The cavity gap can also vary in buildings. Measure your cavity gap to found out which lintel you need. I required a 75mm Cavity lintel.

Any lintel must also have a minimum overhang of 150mm each side. When using a cavity lintel such as the one I used it becomes invisible once it's bricked in, so any excessive overhang is not a concern although not required. You can always use a grinder to cut the lintel to size if required.