Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 2/28/2010

Question
Can you cut a opening for sliding glass doors in the back of a stone/cement home?  How do you straighten a brick pillar attached to a house if it has settled and become crooked. Can you tear out basement steps and replace them so they are not as steep.

Answer
Hi Lisa - thanks for your questions!

Cutting an opening in a masonry or concrete wall is a bit tricky; you need a proper masonry/concrete saw, and you have to cut the opening very, very square and to exactly the correct size.  You'll need to install a masonry or steel lintel above the opening (for structural strength) and will need to frame the opening with wood to prepare it for the door unit.  Installing the door is the easiest part; it's getting the opening ready that's tough!

Straightening any pillar means first jacking up the structure above, so that the pillar can be removed.  The foundation under the pillar will need to be redone properly, to address the cause of the settling.  Finally build a new brick pillar; you probably won't be able to salvage the existing one.

It may be possible to jack up the existing pillar and install a new foundation underneath without destroying the pillar, but you'll need to be very, very, careful.  If you don't correct the foundation problem below, you'll end up with a crooked pillar again!

Finally, basement steps can be rebuilt, usually very easily.  How "less steep" they can be depends on how much room you have to work with - as stairs get less steep, they get longer.  That means you'll need more room at the bottom of the stair, and more headroom above.  Keep in mind that stair geometry is strictly controlled by code - don't guess at this, it's an important safety issue.

Hope this helps,

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com
www.rtastudio.blogspot.com
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