# Forum Home Renovation Brickwork  Carport to brick garage conversion Novice

## fosil

I'm busy trying  :Confused:   to make up plans for the council to convert an existing carport to a closed in garage in Perth by bricking up the gaps with a single skin 28 bricks high. The existing carport is joined to the house with a continuous tiled roof and brick pillars and I'm far enough from the all the boundaries including the road. I'm a novice at this so I'm not sure on using brick ties, how frequent/spaced they need to be and what size as well as how to go about doing the piers. I've seen different examples from just a stack tied into the wall to the bricks tied in.What method is best. I've been told I need some sort of steel reinforcing up the centre of the piers  :Eek:   what are they called and how do I put them in? 
Attached hopefully are my plans so far - any other help or advice in laymans terms will be much apreciated :Biggrin:

----------


## mnorman007

I know you havent asked about this but have you considered putting a roller door on the back as opposed to double doors? Probably a bit more money but I reckon they're worth it. (especially if you recess the roller so you keep the height)

----------


## fosil

Yes 
I looked at a roller or similar but our patio to be will start there and the missus is not keen - so we're looking at double timber doors for access and looks. 
cheers mnorman007  :Smilie:

----------


## brickman

Just had a quick look at your plans , not sure how your piers at the window are going to work , do they drop of at sill height ? . It would be far better to bring them up full height at either side of window as well as have a pier in the corner of single skin brickwork .My local council regulates only single piers on brickwork under 1500mm high or u need a 230 * 230 mm pier e.g. double brickwork . A pier built into a wall is named an engaged pier and a pier only joined to the wall by ties (min. 600mm centres) is called an attached pier . My advice to you is for the small amount of extra bricks required is to build the walls double brick as this will give u a far more appealing inside wall as well as alleviate any foreseeable moisture problems by having a cavilty , and superior strength especially around the windows and doors . It also makes a cheaper and better way for any electrical or plumbing services to be ran .

----------


## fosil

Thanks Brickman! 
I will be putting a smaller window between the piers as you've suggested and take the piers to the ceiling. I just need to find out about the reinforcing inside the piers. 
Thanks for the advice and keep it coming  :2thumbsup:

----------


## woodbe

How are you supporting the roof? 
Assuming the deleted pillars are the original roof supports, and you intend to transfer that load to the new wall, but the council will be looking for details. You may need some engineering calculations done. 
Don't know what the reinforcing rods in the piers are called... 
woodbe.

----------


## macca2

I did a similar job on our carport some years ago, (didn't tell the shire) but I used a stud wall with cladding either side.
The biggest problems I had, and still have is headroom.  The carport ceiling is the same height as the eaves and therefor not high enough for roller door.  I used a tiltadoor, but I think these are no longer available.
Another problem is that the existing carport floor is sloped from the house across the width of the carport thereby making it necessary to have slope on the bottom of the door.
Not many door suppliers were willing to make a door with a sloping bottom. Works ok  with a tiltadoor, but not a roller. 
Cheers macca

----------


## fosil

woodbe - I wont be removing the existing pillars but will be using the space for shelves/bench/car door opening space etc - cheers. 
macca - The ceiling height is good and the floor level so shouldn't be a prob - Thnx

----------


## brickman

If u still want to go with piers then you would probably be better off with a '1501' masonry block as your pier which you could then have 12mm reo in the cores and concrete fill. These will course with your bricks at 600mm centres (7 courses standard bricks equal 3 courses masonry block) where u can place ties across into the face brickwork. Drill a 12 mm hole in your concrete and hammer in a length approx 300 mm less than your ceiling height at least 50 mm into the concrete so that u can thread the block over the reo . The easiest method is to lay your outside skin first leaving ties at 600 centres to where your pier will be so you can lay the pier against the wall when bringing it up , before concrete filling all but the top most brick and laying that one after filling. Hope that helps ,regards

----------


## want2learn

I've just finished my carport to garage conversion.  One thing i learnt was to makre sure your height includes a door as you''ll end up with a lower door and not very functional for higher 4wd.  If you like i can post some pics up later.  My carport had 6 steel post which we then removed and bricked up under the carport strcuture with a side walk door and window.  My photos may help.  Let me know and i'll post them up.

----------


## Cin

want2learn, 
I would really like to see photos of your carport to brick garage conversion. I'm heading down the same path soon and would like to see how others have done it...

----------


## want2learn

> want2learn, 
> I would really like to see photos of your carport to brick garage conversion. I'm heading down the same path soon and would like to see how others have done it...

  Not a problem i'll post them up sunday morning.

----------


## fosil

want2learn 
Thanks for the advice. 
I'd love to see some photos, especially of how the pillars/piers were done. The council seems to want specific details on how I'm to do this. 
(ps attached is a snap of my carport) 
cheers

----------


## want2learn

Here's a few snaps of my carport to garage.  Still a bit to go and also the landscaping around but it worked out pretty well. Once side i used plaster/cement sheeting in between the colums as its going to be a black and white chequered feature wall with a few motoring bits of mine.  Let me know if you have any questions.

----------


## want2learn

Here's the other side of the garage

----------


## fosil

want2learn I can't see the pics and would love to

----------


## zacnelson

G'day want2learn, that's a fantastic garage, did you do the bricklaying yourself?  With the wall under the window, I noticed it's double brick.  Is is cavity brick or are the bricks right next to each other?  Also, do you only put mortar on the bottom and ends of the bricks, or do you also put mortar on the long side of the bricks where it sits next to the inside of the outer leaf of bricks?  (I hope my question makes sense!)

----------

