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I'd like to knock through an internal, 8cm-thick wall in order to install a door. The door will be sliding, and the sliding rail will be drilled into the wall above the opening.

I know lintels are mandatory for load bearing walls, but what about non load bearing ones? For only 8 cm thick walls, are they advisable? All of the concrete or brick lintels available in my nearest hardware stores are minimum 11cm thick, which means it'd overhang the opening by 1.5cm on each side -- which would make it look weird. I could potentially use Knauf's UA door lintels made from metal, but they're more designed for drywall.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated. I've attached a photo of the wall material and a partial floor plan.

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  • How do you plan on supporting the sliding door without a header (lintel in your terms). You don’t show the direction of your ceiling Joists. most doors are not that tall. And I think it would look weird with just a track screwed to the ceiling. – Ed Beal Aug 20 '20 at 17:20
  • The ceiling joists run parallel with these wall. In terms of the sliding rail support, that's a great point -- but I think the remaining wall (made out of concrete it looks like) would be okay in supporting the rail. Do you think a lintel is required? – hohner Aug 20 '20 at 17:38
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    How wide is the opening for the door? I think you'll need a lintel to keep the wall above the door from sagging and cracking. Metal lintels seem to be popular in the older brick buildings around here, they can be retrofit without removing much material. – batsplatsterson Oct 11 '20 at 9:36
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If you're certain the wall is not supporting any load other than itself, you could over cut the opening and fasten in a wood jamb, with double 2x header (bear the header on the vertical jambs). Although a non load-bearing wall would likely be fine without a header, it's still supporting its own weight and you will want something to fast your door to.

How do you know it's not load bearing? Is there framing spanning above it? Could you remove the entire section of wall up to the underside of floor/roof structure and frame out the section with wood, including the door?

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