General Information.

With the increased use of hardwood and plastic window and doorframes it has become common practice to leave openings in the brickwork and the frames to be fitted at a later date.

If mistakes are made it can be a costly exercise to cut away brickwork to fit the new frames.

The following two methods as show in fig 2a & b, can be used to eliminate error.

A pinch rod is a length of timber cut to the length of the proposed window frames plus a small tolerance.

As the brickwork is plumbed on each course the pinch rod is held in place to ensure the opening is not reducing or expanding.

Timber frames are constructed to the size of the proposed frame. They are braced at the corners to ensure they remain square. Of the two methods this one is the most accurate.

On large frames a strut may be required to prevent the sides of the frame bowing in.

Where openings are left in walls they should be plumbed on the reveals and on the face of the wall. The line will ensure alignment of the to of the arris of a course but will not provide true vertical alignment at reveals.