Creating a door opening in an apartment - in a partition or a load-bearing wall

Why a new opening is made

A new door opening is usually wanted to make a walk-through room separate, to enter the kitchen from a different side, or to connect two rooms without removing the whole wall. Sometimes the old opening is bricked up or closed with plasterboard and the new one is made next to it. In every case the most important thing is the type of wall, not the size of the opening.

An opening in a non-load-bearing partition

Non-load-bearing internal partitions are part of the apartment owner's property. Simplified renovation means improvements to part of a building without changing the load-bearing structures, and for an apartment in a second- or third-group building a construction notice with a plan of the room group is submitted in BIS before the work starts. The regulations do not have a separate type called “replanning”, so the most suitable type for a particular job can be recommended by the designer.

In a plasterboard partition, the opening is made by cutting the plasterboard and placing profiles at the sides and top of the opening. In a brick or concrete partition a lintel is needed above the opening, chosen according to the wall material.

An opening in a load-bearing wall

A new opening, a reconstruction or the removal of an opening in a building's load-bearing structures is a simplified reconstruction. An explanatory memorandum is submitted to the building board, with the structural solution for the opening and an assessment of its effect on the overall strength and stability of the building. The Riga municipality states that an architect and a structural engineer with a construction practice certificate take part in the work: they inspect the wall, carry out the calculations and develop the solution for the opening.

Load-bearing walls are common property. If the building is divided into apartment properties, the opening needs the consent of more than half (50% + 1) of the apartment owners, recorded for example as a general meeting decision or a voting record. The work may start only after the building board's mark that the conditions for starting construction work have been met.

Work in order

1. Type of wall From the building's design and, for a load-bearing wall, a structural engineer's inspection.
2. Documents A construction notice or explanatory memorandum in BIS, consents where they are needed.
3. Lintel and opening According to the solution, the place above the opening is reinforced first, then the opening is cut or chiselled out.
4. Edges of the opening The edges are plastered or clad so that the door frame has a flat place to sit.
5. Door The door frame and leaf are installed, then the trims and skirting boards.
6. After the work The owners update the cadastral survey file.

What to decide and what to write in your request

• In which wall and how wide an opening you want. It is better to choose the door size before the opening is made.
• Whether the old opening stays or has to be closed.
• The building series or year of construction and, if you have it, the apartment plan.
• What is on both sides of the wall, including the sockets and switches in it.

If approval is needed, write this in your request. For more on documents see approval of apartment reconstruction.

How much does creating a door opening cost?

Creating the opening: price by estimate. It is determined by the wall material and thickness, whether the wall is load-bearing, what document is needed and whether a structural engineer's opinion is needed. After the opening is made, interior door installation usually follows, from €100 per door (doors separate), and wall plastering from €8/m². Prices are for labour. Materials are calculated separately in the estimate.

Replanning documents and approval: price by estimate. An exact estimate can be made after seeing the apartment.