Next on the list is making a hole for the garage door and now I have a very big pile of bricks. I’ve started building the sides of the opening back up.

The wood screwed to the wall on either side of the opening is to hold a string line so I can keep the bricks level. The bricks at the bottom were carefully positioned using spirit levels and a square. I’m using a long piece of wood to line everything up to the bricks below the lintel so the opening hopefully ends up straight.

I spent a lot of time trying to find a curtain garage door that would work with the available space behind a tie beam and ended up with a Seceuroglide Compact door. I think there must have been a slight bow in the original wall when I first measured up as there was 10mm less space than I expected.

It’s been a bit painful to fit as the tie beam reduced access for drilling and screwing – I had to disassemble the curtain box and bend the top up for access. It should work out neatly – the curtain box will be almost completely hidden by the tie beam.

Lifting the curtain into the guides was an easy job for two people (thanks Anna). I still need to wire in the control panel but for now I can wind the door up and down manually.

The job is about finished apart from a good tidy up. The rest of the gable could do with repointing but that would be better done later in the year when it is cooler.