Opening Widening Questions Checklist

Measure the existing opening roughly at the finished edges, note where you measured from, and label it as your own rough note rather than a dimension for anyone to work to.

A rough note lets everyone talk about the same opening, while making clear that proper measurement is somebody else's responsibility.

Note how the top of the opening appears: a flat head, an arch, a visible timber, a boxed line above, or a plain plastered surface with nothing showing, and photograph it straight on.

What is visible above an opening is one of the first things an engineer looks at, and photographs taken before anything is stripped are the most reliable record.

What you can see above an opening does not tell you what is doing the work there; only a qualified structural engineer can establish that.

Look for signs the opening was added after the building was finished: different skirting, patched plaster around the reveals, a change in floor finish across the threshold, or mismatched architrave.

Openings formed later are often built differently from original ones, and the traces are usually still visible to anyone who looks for them.

Note how deep the reveals are, whether the wall seems thicker or thinner at the opening, and whether a frame or lining is built into it.

Reveal depth affects how the finished opening will look and how much making good spreads into each room.

Note whether the current door closes properly, catches on the frame, or has been eased at any edge, and write down when you first noticed it.

How a door sits in its frame is an observation an engineer may find useful, and it is much harder to describe accurately from memory later.

Photograph the opening from both rooms, including the ceiling above it and the floor across the threshold, with something ordinary in shot for scale.

Photographs that include the surroundings answer questions the close-up shots never do, particularly about levels and finishes.

Mark where each new edge would sit using low-tack tape on the wall and floor, then live with the marks for a while before deciding anything.

Openings almost always look different in the room from how they look on paper, and tape is the simplest way to find that out before anyone commits.

Note what each proposed edge runs towards: a room corner, a return wall, a staircase, a window reveal, a chimney breast or the end of the wall itself.

What happens at the ends is usually the deciding factor in these conversations, and it is the part owners tend not to describe.

Photograph each proposed edge with a tape measure in shot showing how close it comes to the nearest corner, without deciding what is or is not acceptable.

A photograph with a tape in it lets an engineer see the relationship immediately and ask better questions before visiting.

Consider whether widening in one direction only would keep clear of something significant, and write that down as an option to put to the engineer.

Asymmetric widening is often overlooked because people picture the opening growing evenly from the middle.

Note what the floor does across the threshold: a level change, a threshold strip, different finishes in each room, or heating within the floor build-up.

A wider opening exposes more of the join between two floor finishes, and the join is where the result looks either resolved or unfinished.

Note whether the wall containing the opening is shared with, or built up against, a neighbouring property.

Where a wall is shared, other households and other paperwork enter the conversation before design work is worth doing.

A wall built against or shared with another dwelling brings a separate process with it; ask your local authority what that process is before designing anything.

Write down what is in the room directly above the opening, particularly anything fixed and heavy sitting near that line, and photograph the floor area concerned.

What sits above is part of the picture an engineer builds, and it is quicker for you to note than for them to discover on the day.

If the wall has an outside face, note whether a window, door or other opening sits above or near the line of the proposed widening on that elevation.

Openings stacked above one another change the conversation, and the outside face is the one owners rarely photograph.

Note which way the floorboards or ceiling boards run across the opening, and record the observation as something to be interpreted by someone qualified.

Direction is easy for you to observe and difficult to establish later once floors are covered or ceilings are lined.

If the opening is on the top storey, note what the roof does above it and whether the loft over that line is boarded, converted or used for storage.

Roof arrangements above an opening are frequently the reason a straightforward request becomes a more involved discussion.

Note any boxed-in downstand, bulkhead or dropped ceiling near the opening that may relate to earlier work, and photograph where it starts and stops.

Existing supports from earlier alterations often sit close to the opening being discussed, and where they end matters.

Note every switch, socket and outlet within reach of the proposed edges on both faces of the wall, and photograph them in relation to the tape marks.

Switches beside a doorway are almost always in the way of a wider opening, and moving them affects both decoration and daily use.

Record any radiator, pipe run or heating control near the opening on either side, and note where the pipes disappear.

A radiator that has to move takes its pipework with it, and that often involves floors in a room nobody expected to disturb.

Note whether cornice, coving, picture rail or a dado runs across the wall above or beside the opening, and photograph how each one currently terminates.

Decorative runs that stop at a wider opening look wrong unless somebody decides in advance how they should end.

Photograph the skirting and architrave profiles at the opening and note whether they appear original, since matching them again is a decision to make early.

Older profiles are frequently no longer available in the same form, and finding that out late forces a rushed compromise.

Record alarm sensors, thermostats, entry equipment and any cabling clipped near the opening, noting what each belongs to.

These items usually sit exactly where an opening wants to grow, and each one has a different person responsible for moving it.

Note the age of the property and the type of finish around the opening, and write down a question about whether anything present needs specialist handling before disturbance.

Older buildings contain materials that are perfectly stable until they are disturbed, and that question belongs at the start rather than mid-project.

If materials of uncertain type may be present, ask a suitably qualified surveyor to advise before anything is stripped, cut or removed.

Decide and record whether the wider opening keeps a door, and note what you rely on the current door for: heat, noise, cooking smells, pets or privacy.

The reasons a door is closed are easy to forget when picturing an open space, and every one of them returns once it is gone.

If sliding or pocket doors interest you, write down where the door would sit when open and ask what such an arrangement needs from the wall it slides into.

Where the leaf goes when open is the question that decides whether the idea is workable in a particular wall.

Note which spaces the opening connects, such as a room adjoining a stair, a garage or a kitchen, and record a question about what local requirements apply to doors between them.

Requirements differ depending on what sits either side, and the answer belongs to the local authority and qualified professionals rather than to a checklist.

Requirements for doors between certain spaces vary by location and building; confirm what applies with the relevant local authority and a qualified professional.

Note which way any retained door swings and what sits behind it when open, since a wider opening usually changes both.

A door that used to disappear against a wall can end up standing in the middle of a route once the opening moves.

Write down how the opening is used daily, such as carrying trays, moving a pushchair or a wheeled bin, and note anything at the threshold that catches.

Daily use tends to test a proposed width more honestly than a drawing does, and only the household is in a position to describe it.

Decide and record whether you want to explore a flush ceiling across the opening or would accept a visible downstand, and note which matters more to you.

This single preference shapes most of what follows, and stating it early lets an engineer say quickly what each version would involve.

Note whether you want square plastered edges, returned reveals, or the opening to match the detailing of other openings in the room.

Edge detailing is what makes a new opening look either original or obviously new, and it is decided far too late in most projects.

Check whether the head heights of other doors and windows in the room line up, and note whether you want the wider opening to align with them.

Misaligned heads are the detail people cannot name but tend to notice anyway, particularly when two openings are seen together.

Note whether the room has a consistent joinery style that the finished opening should follow, and photograph the least altered surviving example of it.

A photograph of the original detail is more useful to whoever makes the replacement than any written description.

Note where light currently falls in each room and write down where lighting would be needed once the opening is wider and the rooms read as one.

Lighting layouts drawn before the opening is agreed usually end up wrong, and rewiring after decoration is the worst time to discover it.

Note what happens to the floor where the existing jambs stand, since that strip will be exposed once they are gone.

The floor under a doorway is frequently unfinished or patched, and it becomes visible the moment the opening grows.

Leave the tape marks showing the proposed edges in place for the visit rather than tidying them away beforehand.

Marks on the wall let a discussion happen in the room rather than in the abstract, and they prompt questions a drawing does not.

Put your photographs, rough notes and a simple sketch with the room names into one folder, dated, so nothing has to be described from memory.

A single organised folder is worth more than a long conversation, and it stays useful when other people join the project later.

Write down what anyone has already told you about this opening, who said it and when, and keep it separate from what you have observed yourself.

Separating hearsay from observation makes the record trustworthy and stops second-hand remarks being treated as findings.

Nothing you have been told informally about the opening is a structural assessment; treat it all as material to check with a qualified structural engineer.

Ask what may need to be opened up above the existing opening before a firm view is possible, and who would arrange and make good that work.

Investigation is frequently required at this exact spot, and knowing that in advance prevents the project stalling at the first visit.

Do not remove architrave, plaster or lining above the opening to look for yourself; that work belongs with people able to support what is above.

Ask what you will receive after the visit, in what form, and who each document is intended for, such as a builder or the local authority.

An owner who does not know what is coming cannot tell that something is missing until a builder asks for it and nobody has it.