Wall opening

My house was originally two houses that share a common wall — a terrace house. One side has a single floor with an attic that can be converted into living space. The other side has two floors, but with little attic space. When I bought the property, one had to step outside to move between the two sections. The solution was to open the common wall between the two sides. One problem was that the floor levels between the two varied by more than 60 centimeters (about two feet). I hired a mason to do the work, because this was way outside my pay grade. The project took about three weeks to complete. I'm very pleased with the results. I handled the installation of the tile, which was quite complicated because the adjoining rooms are not square with each other. Below are several more photos detailing the project.

The mason works on demolishing the common wall between the two sides of the house.

Another angle showing the debris that accumulated during the demolition of the wall.

The mason used rocks gleaned from the pile of rubble to fashion the edges of the new opening. He used only a rock hammer and chisel throughout the project.

I put up curtains so one half of the house could remain unheated when not being used.

Angled oak boards help create the transition between the two lintels. Rebar and concrete fill the cavity behind the boards.

Although it looks like you would bump your head on the lower lintel, there is actually enough clearance for a 6-foot 5-inch tall person because the steps descend at the same rate as the lintels.

It's amazing how many rocks were in that opening. The pile was easily the size of an old VW Beetle.

Workers install one of two oak lintels that were needed to support the upper portion of the wall, as well as the ceiling joists.

New floor tile where it meets the tile on the steps between the two halves.

The pointing was done with traditional lime and sand mortar.