How to Make an Arched Opening

Quick Column Summary:

• Cut an arch in a doorway framed in brick
• Creating Arched Openings
• Make arched form to hold brick in place

Steve Clake, who lives in England, emailed me on May 26, 2014 with this:

"Tim,

I would like to make an opening for a new door and round off the corners to make it like an arch. It is going to be in a cavity wall with the outside skin in brickwork. No one seems to know how to cut the top bit which is the arch."

Well, Steve, I know how!

I'm surprised when you used the search feature at my website that this past column of mine titled Creating Arched Openings, didn't show up right away.

As for brick work, all you do is make the arched form that's used to create the support for the brick. This form is put into place with vertical supports that will support all the weight of the brickwork.

Leave that form in place for at least a week as the mortar hardens.

This older column of mine about whitewashing has a small photo of two brick arches I created on a job about twenty-five years ago. They were shallow arches, but you can create any radius you desire.

Tim Carter

Tim built custom homes and did ultra-custom remodeling for 20+ years before launching his Ask the Builder media presence. He was selected as one of the Big 50 by Remodeling magazine in 1993. This award gave birth to Ask the Builder in October 1993. Tim also operates https://DrawPlumbingPlans.com. His @askthebuilder YouTube channel was the first home improvement channel on YouTube.