Making a New Door Opening in a Brick Wall
Process, Lintel & Cost (2026)

When a new doorway makes sense

Owners cut a new doorway for all sorts of reasons: to give a bedroom its own door into a bathroom, to link the kitchen to the yard, to turn two small rooms into a suite, to give an elderly parent a shorter route to the toilet, or to create a second way into a room that is being rented out. Sometimes the old doorway is closed up at the same time.

It is a small opening compared with removing a whole wall, but the same rules apply. ClickBina's wall hacking guide sets out the first question for any opening: is the wall carrying load, or is it only a partition?

First: what kind of wall is it?

The hacking guide's approvals column is the source for the first rows: a non-structural brick partition needs no council approval but does need JMB or MC approval in a condo, while a load-bearing wall needs a professional engineer, the council and, in a condo, the management. If there is any doubt about the wall type, the guide's advice is to have a professional engineer confirm it in writing before any hacking.

What to check before anyone cuts

• What is above the opening. A beam running just above the new door head changes the job; so does a floor or a water tank sitting on the wall.
• Pipes and cables in the wall. Switches and sockets beside the planned opening usually mean conduit running through it, and a wall next to a bathroom may carry water pipes.
• What is on the other side. Built-in wardrobes, tiles or a kitchen cabinet run on the far face all have to come off and be put back.
• The floor on both sides. Different tiles or floor levels meet in the new doorway and need a threshold or transition strip.
• Door swing and furniture. Mark the door width and the arc of the leaf on the floor of both rooms before deciding the exact position.

For a sense of size, ClickBina's grille door guide notes that a standard full-height door opening on a terrace house is about 3 ft × 7 ft.

Why the lintel matters

ClickBina's lintel guide explains the principle: a wall is a stack of load, and when a hole is cut in it that load has to go around the hole. The lintel is the short beam across the top of the opening, bearing on the wall at each side. Without one, the load finds its own way down through the door frame and the brickwork above, and the result is cracks above the corners, a sagging head and a door that binds.

In a non-structural brick partition, the lintel is usually reinforced concrete, either precast and set in or cast in place. What size it is and how far it bears on each side are decisions for whoever designs the job; in a load-bearing wall they are an engineer's decisions, as the lintel guide makes clear.

How the opening is made, step by step

1. Confirm the wall type and get management approval (condo) or engineer's drawings and approvals (load-bearing wall).
2. Protect both rooms, and clear furniture, cabinets and fittings from both faces of the wall.
3. Isolate and reroute any wiring or pipes that cross the opening.
4. Mark the opening, including the lintel bearing on each side, and prop the wall above where the design calls for it.
5. Cut the edges cleanly and remove the brickwork, working down from the top.
6. Install the lintel over the opening and let cast concrete cure before loading it.
7. Fix the door frame plumb and level in the opening, then plaster and skim the reveals and patched areas.
8. Finish the floor in the doorway, fit skirting and architraves, hang the door and paint.

ClickBina's doors and windows guide makes a practical point about the frame: it should be set plumb and level in the opening before the wall is plastered, because an out-of-square frame is hard to correct once the plaster is on.

If the wall is load-bearing

A load-bearing wall can often still take an opening, but it is a different job. The hacking guide describes it: the opening is possible only with drawings stamped by a professional engineer and a beam or lintel designed for the load, and the floor or lintel above is supported before the wall below is removed. The lintel guide lists the engineer's assessment and drawings, and the lintel or beam itself, as separate items.

Do not let anyone skip the engineer to save money. A doorway cut into a load-bearing wall without the right support can crack the walls above, and in a strata building it is a breach of the building's rules as well.

Wiring, pipes and the old doorway

Most internal walls in Malaysian homes carry something. Sockets and switches may need to move to the side of the new door, which is an electrical job in its own right; ClickBina's power points guide covers adding and moving sockets. If the new doorway replaces an old one, the old opening is closed with brick, plastered and skimmed so it disappears into the wall, and the floor where the old doorway was is patched to match.

Floor, skirting and finishing details

The details that make a new doorway look original are all at the edges. The reveals (the short return walls inside the opening) need straight, square corners. Floor tiles or flooring from each room should meet in a neat line under the door, with a threshold strip if the floor levels or materials differ. Skirting is cut back and returned into the reveals, and the whole wall is repainted, not just the patches, so the repair does not show.

What a new door opening costs

A new doorway is priced as several items. These are the related prices published on ClickBina's guides (indicative 2026, Klang Valley).

Wiring changes, closing an old doorway, floor transitions and moving built-in carpentry are extra and depend on what is in and around the wall.

Common mistakes

• Cutting the opening with no lintel, or with the door frame expected to carry the wall.
• Assuming a wall is a partition because it sounds hollow or looks thin.
• Starting in a condo before the management has approved the works.
• Forgetting the conduit in the wall until the grinder finds it.
• Placing the door where the swing blocks a wardrobe, a switch or another door.
• Patching only around the opening instead of repainting the whole wall.

How ClickBina can help

WhatsApp us your job details for a quote: which wall, what is on each side, what is above it, whether it is a condo or landed house, and the door you want. ClickBina is an experienced KL & Selangor contractor for whole-house refurbishment and trade coordination, so the hacking, lintel, wiring, plastering, flooring, door and painting are planned as one job. Where the wall is load-bearing, the first step is an engineer, and we will say so. We reply within the hour, and the price we agree is a flat price with no hidden charges. A site visit is RM150, waived if you go ahead.

Sources & methodology

• ClickBina lintel guide — what a lintel does, new openings, the engineer's role, and lintel and make-good prices.
• ClickBina wall hacking guide — load-bearing versus partition walls, approvals and hacking prices.
• ClickBina bedroom door replacement guide — door supply and install price.
• ClickBina grille door guide — standard door opening size.

How we estimated prices: every RM figure on this page is quoted unchanged from the ClickBina guides named above; they are indicative Klang Valley ranges for 2026.