I took the plaster off from above the old front door which is now a
living room window. There is not lintel holding up the inner half of the
wall - wall is solid 9", 150 year old end terrace. Outside there appears to
be a lintel above where the old door was - there is a painted stone(?)
block and two smaller blocks either side of the door near the top,
supporting this.

What should I do?


In the same downstairs front room I've discovered the end of one of the
ceiling joists is rotten. It's the joist nearest the side/gable wall, and
runs front to back.
To replace it I could;
1. cut the lath and plaster ceiling along the adjacent joist and remove
the strip of celing under the rooten joist and up to the adjacent joist
2. remove front bed floorboards etc.
3. replace the joist - will it fit easily?
4. fit a bit of wood along the bottom of the adjacent joist and use this
and the new joist to attach plasterboard.

It's a bit of a flaff cos I'd loose the original plaster of Paris cornice
and I'd have to repaper the whole ceiling etc. I'm sure inserting the new
joist will be fun too!

Any other suggestions will be very much appreciated.

Thank you,
Neil