Architects needed

[Branlutteur]

Hey guys,

I'm all new here, so I hope I'm not posting somewhere wrong; if it's the case, don't hesitate to let me know and move the topic.

Here's my problem. I need to split a pretty big room in 2 halves and I feel like doing it the cool way: with lego bricks. The wall would separate what is now both my living room and my sleeping room. The walls here are white, and the furniture is black with a modern look. On one end of the wall to build, there's a start of wall, as if there already had been a wall before and it had been taken down but not on its entire length. The wall would need to be 3.50x3.00x0.09 (in meters), and with a double door (or something that can act as a door, sliding or not, that's two regular doors wide).

Some details:

_I can use the starting [real] wall to stake the ensemble from one side

_Since the wall would be 3.5m high (or about), and since the double door space doesn't need to take the entire height; so the other side could hold thanks to the other side, staked by the real wall

_Also helping: just like the stake wall, there's a bit of the former wall that still hangs down from the ceiling; so the whole wall can be staked from the top, too.

Here's the deal:

_I have no idea where/how to get the bricks... Should I say enough bricks. What's your advice please?

_How much do you guys think it'll cost me to build?

_Not sure how to make the double doors; any ideas? Sliding stuff, etc... Any idea's welcome!

Any cool ideas on how the entire thing should look like is welcome too! Imagining replaceable bits of wall, or building actual massive bricks with smaller bricks... Things like that.

Thanks!

[Tamamono]

Wait-you plan to build a full size wall out of LEGO?

[JopieK]

I think would or gypsum would be a more effective and cost friendlier way :) the idea is nice of course, but...

you might want to ask this guy ;)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1214729/James-May-size-Lego-house-wants.html

[Branlutteur]

Wait-you plan to build a full size wall out of LEGO?

Yeah, you got it.

3.50x3.00x0.09, in meters.

:D

I think would or gypsum would be a more effective and cost friendlier way :) the idea is nice of course, but...

you might want to ask this guy ;)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1214729/James-May-size-Lego-house-wants.html

Seriously guys, I said I want to build a wall out of lego bricks! I specified: because it's cool!

Now, down to Earth (as if), if you think it won't come cheap, just tell me how much you expect it to me, plz. I'd love to know. IF indeed it was going to be over a grant (in USD), I'd probably rather go for a real one...

Thanks

edit: Btw, the bricks don't necessarily need to be from the LEGO trademark if they're that more expensive...

Edited March 28, 2011 by Branlutteur

[Peppermint_M]

So this is just a partition? LEGO bricks instead of Drywall?

LEGO isn't very good at load bearing (they sort of glossed over the principals used for the afore mentioned house). A single lego brick that is one stud by one stud:

You then need to multiply by two and four for the standard classic brick. I would advise it as a cladding over a real partition wall, not to build an actual wall out of it.

[davee123]

Honestly, I'd recommend a thin wall frame made from wood, and a LEGO facade. LEGO, while cool, may have issues when you (say) lean on it. While it's possible to build a solid LEGO wall that's sturdy enough to do the job, I'm not sure it would be practical.

Similarly, I'd recommend you don't use LEGO as a door mechanism. It might work fine for the first few months, but my guess is that some of the elements would start to wear out, fall apart, or otherwise. And doing repairs would be very difficult, especially if the mechanism is hidden behind the solid wall.

Another thing to watch out for is discoloration. LEGO (especially white, blue, gray) has a tendency to discolor and turn yellow/brown after exposure to sunlight and UV. And it does so differently for each element. So even though you might have a wall full of 2x4 bricks that start out the same color, you might have one piece that's still pristine white, and another that's almost tan in color after months of being in direct sunlight. There are treatments to RETROACTIVELY remove the yellowing, but I'm not sure how expensive that would be in bulk, and would probably be annoying to apply regularly (depending on how much UV light you'd be getting).

Another thing to check on is fire code. Here in the USA (not sure about elsewhere) there are a lot of regulations regarding fire safety, and a door (or wall) made out of LEGO might be an issue. A great source to check into is Top Gear's James May and his LEGO house. They had to jump through a lot of hoops in order to build a "temporary structure" out of LEGO.

As for a source of LEGO, it may be tricky. By a quick calculation, I get that you'd need roughly 68,432 1x4 bricks (2x4 bricks would be identical) to do both facades, and that's not including any bricks connecting them together, or door mechanisms. Cost-wise, I'd guess that would be around the $5,000 USD ballpark depending on your source. If you don't care about color consistency, you could probably get it much cheaper ($1,000 ballpark), just by hunting down the cheapest sources of multi-color standard brick.

If you ARE planning to build a door out of LEGO, I'd probably go for a sliding (hanging) door design rather than anything that swings out. Most of the stress on a swinging door would probably be up at the top, and the door would be pretty heavy. A sliding door could distribute the weight more evenly along the top, I would think.

DaveE

[Branlutteur]

Oh cr*p, 5 grants?!

Ok guys, I'm truly sorry, that whole topic has become meaningless since I can't afford it and it's less practical than a real one. Add the other issues, there's no point.

I do appreciate your help though!

:/

[davee123]

Now, down to Earth (as if), if you think it won't come cheap, just tell me how much you expect it to me, plz. I'd love to know. IF indeed it was going to be over a grant (in USD), I'd probably rather go for a real one...

Yeah, this isn't a project you'd do to save money. This is a project you do if you're rich and have money to burn on something cool. Under $1000 USD is unlikely, unless you want to do a lot of legwork re-selling LEGO.

In theory, you could do that if you buy LEGO secondhand (usually very cheap), remove the bricks you wanted, and then re-sell the OTHER bricks online. You'd probably even turn a profit, since most people actually don't WANT the standard bricks. ... But on the downside it might take you months to acquire the necessary bricks, and MORE months (even years) to make your money back, not to mention the amount of legwork involved in being a brick seller.

edit: Btw, the bricks don't necessarily need to be from the LEGO trademark if they're that more expensive...

I don't think anyone here can answer that. There isn't as developed of a community around other brand bricks, so there aren't a wide variety of easily accessible routes for getting bulk bricks. For LEGO, hobbyists have many avenues open like Pick-A-Brick at retail stores and Legoland theme parks, LUGBULK (for those that qualify), and BrickLink. For things like MegaBloks and Best Lock, there just isn't a sizeable hobbyist community to look for bulk options. From what I know, it's mostly second-hand via eBay.

DaveE

[Branlutteur]

Yeah, this isn't a project you'd do to save money. This is a project you do if you're rich and have money to burn on something cool. Under $1000 USD is unlikely, unless you want to do a lot of legwork re-selling LEGO.

In theory, you could do that if you buy LEGO secondhand (usually very cheap), remove the bricks you wanted, and then re-sell the OTHER bricks online. You'd probably even turn a profit, since most people actually don't WANT the standard bricks. ... But on the downside it might take you months to acquire the necessary bricks, and MORE months (even years) to make your money back, not to mention the amount of legwork involved in being a brick seller.

I don't think anyone here can answer that. There isn't as developed of a community around other brand bricks, so there aren't a wide variety of easily accessible routes for getting bulk bricks. For LEGO, hobbyists have many avenues open like Pick-A-Brick at retail stores and Legoland theme parks, LUGBULK (for those that qualify), and BrickLink. For things like MegaBloks and Best Lock, there just isn't a sizeable hobbyist community to look for bulk options. From what I know, it's mostly second-hand via eBay.

DaveE

Thanks Davee...