No Lintel Over Patio Doors - Not On Survey

cwcw

The house we bought has a set of patio doors in a single storey, flat roof extension. They're about 1.8m wide. The extension is decades old but the doors, uPVC, were put in around 5 years ago.

Recently I've noticed one of the doors is catching when it closes and has reached the point where, once open, it is very difficult to shut. From the outside, there is no lintel on the external brick wall, so the top of the doorframe is supporting around 3 rows of bricks and the flat roof. I can't say if there is a lintel on the inside wall as it's plastered and painted. There's no evidence of cracking, but the frame sits in the outer leaf of bricks.

Although we've not been in the property long, it could just be that we have both doors open much more than the previous owners did and the frame is starting to bow under the weight. I can't say whether the lack of lintel is a problem though, or if it's something else catching, not sure how to tell.

Does this sound like a normal set up (i.e. a uPVC frame supporting a few layers of brick) or should a lintel have been installed?

Also, if the lack of lintel is the issue, do we have any grounds to go back to our surveyor for not mentioning this at all? It was a full buildings survey and the lack of lintel from the outside is obvious. I had asked him to pay particular attention to the extension roof too, since I'm not a fan of flat roofs.

G_M

Ask on a building forum eg DIYNOT

Southend1

Could just be heat expansion if you've noticed it recently in the hot weather. My upvc patio doors don't quite shut properly when the sun is directly on them because they expand in the heat

Furts

You mention the original opening is decades old. Then it was normal practice for the door frames and window frames to be solid timber and to not have a lintel above. They were load bearing.

It has been well known, since the concept of replacement windows came in circa 40 years ago, that this is a problem.

Equally, throughout this period lintels should have been built in to enable replacement windows and doors to be installed.

These are fundamentals of good building practice. there will always be specifics and exceptions, but hopefully this helps.

Also, be aware many lintels from the earlier decades were not as todays and not visible.

martinsurrey

just because you cant see it doesnt mean its not there...

http://www.condell-ltd.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=44

as you can see, they are designed to be invisable.

I say heat expansion in the current hot weather is making it dificult to open.

simples.

societys_child

It could have something like the this which doesn't show on the outside.

Edit: martinsurry beat me to it . . .

DominicJ_2

Me too
Big stone / concrete lintels are now a design feature rather than structuraly relevent

cwcw

Ok. I guess if the door stops sticking in the winter again then it can be put down to heat expansion then.