Has this lintel been installed correctly?

Lintelconcerns

I needed to replace a lintel that wasn't properly supported when the last owner added an extension in the late nineties and didn't put in a proper lintel but tried to get away with the old window lintel.

The tradesmen I used removed the old lintel and supported upstairs with acrow props. They then put in a new lintel which they told me was reinforced concrete. Whilst tidying up plastering and painting I've noticed how canted the lintel is and found alarming cracks upstairs.

imgur.cxm/a/2zYo4

Doozergirl

I can't open that, or work out how to fix the link.

Any work of this kind involves a structural engineer to calculate what is needed to bear the load. And then it is inspected and signed off by Building Control.

I presume you didn't employ one? It's very strange to take something that has been in place for over 20 years to do it 'properly' and then not know how to do it properly. The surveyor when you bought must have been requesting the Building Control Approval documents for the extension, no?

LandyAndy

https://imgur.com/a/2zYo4

Lintelconcerns

Doozergirl wrote: »

I can't open that, or work out how to fix the link.

Any work of this kind involves a structural engineer to calculate what is needed to bear the load. And then it is inspected and signed off by Building Control.

I presume you didn't employ one? It's very strange to take something that has been in place for over 20 years to do it 'properly' and then not know how to do it properly. The surveyor when you bought must have been requesting the Building Control Approval documents for the extension, no?

If you replace the x with an o in "com," it should work.

There was no building control for the extension but solicitors in Northern Ireland (I am sure this differs in the rest of the U.K!) have a rule that if something has been standing for ten years without building control they won't require it from the vendor. It won't be an issue on selling the house so I am not too concerned.

As for the work the issue was missed by the structural engineer when I bought the house and when I found the unsupported lintel I specifically choose this tradesman because his father is a structural engineer. Building control did sign off on the work but before it'd even finished! It seems to be that in this area building control often don't actually inspect the work.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]It definitely looks like the upper wall was not properly supported during the work. What do you mean by the lintel being canted?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I think you need to employ a structural engineer to give you an opinion. It may be fine other then filling in the crack upstairs, on the other hand the new lintel may also be defective.[/FONT]

Doozergirl

LandyAndy wrote: »

https://imgur.com/a/2zYo4

Thanks. Of course.

Yeah, you need to call out the structural engineer asap. It is absolutely possible that a small amount of settlement movement occurs above where the new RSJ goes in, but that looks more exciting than it should. There isn't much context to those photos though. Can't see the bearings properly, can't see where the cracks are appearing nor how large they are and can't tell what type of wall is above. Is that the original back wall of the house?

My gut says that it needs an RSJ or two. We don't often get instructed to install re-enforced concrete - usually only inside new build types, never on an external wall. It looks a bit skinny if that's holding a cavity wall!

Furts

I cannot work out context from the photos, but will throw in a thought. Has the drilling and fixing of the new radiator brackets loosened the wall? This appears to be the area of the cracking. So heavy handed drilling, or a dodgy wall? If the wall is dodgy then the question is why is this?

Lintelconcerns

Furts wrote: »

I cannot work out context from the photos, but will throw in a thought. Has the drilling and fixing of the new radiator brackets loosened the wall? This appears to be the area of the cracking. So heavy handed drilling, or a dodgy wall? If the wall is dodgy then the question is why is this?

I wish it was because of the new raditor brackets but the raditor was attacthed to the wall without cauing an cracks before the lintel was repalced.

Lintelconcerns

Doozergirl wrote: »

Thanks. Of course.

Yeah, you need to call out the structural engineer asap. It is absolutely possible that a small amount of settlement movement occurs above where the new RSJ goes in, but that looks more exciting than it should. There isn't much context to those photos though. Can't see the bearings properly, can't see where the cracks are appearing nor how large they are and can't tell what type of wall is above. Is that the original back wall of the house?

My gut says that it needs an RSJ or two. We don't often get instructed to install re-enforced concrete - usually only inside new build types, never on an external wall. It looks a bit skinny if that's holding a cavity wall!

I'll get a structural surveyor straight away but wanted to get an idea of the problem so I can explain my concerns and know enough to understand their response, so thanks for your help!

imgur.cxm/a/3mYhv I've taken some more pictures of the cracks and a crude drawing of where the replacement lintel is. The cracks appear on the wall above the lintel replacement and that wall is indeed an external cavity wall (the original back wall of the house.)

All very frustrating as I've already had to fork out a lot of money to get the lintel replaced after finding that the original one was an unsupported window lintel!