Guttering replacement exposed interior (rotten)wooden lintel.

SmallL

Hello

I had originally contacted a company to replace my leaking guttering in november, it was delayed until today.

I came home to find the interior lintel directly below the guttering exposed and the remnants of plaster scattered on the floor (about a dinner plate size out of the plaster has been knocked off).

The end of the lintel that's been exposed looks rotten (woodlice seem to be crawling around it!),but there has never been any damp internally to indicate this. Its worth noting that approximately 12 months ago the windows were replaced.

Is the tradesman we used to replace the guttering obliged to re-plaster the area exposed?
Would you recommend the lintel be replaced?

Cheers!

docmatt

Do you mean guttering and fascia, and when the soffit/fascia has been removed it’s exposed the lintel?

It’s difficult to picture what’s going on, can you post some pictures?

Ectophile

I'm not sure plastering over rotting wood is going to be anything other than a short-term fix. Especially if the woodlice are still munching away at it.

SmallL

https://imgur.com/coUG0oF

Grenage

Is the wood dry? How far does a screwdriver go when pushed into the wood? I assume the guttering is being replaced because water was going against the wall?

You can't really blame the guttering folks for plaster coming away from the wood; in fact I'd probably remove all the plaster around the lintel for inspection.