will the downstairs window be load bearing

sdoll80

Hi there, can someone help me who knows about the installation of upvc windows. Can you tell me if this downstairs window would be a load bearing window - see first picture. The downstairs property to mine has had a 3 window bay installed without a bay pole assembly and I now have cracks around my internal walls and ceiling upstairs. Can anyone give me some advice. Please. Don't know how this would be remedied - I know nothing about windows other than what I have had to look up. & the job hasn't been registered with fensa.

Sorry, dont know how to find a pictures url - the property is 2 flats, the downstairs and upstairs have a 3 window bay windows with tiles between

stuart45

Sounds like it needs to be put right. The tiles are probably on a timber frame rather than masonry.
This has been quite a common problem in the past with replacement plastic bays in the past done without
poles.

FreeBear

What FENSA have to say -

Bay windows should always be treated as load-bearing even if the load seems small. It should be supported by suitable bay poles that rest on either a fully reinforced cill (the reinforcement should be under the pole), steel spreader places having passed through the cill or onto a jacking pole system. The top of the pole should be tight to the structure above with steel spreading plates in-between. The poles should be carrying the whole load (not just point loads). It may be necessary to use steel or leave the head in place to carry any centre loads.

If your fitters have failed to use adequate supports, then they need to come back and do the job properly.

I'm guessing that the property is a 1920s-1950s build ?

As this is a flat, it would be a leasehold property ?
In which case, you need to get on to the freeholder (or management company) and lodge a formal complaint. It is in their best interests to get the problem fixed promptly.

A lot of houses built post WWI were constructed with a lintel to support the inner leaf of the cavity wall and the window frames would support the outer leaf. If uPVC windows are installed without a new lintel being installed, the brickwork slowly collapses above the window.

Even as late as the 1970s, some builders were still constructing openings without any proper lintel and expecting the window frames to support the brickwork - Had this with my garage built in 1976. Fortunately, it was fairly easy to jack up the flat roof an inch or two and insert a concrete lintel.