No lintels above windows

vic_sf49

I had the same ingress of water. 

After I did sone emergency repointing of cracks in my back wall, I've now discovered the problem is the roof. D'oh. 

I didn't think to run a hosepipe over the offending wall until after the fact. Window is fine - no water. Wall is fine - no water. But when I spayed the edge of the roof tiles, water got in.

The mortar along the edge of the gable end roof is very corroded, with lots of bits missing. I'm waiting on a chap to quote for adding cladding along the roof line / tile edge. 

I hadn't considered the lintel issue. I definitely have lintels on the inside, but the outside is a row of vertical bricks. I might still go with the cladding option first though, depending which builder replies / advises me first. 

thearchitect

FreeBear said:

Note for the OP - There is no DPC above the window. You'll find a DPC just above ground level to stop damp traveling up the wall from wet soil around the house. You may also find a strip of felt between the inner & outer leaf around the door & window reveals if the builders used bricks to close the cavity.

I'm afraid that's incorrect - a polymer DPC is typically included around the cavity closing in traditional masonry construction.  This is to minimise the risk of dampness bridging to the inner leaf and/or affecting the rear face of timber door or window frames.  At the head a preformed cavity tray is sometimes used instead.

stuart45

Years ago before cavity closers, we normally used 6 inch Hyload DPC.
There was normally a groove in the frame to tack it to, and being a higher quality DPC it could be bent into the masonry easier than felt.
18 inch was used for the trays.

FreeBear

thearchitect said:  I'm afraid that's incorrect - a polymer DPC is typically included around the cavity closing in traditional masonry construction.  This is to minimise the risk of dampness bridging to the inner leaf and/or affecting the rear face of timber door or window frames.  At the head a preformed cavity tray is sometimes used instead.

In terms of a waterproof membrane inserted in a horizontal mortar joint to stop moisture wicking upwards (which is what most of us think of when a DPC is mentioned), my original comment stands. As part of a vertical junction around a cavity closure or across the head of a window/door as a drip tray, yes, felt (or other waterproof material) was often used - I have a bitumastic felt up the sides of some of the window/door openings here.

stuart45

I have seen slate used as well for the Vertical DPC.

thearchitect

FreeBear said:

In terms of a waterproof membrane inserted in a horizontal mortar joint to stop moisture wicking upwards (which is what most of us think of when a DPC is mentioned), my original comment stands. As part of a vertical junction around a cavity closure or across the head of a window/door as a drip tray, yes, felt (or other waterproof material) was often used - I have a bitumastic felt up the sides of some of the window/door openings here.

Exclusively called DPC in the construction sector, I'm afraid.  I can't comment on what lay people call it!  

But on a serious note, bitumen felt can turn brittle with age and shouldn't be used as a DPC, even around openings.  Leadcore dpc is another matter, but the bituminous felt therein isn't necessarily the key bit.

akira181

A lintel in my mothers house cracked and I got the local builder to sort it.  He placed some temporary supports cut a slot in the sides and put in a small steel beam to support it.  I don't think it was a proper way to do it but it was a couple hundred quid and hasn't shown any signs of movement in the past few years.

stuart45

DPC is known as Damp on site. You would tell the Hoddie to get you a roll of 4 inch damp, rather than a roll of 100mm DPC.

Swasterix

stuart45 said:

Swasterix said:TLDR- no lintels above windows- how much to install?

Probably a couple of grand. Depends on the size of windows and how good the facework needs to look after.
Usually have to prop the brickwork and remove some brickwork, before installing lintels etc and rebuild. 
Get plenty of quotes.

Just to bring this thread to a close, in case anybody stumbles upon it in the future....

Received 4 quotes for the work ranging between £600-£3k - so best advice received was to get plenty of quotes!! Work has now been completed. Took the lads a day to complete, and there was no real disruption with the exception of a bit of dust/debris to hoover up. 

Thanks to everybody who chipped in.