Cracked concrete lintle above upstairs window

chubsta

Am having house re-rendered and the guy doing it has said that there is a crack in the lintle above an upstairs window - we have been able to see a crack running down the wall towards it for some time, not massive and it is just in the render which has been removed but he says the lintle itself has a crack. He says that if it was his house he would just render over the top as the crack is small but we don't want any problems a couple of years down the line should the crack open and cause issues with our lovely new render.
So, question - I know it is vague but roughly how much to get the lintle removed and replaced? There is already scaffolding so access is very easy. Unfortunately I don't know any bricklayers and as the wall needs to be rendered I don't have a lot of time to get multiple quotes - the render guy says he knows someone who may be able to fit it in so really im just looking for a rough estimate so when he turns up I know whether the quote is reasonable.
We are on the south coast near Dover.

stuart45

What size is the lintel? Is it a cavity wall or 9 inch brickwork?

chubsta

thanks for the reply, 3 foot window, solid wall so guessing 9 inch brickwork.

stuart45

It's probably half a day's work for a bricklayer and labourer. 
Have you got a photo of it?

chubsta

stuart45 said:

It's probably half a day's work for a bricklayer and labourer. 
Have you got a photo of it?

Hi, he came round yesterday, needs a fair bit of work to replace loose bricks up to the roofline (about 5 feet to an angled roof - clearly when we removed the old render there were cracks/loosening), job involves acrows to support while work is being done, replacement of all bricks and fitting of new lintel so sounds good to me. Said it would be a days work for two guys, he will give me a full quote on Monday but reckoned it would be about £550 plus materials which sounded fair to me, certainly less then we were fearing, particularly as we have a renderer working on the outside of the house who doesn't want to be delayed. Renderer, who had done a fantastic job on the front of the house, recommended the bricky so hopefully all will be well.

Thanks for the replies - although its more work then you suggest, half a day for a simple replacement vs a full day to do brickwork above too seems right so appreciate your input.

stuart45

£550 sounds like a fair price to me. If the plasterer is a really good tradesman, the odds are that his mate is a really good brickie as well, as in general good tradesmen tend to know other people who are good, even if they are a different trade.