My 14 course basement masonary wall (above grade) has two 4ft. by 3ft. non working casement windows. The mason left a hole in the block and the window was installed without a masonary header. There is a large cathedral great room above this. Is this an oversight or problem? Should I have them change it?
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Did you ask him what he did for a header or see what he put in? He may have installed a bond beam.
A bond beam is formed by taking the first course, sometimes two, above an opening and laying bond beam blocks instead of regular blocks. The blocks typically extend 8 or 16 inches beyond the opening. Bond beam blocks have sides and bottoms only; the top and ends are open. If you look at one from the end it looks like a U. When the blocks are laid, steel rebar and concrete are placed in the channel formed by the block, forming a beam of steel reinforced concrete the length of the lintel. But, from the outside it looks like regular block.
If the block over the window has a slightly different texture or color than the rest of the wall that's an indication that he used a different block there, but doesn't guarantee that they were, in fact, bond beam block, nor that rebar was used.
It could also be that the sill for the wood framing was framed to act as a header for the opening, but that's less likely, and would have required coordination between the two trades. It would not be the preferred way of doing it.
You'll have to ask the mason, or the general contractor might know because he should not have gone ahead with the framing without knowing the wall was completed properly.
Waynel5
Thanks for the info. The wall is not framed and it is obvious that they did not do a bond beam either. I meet with the GC in the AM. I am sure his answer will be "that is how we always do it". I am paying cost-plus. I cannot see any spec on the blueprint for this. Should I demand this be corrected? Who should pay? Can it be corrected at this point? The second floor with a large cathetral is overtop this wall.
They do it right before they get paid.
BTW, it's masonry. The masons get offeneded by the word masonary the same way the cemnet workers like to avoid the cemetery.
;)
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If the print shows the window but doesn't call out any lintel or reinforcement, then you have a weak position with the builder. Then your real gripe would be with the building designer. Often, though, with stock plans you get a "foundation by others" note which means the plan designer is not responsible for foundation plans. Then it comes back to you.
If your builder is knowledgeable you should be able to trust his opinion. I can't say for sure whether it should be corrected or not because I don't have enough specific experience with openings lacking reinforcement.
If you wish to work something out with him, be willing to compromise. You still have a long way to go and you need to maintain a good relationship. Say, for example, you provided the plans. He followed them, and they did not call out any reinforcement. A reasonable compromise might be for you to pay for the change, but he forgoes his markup. There are any number of ways to work it out if you wish to make the change, and it depends somewhat on what specific design details were agreed to, or neglected to be agreed to, ahead of time.
Anyone else out there with some thoughts?
what do the plans call for? was there a header built in the box beam ?