Replies

1. 
   [email protected] | Oct 17, 2011 10:34pm | #1

   You need an engineer.

   I know this isn't what you want to hear, but:  You need an engineer involved. 

   You admittedly, have no idea how the system that is in place is working.  So how do you expect to make an intelligent choice in how to improve, or safeguard it? 

2. 
   DanH | Oct 17, 2011 11:06pm | #2

   It should be possible to estimate the weight of the brick overhead, add that to whatever roof load you have (for which there are no doubt tables), and come up with a figure for the weight the lintel must support.

1. 
   DaveRicheson | Oct 19, 2011 05:01am | #3

   Lintel

   The lintel is attached to a header and supports the brick load only. the header supports the roof load.

   Mike smith got it. The brick yard can spec a 4x? lintel for the span and the five courses of brick it has to support. The overhead door header has to be sized to support the roof load and the brick load. 

1. 
   DanH | Oct 19, 2011 07:31am | #4

   I would hope the lintel bears on the brick at the sides and doesn't need to add load to the header.

1. 
   DaveRicheson | Oct 20, 2011 06:15am | #6

   Load bearing

   That use to be the common method in residential construction. Now it the litel is suppose to be bolted to the header.

   On long spans it was not uncommon to see the undersized lintels sage enough to bow the brick molding. then you would see step cracking in the brick going up and out from each corner of the opening.

   The op has only got five courses of brick above the door (about 12" tall) so it is not a lot of weight (relatively speaking). He needs to specify a lintel for wood frame construction when asking the brick yard to spec one for him, otherwise he might get one that is not drilled for bolts.

1. 
   DanH | Oct 20, 2011 07:48am | #7

   On long spans it was not uncommon to see the undersized lintels sage enough to bow the brick molding.

   However, it's not unusual to see "properly sized" door headers sag, even without the extra load of some brick veneer.

2. 
   DaveRicheson | Oct 22, 2011 06:44am | #9

   Right

   So true. I've seen and worked on quite a few overhead door that have "happy face headers."

3. 
   DanH | Oct 22, 2011 08:38am | #10

   Yeah, when I resided my house I removed the two 2x12s (which were sagging at least an inch) above the double door and replaced them with two microlams.  That cut the sag by a factor of 4.  Then, after lowering the roof down on the headers, I measured the deflection, then jacked up again and shimmed to cancel the remaining sag.  We basically have the only house in the neighborhood where the door header is straight.

3. 
   john_carroll | Oct 19, 2011 08:11pm | #5

   It might be a reinforced brick lintel

   What you have might be sound. You can use reinforcement rods grouted in the brickwork to span openings; this system is called a reinforced brick lintel. For more on this, check out this article:

   http://www.scribd.com/doc/35709894/Lintel-Design-and-Detailing

   Figure 5 shows a reinforced brick lintel in a single wythe of brick. Brick veneer should not be used to carry any load other than its own weight. If you use a steel lintel, it should not be used to carry the roof load and it should not be bolted to the wood frame. The problem is differential movement between the frame and the brick veneer.  

4. 
   IdahoDon | Oct 21, 2011 08:41pm | #8

   I don't see the lintl spanning any distance since it's bolted to the header.  I wouldn't waste the time and money with an engineer for 5 courses of brick - simply ask your supply house what they recommend and I bet it won't be all that substantial since like I said it isn't spanning any distance.

   Steel is relatively cheap and I'd be suprised if you end up with much more than a piece of 3" x 3" x 3/16"  angle iron.

   Cheers

   Don

1. 
   john_carroll | Oct 22, 2011 10:04am | #11

   The lintel should not be bolted to the header

   Because masonry is a fairly rigid material, designers put in specifications to allow for differential movement. In commercial construction, eye and hook steel ties that hold brick cladding to a block inner wythe are used to allow for differential movement. In residentail construction, the difference between the wood frame and the veneer is much greater. The corregated ties typically used in residential construction serve the same purpose as the eye and hook ties in commercial construction; namely to tie the two systems together yet allow for independent movement.

   In in my post above, I supplied a link to an article on masonry lintels. If you go there and look at Figure 7, you'll see that the lintel is not bolted to the frame. In fact,it's an inch away from the frame. The label identifying it is: "loose steel angle lintel carrying veneer wythe."