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The lintel of a garage is a load-bearing beam that supports the opening in the framing where the garage door will be installed. This part of the structure is subject to a lot of wear and tear, vibration and weather damage, which may cause it to warp, bend or buckle. If you notice problems with the area above your garage door, it is important to promptly schedule a garage door repair in Bakersfield.
LintelLift Products LintelLift is a patented system created to be installed either during construction to prevent sagging in the future or after a lintel has begun to sag. It is a comprehensive system designed and tested to guarantee a proper and permanent repair of a sagging garage lintel.
Lintel Materials
On older houses and garages, a lintel may be made of wood. Hardwoods such as oak, hickory or walnut were typically used for lintels. Houses and garages built since the 1950s usually use metal. The steel or steel alloy may be coated with zinc in order to add some weather resistance.
What the Lintel Does
Brick Lintel Over Garage Door
The original cause of this masonry problem is generally poor design. There are two common mistakes made that result in a sagging lintel above the garage door. The first is a simple problem of allowing proper expansion or installing lag bolts, and the second is a more serious problem in structural design. Lintel Sagging Due to Installation. What is a ballpark repair cost for a sagging lintel over the garage door? My client is selling their house and the buyer's inspector pointed out 'the overhead garage door lintel is sagging and there are brickwork cracks as a result'. In his opinion the lintel used when the house was constructed in 2008 was not heavy enough. Many garage door/carport openings sag and develop ugly cracks in the brick veneer above the door opening. This problem is almost always caused by an undersized steel lintel, the structural member that supports the building above the door opening.
The lintel bears and redistributes the load from the portion of the garage wall that is above the garage door’s opening. It transfers the weight to the vertical beams that hold it upright. It also provides the upper portion of the frame where the track of the garage door comes down the wall.
Common Problems
Old wood lintels may develop wet rot or dry rot. They may warp as a result of extreme temperatures in a garage that is not heated and cooled. Wood lintels are also prone to pest damage if termites, carpenter ants or carpenter bees enter the structure. Lintels may warp under the heavy weight of a brick wall. Settling of the garage may also increase warping. Metal lintels may corrode over time. If the temperature fluctuates rapidly, the expansion and contraction of the metal may cause sagging and bowing of the lintel. Lintel problems make it difficult or impossible to operate the garage door.
Ask a tradesman
Bricklaying
I've currently got a builder in installing a new window into my garage. Today they came round to cut the window opening. I had assumed that a lintel would need to be installed as this was a new window being put into a wall with a roof terrace above it, but the builder left at the end of the day saying that the blocks used were 're-enforced' (hence it taking a while to do) and that we didn't need a lintel in there after all. This was despite (as shown in the photos below) them apparently starting to cut out for the lintel!
I'm nervous about this as I assumed you always needed a lintel above a window, regardless of what was above it or what the wall is made out of?
I've taken some pictures for reference: http://imgur.com/a/J0KRp
If someone could give me some advice I'd really appreciate it!
Update: Thanks for the responses guys. I've pushed with the builder and he has now installed the lintels into both skins of the wall as he should have, so all is fine.
22 Answers from MyBuilder Bricklayers
Steel Lintels For Garage Doors
Best Answer
25028You are right to be a bit worried. It is standard practice to put lintels in. Is it an attached garage? If it is part of the main house then I would have expected building regs to be involved purely to sign off the new opening especially with the terrace above. Also, was the builder FENSA or CERTASS registered? If not then you may also need to have this signed off by your council's regs team as well - give them a call as there are a couple of issues here that you need to get sorted (does mean you have to pay a fee though).
Louise
UK Property Services
2013-06-12T09:35:02+01:00Louise
UK Property Services
Answered 12th Jun 2013
Garage Door Lintel Detail
25017Lintel Garage Door Installation Ideas
Hi.
Looking at those images it's clear that you need lintels to both skins of that wall. They are normal concrete blocks and have no reinforcement whatsoever, its a load of rubbish what he has said!! He has cut the opening and the blocks have stayed in place so he is going to take a shortcut to make the job quicker.
Chances are that nothing will ever move and the blocks will be fine but professionals don't take risks, they do it properly in the first place and in this case that means installing lintels over the windows. Even if the windows are reinforced I would still be putting lintels in.
Regards,
Rick
Rick
Lintels For Garage Door Opening
2013-06-11T11:05:03+01:00 Answered 11th Jun 2013
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