Lintel failure?

[Jeff Beck]

This has me puzzled.

The step crack starts at the upper left hand corner of the window and goes up to the right about 6 or 7 courses. At first I thought that it was a lintel about to fail or one that has already failed.

But there is the repair to the left of the window. (2nd picture - the larger tuckpointed line that runs to the left of the window.)

I put a level on the area below the repair and for the most part it's plumb.

The area above the repair slopes away from the framing starting at the repair and going up at a rate of almost 3 degrees.

There was no sign of moisture damage around the window on the inside and according to the real-tour there hasn't been any remodeling done.

I've already called for a masonry contractor to investigate but I'm interested in learning more about what could have caused this, and more importantly what else I should have looked at.

Thanks,

Jeff Beck

Foresight Inspection

Could this be a bigger problem than a bad lintel?

Click to Enlarge

71.28 KB

Click to Enlarge

57.33 KB

[kurt]

Looks like basic lintel jack to me. The repair looks like it could be Type S which is just about the worst thing you could do to it; brittle, water resistant, etc. It cracks out in millions of little capillary pathways that suck water into the lintel area, then hold it there because it's water resistant.

It's not going anywhere fast, but if there's any involved decorative elements mixed into the wall, like neo-classical stone stuff, you want to fix it asap 'cuz it'll muck up the pretty stuff really quick.

Got a better establishing shot? What's the joint look like?

[Jeff Beck]

Kurt,

Thanks! I was hoping that you'd reply.

The mortar is probably type S. It seems very smooth and doesn't appear to have that sort of chunky look that a mortar with a lot of lime in it has. The grout line appears to be almost a inch wide. Looks like someone slathered it on and then struck it quickly, then went for Miller time.

Click to Enlarge

77.1 KB

The establishing shot didn't turn out. (Some idiot moved the camera [:-paperba). Here's the only other shot that I have.

Click to Enlarge

76.2 KB

The repair is between the front door and the left most window. It runs from the top of the door to the window.

The client wanted to know how much the repair would be. I could only tell him that it wouldn't be cheap.

I did tell him to call Mario or John Machnicki to see if they could refer him to a mason in the Hoffman Estates area. I don't have anyone that I felt comfortable in referring.

Is it unusual to have the upper portion of a veneer wall lean away from the structure like that? It must lean at least 3-4 degrees.

Thanks for the help!

Jeff Beck

[kurt]

The joint is wide because the lintel jacked everything up, and the "repairman" just filled the larger gap with mortar. I'd bet a dime they used S because it's "structural".

On that house, it doesn't mean much other than someone's going to be stripping the brick to replace the lintel.

[kurt]

The client wanted to know how much the repair would be. I could only tell him that it wouldn't be cheap.

I'd guess a few grand. Decent workmanship with no problems about $2400. General rule in Chicago is around $1000-1400 per lintel if you're doing the whole building, $2000-2500 if you're only doing one.

Is it unusual to have the upper portion of a veneer wall lean away from the structure like that? It must lean at least 3-4 degrees.

Jeff Beck

Missed that part last time.....what do you mean by that? Leaning brick veneer ain't right.....

[Mike Lamb]

I've priced this problem many times around Chgo. the last few years and a new flashed lintel would run about $800 or less for a single window. You can call and get some ballpark prices easily over the phone.

When steel rusts, it expands or very slowly explodes. it won't get better. Might be a good time to also replace those old windows.