Hi ya'll, As luck and rather poor timing would have it, a house we've had our eye on for a while has been listed for sale. The property has structural issues that I'd like a ball park figure as to how much it would cost to fix. It's a double story beach shack that has brickwork for hte lower story and is cladded up the top. The bricks over the lower story windows are sagging - no lintel by the looks - and the mortar looks like it's disappearing. It looks like it's over 2 or 3 of the doors and windows. Does anyone know if this will require stabilisation of the whole house to fix, or will it be fairly straight forward? We're not too concerned as long term we'll knock it down, but we would need it to last 5 yrs or so and would like it to not fall down in that time. it looks a bit like this, but over the window -
You could prop and put in lintels. Not a huge job. Does it have the diagonal crack like the photo? Or just dropping? Dropping likely due to no lintel. The diagonal is a bigger problem
No lintels? Wear a hard hat if you dare go near that place. OHS issue for sure. I recently sold a a unit that had brickwork damage very siimar to that picture. My view was sinking foundations and/or sagging balconies.
Ok. I'm an engineer. Freebie time... Very likely due to no lintel. Of your going to rent then knock down I suggest the following Timber (structural rated of course) 3x1.5 will do to keep costs down. sit under the bricks where a lintel should go. Then 3 vertical timbers to prop the new lintel, each end and middle. Get some spray paint and match the window frame colour. Job done!
Very unlikely to be a lack of a lintel, possibly undersized or rusted out - (if there was no lintel, then the window would be bearing the load - not something that it is designed to do). Piccy required.
The open is tomorrow - I'll take a pic then. It's pretty obvious, but being beachfront i imagine it might be completely rusted away if there was one there to start with.
Make sure when you are at the open you just stand and point at it in horror so it scares the other buyers off.
Looking at that pic, there is a lintel above the window. The crack direction and brickwork jutting indicates rotational/lateral movement of the house
That's not the actual house - because the house I'm looking at is beachfront, I suspect the lintels have completely rusted away. The mortar is also fretting (something new I've learned) so it may be a pretty huge job.
The old piece of quad lintel. She'll be right! Has you hubster got a high lift jack? Lift the bricks back up then prop and diy lintel The fretting can be patched with mortar.if your certain is going to be knocked down in 5 years or so it should be ok
If those are the actual bricks, then it does not look like much, I dunno if Bob can see a lintel, I can't, well not a real one anyway. How long has it been there already ? cause it will probably last way past the 5 years your talking of
It's been there since the 60's judging by the facade - we decided not to proceed, timing not quite right. It was under offer within the week though, it was an amazing spot.
For future reference, a lintel replacement is not a big deal - pretty quick and not expensive. It scares people off, though, so that's good. I have one at home in my warehouse that I need to do. I might take some photos if I do it.
