Existing lintel question
Existing lintel question
(OP)
I have an existing CMU lintel I have to review and it seems to just be a 16" deep bond beam, you can see in the photos they have one at mid height at the rest of the walls and there are vertical applications as well to connect columns to. The steel appears to just be to finish the jamb and header. The width is 12" CMU. Am I off base with thinking that this is just a grouted/concrete beam?






RE: Existing lintel question
BA
RE: Existing lintel question
RE: Existing lintel question
RE: Existing lintel question
RE: Existing lintel question
Gut feeling it is a pour on site concrete beam, maybe you'll neet to do some coring on the underside of the beam to determine amount of steel. Also you need a regular 4" core to determine concrete strength.
I also see the deflection, and not sure if there is a crack.
Cheers
RE: Existing lintel question
Don't core drill anything. Do a bit of percussion drilling to locate and not damage the bottom bars and identify them. You can't just assume a quantity of steel. Concrete strength should not be an issue.
RE: Existing lintel question
Agree with tapping around to find SOMETHING and absolutely agree you can't just assume there is steel. Wouldn't expect concrete strength to control anything as long as the visible concrete appears competent.
Curious about the deflection question. Seems like form sag could be a factor but I think I see "stair step" cracking in the block above the beam that would be consistent with beam deflection. I'd look for flexural cracking at bottom of beam midspan and maybe shear cracking (SCARY)at mid-depth of beam near the ends.