Replacing damaged lintels in masonry building
Replacing damaged lintels in masonry building
(OP)
I am currently looking at a building where our client needs to replace a portion of the lintels. It's a 3 wythe masonry building The original lintel was constructed of a steel WF beam with a plate welded to the bottom. The interior portion of the lintel is intact, with no corrosion. The outer portion of the lintel, including a portion of the bottom flange of the steel plate supporting the outermost wythe of brick is heavily corroded. The plan is to cut off the corroded portion of the plate and also a small portion of the flange that is corroded and place a steel angle across the opening. There are 2 different sizes of openings on the building, 5' and 9'-6". A L5x3 or L6x4 would work for the 5' opening. The issue is with the 9.5' opening. I'm thinking of placing a L6x4x3/8 angle across this 9.5' opening and welding it back to the web of the original lintel with 6" long L4x4 angles at 24" on center. This will prevent the angle from rotating and then I will be able to use the full strength of the angle. There is approximately 5' of brick above each 9.5' opening, except at the parapet where there is about 8' of brick over the opening. Any other recommendations? How have others approached repairing damaged/corroded lintels in the past?
thanks
thanks






RE: Replacing damaged lintels in masonry building
Could you post a sketch of your proposed repair? I can't quite picture it.
When you cut off the plate and bottom flange, will you have to deal with a stiffness loss causing cracks in the masonry above it?
RE: Replacing damaged lintels in masonry building
Please remember: we're not all guys!
RE: Replacing damaged lintels in masonry building
RE: Replacing damaged lintels in masonry building
Yeah. I worry about the flexibility inherent in that daisy chain of angles.
Could you have a new bottom plate welded on, assuming that the existing is weldable?
It would be great if you could corrosion protect the system for the future somehow but I realize that's a tricky thing.
Another thing to consider is that, no matter what you do, pretty much all of the load is likely to remain on what's left of the existing beam. I'm assuming that there's tie courses in the masonry every so often.
I like to debate structural engineering theory -- a lot. If I challenge you on something, know that I'm doing so because I respect your opinion enough to either change it or adopt it.
RE: Replacing damaged lintels in masonry building
Dik
RE: Replacing damaged lintels in masonry building
RE: Replacing damaged lintels in masonry building
dik, how would the load from brick be transferred to the channels temporarily? I'm not picturing it.
As for Jed's comment, adhesive flashing with a termination bar and proper edge flashing and weep blocks will definitely be specified. it's amazing how they never used flashing for water mitigation back then.