If you've got cracks fanning out above a window or door in your brick wall, there's a good chance your lintel is failing. Lintels are the steel angles or stone pieces that support the masonry above openings. When they rust, sag, or crack, everything above them follows.
Steel lintels are the most common type we replace. Water gets behind the brick, reaches the steel, and starts the rust process. Rust expands — steel can swell to several times its original size as it corrodes. That expansion pushes the brick apart from inside the wall. It's a slow-motion disaster.
We replace failed lintels throughout the Grand Rapids area — Heritage Hill, East Grand Rapids, the older neighborhoods where buildings are 80-100+ years old and the original lintels have been rusting for decades. But it's not just old buildings. We've seen lintels fail on 20-year-old homes where poor flashing caused premature rusting.
Lintel replacement is one of those repairs that looks scary but is very manageable when you know what you're doing. We shore up the masonry above the opening, remove the old lintel, install a new galvanized or stainless steel angle, and rebuild any damaged brick. When we're done, you can't tell the work was done.
Don't ignore cracking above windows and doors. Left alone, a failed lintel can cause the brick above the opening to collapse. We've responded to emergency calls where sections of wall came down because a rotted lintel finally gave out. It's much cheaper to fix early.
See cracks above your windows? Call (616) 612-1284 for an evaluation. We'll tell you if it's a lintel problem and what it'll take to fix it.
