Brickwork damage above window lintel

[rreanor]

I'm looking at renovating a georgian property, however the external walls have some cracks in the brickwork particularly above the door/window lintels.

After some research, it appears that these are caused by the lintels not adequately supporting the brickwork above. Not sure why lintels would suddenly fail, are they not meant to provide proper support?

It appears these can be fixed/arrested by inserting high tensile beams (twistfix) between the brickwork (by removing the mortar) to provide more adequate support.
Is this correct?

I will get a full survey done if i decide to buy the property, however if its a costly non-starter from the get-go then i may not bother.

See attached image which highlights the cracks.

 

[KenGMac]

rreanor, good evening.

OK several things.

1/. Yes you can effect a really solid good repair to lintels that fail using "Helifix" systems [good videos on their web site] the systems do actually work very, very well.

2/. Have you been inside the property?if so are there any internal cracks anywhere internally? especially near where the external cracks [that you can see at present] are situated?

3/. Do you know if the property is sited on "Shrinkable clay?" A good web site to determine this is "i-geology" that is the BCIS web site, worth finding? just down load and pop in the postcode.

4/. If the building is on shrinkable clay? then the presence of the shrubbery and a tree that close to the building is not a good omen?

5/. The image posted is good. but? cannot be zoomed in on without the image deteriorating to the point that it is pixilated.

6/. Did you have a really good look around the externals? if so were there any other brickwork cracks at lower levels?

7/. Were there any indications of pooling / ponding water externally?

Sorry I have posed more questions than any answers, but if you read between the lines it can be seen what to be looked for?

Ken.