Cellar window without lintel / cold front room...

[Poolio90]

Afternoon all,
Bit of a newb at all this
Have been wondering why my front room's so cold for a while, I have a cellar and recently insulated between the floor joists, but not much has changed. Anyway I was looking at my cellar window yesterday and noticed that the lintel only spans the inner course of bricks, the second course just seem to hang there and the gap between the two courses (about 4/5cm) is just open.
1) How bad is it to have an unlintelled course of bricks (about 5 wide)
2) Could this be a cause of the cold
3) What should I do?

Can I just seal the gap between the courses with a piece of wood / filler / expanding foam??

I've attached an image in case you can't picture what I mean...

Drafty Cellar

• Poolio90
• 2 Nov 2011
• 1

X-Section of unlintelled outer brick course and cellar

 

[DAZB]

I would look into why there is no lintel and maybe check if it is a thin steel lip because modern lintels are not as obvious to see in some cases. Secondly i would certainly fill the void with insulation as it will keep the cavity warmer and eliminate the draught.

 

[Poolio90]

Aha - a flat bottomed arch...

Untitled

• Poolio90
• 5 Nov 2011
• 1

That'll be why there's no lintel

Still got a chuffing great gap betwixt the courses - was gonna try to put a load of expanding foam up there, but you need to hold the can upside down (i.e. you can't squirt it up!) so reckon I can just shove a load of loft insulation into the gap?

Untitled

• Poolio90
• 5 Nov 2011
• 1

 

[JohnD]

you need to hold the can upside down

yes you can

and you can use the plastic hose on the nozzle to direct it where you want

It will be neater if you tape plastic over the gap, and inject through a few holes in that. pushing the plastic tube through, otherwise the foam might drip out before it is set.

but I am surprised you have an old looking house with a cellar, yet possibly also a cavity wall. How wide is the cavity? Are there any headers in the bickwork?

 

[mointainwalker]

but you need to hold the can upside down (i.e. you can't squirt it up!)

Some are but you can also buy" multi-directional" ones.

 

[Poolio19]

Cheers chapses, the "cavity" is 2"/5cm at maximum, was thinking of shoving some carrier bags into the hole (perhaps partially filled with the foam?!) - to see what happens... I think that this one of the major areas of cold influx into the house.

We've been advised we can't have cavity wall insulation as the gap generally isn't big enough, to receive the fill, but there's a small gap nonethless which is an access point for cold and draughts that needs sealing.