Destroyed lintel with a drill what now?

[Halfaudio]

What sort of steel lintel was it , had it been rustproofed ? Was it over an internal opening or in an external wall ? Sensible questions I hope you agree.
Stick around to learn

More than sensible. I am not fully sure.. it looked like a rolled steel section lintel.. a steel beam with much wider lower part for inner and outer brick leaf

Makes you wonder how much structural strength the original had, if merely drilling it broke it

Yes well i was surprised myself. BUT it makes sense because the steel bars inside are rusty thus expanding and making it more prone to crack after a few years..

What do you intend using for fixing into the oak lintel ?
p s oak is obviously a more durable (and expensive ) material than the timber most people on here will be referring to when discussing structural timber in building which is usually stress graded softwood .

Well i am going to put wooden blinds like all the rest of the house. They are heavy and you can add screws as much as you need the best obviously turbo gold screws no pilot hole needed ever.. I dont think 100£+ for and oak beam/lintel is bad honestly.?

The point I'm making is that timber elements are only used where there is no possibility of dampness. If the wall is damp to the point where an inner timber lintel decays, then there are more significant problems than lintel decay.
There are millions of older pre-1914 houses with solid walls, and with stone lintels or brick arches externally, and timber lintels internally.

Like i said the house is bone dry including the brick walls i have to liberally spray water a few times to get the mortar in there otherwise it was drying straight away and cracking. Bricks say Castle and few forest on top looks to be good quality bricks with original lime mortar still surprisingly good and looks to be moving with the house..

 

[Leofric]

Tannic acid in oak can corrode fixings, stainless steel screws are recommended , A4 316 stainless steel marine grade woodscrews into pilot holes drilled in oak .

 

[Halfaudio]

Tannic acid in oak can corrode fixings, stainless steel screws are recommended , A4 316 stainless steel marine grade woodscrews into pilot holes drilled in oak .

I had no idea.. Can you find that acid only in oak? Honestly i have never heard of it.

 

[tony1851]

I had no idea.. Can you find that acid only in oak? Honestly i have never heard of it.

He's right. Oak can destroy steel and iron fittings due to the acid - that's why oak members were traditionally joined using oak dowels.

(If using oak as a lintel, make sure it's fully seasoned; 'green oak' will warp and twist and might cause cracking in the brickwork).

 

[securespark]

old school way is my preferred way.

Me too. I like timber lintels, proper T&G floors (none of this sheets of chip malarkey), copper soldered pipe not plastic push fit, etc.....

 

[EddieM]

Me too. I like timber lintels, proper T&G floors (none of this sheets of chip malarkey), copper soldered pipe not plastic push fit, etc.....

Eee!, Diphtheria, smallpox & rickets, them were the days! (I am joking BTW!)

 

[securespark]

Aye, they were, bring back the old days, that's what I say!

 

[Nige F]

Bugger the old days - now you get up in a cherry picker with a cordless sds and fix a downpipe to a concrete pillar on a block of flats. Then (1972) I was up a ladder with a rawlplug tool and a 240v "hammer" drill (on a site ) struggling like the apprentice that I was.

 

[tony1851]

Bugger the old days - now you get up in a cherry picker with a cordless sds and fix a downpipe to a concrete pillar on a block of flats. Then (1972) I was up a ladder with a rawlplug tool and a 240v "hammer" drill (on a site ) struggling like the apprentice that I was.

You're giving your age away!

 

[Leofric]

Me too. I like timber lintels, proper T&G floors (none of this sheets of chip malarkey), copper soldered pipe not plastic push fit, etc.....

Don't complicate the issue with types of flooring, soldered copper pipes etc , it's hard enough sorting the lintel out

 

[Leofric]

Honestly i have never heard of it.

Quite well known in building that oak is acidic , ​

just search on internet - fixing in to oak - various hints and tips ,but the gist is what I stated earlier and as tony1851 confirmed.

 

[Halfaudio]

Tannic acid in oak can corrode fixings, stainless steel screws are recommended , A4 316 stainless steel marine grade woodscrews into pilot holes drilled in oak .

He's right. Oak can destroy steel and iron fittings due to the acid - that's why oak members were traditionally joined using oak dowels.

(If using oak as a lintel, make sure it's fully seasoned; 'green oak' will warp and twist and might cause cracking in the brickwork).

Wow hold your horses then what about oak stair case that i was going to make myself i have to watch out from that as well then?

Me too. I like timber lintels, proper T&G floors (none of this sheets of chip malarkey), copper soldered pipe not plastic push fit, etc.....

Hell yes all the way i just love to make my life harder and spend more money on proper stuff

 

[Halfaudio]

Just an update for clueless people out there like i was.That was a lot easier than i initially thought its gonna be. Work was done in a couple of hours with my helper Ian big thanks to him. The plan was to go with the oak lintel but upon order there was a mess up and so on so we canceled the order and my helper showed where to get good concrete lintels and that eventually were delivered with wickes truck hi said there are a lot of companies that go under one big company and that is Travis Perkins! It was fine with me because the price was right quality seemed to be good and delivery was as promised so we rented out 3 strongboys one was faulty (welded) not important i got my refund... a bit of mortar and my self made platform where to stand and whoala

 

[mattylad]

Nice.
However - is that softwood being used as a lintel for the outside bricks?

 

[Halfaudio]

Ahh no there is another concrete lintel on the other side that softwood in the middle is just there to fill the space in between them as it was before. That would be crazy to use that as a lintel hehe