Does this single garage lintel sound sensible?

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Hi
I currently have a lintel that is D230mm x H160mm

It across a single garage.
It has cracked and needs to be replaced.

The builder has said he cannot get a lintel that is 230mm Deep.

He therefore proposes to bolt together TWO 115mm deep timber posts.

The lintel has nothing above it. However, it will have a too hold a roller garage door.

What do you guys think? Will Two 115m deep posts, bolted together, hold a roller garage door?

I'm under time pressure here, this builder has turned up and is racing through stuff.

Thanks
 
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Its a big span for a 6 1/4 timber.
Others will be along shortly with more input.
 
A crack in a concrete lintel does not mean it must be replaced. Has it been condemned by a suitably qualified assessment/person? If it is at risk, cant the crack be plated with a strip of angle iron?

If a lintel is 160mm deep, why would it be replaced with not only inferior timber, but timber that is less deep and therefore inherently less strong? Why not two or three 175 or 150mm timbers bolted together?

115mm is not enough
 
OK thanks.

I suppose the query I have is that the Lintel is holding nothing up.

The only thing above it is a small area of the flat roof.
There is also a rafter directly behind the lintel.

The load on the lintel is therefore very small.

I don't know why the lintel was so large when constructed.
 
Clarify - existing lintel is timber? How wide are the proposed timber posts?
but - working on the basis that the the lintel was c16 timber the load that the lintel could take and limiting the deflection to less than 1/360 would be 5kn/ m run of lintel
Assuming the post is 160 wide x 115 deep (and it is C16 rated?) then one could take 0.6kn with limiting the deflection to less than 1/360, two could therefore take 1.2kn( this assumes that bolting them together does not make them act as one monolithically which since they have a slip plane between them they can't.) So on the whole the proposal can only take about a quarter of the original load , and even less if the post is only 115 wide. He could use the posts for hitching his horse to.
 
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OK thanks.

I suppose the query I have is that the Lintel is holding nothing up.

The only thing above it is a small area of the flat roof.
There is also a rafter directly behind the lintel.

The load on the lintel is therefore very small.

I don't know why the lintel was so large when constructed.

It's not holding nothing up, but a flat roof, part of a pitched roof and a roller shutter going by your comments.

How much is a "small area" of flat roof?

How much pitched roof is on the rafter?

Perhaps the lintel was so large because it needed to be?

The nature of timber lintels is that they move seasonally. So would a door hung off such a lintel bind seasonally?
 
Hi,

It's only a flat roof. Nothing else above it.
(There is no pitched roof)

The garage door actually does not hang off the lintel, instead most the weight is on the vertical wall either side of the opening.

Load on that lintel is therefore very limited.
 
LOL its like trying to knit fog

it will have a too hold a roller garage door
The garage door actually does not hang off the lintel

Only holding up a small amount of roof
How much is a "small area" of flat roof?

There is also a rafter directly behind the lintel.
(There is no pitched roof)

Also how much does 400mm of snow weigh?
 
To be honest, a lot of this has come from a roofer turning up, not planning the job at all and basically flying at the seat of his pants.

Firing a bunch of questions at me. Suggesting "solutions" all of which have resulted in this thread.

So, bear with me.

I didn't know what weight from the garage door would be hanging off the lintel - I have since found that out, and as I say, it is minimal.

The lintel is not doing much at all. As mentioned the only thing above it is a small section of Flat GRP roof - roughly 9x1ft, the majority will sit on the 9ft lintel.

Apparently he's now found a suitable lintel and won't be doing the two joists bolted together.

But, given how good the roofer has been to date, who knows how this job will turn out.

Unfortunately, you can check reviews, and this roofer has got a lot of positive reviews, but, it still doesn't guarantee much.
 
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