House of Pain- timber lintel above the front door. Looked a bit poor but not disastrous- then I found the timber above the soldier course (above the lintel) which is acting as a sort of sole plate for the first floor joists was totally rotten, as were a couple of the joist tails
No big deal- prop the 1st floor joists, rake out mortar under soldier course, pull old 4" x 4" lintel out (in bits if necessary), slap in nice new 100 x 73 steel lintel, pack up, sort shoddy sole plate, mortar it all up and run away. (This assumed the outside face is like the rest of the place, brick wedge type affair lintel or maybe a 2nd bit of 4 x 4)
However, in reality the door lintel is unlike the windows. This appears to be a 4" x 9" laid flat. It also appears to be totally rotten- the inside face looked OK but drilling into it reveals rotten wood after about 2 inches
Question is, will I get away with pulling all this rotten timber out and inserting a 2nd 100 x 73 steel lintel (to support the outer skin) without propping the outer skin first. There's a load of decorative woodwork in the way which I'd have to lose to get any props anywhere near (I may have to lose it anyway if the rot has gone through from the lintel to the frontage but it looks half decent & I'd prefer not to disturb it just yet)
Photos following in a min when I've got them off my phone
EDIT Forgot to mention- solid walls (well solid ish) lime mortar built early 1800s
No big deal- prop the 1st floor joists, rake out mortar under soldier course, pull old 4" x 4" lintel out (in bits if necessary), slap in nice new 100 x 73 steel lintel, pack up, sort shoddy sole plate, mortar it all up and run away. (This assumed the outside face is like the rest of the place, brick wedge type affair lintel or maybe a 2nd bit of 4 x 4)
However, in reality the door lintel is unlike the windows. This appears to be a 4" x 9" laid flat. It also appears to be totally rotten- the inside face looked OK but drilling into it reveals rotten wood after about 2 inches
Question is, will I get away with pulling all this rotten timber out and inserting a 2nd 100 x 73 steel lintel (to support the outer skin) without propping the outer skin first. There's a load of decorative woodwork in the way which I'd have to lose to get any props anywhere near (I may have to lose it anyway if the rot has gone through from the lintel to the frontage but it looks half decent & I'd prefer not to disturb it just yet)
Photos following in a min when I've got them off my phone
EDIT Forgot to mention- solid walls (well solid ish) lime mortar built early 1800s
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