No Lintel, wall cracks

[razaidi]

I'm getting some refurbishment work done on a 1930s house. I'd noticed a crooked doorframe but whilst removing deteriorating wall plaster, it turns out that the door was installed without a lintel. Either that or other historic subsidence has caused some cracks in the wall around the door.

What's the options to address this?

 

[Alastairreid]

Not uncommon to build on door standards in those days.
I would put a precast concrete lintel in..depending if the floor joists are resting on that wall will determine the size of lintel.

 

[endecotp]

Are those blocks from the 1930s?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Not uncommon to build on door standards in those days.
I would put a precast concrete lintel in..depending if the floor joists are resting on that wall will determine the size of lintel.

To my eye, it looks as if the door frame, and the masonry above it, has remained well-supported, but the masonry to the right of the door has somehow dropped.

 

[jj4091]

I tend to agree with Harry and would be looking for movement below the floor level, as you say historic subsidence.

 

[razaidi]

Are those blocks from the 1930s?

I'd suspect they're a later addition as the rest of the internal walls are brick work

 

[razaidi]

I tend to agree with Harry and would be looking for movement below the floor level, as you say historic subsidence.

I was thinking so too as we're in an area with higher subsidence risk. Just that the frame is visibly lopsided going to the right and the door top has been shaved to align with the slanting frame made me think the crack could have arisen because of inadequate support.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I was thinking so too as we're in an area with higher subsidence risk. Just that the frame is visibly lopsided going to the right and the door top has been shaved to align with the slanting frame made me think the crack could have arisen because of inadequate support.

I thought the lopsided frame, was a trick of the photo. In that case - it was either built like that, or both the masonry, and the frame have dropped on the right.

 

[Scally-Ho]

Going by the chamfer on the door at the top, I'd be inclined to look at the floor to see how that has behaved over the years.
Is it a solid or suspended ground floor or is this upstairs?

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I reckon you've opened a can of worms here.

I suspect it's a much later wall and has been built on top of the floor boards and joists. The part to the left of the door is reasonably firm, but the rest has sagged.

It possibly needs to be removed, the floor reinforced and replaced with a lighter stud wall. But first establish exactly what it is...

Is there a supporting wall beneath it? Either on the floor below, or a wall below the floor if it's the ground floor.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Also need to check what it is supporting above too.

 

[razaidi]

I reckon you've opened a can of worms here.

I suspect it's a much later wall and has been built on top of the floor boards and joists. The part to the left of the door is reasonably firm, but the rest has sagged.

It possibly needs to be removed, the floor reinforced and replaced with a lighter stud wall. But first establish exactly what it is...

Is there a supporting wall beneath it? Either on the floor below, or a wall below the floor if it's the ground floor.

This is a first floor room. I've shown the problem area in the floor diagram.
1) Crack in wall marked with red arrow
2) The two block built walls (shown in amber) possibly rest on the 1st floor joists (no supporting wall or beam that I can see), so could be the reason for sagging.

Will be opening up the floorboards to find out!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

2) The two block built walls (shown in amber) possibly rest on the 1st floor joists (no supporting wall or beam that I can see), so could be the reason for sagging.

 

[noseall]

This is a first floor room. I've shown the problem area in the floor diagram.
1) Crack in wall marked with red arrow
2) The two block built walls (shown in amber) possibly rest on the 1st floor joists (no supporting wall or beam that I can see), so could be the reason for sagging.

Will be opening up the floorboards to find out!

Take it out and replace with a stud wall.

 

[robinbanks]

Edit: found a pic in another thread that answers most my questions about the plan..

If the same clowns that built a concrete block wall on timber joists did the extension which involved knocking the downstairs back wall out, I'd have serious misgivings about the quality of support offered to the upstairs wall where the extension was added. Have you seen any indications of problems there?