Lintel Repair – South London

Newman’s have been carrying out Structural Repairs to various properties built above shop fronts in order to regenerate and bring back to life the high streets as part of the Greater London Funding (OLF) scheme.

The scheme was created by London’s councils in order to bring people back to the high streets and into new areas of London that tourists may not usually visit. This particular project was next to Earls Court underground station in the middle of the high street.

We were instructed by the council to carry out a Structural Repair Survey to 11 properties on the high street prior to the commencement of their regeneration scheme in order to advise and provide detailed reports of the necessary repairs and produce a repair specification and estimates for the works.

The building is a 4 storey building constructed in the late 1800’s with 13 inch solid walls and was suffering from cracking which was caused by Lintel Failure allowing the masonry above to drop and rotate putting the building’s structural integrity at risk.

Lintel Failure is a common structural defect in properties of this type and Newman’s regularly repair and reinforce masonry that has failed due to Lintel Failure. Using Modern Methods of Masonry Repair we can restore the structural integrity without the need for disruptive and costly remove and rebuild methods.

Newman’s installed over 200m’s of Twistfix helical bar in order to create masonry beams within the bed joint which in effect creates load bearing lintels above the existing lintels so that they do not need to be removed and rebuilt.

As well as Lintel Failure the pointing was in a poor state of disrepair which was caused by weathering of the mortar. With the mortar being the original used when the property was built it is of no wonder that after 120 years of wind and rain it had failed.

Newman’s always carry out deep bed Repointing and remove the mortar to a depth of 45mm and inject a 30mm bead of thixotropic grout which will stabilise the brickwork and bond the masonry providing a repair that is very strong under compressive loads yet flexible so still allows the masonry to move. The stabilisation grout is then Re-Pointed to match the existing, but in this case the client wanted the new pointing visible so that the repaired areas could be seen.

As well as Structural Repairs and Repointing we had to remove the balustrade from the balcony and install new lead flashings along with coping stones due to the balustrade being unstable and moisture penetrating into the top flat. Once the Structural Repairs had been carried out we decorated the front elevation providing an aesthetically pleasing and lasting stabilisation scheme.

Newman’s have been awarded another 8 similar projects within the borough and the case studies will follow.

Newman’s can help to diagnose structural defects, cracking and movement by arranging a free Structural Survey, contact London and the south East’s leading structural repair specialists for Help, Advice and peace of mind Call 0333 444 0154 or Email info@newmans.com