Lintel construction has varied through the decades from very elaborate brick arch lintels to less elaborate concrete lintels.
Edwardian & Victorian built properties often feature very elaborate brick arch lintels and having with stood over 200 years of change many of them are showing signs of failure. One of the most common causes of brick arch lintel failure is the change of a load bearing timber window to an uPVC non load bearing window causing the common stepped cracking that apparent on many buildings.
Lintel Repair
Lintel construction has changed with various methods and materials now in use such as flat soldier course lintels, pre stressed concrete lintels and catnic lintels. They can all fail for various reasons such as changes in structural loads, ground movement, and thermal expansion, and in concrete lintels fail due to oxidisation of the reinforcing bar.
Victorian Built Lintels
In the majority of cases, lintel failure can be repaired using the Twistfix heliforce system, incorporating bed joint reinforcement with pinning ties and resin injection forming masonry beams within the structure alleviating the need for costly disruptive remove and rebuild of the lintel which is the traditional approach.
Lintel Repair Using Twistfix Helical Beams
Newman’s are experts in lintel repair and have installed lintel repair schemes across London and the South East.
That phrase is commonly heard within the Newman Building Solutions office, being a common problem to Victorian and Edwardian built properties we are able to offer modern methods of structural repair to prevent and restrain outward movement.
Bowing walls are caused by a lack of lateral restraint, which allows the masonry panels to move independently often outwards severely weakening the structural integrity of the property.
This is often evident at the levels of the masonry where the floor joists run in accordance to the floor and ceiling joists. Tying into the floor and ceiling joists is essential in repairing and restraining the movement and traditional tie bars which are visible on many period properties are no longer required.
Newman Building Solutions utilise the Twistfix Heliforce system providing lateral restraint by inserting 1.0m, 1.5m or 2.0m ties into the floor and ceiling joists with a resin fix into the brick work providing an almost invisible repair once aesthetic brick repairs have been carried out. Incorporation lateral restraint ties with helical bar creating deep masonry beams and replacement wall ties remove the need for expensive intrusive and dangerous remove and rebuild techniques that may have been previously used.
Here is a selection of projects that this method of repair has been used to restraint outward movement.
Retaining walls are a vital structure within the infrastructure of London. They are everywhere and a large number of them are well over 100 years old. Victorian built retaining walls are usually constructed using 13 inch solid brick work construction with a soft lime mortar and usually they haven’t been inspected for signs of failure or disrepair until they are at a critical stage of failure.
At Newman Building Solutions we are regularly required to design a suitable structural stabilisation programme that will restrain further outward movement or collapse as well as retain the original charm of the structure.
Newman Building Solutions specialise in retaining wall restraint and use various modern methods of structural repair such as the Twistfix helical system creating masonry beams and crack stitches tying the masonry together. In some instances ground anchors are required to restrain the outward movement. Twistfix helical systems can be guaranteed for up to 25 years and ground anchor solutions can be guaranteed for up to 99 years.
We like to restore these engineering marvels and relish the opportunity to conserve the original structure. Visit our case study here to view the Twistfix system in use to restore and restrain a Victorian built retaining wall.
