Lintel and structural masonry repair

Steel lintels, shelf angles, masonry openings and parapets.

Request a quote (773) 289-7541
Steel lintel Typical assembly, illustrated. Not to scale. Illustration: a typical window head cut in section; the steel lintel is shown corroded, with the water path, before the work, then sound after it.

Protect the structure behind the facade.

A lintel carries the masonry over a window or a door. Steel lintels, shelf angles, masonry openings, parapets, and other structural components can deteriorate over time due to corrosion, water infiltration, movement, and environmental exposure.

NOVA Renovation replaces structural lintels and repairs the masonry around them, from the opened wall to the finished head.

Window opening in a brick wall with a new flashing membrane over the lintel
Window opening with flashing membrane installed.

Where lintels give way

Corrosion, water infiltration, movement and exposure. In a wall, they work together.

Illustration: a typical window head seen from below, cut through the steel lintel where it bears on the brick, four parts keyed to the notes
Typical assembly, illustrated. Not to scale.

  1. Movement

    A wall that shifts

    Movement in the wall loads the opening unevenly. The cracks it leaves let in more water.

  2. Water infiltration

    Water on the steel

    Water that gets past the brick runs down to the lintel. Flashing over the steel is meant to carry it back out.

  3. Exposure

    Season after season

    Rain, sun and freeze-thaw cycles work on the steel and the masonry around it, year after year.

  4. Corrosion

    Rust that grows

    Steel swells as it rusts. Inside a wall, that growth can lift the brick above the opening and crack the joints.

What a failing lintel looks like

What you might notice above a window or a door.

Illustration: a closer look at a window head from below, the rust bleeding down the stone and the rusted steel marked 1 and 2
Typical assembly, illustrated. Not to scale.

  • Rust stains below the steel

    Orange or brown streaks running down from the head of a window or door.

  • Flaking, swollen steel

    Steel at the head that is visibly rusted, layered or pushed out of line.

  • Cracks at the corners of an opening

    Stair-step or horizontal cracks leaving the top corners.

  • Brick that bows or sags

    Courses over the opening that have dropped, bulged or opened up.

  • A crack along the lintel

    A crack running along the joint just above the steel.

  • Water inside

    Stains on the wall or ceiling around the head of a window.

A guide, not a diagnosis.

Describe it in a request

From the opened wall to the finished head

A NOVA Renovation lintel replacement over a window, in order. Every project is approached with the same standard: understand the structure, then the three steps below.

  1. Opened brick above a window, showing a corroded steel lintel with failed mortar and debris

    Identify the cause.

    Before: corroded steel lintel, failed mortar and debris above the window.
  2. New steel lintel with a drip edge set over the window

    Specify the right solution.

    New steel lintel with a drip edge.
  3. Flashing membrane lapped over the new lintel

    Execute it precisely.

    Flashing membrane over the new lintel.
  4. Finished window head: the stone lintel over the new steel, with fresh mortar joints

    Execute it precisely.

    Finished window head, the stone lintel over the new steel.

Steel lintel over a window

Problem
Corroded steel lintel, failed mortar and debris above the window.
What we did
Set a new steel lintel with a drip edge, then lapped a flashing membrane over it.
Result
A finished window head, the stone lintel over the new steel.
  • Corroded steel lintel
More before and after

From the steel to the finished head

Lintels, the openings they carry, and the structural masonry around them.

  • Steel lintel replacement
  • A drip edge and flashing over the new steel
  • Shelf angles and masonry openings
  • Parapet wall restoration
  • Structural masonry repair
  • Rebuilding deteriorated masonry sectionsBrick restoration
  • Mortar joint restorationTuckpointing
  • Caulking and sealant systemsWaterproofing

Preserve the architecture. Restore the performance.

773.289.7541
Request a quote NovaRenovationService@gmail.com