I know it’s late, as I need help for tomorrow, but hoping someone can give me some insight on an arched lintel for a garage door brick set up.
18 foot door by 8 foot tall. Slight arch built into the doorway. We had a steel lintel made which was supposed to follow the cardboard template I made for the arch. Cardboard wasn’t my #1 choice for this because of the importance of getting it right. I was crunched for time and it’s all I had.
18 foot steel arch came too high in the middle. Basically too much arch. I need too drop the middle 1 1/2 inches too match the height of the 9 footer next to it.
The mason feels the brick will be self supporting once it’s all installed with the keystone, and the lintel won’t be holding all the weight after it sets. With that, my remedy would be too cut the arch in half, drop it, and lag the arc to the beefed up header. I feel the arc would be visually sufficient with this remedy, but I am concerned for the long lasting effects of the brick.
Masons need to finish tomorrow, and I really would like to not have my boss buy another lintel. I doubt the guy who made it would jump at the chance too remake it at his cost, either.
Any takers or jobsite engineers?
I get paid to do carpentry. That makes me a professional.
If I work on my own house does that make me a DIY?
Replies
What did you end up doing?
Thanks for asking. I ended up cutting the steel in the center and lagging it solidly to the header, which is a tripled 3' high truss. I am relying on the keystone and the arch to do most of the supporting, while the lintel will contribute. No, I won't claim to be an engineer and it was dropped on my shoulders. I guess we play the cards we are dealt.
It did end up with a flat spot in the center that was obvious until the keystone and brick went in. It actually looks very good.
Funny thing is that I made templates fot the other four arched windows on this house and the steel guy thought it necessary to add to the length to "give it more support" where it sits on the brick. We ended up cutting those as well. Just made more work for everyone, rather than following my templates.
I get paid to do carpentry. That makes me a professional.
If I work on my own house does that make me a DIY?