Thread: Structural Engineering Question

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How do you know there are no lintels?,
What are appropriate deflection tolerances?
Do you own a camera?

Based on the limited information, neither are structural in nature. Consider a problem with the mortar mix, or conditions during application.

Originally Posted by Wendell Swedberg

He said that cracks in masonry above garage / doors/windows that are square (with lintels) are non structural defects.

I can show him a building several blocks from my office where oxide jacking at the lintels is lifting the entire second and third stories of a half-block long Chicago structural masonry 1920's apartment building converted to condos up and out - it's costing the association around a three quarters of a million dollars to stabilize and repair. Extreme case admittedly, but the only obvious indication at the exterior was "cracks above the lintels of square windows"....

Originally Posted by Michael Thomas

I can show him a building several blocks from my office where oxide jacking at the lintels is lifting the entire second and third stories of a half-block long Chicago structural masonry 1920's apartment building converted to condos up and out - it's costing the association around a three quarters of a million dollars to stabilize and repair. Extreme case admittedly, but the only obvious indication at the exterior was "cracks above the lintels of square windows"....

Oxide-Jacking...what a cool term. Seen it plenty, but never knew the *technical* term. Yeah, it appears to have as much lift-power as does frost (physics.... another cool thingy).

That much $ to bolster/replace the lintels & tuck-point? Must be lots o' lintels...

Wendell,

I think that the PE veered off course when he made a blanket statement that cracks over square openings are not a problem.

I looked at a 1 yr old 2 story last month. Brick veneer corner of second floor centered over O.H. door. Top of door opening is sagging, cracks from door up to roof. Homeowner is taking the builder to court. Prior to building this home the builder was banned from construction in the village (Glenview) for one year due to lousy workmanship.

It seems that a header wasn't part of the framing game plan. They also skipped squash blocks - virtually the entire basement ceiling was just re-drywalled. This due to a slight plumbing problem on the second floor from poor installation.

Apparently the builder didn't forget his tricks of the trade - or learn any new ones - while he was on leave.

Wendell;

Perhaps the P.E. was pulling your leg. Making generalizations such as the ones he made are inappropriate. That is why site visits are necessary to determine what is happening. Answer the P.E.'s question with another:

Would a P.E. make such a determination without additional information collected from a site visit, and possibly looking at blueprints of the original construction, if they are still available?

Originally Posted by Randy Aldering

Would a P.E. make such a determination without additional information collected from a site visit, and possibly looking at blueprints of the original construction, if they are still available?

That's the reason why I haven't jumped into this thread. My answer to the original question is "it depends" ... and not enough info is provided to conclude that either one is, or is not, a structural issue.