Lintels Point Cook | Tasmania | Devonport | Altona

What is Lintel ?

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A lintel is one kind of beam that accustomed support the higher than wall once openings like doors, windows etc. are necessary to produce a building structure. The main function of the lintel is to take loads coming from above wall and transfer its load to the side walls. The lintel beam usually ends into the masonry wall therefore on convey the burden carried by them to the masonry walls and its width is same to the wall width. The lintel may be used as ornamental design component.

Types of Lintels


Lintels are classified into the following types according to the materials of their construction:

Timber Lintels


Timber lintels are chiefly used in the hilly areas wherever timbers are accessible. However in plain areas, uses of timber are restricted because of the high price. It conjointly has different disadvantages.

• Without proper ventilation, timber is liable to decay.
• It is less durable.
• Timber being combustible it is vulnerable to fire.

Stone Lintels


This type of lintel is especially used in this space wherever the stone is abundantly accessible. Its use is especially confined to stone masonry structures. There are some disadvantages of using stone lintel. Firstly, it’s high price and seconds its inability to resist excessive transverse stress. The thickness of the stone lintel may be a very important factor for its design. As a thumb rule, the thickness is taken as 4 cm. per 30 cm length of span and also the minimum thickness ought to be 8 cm.

Brick Lintels

Brick lintels are constructed with hard, well burnt top quality brick. It is shaped as bricks on finish, bricks on edge and coursed bricks arranged horizontally over openings. This type of lintel is used once the gap is tiny (less than 1 m) with light-weight loading condition. Their width varies from 10 cm (depth of 1 brick) to 20 cm relying upon the span. Bricks with frogs filled with mortar provide a lot of shear resistance at end joints than the normal bricks.

Reinforced Brick Lintels


Heavy loadings and bigger span length are the problems for brick lintels. These are overcome by using the reinforcement bars. Reinforced brick lintels thus provide a lot of support than the brick lintels. The depth of the reinforced brick lintels is equal to 10 cm. or multiple of 10 cm (or one brick thickness). The arrangement of the bricks ought to be like that there's enough house in lengthwise between the adjacent bricks for the insertion of mild steel bars as reinforcement. After insertion bars, the remaining gap is filled with 1:3 cement mortar. 6 millimeter bars are used as vertical stirrups at each 3rd vertical joint. 8 to 10 millimeter bars placed at bottom are used as main reinforcement.

Steel Lintels

Steel inlets are appropriate once the superimposed loads are heavy and also the opening gaps are large. Steel lintels are a lot of desirable once the depth of lintel plays a vital role because the designer cannot ignore the depth of reinforced concrete lintels due to heavy loads. These lintels include channel sections or rolled steel joists. Depending upon the requirements, the lintel is one section or mixtures of 2 or more. When used individually, the steel beam is either embedded in concrete or cladded with stone facing to keep the same width as the wall. Combination of 2 or more units are placed side by side and held in position by tube separator.

Reinforced Concrete Lintels

At present, reinforced concrete lintels are very common in use thanks to their durability, rigidity, strength, and fire resisting properties. They’re appropriate for heavy loads and bigger span. Also, they're economical and simple in construction. The most advantage of the RC lintels is being the ability to suit any size and form. RCC lintels is either pre-cast or cast-in-suit. Generally, pre-cast reinforced cement concrete lintels are used when the lintel span is smaller. Lintel width ought to be same as wall width. The depth of lintel depends on the length of span and also the loading’s magnitude.

Concrete though robust in compression is incredibly weak to tensile stress, therefore main reinforcement bars are used at rock bottom to resist the tensile stress. Half of these bars are cranked at the ends. Shear stirrups are provided to resist shear stress. Normally, cement, sand, and aggregates are mixed in 1:2:4 ration to make cement concrete mortar.

The lintels made from reinforced concrete measure are widely used to span the openings for doors, windows, etc.