Lintel repair and replacement in Sunderland
Cracked window heads, dropped arches and rust-split brickwork over doors put right on Sunderland cottages and terraces. A photo is enough for us to price most of these.
- 18 years in the trade
- Free quotes
- Catnic and concrete lintels
- Cavity trays fitted
Get a free quote
Send us the details on WhatsApp, or by email if you prefer. We reply with a price or a time to visit.
Prefer to talk? Call 07487 625926
When bricks over a window begin to shift
Every window and door in your house has something spanning the gap and holding up the bricks above. If that beam rusts, splits or sags, the wall tells you: a crack steps up from the corner of the frame, or the course of bricks over the head starts to bow.
Filling the crack only hides it for a season. Through our lintel repair and replacement service we prop the wall, lift out whatever has failed and bed a new steel or concrete lintel in its place. The guide to lintel replacement covers each stage if you like to know what is coming.
Lintel trouble often turns up alongside tired joints. If the rest of the wall needs attention, you can read about repointing in Sunderland as well, and any bricks that have split around the opening can be swapped through our brickwork repairs.
Lintel prices in Sunderland
Priced by lintel length. Move the slider to match your opening and send it to us.
Each price covers the inside and outside lintel, propping, rebuilding the brickwork above and pointing to match. If only one side needs doing, it is half price. Openings under 1 metre or over 4 metres are priced from photos.
See every lintel price
| Lintel length | Inside and out | One side only |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 1.5 metres | £1,850 | £925 |
| 1.5 to 2 metres | £2,150 | £1,075 |
| 2 to 2.5 metres | £2,450 | £1,225 |
| 2.5 to 3 metres | £2,750 | £1,375 |
| 3 to 3.5 metres | £3,150 | £1,575 |
| 3.5 to 4 metres | £3,450 | £1,725 |
Cottages, terraces and salt air
Sunderland's single-storey cottages put their window heads only a few courses below the eaves, so the lintel is often carrying part of the roof as well as the brickwork. When one of these heads drops, the gutter line and the roof edge can dip with it, which is a useful early clue from the street.
Terraces and other housing near the coast get a steady dose of damp, salty air. Steel lintels in those walls corrode faster once their coating breaks down, and rusting steel swells enough to lift the brick course above it. We look closely at the condition of the steel before deciding whether a repair will last or a replacement is the better buy.
Clues that a lintel has given up
- Stepped crack rising out of the frame corner
- Brick course bowed over the window
- Orange rust marks bleeding through the joints
- Door scraping on its frame
- Gutter or roof edge dipping above an opening
- Mortar falling out directly over the head
The replacement, step by step
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Show us the crack
A close photo of the head and one of the whole wall lets us judge what has failed.
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Support the wall
Props and strong boys take the load before a single brick is removed.
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Swap the lintel
The old beam comes out and a new one is bedded level with a full bearing each side.
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Make good
Bricks go back, the joints are pointed to match and the props come out once set.
Before and after over a front window
What your quote covers
- Look at the opening and the crack pattern
- Props and strong boys set up first
- Failed lintel taken out
- New steel or concrete lintel bedded level
- Tray and weep vents wherever the wall has a cavity
- Brickwork relaid in matching bricks
- Joints pointed to suit the wall
- Site swept and props removed
Lintel pages for nearby towns
Other places on the coast and inland where we cover lintel work.
Our services
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Brick repointing
Failing joints raked out and refilled in mortar matched to your brick.
Find out more -
Lime and mortar pointing
Breathable lime or matched mortar for Victorian, Edwardian and older homes.
Find out more -
Lintel repair and replacement
Cracked or sagging window and door heads propped, replaced and rebuilt.
Find out more -
Brickwork repairs
Spalled, cracked and loose bricks cut out and replaced to match.
Find out more -
Bricklaying
Garden walls, boundary walls, piers and small brickwork builds.
Find out more -
Not sure what you need?
Send a photo of the wall and we will tell you what it needs.
Get a free quote
Guides
Sunderland lintel questions
My cottage is single storey. Does the roof have to come off to change a lintel?
No. The roof load is taken by the props and strong boys along with the brickwork, so the roof stays where it is. We may need to work carefully under the eaves, and that is allowed for in the quote.
Why does the steel over my windows rust so badly near the sea?
Salt in the air settles on the wall and soaks in with the rain. Once the protective coating on a steel lintel is scratched or worn, that salty moisture speeds up the rust, and the swelling steel cracks the bricks around it.
A survey for my sale flagged a cracked window head. What should I do?
Send us the relevant page of the survey and a photo of the crack. We can tell you whether it points to a failed lintel and give you a written quote you can show your buyer or solicitor.
How much does a new lintel cost in Sunderland?
Replacing a lintel of 1 to 1.5 metres starts from £1,850 and longer spans go up in bands to £3,450 for a lintel over 3.5 up to 4 metres. Height, awkward access under low cottage eaves, extra cracked bricks and any scaffold can take a job above the starting figure, and a photo lets us confirm it. Those figures cover both the inside and outside lintel, and if only the outer one has failed it is half, from £925 for the shortest band.
Is permission needed before the work starts?
A structural lintel swap can need building regulations approval. Ask your local building control before we begin and we will follow whatever they require.
Get a free price for your lintel
WhatsApp a photo of the crack over your window or door in Sunderland and we will tell you what we think is behind it.