Lintels
(50 Products)Lintels are essential load-bearing components used in construction to bridge openings like doors and windows. By transferring the weight of the structure above to the surrounding masonry, they allow for safe, stable gaps in walls without compromising the building’s strength.
Understanding Lintels and Structural Components
Lintels and their associated components function as the primary load-management system within masonry structures. While lintels bridge apertures such as doors and windows to transfer overhead weight laterally, supplementary products like padstones and flooring beams ensure that these loads are effectively grounded and distributed. Together, these materials prevent structural fatigue, masonry crushing, and instability across the building envelope.
The inventory covers the requirements for standard load-bearing walls and ground floor construction. Steel and concrete lintels handle the spans, padstones provide the necessary dense bearing points to sit them on, and prestressed beams offer a rigid solution for suspended floors. Each component is manufactured to specific load capacities to suit different wall compositions and structural designs.
Material Range
- Concrete Lintels: Reinforced and prestressed units providing high compressive strength and fire resistance for internal and external masonry loads.
- Steel Lintels: Galvanised structural supports designed for specific wall types, including cavity and solid brickwork, offering high strength-to-weight ratios.
- Padstones: Dense, high-strength concrete blocks engineered to distribute concentrated point loads from lintels preventing masonry damage at bearing ends.
- Block and Beam Flooring: A suspended ground floor system utilising prestressed concrete beams and infill blocks for quick, dry installation without site concrete.
Performance Benefits
- Structural Integrity: Engineered to handle calculated dead and live loads, ensuring the stability of the building fabric over openings and spans.
- Durability: Materials are selected for longevity, with concrete offering rot resistance and steel options treated with galvanisation to prevent oxidation.
- Fire Resistance: Concrete components and steel units offer inherent resistance to fire, contributing to the overall fire safety strategy of the structural envelope.
Typical Applications
- Masonry Openings: Supporting brickwork above windows, doors, and meter boxes in cavity or solid walls.
- Load Bearing Points: Distributing concentrated weight from steel beams or heavy lintels into standard density blockwork.
- Suspended Ground Floors: Creating a stable, rot-proof floor platform in residential and commercial builds.
Specification & Standards
- BS EN 845-2: Specification for ancillary components for masonry, specifically lintels.
- BS EN 15037: Precast concrete products for beam and block floor systems.
- BS EN 206: Concrete specification, performance, production, and conformity.
Related Materials and Construction Uses
These structural components are designed to integrate seamlessly with standard masonry units, including aerated and dense aggregate blocks. Installation typically requires high-strength mortar beds to ensure even load transfer at bearing points. In cavity wall applications, steel lintels are often installed in conjunction with damp proof courses (DPCs) and cavity trays to manage moisture egress and prevent damp penetration at the head of the opening.
Frequently Asked Lintels Questions
What Does Fair Faced Mean In Construction?
Fair-faced concrete, otherwise known as decorative concrete, takes aesthetics into account during the mixing process. As opposed to traditional mixes that are typically heavier and rougher, this type of concrete is much smoother and lighter; it does not require any veneers or painting.
What Would Happen To A Structure Without A Lintel?
If a lintel is not present within a structure, the weight of the brickwork above a door or window would rest solely on the frame.
A lintel, however, redistributes this weight to the surrounding masonry on either side of the opening, reducing the stress on the door or window frame and preventing any damage to the structure.
What Is The Minimum End Bearing For A Lintel?
The lintel should typically stretch at least 150mm from both sides of the opening, but under certain conditions, a minimum projection of only 100mm is allowed (be sure to consult with your supplier or manufacturer for details).
To avoid wasting resources and money unnecessarily, however, it's best not to extend beyond this measurement.
Can Lintel Be Used Decoratively?
Lintels are a perfect marriage of form and function, boasting both structural support and aesthetic appeal.
Ornamental lintels can be simply an eye-catching horizontal embellishment adorning the top of your doorframe, or they may come in different materials such as wood or metal for added strength while also contributing to the overall look of your home.
Examples of ornamental lintels can be found adorning the hypostyle halls and slab stelas of ancient Egypt, as well as in Indian Buddhist cave temples carved from solid rock.
What's The Difference Between Single Leaf, Double Leaf & T-Beam Lintels?
Single-leaf lintels are typically used for small openings, such as those for windows or doorways, while double-leaf lintels are typically used for larger openings, such as garage doors. T-beam lintels are designed to support loads from two directions.
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