Climate resilience is one of the most demanding factors in the current-era construction industry. Extreme weather has recently become more and more common in NYC. Hurricanes, storms, and extreme summers resulting in the urban heat island effect are posing a risk to NYC city infrastructures, and their structural integrity. Window lintels are one of the structures majorly affected here. To maintain the building’s resilience and structural integrity it is essential to detect existing lintel conditions, check for lintel repair services near you, and finally take a suitable course of action i.e. window lintel repair and replacement.
What is Windows Lintel Repair and Replacement
Windows lintel refers to the structural support placed horizontally above windows and doors in a building to bear the load of the building above it. It can be made of bricks, concrete, steel, or timber. Windows lintel repair and replacement in NYC refers to detecting the damaged lintel, removing it, and reinforcing the structure in a specific manner as per the type of material. Replacing the lintel is the act of removing and replacing it with a new structure above.
Effect of Environment on Windows Lintel
NYC experiences several extreme weather from summers and cold winters to heavy snowfalls. As lintels work as a barrier against moisture reinforcement, they are continuously affected by detrimental environmental conditions and dampness. With time, these result in lintel corrosion, expansion, cracking, begging, and aging leading to cracks in the mortar and rot. A building or heritage owner in NYC must find lintel repair near him or her for effective restoration and revival.
How To Build Climate Resilient Windows Lintel
Based on the building structures, window lintels are made from different materials. To build climate-resilient structures, each type of lintel goes through a specific procedure for window lintel repair and replacement in NYC.
Brick Lintel Repair
Considered one of the most ancient lintels, brick window lintel repair near you involves utilizing a stainless steel bar remedial system. Here the mortar present in the joints is removed up to a prescribed depth, called pointing. Further, the stainless steel bars are inserted right across the length of the lintel.
At present, two stainless steel bars are put together between the mortar bed. It forms a renewed concrete beam with high tensile strength. It aids in supporting the structure and addresses damp or other environmental issues causing deterioration and structural instability.
Concrete Lintel Repair
Concrete lintels are severely affected by adverse weather like rain and humidity and with time get subjected to moisture penetration. This makes the steel rod integrated with the lintel expand, rust, and crack eventually, making the concrete lintel collapse.
Climate-resilient concrete windows lintel repair near you process involves removing the cracked portion of the lintel, then grinding and brushing the rusted steel bar inside, and reinstalling the windows lintel using a fast-curing concrete solution. It is one of the quickest window lintel repair methods.
Metal Lintel Repair
Usually made of steel, metal lintels are vulnerable to rainwater, and moisture. It leads to subsequent corrosion and cracks. Metal lintel repair near you involves either replacing the existing window completely or filling the cracks created with resin injection for effective recovery and to withstand harsh weather.
Timber Lintel Repair
Timber window lintels are centuries-old construction structures that get subjected to wood fungal attacks, and woodworms and lose their strength due to dampness. This lintel repair method involves either inserting steel bars to strengthen the structure along with resin reinforcement into the lintel or reinstalling helical spiral bars across the length of the lintel.
Timber lintel repair requires professional craftsmanship. It is ideal to replace the timber lintel altogether with steel and concrete alternatives.
The city of NYC experiences extreme weather frequently posing significant risks to the strength and structural integrity of lintels, a prime factor behind building load bearing. It is extremely required to rebuild, repair, or replace the existing window lintels of any infrastructure based on the climate, the impact, and the consequences.