My house is a 1960s build. The living room has a semi bay window, above which is a wooden lintel.
Being a semi-bay, I guess the lintel is two pieces of wood. I have recently spotted that the join between the two peices has split - there is now a gap of a couple of mm at the angle of the lintel. I had my windows replaced last summer, so I suspect that the installers may have damaged it slightly,( and either the cold winter or recent dry spell has made it worse) but I cannot be certain. There is no movement in the bricks above and there doesn't appear to be any rot in the wood, so it does not appear to be weakened structurally.
My question is what I should do about it? Is it likely to be an easy fix e.g. filler\reflashing? Or, should I get a builder or structural engineer to inspect properly, and expect that it may have to be replaced?
Being a semi-bay, I guess the lintel is two pieces of wood. I have recently spotted that the join between the two peices has split - there is now a gap of a couple of mm at the angle of the lintel. I had my windows replaced last summer, so I suspect that the installers may have damaged it slightly,( and either the cold winter or recent dry spell has made it worse) but I cannot be certain. There is no movement in the bricks above and there doesn't appear to be any rot in the wood, so it does not appear to be weakened structurally.
My question is what I should do about it? Is it likely to be an easy fix e.g. filler\reflashing? Or, should I get a builder or structural engineer to inspect properly, and expect that it may have to be replaced?
