Sagging Lintels

Sagging Lintels

I performed a home inspection the other day and I was shocked to find out that a home owner or contractor had removed a load bearing wall in the basement to make the family room bigger. I had the buyer of the home ask me, “How did you know there was a problem”?
When I was walking on the floor upstairs, the floor felt real soft and the floor upstairs looked like it was sloping in that area. I also went downstairs and started tapping on the support wall and tapped above the door openings and in the area that the contractor opened up the room. When I was tapping, I should hear a solid sound and all I could hear was an echo.
Look for distress that is concentrated around the tops of doorways and large openings. Sagging in the areas where a lintel (header) should be, would be a good indication that lintels have not been used. Lintels will help prevent sagging floors and ceiling’s in the future.

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