This is an update to my previous post "Lentil Beam Above Garage is Bending". Since then, I've learn the correct spelling of lintel. I had some repairs done and still have a concern that it's not completely fixed. So, here's an overview of the issue and i'd appreciate any thoughts/comments/suggestions.
Problem: Started with a crack in the brick veneer (gable) above the garage door. After having a structural engineer look at the problem, he determined that the lintel was torking out and working away from the header, causing the bricks to actually move out a few mm and resulting in the large, growing crack. He figured that the builder did not put in lag bolts to attach the lintel to the header.
Fix:He recommended two things. First, to take some bricks out (every
6th brick) and go in and re-attach the lintel to the header with lag bolts. Second, he recommended building a secondary header up in the attic, behind the gable, with 1 1/8 inch plywood to attach all the studs to one another and take the pressure off of the center studs (where it was bending most) and distribute the weight to all the studs behind the gable. So, with a masonry's help, we jacked the lentil back up, and made the two recommended fixes. There actually were bolts attaching the lintel to the header, but they were relatively small and the holes were drilled below the centerline of the 3" angle iron. We put in much larger bolts nearer the top of the angle iron (lintel). When we let the jack out, the lintel barely moved.My concern: Is that the brick veneer is not securely tied to the studs, therefore the work done in the attic of attaching all the studs to one another with overlapping plywood really won't affect the movement of the brick. Is that possible? Does the plywood work somehow increase the strength of my header? Any other issues/concerns you may have?