Never done a catnic-style lintel before. Now I found out yesterday it is impossible to fit in a worthwhile mortar bed, 3mm lintel plate and another mortar bed all into 10mm so line up with either side. I could have increased the mortar thickness for one course, but it would have looked poor. In the end, I bedded the lintel properly (ended up about
8mm I think), and almost dry bedded the first brick onto the lintel. No real problem there - its just one brick tucked in amongst all the others. I am going to put in a solider course over the lintel, and I'll cut the bricks down slightly so they fit. But, how is this usually done ? Cheers, Simon.