I have just removed all the plaster off the interior of an external facing wall in a victorian terrace which has (unfortunately) had UPVC door and window fitted. Going to get it replastered after Christmas I hope! However, there doesn't seem to be any visible lintel on the inside wall - in the outside part of the wall there are decorative brick arches supporting, but on the inside there are bricks end to end, apparently supported by nothing! I guess that further up the wall, the bricks from outer and inner will begin to mesh together again (as in a standard solid 9" wall), but what is holding up the bricks immediately above window and door frames - they are not resting on the UPVC???? Can you get bricks with metal lintels running through the center of them which I wouldn't be able to see?
Also - on the bricks above the window, there appears to be clay tiles cemented to the underside - what purpose do these serve, as 2 have now fallen away with removal of the plaster
TIA,
Richard.