Steel lintel: need mortar bedding?

[Lobster]

If I'm fitting a Catnic steel lintel into a new opening formed in a brick wall (over a new window), should the ends rest directly on the 6" of (flat) brick at either end, or on a bed of (stiff?) mortar placed on the brick first? Building Control will be inspecting so whatever else, it has to keep them happy!

(I'm thinking now that I do need the mortar; just that I've already bought a made-to-measure window to fit a gap which I measured assuming no mortar bed... not a massive problem to resolve but if I don't need the mortar, no point in making extra work.)

David

[meow2222]

If you dont use a mortar bed, the whole weight rests on one or 2 points, and brick failure is invited.

NT

[dg]

Lintels should rest on a solid mortar bed - albeit a thin one, and brick frogs should be filled.

You may notice that the lintel profile at the bottom is not truly flat and is angled slightly from the centre towards the edges.

In practice though, it makes little difference if you bed them or not. Bed it too high though, and the brick courses don't line through above the opening

dg