Components, systems and materials › Building components › Lintel
Lintel
What it is
A lintel is a short beam over a door, window or other opening in a wall, carrying the masonry and any load above the opening to the wall on each side.
Where it is used
Every masonry building, over doors, windows, ventilators and cupboards.
How it works
Masonry above an opening tends to arch, so a lintel often carries only the triangle of masonry above it, plus any slab or beam load within that zone. It bends like a simply supported beam, with tension at its bottom face.
Types
- Reinforced concrete lintels, cast in situ or precast
- steel angle or channel lintels
- stone and timber lintels in older buildings
- continuous lintel bands that also serve as seismic bands
Materials
Reinforced concrete, steel sections with protection, stone, timber.
Span, bearing length and depth come from the load and opening width; bearing of at least the code minimum on each side. In seismic zones a continuous lintel band ties walls together at lintel level. Chajjas cantilevered from lintels need anchorage and torsion checks.
Installation and QA steps
- Provide temporary support and formwork.
- Place reinforcement with cover.
- Concrete and cure.
- Remove props only after the specified time.
- Build masonry above after curing.
- Cracks at lintel ends from short bearing
- sagging from inadequate reinforcement
- corrosion of steel lintels in damp walls
- missing bands in seismic areas
Codes cited
- IS 456 (India): Plain and reinforced concrete: general rules for materials, durability, design and construction.
- IS 4326 (India): Earthquake-resistant design and construction of buildings, including masonry features such as bands.
Cited by number only. We do not reproduce code text, tables or figures.
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