Cracked brick wall along lintels

1

This was about a 1940s house. The side walls in question looked like they had concrete block underneath judging by what I saw in the attic. There was cracking at the lintels on both sides of the house that extended beyond the lintels. My first concern was that the wall was bulging or the opposite but it really didn’t look like that. I also realize that rusting lintels can pop the mortar but these cracks seemed to go quite a bit beyond. Thoughts, ideas?

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The pictures aren’t the greatest because the houses were pretty tight and I couldn’t get very far away from the walls.

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2

Looks like lintel lift of the brick veneer from here on both windows. The steel lintels need to be replaced with hotdip galv or stainless and the veneer repaired…

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3

Yeah. You’re probably right Simon. I guess I’ve never seen it that bad and I took it for one longer continuous horizontal crack. Thanks for your help.

4

What is causing the lintel lift? How did the foundation look?

5

Oxide jacking, the rusting of the steel can expand 5-10 times its original size and exert forces of 8000-10000PSI

If the foundation had anything to do with the cracking, you’d see completely different cracks.

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6

Thank you for the answer! I’m learning every day!

7

Simon is correct in the diagnosis.
Here is a picture of on one on one of my projects I had to find out what was happening and repair.

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This is block, but rusting angles will have the same uplifting effect on brick.

8

The foundation looked ok although they did have moisture problems in the past as there was a drainage system in the basement with sump pump etc.

Thanks again for the help gentlemen!

9

Urgent action is needed, or this crack will go further. As previously mentioned, the jumpers should be replaced and it is recommended to check the frame. I hope everything will be all right, the main thing is to fix this problem in time.