ceelog:
Please builders, engineers and clients permit me to ask these questions for a robust discussion. It concerns "Chaining or not Chaining the upper floor lintel".

I am sure comments have been made on this topic previously but permit me to be specific in my request for knowledge.

1. If I decide NOT to "chain or tie" all lintel beams but only place the lintels on door/windows (but will still do a roof beam), is that against building codes or industry best practices?

2. I know Skimanski, one of the best in the business adopts a "no lintel window" but uses the roof beam as "lintel" which produces very tall windows which I admire. I am a bit swayed to choose that style of his as I think the cost saved not "chaining a lintel round the build" can be effectively put into making and fortifying tall windows. I sometimes perceive such windows might be more vulnerable (even with burglaries) to theft and that uninterrupted blocks of 12coaches might be weaker. But is it allowed by building codes?

I call on @aventures @abdulwastecx @spyder880 @Kolashangone @Skimanski @darenyx @diodarves @daboomb (and all builders and engineers I can't remember right now) to help me take the right decision.

Thanks all and God bless.

To avoid future cracking due to settlement of soil chain lintel is good.

Chekitaut:
To avoid future cracking due to settlement of soil chain lintel is good.

I really do not think a lintel have any business with building settlement
Type of Foundation & use columns is what u should be talking about.

A lintel can't prevent cracking, it can only prevent it running through from top to bottom.

spyder880:


The decision of what to do about the lintels, or any process in the building is usually planned from the beginning. How and where to place lintels and the size and make up of the lintels should be planned and written down.

Answering your question might require a background of what the ground is like, plus expected future environmental issues, so we can balance the integrity of the building to architectural aesthetics. Some ground could be weaker than others, there might be loads planned for the top floor like water tanks, penthouse or hanging gardens, they all should be considered before making a decision of whether to add or remove chain beams on the upper floors.

@bold in as much as i know planning is extremely important in building, i think adjustment can be made to a lintel. There are no special space for placing lintels, it is above doors & windows. Any other thing apart from door & window top makes it a beam & no longer a lintel.

ceelog:
Please builders, engineers and clients permit me to ask these questions for a robust discussion. It concerns "Chaining or not Chaining the upper floor lintel".

I am sure comments have been made on this topic previously but permit me to be specific in my request for knowledge.

1. If I decide NOT to "chain or tie" all lintel beams but only place the lintels on door/windows (but will still do a roof beam), is that against building codes or industry best practices?

2. I know Skimanski, one of the best in the business adopts a "no lintel window" but uses the roof beam as "lintel" which produces very tall windows which I admire. I am a bit swayed to choose that style of his as I think the cost saved not "chaining a lintel round the build" can be effectively put into making and fortifying tall windows. I sometimes perceive such windows might be more vulnerable (even with burglaries) to theft and that uninterrupted blocks of 12coaches might be weaker. But is it allowed by building codes?

I call on @aventures @abdulwastecx @spyder880 @Kolashangone @Skimanski @darenyx @diodarves @daboomb (and all builders and engineers I can't remember right now) to help me take the right decision.

Thanks all and God bless.

To the best of my Knowledge, if you are going to have a roof beam that will run all around the major wall within the house short lintels is perfectly OK, but if your roof beam is external only then it is good to have a chained lintel.
On the ground floor, you can do a short lintel if your decking will have adequate beams all around.

If you are doing bungalow, chaining your lintel is not negotiable

Chekitaut:
To avoid future cracking due to settlement of soil chain lintel is good.

proper compaction /sandfilling with suitable material/ providing a hardcore base is what is required to prevent settlement

Aventures:
To the best of my Knowledge, if you are going to have a roof beam that will run all around the major wall within the house short lintels is perfectly OK, but if your roof beam is external only then it is good to have a chained lintel.
On the ground floor, you can do a short lintel if your decking will have adequate beams all around.

If you are doing bungalow, chaining your lintel is not negotiable

@bold i thought roof beam are only for external walls?
Do they also go round internal walls?

Aventures:
To the best of my Knowledge, if you are going to have a roof beam that will run all around the major wall within the house short lintels is perfectly OK, but if your roof beam is external only then it is good to have a chained lintel.
On the ground floor, you can do a short lintel if your decking will have adequate beams all around.

If you are doing bungalow, chaining your lintel is not negotiable

How about columns?

As far as I’m m concerned this is the way to do it.

You can then lintel your way around with choice of materials such as wood, steel, fiberglass, etc

As an enthusiastic builder I have round beam on my external and interns walls though my floor plan is not ordinary.

readtech:
Let's conduct a reliable geophysical survey, and drill a sustainable borehole for you. For household, factory, farming, etc

Contact us on 07032554261

There are some areas where getting water is a big problem, no matter the depth of drilling. Like a town visited in Edo. U can hardly get a functional borehole. What is the cause & possible solution to such sir?

Foundation has been completed for the 6 Flats of 2bedroom. A storey building with 3 flats on each floor
2,160,000.00 Actually completed the foundation and I paid him 200,000.

Total cost of the foundation is 2,360,000
Location: Ibadan.

Hope the price is reasonable??

hello house, plese few questions to ask

breakdown of A5 bedrooms flat in nigeria Abeokuta.
what are the needs after the land is already available?
materials detail in full and the amount from the beginig till the lintel or roofing
thanks so much.

tolha:
hello house, plese few questions to ask

breakdown of A5 bedrooms flat in nigeria Abeokuta.
what are the needs after the land is already available?
materials detail in full and the amount from the beginig till the lintel or roofing
thanks so much.

Sir after securing a land, get architectural drawings.
Thereafter u can engage any of the NL or offline contractor u deem fit to execute the job, or even the architect, after thorough review of his profile. The person will give u a more accurate quote for the job. Estimation requires resources & time, one needs to call to have info of the current prices of materials so as not to give false information....I really don't think anyone will be willling to do that here.

tolha:
hello house, plese few questions to ask

breakdown of A5 bedrooms flat in nigeria Abeokuta.
what are the needs after the land is already available?
materials detail in full and the amount from the beginig till the lintel or roofing
thanks so much.

Ping @KolaShangOne

tobbyboy2011:
Foundation has been completed for the 6 Flats of 2bedroom. A storey building with 3 flats on each floor
2,160,000.00 Actually completed the foundation and I paid him 200,000.

Total cost of the foundation is 1,360,000
Location: Ibadan.

Hope the price is reasonable??

2.16m for materials & labour
200k for supervision
What is the 1.36m for?
Or maybe u can arrange it in order...

spyder880:


The decision of what to do about the lintels, or any process in the building is usually planned from the beginning. How and where to place lintels and the size and make up of the lintels should be planned and written down.

Answering your question might require a background of what the ground is like, plus expected future environmental issues, so we can balance the integrity of the building to architectural aesthetics. Some ground could be weaker than others, there might be loads planned for the top floor like water tanks, penthouse or hanging gardens, they all should be considered before making a decision of whether to add or remove chain beams on the upper floors.

Thanks Spyder. It's hard eastern ground. Grade beam foundation. Its a duplex and it's the upper floor am asking about. No tank or penthouse.

mufutau55:
Off-Topic Thread - To Discuss Anything and Everything that doesn't fit into an individual thread.
Let's discuss everything pertaining to Building Constructions, Real estate and some more.

Note: Please no products or services advertisements... there are plenty of other threads for that already.

Hajji M.

Hi are you into building construction?

Rubbiish:

2.16m for materials & labour
200k for supervision
What is the 1.36m for?
Or maybe u can arrange it in order...

Sorry Mistake.

Total cost of everything is 2,360,000

Chekitaut:
To avoid future cracking due to settlement of soil chain lintel is good.

Thanks Chekitaut. The lower floor was chained and the foundation was grade beam. Will cracking still affect the upper floor even if I end up ditching the lintel but doing a roof beam (for parapet)?

Aventures:
To the best of my Knowledge, if you are going to have a roof beam that will run all around the major wall within the house short lintels is perfectly OK, but if your roof beam is external only then it is good to have a chained lintel.
On the ground floor, you can do a short lintel if your decking will have adequate beams all around.

If you are doing bungalow, chaining your lintel is not negotiable

Thanks for the reply Sir. Roof beam is intended for external wall to carry parafet. No intended lintel for internal walls except for openings. Ground floor was chained and the deck beam were well done by the Engineer. I ask for the changes (my drawing requires chaining upper floor lintel) since I admired Skima's style.

spyder880:


I have really struggled with the chippings maffia in many states here in Nigeria. What have I not done, but the big trucks seemed to be winning, (once slept in my car on site waiting for them that comes to offload at midnight) I now changed tactics. I have noted that;

1. Following the load from the quarry does not stop them ripping you off. The deed is done inside the loading room, then on the road.
2. Trusting a dealer or supplier might be good, but many of them are still going to try and rip you off, except Chekitaut.
3. Shorting loads on the road is a norm, and they are not happy if they cannot.

Because of this I started using smaller trucks to supply my sites. Small Mercedes 911 trucks heaped up gives me a certain load which I can rely on. Slow as it might be to do 4-5 loads to equal 30tonnes but I know what to expect.

For a full 30tonnes, you need a longer trailer, it cannot enter into many of my sites as they are small streets. Price is N270k or more depending on location. If I do 5 loads of 911 trucks at N55,000-N60,000, it might give me a load which I might not even get with all my carefulness in 30tonnes.

Hi sir where do you base would like to work with you on something

tobbyboy2011:


Sorry Mistake.

Total cost of everything is 2,360,000

Okay

ceelog:


On the two occasions I ordered for granite from Okigwe (Uturu precisely), on arrival my Engr and casters confirmed it was full load (27tonnes as requested). No complains since then. Paid 50k for tport. #GoodEnoughForMe

Hi sir

InvertedHammer:


Evidently it boils down to greed. N4000/ton x 30 == N120k.
Add N50k for transportation. It becomes N170k which is close to price in the North and SW. But the suppliers want N270k. Difference of N100k (not including yoshi). The level of greed I witnessed in the SE is preposterous. To get things right, you just have to do it yourself.

\

Hi sir

Rubbiish:

I don't think not doing chain lintel is against best practice.
Lintel is an horizontal struct. member over an opening, not blocks.
But people do it because they have the resources, basically to prevent cracks from running from the top of the build to bottom because of the position of the lintel(mid-way kind of), probably because of the nature of blocks. If u intend doing roof beam, u can skip chain lintel & do short lintel above openings. Most people who do chain lintel don't even do roof beam. Roof beam will also serve the purpose of chaining the building together.

You can't run all your windows to roof beam for a typical residential build, what about toilet windows? Do short lintels & roof beam, your building will be fine.

Hi sir

ceelog:


Thanks Chekitaut. The lower floor was chained and the foundation was grade beam. Will cracking still affect the upper floor even if I end up ditching the lintel but doing a roof beam (for parapet)?

No it won't.

Ralphdan:


Hi sir

Sir if u have a proposal, i think it will be best u create a thread & make open your offer & drop your contact. U can tag those builders that are of interest to u. I believe anyone interested will contact u.

Ralphdan:

Hi are you into building construction?

No Sir.

Hajji M.

mufutau55:


No Sir.

Hajji M.

where did this oga go

KolaShangOne:


No it won't.

Thanks Sir

Empiree:
where did this oga go

Oga mi, I dey kampeh o.

Hajji M.

EgunMogaji:


How about columns?

Columns is optional in bungalow except for the aesthetic columns. But in a water Log area it is essential. From Experience over time I discovered that just few columns externally around bungalow built on clay formation (so called firm ground) is advantageous. Clay has anomalous behavior I:e during raining season it expands and when the dry seasons comes it shrinks(that is why when you fill your foundation with laterite and leave if for a while you will see some crack lines all over) this behavior sometimes responsible for perennial cracks in some build. So I advice if anyone can afford it put a capping beam at fdn level, put columns externally and chain your lintel, that makes your bungalow a little framed structure that can restrict the effect of clay behavior. Better soup na money kill am.