Philadelphia and Delaware County
Lintel replacement in Philadelphia and Delaware County
A lintel is the beam over a window or door that carries the brick above it, and replacing one means supporting that brick while the beam comes out.
What the work involves
Most Philadelphia and Delaware County houses built between about 1900 and 1960 have steel angle lintels. Steel rusts, rust occupies more space than steel, and the expansion lifts and cracks the brick sitting on it. Replacing it means needling or shoring the masonry above, cutting the old steel out, setting new galvanized or painted steel with the right bearing at each end, and rebuilding the brick. The cracked brick above a lintel is the symptom. Pointing it without changing the steel hides the fault for a year or two.
Signs you need it
- Rusted steel visible over a window or door, often swelling and lifting the brick
- A crack stepping up and away from the top corner of an opening
- Brick above an opening sagging, dropped, or pushed out of line
- A horizontal crack running along the top of the window frame
- Rust stains bleeding down the brick or the frame
- A cracked stone or concrete beam over an opening
What lintel replacement costs
National published figures. No Philadelphia-specific figure was found. Published sources disagree widely on this one. Read it as a rough band, not a price.
- Repairing a steel lintel
- $500–$1,000
- Replacing a steel lintel
- $1,500–$2,500
- Smaller lintel jobs, national average
- $280–$640
National sources for lintel work disagree by nearly ten times, and no Philadelphia figure could be found. The spread is real: replacing rusted steel over a second-floor rowhome window means needling and supporting the brick above it. That is a different job from a garage-door lintel at ground level.
Sources: AO Handy, lintel repair cost; Angi, sagging lintel repair cost. Published cost guides, not audited data. Mortarook does not set prices.
What a mason needs before a price is real
Any number given over the phone without seeing the wall is a guess. These are the things that change the price, and the questions Mortarook asks you so that the masons who see your project can quote it properly.
- A straight-on photograph of the whole opening and a close one of the steel
- How many windows or doors are affected
- Which floor they are on
- Whether the brick above has moved, not just cracked
- Whether the window itself is being replaced at the same time
Why this is a mason’s job
This is the one on the list that is structural. Getting the bearing wrong, or taking the steel out without supporting the brick above it, drops a section of wall. It is not a handyman repair and it is not a pointing job.
How Mortarook works
You describe the job once: the service, your ZIP code, a few words about what you are seeing, and photographs if you have them. Mortarook writes your description back in trade language so you can check it, then matches you with a maximum of three local masonry contractors whose registered services, service area and project size fit.
Every contractor listed as a Verified Pro has had their Pennsylvania home improvement contractor registration checked against the Attorney General’s public registry, and has a certificate of insurance on file with us. Your phone number and street address are seen only by the pros who accept your project. We do not sell your information and there is never a fourth contractor.
Where lintel replacement comes up most
These are the towns and neighborhoods in our service area whose housing stock generates this work most often.
Other masonry work
Get up to three masons to look at your lintel replacement
Answer the questions once and up to three verified local masonry contractors see your project. Expect a call or an email within two business days.
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Mortarook is free for homeowners. Masons pay no membership and nothing per project. When a contractor wins work through Mortarook they pay a success fee of 5% of the final project value, capped at $750, once. We never touch the money between you and your mason.