cameron_webb•22d agoMost Upvoted

Rotted lintel on a storefront in Spokane caught me off guard

We were replacing a storefront glass system last month in Spokane when we pulled the old header and found the steel lintel was rusted through in two spots. The building was from the early 80s and nobody had ever sealed the top flange, so water sat there for decades. Ended up having to cut out a 14 foot section and weld in a new one, plus redo the flashing details. That added about three days and $4,800 to the job, not counting the steel cost. I swear they used to build these things with zero thought about the weather up here. Has anyone else run into hidden rust behind aluminum frames that the inspection missed?

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angelas7821d ago

Used to think a quick visual check of the aluminum frame was enough, you know, shine a light, poke at the caulk, call it good. But this post made me realize how much can hide behind the surface, especially where water sneaks in and sits. The flashing detail is the whole game, and if that top flange isn't sealed from day one, it's just a slow rot nobody sees until you're tearing stuff out. My old boss never checked that either, and now I'm wondering how many jobs we missed something like this on. Definitely going to start asking for the steel behind the frame on every storefront from now on.