Working out if lintel above window is concrete or steel

Discussion in 'Builders' Talk' started by bp29533, Feb 3, 2022.

  1. bp29533

    bp29533 New Member

    Hi everyone

    I'm trying to drill some holes above a wide window in a 1960s/1970s ex-council house to fix some brackets (top fixing) for some blinds in the kitchen. We thought about putting a timber batten above the window on the inside wall, but the plaster and paint for the whole room is really uneven, so we're just trying to get some blinds up that will last until we redo the whole room.

    The inner reveal was tiled by the previous owner, and I've managed to drill through the tile (extra slowly with a masonry bit on a cordless drill) and about 1cm further before hitting something extra hard, which I guess is a concrete or steel lintel.

    The top of the window from the outside is covered by flashing, so I can't see whether the lintel is concrete from there.

    I've also tried masonry and HSS bits and tried to work out what material I've hit based on the colour / texture of the debris from drilling. So far, I'm getting mostly grey or yellow powder but I'm probably just blunting my drill bits now...

    I've also used a multidetector across the whole lintel area, and a few parts are flashing up as metal, but not the whole lintel area.

    Does anyone have any ideas on how to work out what the lintel's made of please?
     
  2. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    At a guess, I’d say concrete. Not old enough for wood and unlikely to be steel.
     
    Kitfit likes this.
  3. Rulland

    Rulland Screwfix Select

    SDS required I reckon.
     
    CGN likes this.
  4. bp29533

    bp29533 New Member

    @CGN
    @Rulland
    Thanks for this - got myself an SDS drill and it worked perfectly (and based on all the debris, definitely concrete)! Cheers :)
     
    Rulland and CGN like this.
  5. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    Glad it worked out.
     
  6. Rulland

    Rulland Screwfix Select

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