replacing wood lintels above window

[jungle_jim01]

Busy weekend again...solving problems and cracking on with the attic. We've got two small attic windows (approx 12x18inch). There are 3 wood lintels next to each other to above the window but are in very poor condition. I'm a bit reluctant to pull them out yet! Has anyone got any tips on lintel replacement? It's such a small gap i'm hoping i can just pull them out and then bed in some new pieces. I guess speed is the main thing so the new lintels are in asap.

 

[biffvernon]

With a window that small there's hardly need for any sort of lintel.

 

[Lime]

Four things come to mind.
First, what is so wrong with the lintels that they need replacing?
Second, don't assume that they will be easy to remove. you may be lucky but sometimes they can be jammed in between bricks with no mortar separation.
Third, don't assume that the window is held in place other than with the odd big rusty nail in the lintel. The window could fall out.
Fourthly, as you are working at the top of the brickwall/house, the bricks may be very easy to move or dislodge because they hold little weight above them. Be careful not to push the wall over or out of true.

 

[jungle_jim01]

Thanks for the comments perhaps i should be clearer...it's sandstone blockwork around the window with sandstone lintel. The walls are about 20inches thick and so on the inside there is a large recess with the window in. The wood lintels are across the recess. I started thinking about replacing when i examined beneath the plasterboard which was boxing them in. each of the pieces of wood is in varying degrees of decay but the worst is so rotten it's crumbly to touch. (The rot is from a combination of old woodworm and a previous leak which has now been sorted)

Thanks

 

[biffvernon]

So from this distance, it's hard to see that the wood is performing any structural function whatsoever.