Big Tool

On a side note, what exactly should I be looking for on the new house I'm purchasing. It has galvanized "shiny silver" metal lintels. I've never seen a house locally with weep holes around the windows or flashing. Could someone post a photo showing what I should be looking for?

The home actually sits approximately 60 miles inland so the salt water corrosion factor isn't really a issue. Biloxi was just the nearest recognizable city. It is a single story home. @Kurt They are definitely formed with a bend. It's very uniform on all the lintels except the front 3 that are just angle iron and were very rusty. On the ones with the hump I was describing there was only very minor surface rust. It looks like they are formed with a slight bend downwards as if to drain moisture downwards where as angle just sits flat. Click to Enlarge 50.29 KB

Jim, Thanks for responding. Do you have any recommendations other than tearing out the lintels and replacing? I have weep holes around the bottom of the house but none around the lintels. Would it be advisable to add weeping holes? First and foremost I want to avoid creating a larger issue. We just finished up painting all the lintels more as cosmetic fix. It's odd because the front two window lintels and the large lintel that spans the garage door appear to be just angle iron. These had light rust over the entire surface of the lintel. It was actually dripping rusty water down on the garage door trim and one of the front windows. The rest of the house has lintels that have a slight hump in the middle if that makes any sense at all. They aren't flat. These appear to have a layer of black primer/paint and have light rust here and there.

Hello all, first time poster. I'm having a similar issue as the OP. Newer home under 10yrs old. Brick lintels are rusting and causing some very minor stair cracks in the mortar. In the process of buying a new home so we are prepping this one to sale. Or possibly to keep long term as a rental. Either way I want it fixed. Obviously not interested in tearing out the brick lintels around the entire house. If the issue is moisture going through the brick and collecting on the lintels why not paint the visible rust with rustoleum, and then seal the masonry to prevent water from penetrating the brick? Seems like a pretty obvious solution but I don't see any mention of it. I've used masonry sealer on previous projects and it works like a charm. Why wouldn't it work in this situation??