How to attach a batten to a metal lintel

[Rachel G]

Hi all,

I'm battening all the inside (block) walls of my 80s house so I can insulate them and plasterboard over. There's what I think is a metal lintel over the windows and front door which I think I need to attach horizontal battens to in order to frame the windows so the plasterboard doesn't collapse. Any ideas how I can do this please?

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[Mottie]

Can you get to the lintel from the outside? When I had an RSJ fitted and needed to plasterboard it, I just drilled holes in it and attached wood blocks by putting a screw through the hole into the wood. You’d need to do that from the outside though.

Failing that, cut a length of wood of the correct length that you need, slide it into the lintel behind the batten on the left and screw another batten over that on the right and screw through the battens into the wood. You could probably fit an extra few battens coming down above the window and screw through those too. Then add battens to the inserted wood so that all battens are flush and then you could fix plasterboard to the battens. Remember to also pack out where you will fix curtain poles/blinds. That’s how I’d bodge it anyway!

 

[conny]

You can put a batten across the lip of the window and attached it to the two side uprights. Screw into the ends of the cross batten by screwing through the uprights with long screws.
Inside the reveal, cut a piece of plasterboard to fit across the top. Smear a generous amount of 'No Nails, (or equivalent), on the back face and glue it to the underside of the lintel. a few short battens from front to back inside the reveal will support the side pieces of plasterboard and also trap the ends of the top piece.
Don't forget to make the depth of the plasterboard long enough to come out to where the front face of the main wall plasterboard will be.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Either TEK screws or this: