A steel lintel and a steel beam do the same basic job, spanning an opening and carrying what's above it, but they carry very different loads. In an Ontario house, a "steel lintel" is almost always an angle that supports brick or stone veneer over a window or door. It doesn't hold up floors or the roof. As soon as an opening has to carry floor, roof or wall loads, especially a new or wider opening in a load-bearing wall, it needs a beam-type lintel: a wood header, an engineered wood beam or a steel W-beam with posts and footings at each end.
That difference matters when someone suggests "just putting a steel lintel in". Here's how to tell which one your opening needs.
Lintel, beam, header, RSJ: sorting out the terms
A lot of the confusion is vocabulary, much of it borrowed from UK and US advice:
| Term | What it usually means in Ontario |
|---|---|
| Lintel | Any member spanning an opening. The OBC uses "lintel" for wood headers in stud walls as well as steel and concrete lintels in masonry. |
| Steel angle lintel | An L-shaped steel angle under masonry veneer or in a masonry wall |
| Header | Trade term for the lintel over an opening in a wood stud wall |
| Steel beam | A W-shape (wide-flange) section carrying floor, roof or wall loads |
| RSJ / UB | British names for an I-shaped steel beam. The Canadian equivalent is a W-shape. |
| Girder | A main beam that carries other beams or joists |
So "steel lintel vs RSJ" in a UK article translates to angle lintel vs W-beam here. A steel girder lintel or beam lintel is a W-beam used as a lintel, which is common over wide garage doors and new patio openings.
Most brick houses have two members over every opening
Most newer Ontario houses are wood-frame with brick or stone veneer. The veneer is a single layer of masonry tied to the frame, and it carries only its own weight. That gives every window and door two separate members over it:
- A steel angle lintel in the veneer, holding up the brick above the opening. Its size comes from Table 9.20.5.2.-B of the 2024 Ontario Building Code, by veneer type and span.
- A header in the wood stud wall behind it, carrying the floor, roof and wall loads above. Article 9.23.12.2 requires openings in loadbearing walls wider than the stud spacing to be framed with lintels designed to carry the superimposed loads to adjacent studs, and Article 9.23.12.3 points to the wood lintel span tables.
The angle lintel and the header don't share their loads. That's why the answer to "can a steel lintel support a load-bearing wall?" is no for a veneer angle: it was never sized for that, and in a wood-frame house, the loadbearing wall is the stud wall behind it. Our steel lintel sizes guide covers the veneer table in detail.
When the opening gets wide: a beam lintel
Wide openings in veneer walls, such as double garage doors and large patio doors, can outgrow both the largest angle and a practical wood header. The OBC has a specific option for that: Table 9.20.5.2.-C, which gives maximum spans for W-beams carrying masonry veneer and a wood stud wall above. For example, it lists a W200x27 at 5.08 m under 90 mm brick.
That table comes with conditions that make the beam a different animal from an angle:
- A steel column at each end. The beam is supported on columns, not just bearing on the brick.
- A welded plate at least 6 mm thick on the flange to carry the veneer.
- Limited loads. The spans assume the beam carries veneer, a stud wall and a modest roof load. Where it also carries floor loads or larger roof loads, the table no longer applies and the code points to the steel beam span requirements in Article 9.23.4.3 instead.
So a beam lintel is not just a heavier angle. It is a beam with its own posts, and those posts need foundations. For garage openings specifically, see steel lintels over garage doors.
Solid masonry walls carry floors on their lintels
Older Ontario houses, often pre-war, can have solid masonry walls of two or more wythes of brick, where the inner wythes really do carry floor and roof loads. There, the lintel over an opening may carry floor loads too. Table 9.20.5.2.-A covers these "loose" lintels: an exterior angle under the face brick and interior angles under the backing, sized by wall thickness and floor load per metre of span.
At the longer spans and heavier loads, that table has no entry, which means the lintel has to be designed. Cutting a new opening in a solid masonry wall, or widening one, is one of the clearest cases for an engineer, and often ends with a steel beam or paired angles bolted together.
When an opening needs a steel beam
A W-beam, designed by an engineer, is the usual answer when:
- You're removing or opening up a load-bearing wall inside the house. The beam replaces the wall's support for the floor or roof above, and it needs posts and footings at each end. Our load-bearing wall removal cost guide covers that whole job.
- The opening is wider than the tables cover, or wider than a wood header can span within the wall depth.
- A concentrated load lands above, such as a girder truss, a post from an upper floor, or another beam.
- An exterior wall opening carries floors, such as a rear wall opened up for an addition. See steel beams for home additions and exterior wall openings.
- Headroom or a flush ceiling matters, because steel is shallower than wood for the same load.
An angle lintel alone is enough when the opening is in masonry veneer, the span is within the OBC table for that veneer, and the wood header behind it is correctly sized for the loads on the stud wall. For more on where lintels are required at all, see when is a steel lintel required.
Lintel vs beam at a glance
| Steel angle lintel | Steel W-beam (beam lintel) | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical shape | L-angle, such as L89 x 89 x 6.4 | W-shape, such as W200x27 |
| Carries | Masonry veneer, or masonry in a solid wall | Floors, roofs, walls and veneer, as designed |
| Supports | Bears on masonry at each end (150 mm minimum for table lintels) | Steel posts or bearing walls, down to footings |
| Sized by | OBC Tables 9.20.5.2.-A and -B for simple cases | OBC Table 9.20.5.2.-C or 9.23.4.3 for simple cases, otherwise an engineer |
| Typical job | Window and door openings in brick or stone veneer | Wall removal, wide openings, garage doors, additions |
| Fabrication | Cut to length, sometimes drilled or welded | Cut to length with plates, holes and connections |
Who decides, and who does the work
The designer or engineer decides which member the opening needs. For a replacement angle in an existing veneer opening, the OBC table may be all that's needed. For anything that changes the structure, such as a new opening in a loadbearing wall, a wider opening or a removed wall, expect engineered drawings and a building permit. Installation also differs: an angle lintel goes in with masonry work, while a beam needs temporary support of the structure above while it's installed.
Getting the right steel for your opening
Whether your drawings call for an angle lintel or a beam with posts, send us the opening sizes or drawings and we'll quote it. We supply angle lintels cut to length and drilled or welded as needed, and W-beams fabricated with plates and connections, plus the steel posts that go under them. See our steel products for what we make.
Frequently asked questions
Is a lintel the same as a beam?
A lintel is a beam that spans an opening such as a window, door or garage door and carries what's above it. In Ontario houses, steel lintel usually means an angle that holds up brick veneer, while a steel beam is a W-shape that carries floor, roof or wall loads. A W-beam over an opening is still a lintel by function.
What is an RSJ or UB lintel?
RSJ (rolled steel joist) and UB (universal beam) are British terms for I-shaped steel beams. In Canada the equivalent is a wide-flange W-shape, such as a W200x27, specified in metric. If you see RSJ or UB in UK advice, read it as a steel beam, not an angle lintel.
Can a steel angle lintel support a load-bearing wall?
No. An angle lintel sized from the Ontario Building Code veneer table supports masonry veneer only. Floor and roof loads in a wood-frame house are carried by the header in the stud wall behind it, or by a steel beam designed for those loads.
Do I need an engineer for a steel beam over an opening?
Usually, yes. The OBC tables cover lintels for veneer and a few simple beam cases. New or widened openings in load-bearing walls, openings with point loads above and anything outside the tables are designed by an engineer and normally need a building permit.
