Conservatory Advice - Gap around frame and wall

Vegastare

Furt....what a solid reply. Any work is done with risk - no matter who and how we choose.
In our home have talked so much about having conservatory or extension. Not moved forward yet - seeing that we are render and brick construction also now more questions in my head.

Hope this is resolved, I would not walk away from the concerns, these companies join these trade groups - so I would use them, plus our money is hard earned, so should there's be too.

Furts

Vegastare wrote: »

Furt....what a solid reply. Any work is done with risk - no matter who and how we choose.
In our home have talked so much about having conservatory or extension. Not moved forward yet - seeing that we are render and brick construction also now more questions in my head.

Hope this is resolved, I would not walk away from the concerns, these companies join these trade groups - so I would use them, plus our money is hard earned, so should there's be too.

I too hope it is resolved but a broader picture by a country mile probably exists here.

The conservatory has been supplied in Rosewood. Why? Think of the summer sun and the expansion and contraction, plus gradual uv damage.

The windows and doors were then replaced to match. Why? Again the expansion and contraction and ..you get the idea.

Then yet another elephant in the room. The conservatory is diabolical so what standard of work exists on all the replacement windows and doors? OP says these were all done as part of a package to energy efficiency upgrade

Of course all this needs sorting out, but what a ghastly position to be in and it is almost a case of "where does one start?"

For the broader picture and a warning to all consumers this is stark reminder of what can happen when entering the replacement window, door and conservatory industry.

It is likely to be another saga like that of ClaireBear and the problems with Ventrolla a year or so back - all comes to memory but for exact details everyone do their own searches here!

But then again none of us are wanted on this forum for our views, sob, sob! OP is busy with MLR Forum so we are just a default second best! Let us all hope one way or another it gets resolved.

Aylesbury_Duck

Crikey, I've just read OP's letter to the conservatory company which is available on the other forum. He's gone into a good level of detail and has included lots of photographs. The installation is absolutely awful.

As you say Furts, where was the OP's due diligence before the work was carried out, given his experience in quality control?

OP, I hope you get this sorted but I suspect you face a long and probably fruitless task in doing so.

Furts

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

Crikey, I've just read OP's letter to the conservatory company which is available on the other forum. He's gone into a good level of detail and has included lots of photographs. The installation is absolutely awful.

As you say Furts, where was the OP's due diligence before the work was carried out, given his experience in quality control?

OP, I hope you get this sorted but I suspect you face a long and probably fruitless task in doing so.

It is not a good letter, nor is the presentation convincing. It highlights issues that are defective yet remains silent on so many matters. All round a worrying prospect for OP. Clearly there are problems but there are numerous "buts".


OP says they are a perfectionist type of person, and highlights their "troubleshooting" ability in the letter. He then proceeds to cherry pick comments from this forum and from the mlr forum. I doubt that anyone on this forum has visited the conservatory, and I suspect likewise of the mlr forum - one only has to look at the time frame. Which means OP is setting themselves up for a fall. If the conservatory company rejects the letter what then?


We have debated OP not following due diligence, but then neither do we think OP engaged any professional help with the concept, design, build, and inspection. Of course this would incur a cost.


OP has now done due diligence of a sorts but again without incurring any cost. Which is a cheap skate way of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.


Had OP commissioned an independent report from a suitably qualified person, with the requisite designatory letters then the conservatory company might be more willing to do something.


I get the impression OP has again failed in the due diligence stakes, but since there has been to feedback to any recent posts I will leave this as an open comment.

Bitofageek

Firstly I would like to a apologise for coming across as a perfectionist and secondly if I have offended anyone. I also apologise for not responding sooner, I am in the middle of wedding plans, appointments with a pregnant wife to be and am very busy at work.

Today I have had a successful meeting with the managing director of the window company. When I initially referred to the company as a 'reputable' company I was fairly confident that my conservatory plans were fine. I have also used the same company for all of my new windows and composite doors and have had no problems.

I admit that I should looked at the plans and I should have gone through the concept and design in more detail but in my mind I was only replacing the windows and roof and I had confidence that the company knew what they were doing. I would also highlight here that the dwarf walls and the footings etc were already in place from the original house build as this conservatory is just an upgrade from the previous dated poly carbonate conservatory which was there when I purchased the house. To me paying a few thousand to upgrade the roof and windows really wasn't a life changing decision and I didn't see the need to go to such detail with the build. I am aware that a conservatory isn't the greatest investment as mentioned earlier in one of my posts and I certainly wouldn't have had one built from scratch.

My letter as seen on the MLR forum is just a draft for myself to use for reference when confronting the manager with the problems at hand. This letter is not an official letter and if I were to send an official letter I would have asked my wife (who happens to be a solicitor) to compose it for me because my writing isn't the best as pointed out by the majority of you. I would also commission an independent report from a suitability qualified person at my own cost. In my defense, my position as a metrologist and a quality inspector requires an eye for detail and a high level of mathematics so forgive me but my writing is one of my weaknesses. My assistant takes care of all of the paperwork and writing haha.

The managing director has acknowledged the various problems and has agreed to redo all of the work until I am 100% happy. The rework will include all necessary parts such as new glass, bars, new leading, new caps and ensuring that the conservatory sits square. The entire leading is going to be removed and redone to my satisfaction and strictly no silicone to be used at any point (other than lead seal). I am still unsure about the use of cavity trays as the top half of the wall is constructed from block-work so any advice here would be appreciated so I can ensure this will be carried out. I will be onsite during the rework and I would like to ensure I have an idea about how the work should be carried out.

I made it very clear to the manager that I am not happy with the level of workmanship and he couldn't argue with me. Instead he phoned the fitter and asked him to come over and questioned the fitter as to why it looks the way it does and what happened. The fitter didn't have too many answers and didn't look very happy.

I am happy with the outcome today and thank you all for your time and useful advice. I didn't want to escalate matters and the obvious problem here is the inexperienced and incompetent fitters. I am confident that this matter has been dealt with professionally today and I have not needed to escalate matters further as the issues have been taken seriously and I have been reassured that I will receive a letter outlining all of the work which is to be done as discussed today with the managing director.

I live on a very sought after development where the company in question carry out a lot of their work and I am sure their reputation is valuable to them. The fitters they use are subcontractors and after today the managing director has questioned the competence of his fitters skill and knowledge.

Slinky

Perhaps the MD should consider employing his own fitters rather than relying on subbies.


I hope you get it sorted.

Furts

Building in cavity trays would be easy with brickwork, but you have rendered blockwork. You might make make a pragmatic decision and say the render is acting as a waterproof layer so moisture should not be excessive within your cavity, plus the window above and your conservatory roof mean the area of exposed wall is much reduced.


The easier tray answer is one horizontal tray having located an appropriate bed joint. This should have been considered as part of your original design - but so should the roof shape. A pitched roof abutting a blockwork rendered wall is not a wise decision.


These are fundamentals and your "reputable" company should have discussed all this with you, then an informed decision would have followed.


I am deeply uneasy with the actions of the MD. Playing nice guy, bad guy seems to have won you over, but it is not something I condone. The MD will be fully aware of the fitters used, so to chastise and humiliate the fitter in front of you reflects poorly on the MD. Perhaps the MD is a bully, perhaps they are clueless on conservatory installations, or perhaps they are full of bravado and all round sales nonsense. Who knows but it is not a professional approach. But neither has anything about your conservatory been a professional approach, so these concepts marry here. However these two items also indicate that your "reputable" company is woefully lacking in the "reputable" stakes.


You may be happy with your windows and doors but I suspect these are as poorly installed as your conservatory. You have the ear of the MD so you would be foolish not to scrutinise every aspect of these items and throw them into the remedial pot to be rectified at the same time as your conservatory.