1 week into home renovation / extension - should we pull the plug already?

Section62

BlueC said:

Fortunately we have been able to call on the FIL to come and he's been a great help in getting it more watertight. Over the past day and a half we've taken down the frame they built as the uprights meant getting it watertight was impossible. The amount of water coming in this morning was horrifying! We have managed to get some visqueen up and hopefully done a reasonable job of securing it down. It looks a lot better than it did but I am not confident if there was high winds or a storm. Hopefully it will be ok.

It sounds like you are making good progress, and that can only be beneficial for your health.

Once you've spoken to the other roofers, if you are expecting it to be a while before they can do permanent repairs, you may want to consider something more robust as a temporary solution if you are concerned about high winds etc.

For example, corrugated bitumen sheets (e.g. Onduline) are more rigid and once fixed down won't move around very much - that has the benefit of reducing noise, as well as removing the risk of flapping/pulling (caused by the wind) tearing flexible sheeting away from the fixings.
https://www.wickes.co.uk/Onduline-Black-Bitumen-Corrugated-Roof-Sheet---950mm-x-2000mm-x-3mm/p/240039

It also tends not to sag as much as flexible sheeting, so you don't get problems with water 'ponding'.


Hopefully you'll be able to get confirmation about the scaffolding today.


Did you want to post a picture of the beam you were concerned about?  You will ultimately need it inspected by a competent person, but in the meantime we may be able to give you some reassurance, or suggest any other actions you might need to take in the short term.

BlueC

Thanks @Section62 that's another really helpful post. I will keep in mind the corrugated bitumen. Could be just the ticket if we can't get a roofer ASAP.

I am trying to keep things moving forward. As you say, it is good for your health and mindset to at least be taking positive steps no matter how small. The initial couple of days really rocked me.

The scaffolding situation is nearly sorted. We have an agreement figure for final settlement to the builder. It goes against the grain but I feel we have to pay this because he has the upper-hand and was threatening to have the scaffolding taken down.

We have also mostly cleared all the broken tiles and timber from the scaffolding - no surprise I guess that they didn't tidy up as they worked - and today I have mostly cleared all the debris out of the lounge so at least this doesn't look like the aftermath of an earthquake any more.

The steel beam of concern which has no padstones was in replacement of a previous timber beam which was essentially acting as an extension of the wall plate and picking up the rafters on this section of the roof. I am not worried about the steel beam right now because that is not actually supporting anything - it was supporting the dormer wall frame but we have removed that entirely now.

Of more concern is that the rafters which did attach to the previous wooden beam have now been braced together higher up and then cut short. This 2x3 brace picking up all the rafters of this section of roof is now supported by just 2No 2x3 timbers that are acting as acrow-props. (Again, to be fair to the joiner, even as he was doing this he was telling me it wasn't right and he should have proper acrows but that it was what he had been told to do). One roofer who visited immediately noticed and picked up on this arrangement.

We are desperately hoping that the roofer who visited yesterday will come back with a quote today and we can get the work booked in. Fingers crossed.

BlueC

As an aside, the steel they put in has timber attached to the top, off which they were building the frame. I think the timber is normally attached with coach screws through the i-beam. However, in this case, the timber is attached using zip-ties.

Presumably this was just a temporary measure, but I'd be interested to know whether this is accepted or common practice...?

Doozergirl

I've only ever bought zip ties to help put the christmas lights up.  

No, it isn't a common structural element of a house.  

DRP

BlueC said:

As an aside, the steel they put in has timber attached to the top, off which they were building the frame. I think the timber is normally attached with coach screws through the i-beam. However, in this case, the timber is attached using zip-ties.

Presumably this was just a temporary measure, but I'd be interested to know whether this is accepted or common practice...?

Take lots of photos!

MovingForwards

Take photos and write down as much information as you can, from the time you contacted the builders originally right through to today, keep updating it whenever you're in contact with them; dates, times and what was said etc. Create another for liaising with all the potential new people.

If either you / your wife are members of a union or have breakdown cover, with legal protection, take advantage and call them for advice.

Rosa_Damascena

MovingForwards said:

Take photos and write down as much information as you can, from the time you contacted the builders originally right through to today, keep updating it whenever you're in contact with them; dates, times and what was said etc. Create another for liaising with all the potential new people.

If either you / your wife are members of a union or have breakdown cover, with legal protection, take advantage and call them for advice.

I'm not sure about this bit - I checked over the summer and it seems the only legal advice that Unite offers is around the workplace so I ended up adding it to my existing home insurance (score for @Bendy_House !).

OP - you reaction is normal and yes, it is a gutting situation to feel so helpless. My parent had similar about 3 years ago, the difference is this guy made threats to "retrieve" his materials" as well which meant not just leaving them with a leaky roof but removing the rest as well. It became a police matter. They were lucky in the end, because they found a very kind-hearted builder to get them back on track. 

Section62

BlueC said:

The scaffolding situation is nearly sorted. We have an agreement figure for final settlement to the builder. It goes against the grain but I feel we have to pay this because he has the upper-hand and was threatening to have the scaffolding taken down.

That's good. I had a feeling the scaffolding would be the next thing he'd do something about, which would have really caused you difficulties getting someone else to do any work (including what you and your FinL have done).  (I swear I'm not your builder though. )

If the final settlement figure is one you can live with, paying that isn't a bad idea.  If it went 'legal' the final bill could be significantly more, and even if the quality of his work is shocking, in any court case there is no guarantee a magistrate/judge will agree with you. Plus there's the time involved in preparing documents and consulting solicitors which you will never get back.  If you guess that defending his claim might take up (say) 50 hours of your time, multiply that by the effective hourly rate for your employment, then you can attach a 'worth' to making a payment to get shot of him and instead using that time for something more productive and pleasant.

Section62

Doozergirl said:

I've only ever bought zip ties to help put the christmas lights up.  

No, it isn't a common structural element of a house.  

Yeah, I can't imagine why anyone would waste good money on zip ties, when for structural fixing purposes used chewing gum works just as well.

Doozergirl

Section62 said:

Doozergirl said:

I've only ever bought zip ties to help put the christmas lights up.  

No, it isn't a common structural element of a house.  

Yeah, I can't imagine why anyone would waste good money on zip ties, when for structural fixing purposes used chewing gum works just as well.

Actual belly laugh!  😂

Sorry, BlueC