Advice please- conservatory nightmare

Rhiandrath

We signed up for a replacement to our old lean to a few months back after having several quotes. 

They phoned and said it would be started on 21 November and thus begins our nightmare. 

A workman turns up on that week and sees the layout of the house and shakes his head to say he can't dismantle the conservatory due to the risk of rain, so he dismantles half the conservatory and lays bricks for the pillars. Large holes are left boarded up with ply, so the house is freezing. The next week fitter #2 shows up to start the work and we have the same conversation, so he boards up the gap between the house and the conservatory and says that's all he can do and he will return when there's a stretch of dry weather incoming. 

Week commencing 12 December he returns, no rain forecast all week. From day one he is rude and frankly doesn't give a sh&t about the work. He dismantles the conservatory which takes him 2 hours and then leaves for the day (this was a very cold week and I have two small children). Day 2 he works for 3 hours and puts up half of the frame for the conservatory. Day 3 he turns up and at 11 am says he's missing a part to begin the building of the roof and he's off to the factory, he will return if he finds the part. By 1 pm I ring the company to find out where he is and they are unable to get hold of him either, he's just gone home for the day clearly. Day 4 (a Thursday) he turns up and fiddles about a bit and then tells me he can't put up the glass roof as he needs two people... I ring the company who are unaware of this and again he leaves by 11. Friday,  I think finally I will have a roof and he tells me the glass is not the right size and has to be re ordered. He's brought some Polycarbonate to make us watertight over Christmas. 

I felt relieved at this point as Rain was due, however once he had installed the Polycarbonate I noticed he hadn't done anything to cover the join to the house where he had ripped off all the lead flashing from the old conservatory. He had left exposed just bare timber batten. I raised this with him and he tells me he has sealed it with mastick! And then leaves before I can speak to him further. I ring the company and they've all gone home (midday on a Friday). 

That Sunday it rains and water pours down the ingress between the house and the conservatory (as predicted) and starts soaking all the plasterboarded walls and the new plaster. In the meantime I have an email sent asking me to review the company, so I leave an honest review with photographs of the leak and also a voicemail. 

Monday morning the GM rings me in a flap saying he's seen my review, he's sending the bloke back and can I take it down once he's been. Now I normally wouldn't do this but I was so desperate for the water to stop I agree. 

Fitter returns and screws a plastic cover over the join, but leaves the top of it open, rendering it useless. It doesn't rain for a few days so I don't really notice. 

On Thursday 22nd it rains and I notice water running down the plaster again so I ring the GM and inform him, he tells me that everyone's knocking off for Xmas. At this point the leak isn't too bad so I just think we will get through, but on Friday all hell breaks loose. Heavy rain means the entire thing just starts pouring with water, up to my ankles. Water is flooding through in to the main house on to my wood floor, I'm bailing it out and towels are useless it's that bad. I ring them and start shouting blue murder someone needs to get out here now. They manage to find two fitters who can come over. 

The new fitters are horrified when they arrive, they ring their boss and advise that he sacks the first guy immediately. They climb up and pack the gap with expanding foam and plastic bags as a stop gap. 

Cut to today, heavyish rain again and we have more water coming in. Less severe but it is soaking through the plaster again and filling me with dread. 

The fitter also left all the broken glass from dismantling the first conservatory all over my garden, where my toddler plays, despite me asking if he could take it away. 

What would you do? They've said they will make good any damage but I feel I should be getting more than that. The work isn't finished yet but I have no faith in this company now, but no choice other than to keep going as I need it resolved. 

Nightmare! 

FreeBear

Do you have an exterior grade door between this conservatory and the rest of the house ?

If not, you really should in order to comply with building regulations.

Rhiandrath

No we don't, we inherited the situation. We're going to be getting a door there next year to seal it up properly. It's more of a lean to that was just shoved on to the property I guess. The door situation is a separate issue but thank you as I didn't realise it was building regs! 

ThisIsWeird

It does sound like a fair degree of incompetence all round, beginning with the surveyor apparently not having passed on the fact that the lean-to was 'open' to the main house.

I think what FreeBear was suggesting was that if your house had the correct external-quality doors installed between the two, then none of the leaking issues would have occurred. 

Having said that, once they began the job, they should have put in place a method of waterproofing the house, surely no more complex than screwing up some plywood sheets. It would have remained cold, tho', so really I think they should have run the options past you first - continue the work, accepting that the adjacent room would be cold/require far more heat, or delay the work until sunnier climes. 

Or - if they would be required in any case - first install exterior doors in the house opening. And as I understand it, unless this new room is to be insulated to current standards, doors should be present.

Do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? Good. Call them up and explain what's happening. You are not looking to take action or anything at the moment, because you expect them to be true to their word and sort it all. But you just wish to know what to say and do so you are covered. Eg, taking lots of photos, keeping a dated record of all communications, etc. See what they say.

Chances are, tho', you will look back at this and laugh about it...

HampshireH

This does sound like a nightmare.


It very much sounds like an "extension" in that you don't have a wall/door between the liveable space and this lean to. (But not a real extension or compliant) Or is it just a doorway without the door.


In terms of what to do. You have little/no chance of getting this resolved this week.  It's likely that they return to work in January.

I would request their GM goes out before any other works are bodged and does a full inspection. It sounds like their most recent guys have done what they can with what they had/time available.

In the meantime put in writing your complaint with photos and ask for that appointment to get things put right. As for the review that will be going back up on completion of works I expect.

Do you have any photos as I'm struggling to understand what currently is in place if the structure is gone and you don't have a door.

Rhiandrath

Hey, so we have doors between the living room and conservatory/lean to, but then on the other side it is just an arch where a window used to be which goes in to the breakfast room. The intention is that doors go there to make it warmer and the bloke did nail up a sheet of ply there for the time being. i 

Sorry if my post was misleading, the cold definitely isn't the issue here, it's the water pouring in down the crevice between house and conservatory. Obviously a door would stop this coming in to main house but it doesn't prevent the damage that has been done to the plaster and pb in the conservatory where we boxed in all the old pipes etc. 

I have done exactly what you said! I send video and photos and asked the GM to come out and view the work. He's off til 11 Jan so I'm just hoping for less rain til then. 

Rhiandrath

ThisIsWeird said:

It does sound like a fair degree of incompetence all round, beginning with the surveyor apparently not having passed on the fact that the lean-to was 'open' to the main house.

I think what FreeBear was suggesting was that if your house had the correct external-quality doors installed between the two, then none of the leaking issues would have occurred. 

Having said that, once they began the job, they should have put in place a method of waterproofing the house, surely no more complex than screwing up some plywood sheets. It would have remained cold, tho', so really I think they should have run the options past you first - continue the work, accepting that the adjacent room would be cold/require far more heat, or delay the work until sunnier climes. 

Or - if they would be required in any case - first install exterior doors in the house opening. And as I understand it, unless this new room is to be insulated to current standards, doors should be present.

Do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? Good. Call them up and explain what's happening. You are not looking to take action or anything at the moment, because you expect them to be true to their word and sort it all. But you just wish to know what to say and do so you are covered. Eg, taking lots of photos, keeping a dated record of all communications, etc. See what they say.

Chances are, tho', you will look back at this and laugh about it...

Thank you,

The doors wouldn't have stopped the leaking as it's coming down inside the cavity, so it would prevent water coming in to the main house but not damaging the walls in the lean-to side if that makes any sense. Doors are definitely next on my list (with my magic money tree 🤣) 

I think you're right in that they should have advised doors were needed and could have included those in the quote as I had no idea (not that ignorance is a defence). I now don't want to use them for the doors though!

I'm definitely keeping detailed records of calls and images/vids. 

Thank you!! I hope we do look back on it and laugh very soon. 

ThisIsWeird

Rhiandrath said:

Thank you,

The doors wouldn't have stopped the leaking as it's coming down inside the cavity, so it would prevent water coming in to the main house but not damaging the walls in the lean-to side if that makes any sense. Doors are definitely next on my list (with my magic money tree 🤣) 

I think you're right in that they should have advised doors were needed and could have included those in the quote as I had no idea (not that ignorance is a defence). I now don't want to use them for the doors though!

I'm definitely keeping detailed records of calls and images/vids. 

Thank you!! I hope we do look back on it and laugh very soon. 

Ah, sorry - I understand.

Yes, they've clearly messed up!

Sometimes these things happen... :-) They shouldn't do, of course, but provided they make good everything when they've finished, then it'll hopefully just be a resolved glitch - a funny story to tell on following Christmases.

Worth calling up your LegProt, tho' - they will advise you, what to do and say so that if it begins to drag out, or if they back-pedal on anything, they'll be ready to act on your behalf.

It does sound, tho', as if you have the GM on his toes :-)

I'm not following what the gap above the doors appears to be, tho' - what is this arrowed yellow?

(Oh, and sorry about silly Mr Baker hijacking your thread :-) What's he like, eh?!)

stuart45

ThisIsWeird said:

I'm not following what the gap above the doors appears to be, tho' - what is this arrowed?

Isn't that where you can see the roof through the top window glass?

Rhiandrath

stuart45 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

I'm not following what the gap above the doors appears to be, tho' - what is this arrowed?

Isn't that where you can see the roof through the top window glass?

This is the temporary Polycarbonate they have laid on there because they manufactured the incorrect glass. Seen through the glass above the living room door. 

stuart45

Is water running down inside the cavity? Are cavity trays fitted?