Hi,
I am currently having works done to my loft.
The dormer structure (5m wide) was put up by two builders in about 6 or 7 hours, and the felt roof was sealed to this the following day (by a specialist)
Shortly after I noticed the joists under the new roof (where the fascia board would go) were twisted at the ends, slightly out of plane.
I put this to one of the builders, who told me that this was normal and to be expected, as no piece of wood is dead straight, etc.
I could accept that the wood may have been slightly out, but they should have checked materials before installing them and said I wasn't happy with how it looked, and wanted it fixed so the joists looked parallel.
I also pointed out that trying to fix plaster board to these and skim would lead to a poor finish on the ceiling, and possible problems further down the line. The builder said that they were going to put battens across the joists underneath to minimise the wonkiness so the plasterboard could be screwed to these and wouldn't be under stress.
He was adamant that the job would look equally wonky if the whole lot (inc felt roof) was taken off and done again, as there was no way he could source timbers any straighter.
I found this last bit complete cobblers, but kept things pleasant pointing out that I'd seen a very similar construction when two builders put my garden room up (5m x 3m) and their joists looked very true to the naked eye, not a single obvious twist in sight. I still have plenty of pics, their construction just looks faultless the whole way through.
Spoke to his boss who owns the building company and told him that I had lost confidence in his builder, that his explanation (no way to do the job any better) beggared belief and I didn't want him doing any further work here.
My hunch is that they rushed the dormer, they had forewarned me it would be a big day's work and they might have to stay late (they cracked on and got away by 2.30pm in the end) - had they been more careful I think they could have got it spot on (perhaps allowing for them to have checked materials before and made sure they were happy with the timbers)
The building company owner doesn't want to consider taking the roof off and making it right as he says that will cost him too much. I find this a poor response, if a job is done badly it's on him to make it right, not me to wear it.
He was in the car when we spoke today, so couldn't make every word out but it sounds like he is thinking off attaching some more joists to the existing wonky ones to maybe pull them back to parallel.
His bottom line is that this is purely aesthetic, and will not affect the structural safety of the build, and once it's all covered up nobody will know what happened.
Welcome any advice, especially any thoughts on what the joists look like to other tradesmen.
I am currently having works done to my loft.
The dormer structure (5m wide) was put up by two builders in about 6 or 7 hours, and the felt roof was sealed to this the following day (by a specialist)
Shortly after I noticed the joists under the new roof (where the fascia board would go) were twisted at the ends, slightly out of plane.
I put this to one of the builders, who told me that this was normal and to be expected, as no piece of wood is dead straight, etc.
I could accept that the wood may have been slightly out, but they should have checked materials before installing them and said I wasn't happy with how it looked, and wanted it fixed so the joists looked parallel.
I also pointed out that trying to fix plaster board to these and skim would lead to a poor finish on the ceiling, and possible problems further down the line. The builder said that they were going to put battens across the joists underneath to minimise the wonkiness so the plasterboard could be screwed to these and wouldn't be under stress.
He was adamant that the job would look equally wonky if the whole lot (inc felt roof) was taken off and done again, as there was no way he could source timbers any straighter.
I found this last bit complete cobblers, but kept things pleasant pointing out that I'd seen a very similar construction when two builders put my garden room up (5m x 3m) and their joists looked very true to the naked eye, not a single obvious twist in sight. I still have plenty of pics, their construction just looks faultless the whole way through.
Spoke to his boss who owns the building company and told him that I had lost confidence in his builder, that his explanation (no way to do the job any better) beggared belief and I didn't want him doing any further work here.
My hunch is that they rushed the dormer, they had forewarned me it would be a big day's work and they might have to stay late (they cracked on and got away by 2.30pm in the end) - had they been more careful I think they could have got it spot on (perhaps allowing for them to have checked materials before and made sure they were happy with the timbers)
The building company owner doesn't want to consider taking the roof off and making it right as he says that will cost him too much. I find this a poor response, if a job is done badly it's on him to make it right, not me to wear it.
He was in the car when we spoke today, so couldn't make every word out but it sounds like he is thinking off attaching some more joists to the existing wonky ones to maybe pull them back to parallel.
His bottom line is that this is purely aesthetic, and will not affect the structural safety of the build, and once it's all covered up nobody will know what happened.
Welcome any advice, especially any thoughts on what the joists look like to other tradesmen.
