Help identifying issues in loft.

[mrgonzo]

Hi all.

Having renovation works done and the builder has boarded out the loft for us.

Apart from removing structural elements that he insists are fine but the engineer says no, he's retiled the roof and redistributed the old insulation around the loft and just plonked it on top of the really old granulated (hopefully cellulose) insulation. He hasnt gone round the whole loft just where he fancies by the looks and when I went up to inspect there's quite a lot of light shining through behind the chimney stack.

Plus I pulled him up on a shoddy velux install which he has now fixed but I'm still not convinced.

I would really appreciate some help with this as we're up to the final payment and I just don't think this is up to snuff but I might just be being anal.

Thank you.

 

[foxhole]

Not clear what your concern is, you only mention him doing insulation but none of the photos show this?
What is meant by redone the roof?

 

[Sonic70]

What structural elements has he removed?

 

[DAZB]

All depends on what you contracted him to do but the insulation is very poor and you will not feel the benefit of what he has done in that area. The daylight behind the chimney seems excessive and I would want that looking at and the Velux.... it should have double trimmers either side and he has just stolen the existing rafter and used it to fix the Velux to which has left a noticably widen gap between rafters and the side timbers actually look like they stand proud of the horizontal timber. In short you have reason to have a word but it all depends on what he has quoted you for as to whether he has fulfilled his role.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Apart from removing structural elements that he insists are fine but the engineer says no, he's redone the roof and redistributed the old insulation around the loft and just plonked it on top of the really old granulated insulation. He hasnt gone round the whole loft just where he fancies by the looks and when I went up to inspect there's quite a lot of light shining through behind the chimney stack.

Daylight and what appears to be a water leak, onto the timber in photos 3 & 4.

He's taken out a complete rafter, which he should not have done, and for no obvious reason.

The Velux rafters, should have had the rafters sistered at either side.

Insulation - what insulation?

 

[mrgonzo]

Thank you for all your replies, I've tried to answer as best as possible.

Not clear what your concern is, you only mention him doing insulation but none of the photos show this?
What is meant by redone the roof?

Its all under the glued and screwed boards no new insulation was applied and he's just redistributed the existing rolls between the joists. The photos show the only visible insulation that's not covered.

And the roof has been retiled with the velux installed. Externally a few people have said the velux looks skewed and I asked a roofer to go up and he also said it looks skewed.

What structural elements has he removed?

He removed two diagonal and two horizontal struts from the king post which the engineer has said his 'fix' isn't adequate as the weight isn't being redistributed properly but builder is adamant what he has done will suffice.

All depends on what you contracted him to do but the insulation is very poor and you will not feel the benefit of what he has done in that area. The daylight behind the chimney seems excessive and I would want that looking at and the Velux.... it should have double trimmers either side and he has just stolen the existing rafter and used it to fix the Velux to which has left a noticably widen gap between rafters and the side timbers actually look like they stand proud of the horizontal timber. In short you have reason to have a word but it all depends on what he has quoted you for as to whether he has fulfilled his role.

Luckily after I posted this there were roofers across the way doing a job and the pointed out a loud of issues I ckuding the velux is on the wonk and the timber that sites proud means if I wanted to put plasterboard up it would need redoing.
And I feel like he's cheapest out reusing the old rafters and shimming (packing?) where's he's cut one too short.

Had he fulfilled his role personally I don't think so, this was to compensate for not building our extension over the garage as he went off plan and broke the party wall agreement. So we said forget the garage extension we'll take a boarded loft roof redone. The velux and hip end retile were going to be done as part of the garage extension, no discount just instead of the 2 rooms and a WC.

Daylight and what appears to be a water leak, onto the timber in photos 3 & 4.

He's taken out a complete rafter, which he should not have done, and for no obvious reason.

The Velux rafters, should have had the rafters sistered at either side.

Insulation - what insulation?

I can't say whether that water damage is new or old unfortunately never been in to that part of the loft until now. Yeah I feel like it's been cheaped out on. That's his fix after I complained as before the fix it was really poor and even a lay person like me could open up a collins and see that. Yeah he's just redistributed the insulation and for all I know it's not been done evenly boards are glued and screwed.

I really appreciate the responses, I did manage to get roofers to check it out not long after posting and they picked up way more issues they gave me a video of the issues they picked up.

Thank you.

 

[foxhole]

If you board out the loft the floor needs raising to accommodate at least 270mm of insulation .

 

[mrgonzo]

If you board out the loft the floor needs raising to accommodate at least 270mm of insulation .

The raised it by adding new timbers on top of the existing joists, and redistributed the insulation from the rear of the loft as the front just had what I assume is granulated cellulose. I'll check the thickness of the insulation that's sticking out the end of the boards but I'd be confident to say it's not 270mm deep and in some areas there's likely non.

And please correct me if I'm wrong, I was advised by my architect if timbers were to be used they should run perpendicular to the original joists not on running on top.

Thank you.

 

[Sonic70]

I would definitely get the structural changes properly checked out and rectified.

 

[DAZB]

If he has not added any new insulation then it will not be adequate, assuming he has used 200 x 50 joists on top of the existing that will give a likely depth of 270mm so if it is not full everywhere beneath the new boards then he has not done it right. There is so much wrong with it, the worst being removal of the struts leaving it structurally inadequate so that needs fixing as a priority especially if he has replaced the old covering with a heavier tile. You haven't said if you have paid him in full but lets hope you haven't as this is going to cost you to put it right and it should be his money you spend not yours.

 

[mrgonzo]

If he has not added any new insulation then it will not be adequate, assuming he has used 200 x 50 joists on top of the existing that will give a likely depth of 270mm so if it is not full everywhere beneath the new boards then he has not done it right. There is so much wrong with it, the worst being removal of the struts leaving it structurally inadequate so that needs fixing as a priority especially if he has replaced the old covering with a heavier tile. You haven't said if you have paid him in full but lets hope you haven't as this is going to cost you to put it right and it should be his money you spend not yours.

Thanks for your response, I really appreciate it. I haven't measured the new timbers but at a glance there's definitely adequate space under there for more insulation and no new insulation has been added that's for sure.

He has argued the toss against the engineer for the loft, he even got riled up that I had one out to inspect his work bf first place, the drawings show what needs to be rectified but he's digging his heels in about doing it staying its fine. To be honest he's argued the toss against my architect and the party wall surveyor throughout this build which has meant we couldnt go ahead with the above garage extension, so Im pretty confident he's in the wrong.

I haven't paid him in full yet but he's expecting it this week and we have approx 8k held back although given the scale of renovations I was told by a few people to keep more back but at the time I didn't want to be 'thay customer's, I know it works both ways and tradies get bad customers too.

 

[mrgonzo]

I would definitely get the structural changes properly checked out and rectified.

Ive had new drawings and calcs done but the builder is adamant that it's overkill and his 'fix' will do the job, he got really riled up that 'i went behind his back' getting an engineer out.

 

[foxhole]

Do his spurs jangle when he walks.

 

[Sonic70]

If the insides are like that be interesting to see what he's done on the outside

 

[foxhole]

Is the final use for loft storage,?