A friend has just had news doors fitted throughout his bungalow, I think they are well and truly botched, but I'd like a second opinion - am I being too picky ?
Worst is the bathroom door. My catalogue of issues includes :
Here's photos :
The airing cupboard door is a bit of a mess where he's trimmed it down. On the latch side it could have done with planing down a bit to match the jamb that isn't straight, ditto the the top. But on the hinge side it looks like he'd had a few too many before trimming this down (in case it's not clear, the jamb is near-enough straight, it's the door that's wonky) :
There's a bedroom door that is noticeably stiff, the upper hinge (there's 3 per door) is out of line with the others, and the door fouls the stop at the top only. Another door or two where the striker plate isn't recessed properly and the door binds on it.
On one door, he had to move a stop, but he'd caulked it so that the join between the stop and the casing is barely squarer than my finger ends.
Several hinges aren't "flat" in the casing or door, some of the grub screws in the handles are sticking out a long way, and lots of little details like that.
I'm fairly certain (just from having been shown the fittings before the doors went in, that the latches are designed to allow through-bolting of the handles. And there are screws provided for this. Instead he's just used a couple of short wood screws per handle. I've certain they'll end up like the office doors at work - all "wobbly" because the screws have pulled out and the only thing holding the handle on is the grub screw in the square shaft.
And he seems to like caulking - it doesn't show up very well, but in the last of the first group of photos, he's filled in round the striker plate so it does look like it stands out as much as it really does.
These doors are from B&Q, and seem to have a "plasticky" surface to them. If I add a strip of wood to the bottom of the bathroom door, and plane it down to match the thickness, how hard do you think it's going to be to get the new bit flush with the existing surface ?
The guy that fitted them isn't going to be coming back. My mate didn't notice how bad they were and he's already paid up.
It was "quite a surprise" how badly he's done these, because the guy did a decent job of his floor.
Worst is the bathroom door. My catalogue of issues includes :
- The door itself is well and truly messed up - I don't know whether the guy went off-line when drilling in for the lockset or what, it's the only explanation I can think of for having forced part of the surface out !
Huge gap underneath - I can literally get a finger through the gap.
The inside handle isn't flush to the door surface - I suspect he's "pulled" the wood out where the top screw is and created a bump that's holding the fitting away.
The outside bit of the lock (the bit with the screwdriver slot for unlocking it from the outside) is sticking out further than I'd have expected, isn't central, and the plate is only held with one screw.
The latch isn't properly set into the door (it's proud).
The striker plate isn't recessed properly - the latch and striker plate touch and bind.
Here's photos :
The airing cupboard door is a bit of a mess where he's trimmed it down. On the latch side it could have done with planing down a bit to match the jamb that isn't straight, ditto the the top. But on the hinge side it looks like he'd had a few too many before trimming this down (in case it's not clear, the jamb is near-enough straight, it's the door that's wonky) :
There's a bedroom door that is noticeably stiff, the upper hinge (there's 3 per door) is out of line with the others, and the door fouls the stop at the top only. Another door or two where the striker plate isn't recessed properly and the door binds on it.
On one door, he had to move a stop, but he'd caulked it so that the join between the stop and the casing is barely squarer than my finger ends.
Several hinges aren't "flat" in the casing or door, some of the grub screws in the handles are sticking out a long way, and lots of little details like that.
I'm fairly certain (just from having been shown the fittings before the doors went in, that the latches are designed to allow through-bolting of the handles. And there are screws provided for this. Instead he's just used a couple of short wood screws per handle. I've certain they'll end up like the office doors at work - all "wobbly" because the screws have pulled out and the only thing holding the handle on is the grub screw in the square shaft.
And he seems to like caulking - it doesn't show up very well, but in the last of the first group of photos, he's filled in round the striker plate so it does look like it stands out as much as it really does.
These doors are from B&Q, and seem to have a "plasticky" surface to them. If I add a strip of wood to the bottom of the bathroom door, and plane it down to match the thickness, how hard do you think it's going to be to get the new bit flush with the existing surface ?
The guy that fitted them isn't going to be coming back. My mate didn't notice how bad they were and he's already paid up.
It was "quite a surprise" how badly he's done these, because the guy did a decent job of his floor.
