Would you be happy with this door?

[BobbyBrown]

Hello,

I've just had some very expensive aluminium french doors fitted to the rear of my house but, to me, it looks like they haven't measured the opening heights correctly. The french door is 65mm lower than the lintel, with the side windows being 30mm lower.

Comments appreciated before I go in all guns blazing!

(Boarding instead of glazing as the company are still waiting for the integrated blinds to be made)

 

[Notch7]

Is there a reason why the doors cant be lifted so the heads of the frames line up?

Its a bit difficult to see from the images what is incorrect, its either a mis-measure or wrong fitting. Was this an existing opening or for a new extension and the door set ordered before the floor or dwarf walls built?

A quick decision is needed before the blinds are made.......

 

[ronniecabers]

Looks like the doors open out? Is there something on the outside that the door sashes might ' foul ' if they were any higher ( in which case the side windows should have been shorter and the ' add on ' across the complete frames setup ).

From the photo I am guessing that it is an ' addon ' on top of the doors to line through the top of the frames, if that is addon ,then I would suggest what Notch has said and see if they can ' lift ' the door frames up to line through better.

 

[BobbyBrown]

Hi,

It was an existing opening that goes into a conservatory. I don't want them to lift the door as we'll be forever tripping over the threshold!

 

[Notch7]

Hi,

It was an existing opening that goes into a conservatory. I don't want them to lift the door as we'll be forever tripping over the threshold!

A mis-measure then! Somebody had his rubber tape measure with him that day!

 

[pete50]

It looks to me like there should be a threshold there that isn't. From your post it seems that you are aware that there should be a threshold but didn't want one due to the tripping issue. Did you say that you didn't want a threshold after the doors were measured up or if you didn't then I would say that what you have is unacceptable.

 

[Notch7]

It looks to me like there should be a threshold there that isn't. From your post it seems that you are aware that there should be a threshold but didn't want one due to the tripping issue. Did you say that you didn't want a threshold after the doors were measured up or if you didn't then I would say that what you have is unacceptable.

I did wonder that. It does make sense, when the door was ordered maybe the the spec didnt say height with no external cill, on upvc they are about 35mm.

 

[Keithmac]

It will annoy you everytime you look at it!.

 

[BobbyBrown]

To be honest I wasn't here when the guy measured up, the wife was. Still, he should have measured up properly and he knew it was a gateway to the conservatory. I could see by the fitters furtive calls that something was up. Indeed, having just phoned the company they have already seen a picture of the issue (which must have been sent by the fitter) and are sending someone out tomorrow. I'll keep you posted but I'm not settling for this having paid upwards of 3k

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Good luck with them. We had a new back door on something like 20 years ago and it was an absolute abortion - it was wrongly measured, although in our case most of the frame was well oversize (like 80 or 90mm) whilst the door was far too narrow (there was a glazed panel as well). I never signed the order because I never saw it, and it took them 10 or 11 weeks to do the deliver and install - against a promised 3 weeks. Of course, it was installed on a Saturday when I was at work... and tghere were lots of furtive calls between the fitter and somebody else.

The upshot was that after the event I couldn't get them to even come and look at the problem, so I refused to pay the bill, and almost inevitably they took me to Small Claims Court - which entailed a day's work to gather and photocopy evidence on my part plus get an expert statement from an architectural draughtsman/surveyor as to their (non) competence, and then a further day off work to attend court. They didn't bother to turn up, so the judge made an award in my favour, compensated me for loss of income for a day and a half plus my other out of pocket expenses. The judge said that by far the most common cases he heard were between double glazing/PVCu door firms and their clients and that more than half the time they didn't even bother to attend.

In the end I made a new door and frame myself when I had the time, something I should have done at the beginning (as I'm a joiner)

 

[BobbyBrown]

Thanks for the useful information, it's always good to know what can be down the line. I'm hoping it won't get there but these days a good slating on Facebook can usually get them to buck their ideas up.

As an aside should the frame go all the way up to the lintel? Even the glass side panels are 30mm away from the bottom of the steel. Surely the top of the frame should drill into the lintel?

 

[Doggit]

It's possible that they've made the door working on the assumption that it will be an external door which would require a cill, not an internal one to a conservatory. Either way, polish your guns, and go and tell them to redo it. As to the side panels being 30mm away from the top, how are they attached, and is there a gap that's been covered over. If the side panes haven't been secured properly, it'll start to wobble soon.

 

[crank39]

It looks like theres 2 add-ons to the top of the door and then another add-on running the full length over the door and sides albeit it looks like they've cobbled that top one together from off cuts floating around in the back of the van, i would treat all 3 frames as temporary and for all 3 to be remade to the correct height

 

[God]

I reckon the door was made with a cill and when it was fitted someone said they wanted the threshold level so the cill was removed making the door 25/30mm smaller

 

[BobbyBrown]

Update 1:

Without any pushing at all they've admitted the middle door is wrong and they are going to remake it. As it stands they are not going to remake the side windows as they are "there or there about's".

Am I right in thinking the head of the frame should touch / be very near the lintel? At the moment there is a 30mm gap between the head and intel as shown in the following pictures (they've packed the gap with foam until they rectify the problem). Should I insist on the sides being remade as well?