Tag: doors

When one door closes…

Published by Charlotte on 16th November 2021

It was the morning of Monday the 20th September and excitement was in the air. Between the hours of 8 and 10 AM the Anglian window fitters would be arriving, and five days later our house would finally have entirely new windows and doors! It had been a long, drawn-out process. From getting our first quote in April, being allowed to order windows in June, and ultimately being given our install date in July. We were done with waiting and the time had finally come!

DAY ONE

We had been told that a scaffolding company would be arriving on the Monday morning to erect and collapse the platforms necessary to install the three first floor windows and that this would take only one day. This meant that we would have three of our seven windows already installed on the first day, a sure sign that our ordeal was finally coming to an end. We anxiously awaited a call to signal the arrival of the window fitters.

But as had been the theme with this company… they kept us waiting. At 09:30, having not heard from them, we got impatient. Perhaps we had got the wrong message: What if the fitters had arrived but didn’t know to call us? So we headed to the house, happy to wait the last 20 minutes there if they weren’t already waiting outside.

As we drew closer we noticed a truck parked outside. There was no scaffolding up, but plenty of it in the back of the truck. The scaffolders had arrived! But no sign of the fitters yet. We were told that they were running late and that they would now be arriving at 11:30. This did not please the scaffolders; They had arrived at our house at 8am, having left their homes before 6am. We returned home to continue working after our 30 minute wasted journey.

At 11:30 we returned to the house. No fitters.

Ethan made a call. “We were told the fitters would be arriving between 8 and 10, do we know where they are?” “They are on their way. It IS a lot of windows to load and it IS a long journey, so they will be there at 13:30” Knowing that they had all this information before they gave us the original time window, we were a little peeved at the tone of her voice. It felt that she was implying that we were simply being unreasonably impatient, and that expecting them to actually arrive within the time window that the company gave us, well we really should have known better (even though they had more information than us, and clearly didn’t). Ethan reminded her again that we do not live at the property, so to please let the fitters know that they should call 30 minutes before they arrive so we could meet them there.

By 13:30 we had received no such call.

As I could not get away from work at this time, Ethan went to the house alone. Again, Ethan found the scaffolding truck, and no sign of anyone else. The scaffolders were less than pleased that they were still waiting to get started. Understandably, they did not want to be staying well into the evening.

When the fitters finally arrived at 2pm, Ethan tried to make sure the window fitters were aware of the fact that the scaffolding would not be there the next day, by asking the scaffolders when they would need to start tearing down, within earshot of the fitters. They responded “Now.” with no hint of humour. This prompted some negotiation, after which the two parties agreed that the scaffolding was only really needed for the large first floor window, and the fitters could install the two smaller ones on a ladder.

Once Ethan had passed on the required information, he returned home and to work. Despite the set-backs, we were still both excited to see what they would have managed to achieve in the few hours before the end of the work day. At 17:30, we could wait no more, and we were not disappointed; The three upper windows were all in! There were no handles yet, so we couldn’t test them out, but they looked good, already changing the whole look of the front of the house. They told us that the rest of the work would be finished some time the next day, which surprised us, as this would mean a five day job had taken 1.5 days, but if the job was done well, we would be happy.

They then handed us a little pack of papers including a blank envelope. While the handles had been forgotten at the depot, the bill, however, had not. The bill we received was 125% of what we were expecting it to be – because why would they let any part of this process be simple? It matched the quote that we had received for triple glazing but that they had not been able to fulfil – “nobody makes triple-glazing with georgian bars”. After quoting for both together, they had told us that we had to choose between triple glazing and georgian bars. When we chose the georgian bars we naively assumed that the price would drop back to the otherwise identical double glazing quote that we had previously received. So we paid nothing, called the sales person and left it with him.

DAY TWO

On our visit at lunchtime on the 2nd day, we were given our new front door keys – a momentous occasion!! We had waited for this moment for months. Finally, we could unlock and enter our house with no door lifting, pulling, or manipulating of any kind! So it was a little upsetting that the door had not yet been installed, leaving us still waiting to experience this. However, they had mostly finished the dining room and kitchen windows and taken out the bathroom window, so we had a lot more to see. They were convinced they’d still be done by the end of the day… apart from the handles.
By the time we finished work, noone had called to let us know the job was complete. Either way, we wanted an opportunity to see the house without them there, so that I could get embarrassingly excited about the whole thing. We waited until 19:30, and then headed down.

They clearly had not finished. The back door was still a window and a board, and we couldn’t even try out our new front door keys as the installers were still there, apparently wrestling the front door into place. The frame had been warped, so it had required some persuasion to fit it and get it working correctly and he was currently just finishing off some adjustments. So we left, disappointed.

DAY THREE

On the Wednesday they called around midday to let us know that they would soon be finished, if we’d like to take a look. When we arrived they were finishing off the back door and window combo – or at least they thought they were. We could immediately see that something was wrong. The georgian bars on the window and adjoining door, that the surveyor had painstakingly calculated to ensure were aligned, and we had carefully installed the sills to his measurements, were nowhere near each other. It turned out to be a simple fix as they had managed to install the window sash the wrong way up, apparently without thinking. Along with this careless mistake we noticed a large scratch on one of the bedroom windows:

They said they would order a new sash to be replaced at a later date. We also noticed a popping noise when opening and closing the dining room window, which they said would stop with a little adjustment.

Less helpful were they when we expressed concern about the front door. Firstly, through all their wrestling they had made some pretty substantial scratches and dents in the frame. They claimed these could be ‘wax repaired out’ when the new window sash was installed. Having never heard of wax repair, and still thinking of them as the experts, I was inclined to believe them. However, when we gave the door a little test and discovered that it was not that easy to open or close, leaving our hands actually hurting after two or three attempts, the illusion came crashing down. Their answer to our concerns: “Thats just how these doors are, you will have to take it up with manufacturers if you aren’t happy”.

Despite all the previous hassle and the few adjustments and repairs that we will still need to argue for and wait to be done, the house is certainly looking much better, and it certainly more habitable than it was!

AFTER THE INSTALL

The day after the install had been “completed” we received a call. The company’s office were asking how it went, so I reiterated that we needed a new window and a new front door frame. I also mentioned the incorrect bill, as we had not heard from the salesman. She told me that they would order a new window and an entirely new door (apparently only making the frame to save on waste would be beyond them). She also agreed to send an adjustment to the price that we should have received earlier. Oh, and she just wondered if we could pay 90% of the bill now as the job was basically done? I told her that I would need to talk to Ethan, as I may have forgotten something.

THE INSPECTION AND BEYOND

That Thursday evening was the first time that we could look at the finished windows in detail and in the light. Having been told that the installers planned to clean the windows and frames before they left, we were disappointed to find that inspecting was made all the harder by plenty of dirt spattered on the windows, trying to disguise the numerous scratches and dents.
We found several more scratches and dents in the frames, as well as inconsistencies in the way they had installed each window. Most windows had at least one sash which sat wonkily in the frame, leaving gaps in the outer seal. The two identical bedroom windows had been installed in different positions relative to the fascias above. Some windows had been mastic sealed to the slate sills, others had not. To name a few.

In addition, the back door had scratches on the glazing itself and there were ripples in the trim, where clearly it hadn’t been properly put in place. Being the last item they were installing, clearly they were in a particular rush, leading to my favourite error made with the back door:

Several of the georgian bar pieces had been hammered on the wrong way round, OR in the wrong place entirely in a couple of cases. I was so tempted to put this right myself, but was too afraid that I’d cause some damage, and not be able to convince them to supply replacements.

We have saved the best until last: the front door that we had been told was exactly as it should be. Let’s start with the warped frame that they ‘fixed’.

That bubble should be in the middle. That bubble IS in the middle when it’s on the slate doorstep. This is because the doorstep is level. The lintel above is also level. For unknown reasons they decided to lift one side of the door frame in order to ensure that the frame was neither level, nor square. They achieved this by shoving a pile of little bits of plastic in one end (visible on the left) and filling the rest with expanding foam.

Here are some pictures from the inside:

The door sits incredibly wonkily in its frame, meaning that it rubs every time its opened or closed. You normally need two hands to open the front door with the key as you need to make sure to pull it into place so you can fully turn the key before having to use your entire body weight, or an enthusiastic spartan kick, to fight the friction to open it.

Only a month later and sometimes even two hands haven’t been enough, leaving me wrestling with the key in the door for a substantial chunk of time. Passers by stopped to tell me how lovely the new windows and doors look while I wrestled – if only they weren’t form (from a distance) over function.

I even started to make attempts to climb in through the back door that currently just opens onto a void in the 1st floor:

Thankfully, after my second failed attempt to rally my dare-devil side, the front door finally gave into my demands and decided to open.

Given that one of the things we had been looking forward to most was finally having a door that would not cause us stress every time we arrived at or left the house, this has been a disappointing outcome. And I haven’t even mentioned the fact that the whole frame moves when you shut the door because they thought that two out of five screws in the side of the frame would probably cut it. AND that we can see light between the door and frame, and even around the edge of the frame. Oh, and we’ve had rain come under the door frame too.

There was also some missing expanding foam, cracks in sills, dodgy coloured pointing, one of the bedroom windows doesn’t lock… and probably some other things.

So that’s the list of issues. After a few emails and a visit from another surveyor type, we are now waiting for an entirely new front door, two entirely new bedroom windows, a new sash for the 3rd bedroom, a new frame for the dining room window, new glazing and trim for the back door, a couple of replacement cills and hopefully entirely new people to come to replace and adjust. They haven’t dared to ask us for that 90% of the balance again.

They were “pleased” to tell us that this remedial work could be started on the 1st of December, only 10 weeks after they were meant to have it all finished. Which made me chuckle, so thanks for that window guys… I guess.

So now we wait. At least we are in a position where the house is a lot more secure, and the windows are mostly watertight. This means that we could move in with the doors and windows as they are – IF we ever finish our downstairs floors.

FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT!
Some additional anecdotes about our incredibly skilled installers:

When we arrived one day, we saw that there was a block of wood stuck to our waterproof membrane on one of the walls. This was attached by a screw that had pierced the membrane – nowhere near any of the new windows. When questioned, they thought a perfectly reasonable answer was “I got annoyed when the door wasn’t going in right, so I flung it [that block of wood with a giant screw through it] behind me. Must have been quite a throw for it to do that!”… followed by a laugh.

Additional membrane piercings occurred where we had asked them to install membrane around one of the windows they were installing, so that we could later seal it to our wall membrane. They thought the best way to hold this new WATERPROOF membrane out of their was was to drive several screws through it and through our WATERPROOF wall membrane.

Thankfully we have tape that is meant for sealing holes in the membrane, but we had been trying to minimise the holes, as the tape is not as good as just having continuous plastic membrane!

Finally, when we arrived after they had left for the final time, we found not one, but two large spirit levels had been left behind, right next to the door along with a soiled white primark t-shirt.

The thing that shocked us most about this process was how entirely unsurprised the remedial work surveyor was. We don’t want to say that this is par for the course with Anglian, but… it kind of seems like this is par for the course with Anglian! Whelp, you live and learn.

Making Rectangles

Published by Charlotte on 11th October 2021

I have probably laboured this point enough purely with examples but it’s worth saying again: With a house like this, it’s never a simple as just replacing something. Windows and doors were scheduled to be installed in a couple of weeks. We had already begun to install window and door sills in many of the openings, and managed to get our dilapidated garage door replaced with a beautiful wall. This was progress, but we were not ready.

To complete the preparations for the installation we had to ensure that all openings were sturdy rectangles of the correct size, including slate sills below and something above suitable for fixing doors/windows to. We already knew that both the front door and the dining room window currently each had bowed rotting pieces of wood for lintels, that would need replacing. Other openings still needed exploring.

As seen in a previous blog (Waiting on windows), most of our window sill installations went relatively smoothly. We kept the old windows in place as best we could, with only a few requiring a little surgery on the frames to make enough space for the sill. We now had two window sills left to install: the garage/lounge and the master bedroom. Both windows were much wider than the others and thus required much longer sills, which we’ll talk about later. But the master bedroom had additional issues…

The stone in the wall below touched the bottom of the window frame, leaving no space for a new slate sill. We needed to create this space. The frame, however, was in considerably worse condition than the other windows had been. In places, the wooden frame was so rotted that it threatened to fall away if touched – in a few places it had already, leaving the corners of glass panes exposed.

We spent a little while trying to reinforce the window frame by attaching extra, newer lengths of wood hoping these would keep it intact while we undermined it. This only caused more cracks in the glass, foreshadowing Ethan (who was precariously balanced on the ladder) being showered with splintered glass if we continued. So we decided to tape up the new cracks and remove the window in its entirety; we’d have to live with yet another boarded up window for a couple of weeks.

Neither of the large openers were able to open wide enough to detach at the hinges, as they collided with the slate cladding – another impressive design flaw from the previous owners. Most people only ever want to open windows by about an inch right? Our solution was to cut the window into its 4 sections and remove them one by one. It went shockingly well and, as far as we know, we did not shoot any shards of glass onto our floor or into the street.

Having taken the window away we discovered that the wood above to which it was attached was also rotten and no longer straight (if it ever was). This was a fairly simple switch, apart from needing to cut back various pieces of wood and nails in a very small space while trying to avoid cutting or disturbing the fascia board that had tiles hanging from it. We mostly succeeded.

Ethan attacking a nail, and the view from our eventual bedroom

Back to the problem of the long sills. Both the lounge and the master bedroom sills needed to be longer than could be bought in standard lengths of slate. This meant that we had a choice between spending a fortune on a long piece of slate for each (and trying to lift one of these to the 1st floor), or simply doing each of the sills in two parts and mortaring between. We chose the latter.

When the slate arrived we found that it was not as uniformly coloured as our first batch. While the main colour was the same, a couple of pieces had additional layers of a darker colour. We had no time to wait for a replacement, so these would have to work. We decided to use the most non-uniform sill for the master bedroom, that way it would only ever be seen from inside. We still took our time deciding how we wanted the two parts to fit together and where exactly we needed to cut to minimise the obvious break in the middle. As I said – we had no time to wait for replacement slate, so we had to get it right first time.

To create a good finish we had to align the two pieces of slate perfectly on installation, both along the wall (so that the slate patterns matched up) as well as in height. A tricky task, that we handed off to Ethan’s dad – with our ever-frustrating supervision. Without a straight tool long enough to hold against the front edge of both the slates to check that they were parallel with the line of the wall, a ladder was used in its place. I WISH I had taken pictures of the three of us holding an old battered ladder horizontally across the front of our house, crouching down a little to peer along its length – passers-by were sure to think we knew exactly what we were doing.

Fortunately, this method was only feasible on the ground floor window, so we were spared the embarrassment of doing it twice, and opted to check the 1st floor sills with a shorter level and by eye.

Both these long sills needed mortar between to join them. We wanted the colour of the mortar to match as closely to the final colour of the slate as possible so that the eye would not be drawn to the join. The slate would eventually be sealed, so we sealed a small sample for comparison. Here are the very scientifically prepared colour samples:

And the resulting window sills:

Hopefully the mortar will match the slate, once it’s sealed and a bit darker.

The final piece of slate needed was to replace the broken and undersized front door step. First, we needed to create a sturdy base: Underneath the existing doorstep there were rocks and mud. We cut back the area using a grinder, dug and hoovered a little, created a former at the back of the existing door and poured some concrete. Ethan’s dad finished it with a nice decorative touch that will hopefully never need to be seen again (although I was a fan).

We let the concrete set and then lay the new doorstep with a fall to redirect water away from the door, and at the right height in the doorway to fit our ordered door (Apparently the shortest and widest that they could possibly manufacture). A few days later we noticed that, although the water had drained from the step, and none had entered the house despite the heavy showers and hole under the door, there was still a thin wet line left across the step – a crack.

It might never develop, it might just stay that way forever – but with a new expensive door being fitted on top of it, it was not a risk we were willing to take. It was quite likely that come winter, water would freeze and expand in the crack, making it worse. New slate ordered, and the old slate was lifted. On the plus side, we got to see the nice detailing of the concrete again! It was probably for the best; With the lintel above needing replacing, who knows how much rubble would fall and how much of a battering our nice new doorstep would have had to take?

We started on the lintels while we waited for the new slate to arrive. The rotten wooden lintels of the front door and the dining room were the first to go. The dining room lintel was accessible from the inside, possibly without affecting the old window. However, the front door frame was certainly in the way of removing the old lintel, so this had to be cut back to gain access.

At this point, Ethan’s dad had clearly decided he’d had enough of my sarcastic remarks about his methods and launched a chunk of wood straight at my eye at high velocity using a reciprocating saw. I managed to get my eye shut before it reached me, but it certainly shut me up for a while. Luckily we had an unopened cold can of something, so I managed to avoid getting a black eye. Although, this meant I was unable drag out the guilt tripping much. I will remember to put goggles on next time though.

After the frame was cut back, we would be able to remove the old lintel. Ethan and I were not feeling good about simply removing the existing lintels and seeing what happened – but with no other method to suggest, that’s exactly what Ethan and his dad did (I stood as far back and possible, so as not to get in the way… ).

After a very small rockslide, and a little manoeuvring the concrete lintel went in above the front door:

I forgot to mention we threw a bit of Hammerite on this RSJ too, before removing the old lintel.

And here’s the dining room:

Both lintel installations went surprisingly smoothly with limited wall collapse. The front door and the dining room window, both have a window above on the first floor, so there wasn’t a large amount of material in the wall cavity to begin with. We will probably fill in the gap from above before we install the internal window sills.

With the known lintel replacements complete, and the slate arrived, we then installed the new doorstep. Concerns were realised about the height of the internal floor, that had yet to be installed vs the bottom of the new door. We tried our best to adjust to account for this but in the end we’ll have to play it by ear – not our favourite method. Here’s the fancy new doorstep (already dirty) step, with the old front door that is now really on its last legs:

After all the bottoms of the openings were complete, and the most obvious of the tops were replaced, we stripped away around the tops of the two smaller bedrooms, the back door and the bathroom. We found that the two smaller bedroom windows had sufficient attachment points above, but both the back door and the bathroom had nothing. So we attached a new treated piece of wood across the top of each of the openings.

We also explored the rest of the bathroom dormer. Whoever built this dormer had clearly not considered that anyone taller may want to open the window at some point without smacking their head. I’m not the tallest and I have hit my head multiple times already. We were hoping to find that the dormer had a structure that would be fairly simply edited to allow for a vaulted ceiling, rather than flat, for a little bit of extra head space. It seems like it may be possible – but is likely a job for a much later date.
In exploring the dormers structure, we also removed the rotting fascias from the outside, to discover signs of woodworm in the frame. We have treated this and covered it back up with damp proof membrane for now! Another job that will likely be left to be done as a ‘finishing touch’.

The window openings were now all rectangular and had adequate support for the new windows. We were finally ready!

With a little time left, we started to attach the cavity membrane to the walls. We wanted the window installers to have a better idea of what we were trying to achieve when we asked them to put damp proof membrane around one of the windows.

Here’s a video of the first of many brick plugs going into our wall, with Ethan and his dad demonstrating their skill of never missing an opportunity to argue about something:

With everything prepared for the new windows, our house was looking its best:

Hard to tell how it could possibly be improved! The next blog will be full of before and afters photos of its facelift.