Good guys and bad guys: Rod Appleyard’s day in the life of a fenestration surveyor

This is about a good guy, well not really a guy but a company. The problem was nothing new: The caller was having a conservatory built and it was all going wrong. The company had a change of management and he had lost his point of contact. The job was at a standstill despite numerous promises to finish, and worst of all it did not look right. Could I get involved?

Thankfully, both parties were still talking but the contractor did not know how to resolve the situation either. This is a classic situation, which without careful handling leads to a full-blown dispute.

Time for a bit of dispute resolution. First, I managed to get both parties to instruct yours truly. With that done a meeting was arranged on site with both the house owner and the contractor. Did I mention that a condition of the meeting was that the contractor was to bring a shovel? (We all know what that’s for, don’t we?) The date and time arrived and both Mr & Mrs House were there and so was the contractor, let’s call him Colin.

If I told you it was out of square, out of level and the suspended floor was not suspended but just about hanging it gives you an insight into the situation. Before you sit back and say ‘nothing that cannot be fixed’ the final nail in the coffin needs to be noted.

With a bit of encouragement Colin dug down the side of the brickwork and at only 300mm deep, found old railway sidings and rough fill. Not good. Colin was dumbfounded. You see, he expected his bricklayers to do a good job and left them to it. Another Big Lesson: Check and better check.

Well now what? It was either all down and start again or hand over to Mr & Mrs Householder big bucks and walk away. It was agreed that both parties would come back to me in 24 hours to give me their decision. To give Colin his due, next morning on the dot of nine he was on the phone with a proposal to put it all right on the condition that I supervised the work and each party paid half my fee. After long conversations with the householder it was agreed.

Correct depth

The first step was to carry out a controlled dismantling of the roof and frames and return them to the factory to prevent any damage. Then, in with a mini-digger to remove all existing brickwork and footings. While the digger was on site it took very little time to take the footings down to the correct depth 600mm. The bricklayers were amazed at the correct depth required, as they had never gone that deep before for a conservatory.

When it was pointed out that it is not just the weight of the conservatory that has to be taken into account but also the protection against frost, all became clear. As is practice, the bottom of the trench was levelled round, ready to take the concrete.

How could I tell when the correct depth of concrete was in the footings? Six metal stakes were driven in so that the tops were 160mm above the bottom of the footings levelled round. When just showing, they indicate the correct depth.

Within two days the internal block work was up to Damp Proof Course level and the external up to 150mm lower. The householder agreed that a suspended floor was not essential but we had three underfloor air bricks in the house which were essential for ventilation and as such could not be blocked up. Not a problem: Just take out the air bricks and insert a plastic through vent. Attach this to a 75mm plastic pipe to be buried in the bottom half of the concrete slab, and terminate this through the wall in the normal manner. These are all common components.

So, walls up to DPC and ready for concrete, but before we do that our happy band had two little jobs to do. The first was to take a weak mix of concrete and fill the below ground cavity. This ensures that: when the slab area is filled and mechanically compressed the walls will not fail and crack; if any excavation is carried out in future near the conservatory it is strong enough to take a knock without detriment; and lastly, it removes any voids where rodents may reside or gain access.

The second job was to check slab level finish, as now would be the time to make any adjustments.

So, membrane was in, steel was in, and in went the concrete, 50mm below finish floor level. This allowed that, once the conservatory was up and sealed, electric and heating could be run on the concrete floor within the screed (in conduit) and with the laying of the screed any discrepancies could be remedied and hey presto a truly level floor.

Up went the dwarf walls as normal and everything was ready. One job I insisted on was a complete tidy up and levelling of the ground prior to the fitters arriving. In this case the householder was surrounding his conservatory with a patio so a couple of tons of hardcore was spread to give a dry and good underfoot work area. This gave the householder the confidence that the work was being done in a professional manner. Colin had the good sense to rebuild the conservatory roof in the factory, which made for a quick installation.

The company now has several method statements in place that not only explain how work should be carried out but to what standard. The finished conservatory is now a credit to the company.

Awards of the month

The Super Clean Award, to Sydney Bright for his trying to ensure that the windows of a large new build site were spotless by using scotch bright pads to remove stubborn building grime prior to handover.

King of Components Award, to Wil E. Washer for his team installing 150 metres of curtain walling in a day, whilst saving his company £26.08p by omitting rubber spacers and grommets.