This is where you can post pictures of extremely poor workmanship, whether it is done by a dodgy tradesman or by an incompetent DIY'er. Instructions on how to post pictures can be found in here.
Razor wrote:Seems a shame to have pilkington k fensa b*llox glass etc than leave a gap someone could steal your granny through down the side
Bit like "Through the Keyhole"...who lives in a house like this....
some-one who's about to get seriously ripped off ??
To every-one who has posted above saying .."Par for the course"
I wouldn't accept it...if I'd done it myself
You're entitled to your opinion, and I don't entirely disagree with you. However, I'm going to sit on the fence with ROC on this one and say that as it stands, (unless the finished result doesn't improve from current state), this doesn't yet belong in the "Rogues Gallery". I would suggest that the rogues gallery should be reserved for particularly apalling acts of "workmanship", not trade practices that have become accepted by most due to a lack of willingness from the market as a whole to pay to have it done to a high standard. If you catch my drift
I would suggest that the rogues gallery should be reserved for particularly appalling acts of "workmanship", not trade practices that have become accepted by most due to a lack of willingness from the market as a whole to pay to have it done to a high standard. If you catch my drift
A few comment cantseeit.
It is appalling workmanship, and totally unacceptable.
The double glazing industry is a huge rip-off, with a massive mark up, the same as kitchens, so I certainly don't agree about paying for a high standard.
Manufacturers have been dumping crap inferior products on the British market and getting away with it for years, look at the boiler market to know what I mean, cheap made to fail components, which in turn generate a multi-million pound spare parts scam.
The point I'm making is, is this EXCEPTIONALLY bad? Ei: worse than the lowest third of window fitting companies out there? Not quite I don't think.
The OP asked...
OP wrote:We've been told all these issues will be fixed before the job is complete, mainly with silicone? Is this normal?
Sadly the answer is "Yes, it's not uncommon." If 9 out of 10 people hadn't already paid for this level of workmanship they wouldn't keep doing it. Same applies to buying dodgy boilers (assuming the manufacturer doesn't have a strangle hold on the market, which clearly these window fitters dont).
Agreed the bossman said he would investigate and have a word with the fitters, which is a big plus, and hopefully the sub-standard workmanship will be put right, so full marks if it happens.
As it stands I would have chucked them off the job before they started the 2nd window.
A mate of mine installs double glazing qualifications include being on the dole and a good for nothing smack head.
Wait a minute.
We can't blame the manufactures for producing crap for pennies.
It's the public that's to blame, they buy the sh*t, the p*ss poor boilers, the shitty PVC windows, the poor quality suitcases.
When we were in the luggage business I noticed it even more, see if you can see it when you go abroad. You'll not really notice much on the way out as everyone going out will be British and carry typical British crap suitcases.
But on the way back, you'll have a line going to Germany, a line to France etc. and of course good old Brits with their carrier bags (yeah carrier bags for luggage). Look down each line and you'll see why we the British have little to be proud of now, the most pathetic examples of luggage in the airport, but not in the other lines, what you'll see is quality product built to last and to better protect their hundreds of pounds worth of holiday clothes. Beggars believe when you get them asking if you have a suitcase for 30 quid! So you'll be taking all your new summer gear you've just spent £500 on and stuffing it inside a £30 cloth bag and get pissed off when it doesn't do a good job of it!
I know it's not PVC double glazing but the principal is the same, if we don't go shopping for the cheapest guess what, we won't get the cheapest p*ss poor fitters who are on piece work in a domestic environment.
You get's what you pay for, but the OP hasn't actually said how much the windows are costing? If there cheap then expect cheap fitters and fitting.
Mate of mine had a quote for a new kitchen £7k and included a gang of fitters (2) the first day and 1 guy tidying up the next day.
Got the exact same kitchen from Grahams for just under £1k and fitted it ourselves in 3days.
Double glazing has a similar markup, the greedy company's pay the fitters peanuts to chuck it in, in the hope that being British they won't complain. So yes, to an extent it's the custards fault if they except the rubbish.
Scruff do manufacturers dump stuff on us or do people begrudge paying for quality? Apparently ATAG boilers never go wrong but no one fits them because of the cost. Do we think Veissmann, WB and Vaillant want to make a special crap version for the uk market, increasing their overheads and production costs? So why do they? Because they know if they charged the proper money for a decent boiler 90% of custards would ask for a cheap Vokera.
Double glazing is as bad as any other trade, it's what expanding foam was invented for!
Problem is in this country the ordinary person has no money because the state has nicked it all with taxes people don't really realise they are paying meaning theres nothing left to pay for a decent job.
Not aimed at the OP but people will trawl the net looking for best prices and recommandations etc but when the fitter comes round you get "I wan't some new windows", no specification given. If they were told that you wanted no gaps larger than 10mm between frame and opening you would be in a better position.
When you buy a new car you decide the spec down to the last detail don't you?
Deccy mate of mines' first question is always 'what standard do you want it doing to?'
There's a 3-400% profit on doubleglazing so don't give me the old buy cheap rubbish.
Veissmann produced a boiler for the UK market complete trash can, and how can they sell reliability at the same price in other country's, and the Atag is not quite as reliable as you may think.
Whats underneath and hidden when the trims are siliconed in, does belong in rogues gallery. Once it is all siliconed if the client hadn't taken any notice of the work then they would have had a different view and been happy.
Personally on the few jobs I did for friends (not interested in double glazing especially after subbing to 2 crap firms), I never needed trims inside or outside. Inside you make good and the same on the outside, if the windows are surveyed properly. There shouldn't even be a need to whack tons of expanding foam around them. Obviously not talking about bays when referring to trims.
Its just the industry in general, same as kitchen fitting, bathroom fitting, fitted wardrobes. You go to a big company and play the lottery on whether you get a good skilled subby or just a nobber doing the work. Go to a small company and you normally get a better chance of a good finish.
i can still remember the time double glazing just shot up in price overnight. it sounds like a joke but it was as if there was a conspiracy. 90% of them in one go just doubled their prices. nobody could get them cheaper anywhere else so had no choice but to pay the inflated price. people seemed to just accept it instead of kicking up a fuss about it.
it is overpriced plastic, made by machines in a minimal time. fitted by those that can guess a gap and fill with expanding foam and then cover with silicone.
i see many trade jobs done and i think "where is the engineering that was supposed to be the backbone of Britain years ago?". nothing is precise any more. i even use a spirit level to mark out my chases for wires and am actually quite proud of the fact they look straight, even though they get painted or papered over.
imho, those fitted windows have been very badly measured originally and i certainly would not be paying for them. the fact the fitters are either wearing those old joke glasses or simply do not care about how it looks, is disgusting.
to all those posting saying this is unfortunately a standard practice nowadays: - you are the ones responsible for them getting away with it, DON'T ACCEPT IT, COMPLAIN. why should we accept inferior? would you let me put sockets & switches next to each other at different heights?
i have a matrix somewhere for the frames.. (am working on a website for someone in that industry) the markup is enormous... i had similer problems with fitting and i found that the actual company had nice people etc but like so many companies they sub contracted the work out to complete numpties... When they finished I didnt pay and they tried to take me to court so I had to be diplomatic and basically got the manager to come over with the fitters and explained everything that was wrong whilst they were both there. I then showed them the money and told them how much I was going to pay as a % if they wouldnt fix the problems and how much I would pay if they sorted it. I managed to get 8% off in the end because of the problems and the main company said (in front of the fitters) that they would never ever be using them again so all was good and all because I didnt lose my rag with them and talked my way through it ;)
qualifications include being on the dole and a good for nothing smack head.
