We've had new windows installed and were advised the old wood window sill have to be replaced with a new duraboard. No problem we thought until THIS was the finish we were left with..... We've questioned it and the company have said that that is the way duraboard is joined but I'm not happy. Are we being fussy in thinking this looks a bit c*ap ??
Looks rubbish to me - if the company are happy with it then ask for the details of their duraboard supplier and tell then you will be sending this image to them to check.
No, that is carp, they obviously insist on that because they are incapable of joining a timber window board. You are paying them, insist that they get someone to fit a timber window board properly, you should not have to live with their get out quick bodges. They probably have fitted bodger beads to the sides as well, to save them doing the job properly and making good the plaster work.
They seem to have no intention of changing it. Head office told me this morning that all issues raised by myself (including bay window sill) would be rectified today but within minutes of them arriving at our house and my wife mentioning the sill to them they told her that that is how they are supposed to be. Within an hour of the fitters leaving for the day my wife gets a call from head office asking when the balance will be paid.......this could get interesting.
What is the angle between the two boards in your picture? Difficult to make out because of the camera angle and foreshortening. If they have used a 90 degree strip and the angle of the boards to each other is greater, that is their problem. Note I said "their" problem not "your". If it is not that, it is still their problem. Is it a national company?.....you mentioned "head office".
I will check when I get back home. It's not a national company but a local one. Sorry, using "head office" was a bit misleading but they appear to be very well established in our area. I suppose the true test of a company's customer service is how they react when a customer is unhappy NOT when the customer is happy. Thanks for reassuring me as I was starting to doubt myself thinking this type of finish might possibly be acceptable.
If it is 90 degrees it could be that they haven't pushed the strip home when fitting it, not good at all if so.
I think as you have raised what is a carp joint and they have resisted correcting I would pay them 90%, send them the photo and tell them the final 10% will be paid when the job is finished correctly. This would totally protect you from any action taken by them for non-payment. It is garbage to say that this is how duraboard is jointed - you need the joint strip to accommodate expansion, but you shouldn't have a horrible looking gap like that. do NOT allow them to just fill it with silicon!!!
Thank you. That's interesting as I wasn't crazy about the tape covering the seal in the first place. Is it standard practice to cover the joints in this manner? I was starting to think that the plastic trim is just a easy way to cover the joint but joining the boards together properly in the first place would negate the need for a trim.
A problem with uPVC is thermal expansion - it's coefficient is 0.06-0.08mm/deg/m so say, 1.5m window board maybe 25 degrees between unoccupied in winter to full summer sun and you get 1.5x25x0.08 = 3mm - that's how much the window board could expand and contract through the year - cover strips help to absorb this expansion/contraction - it's also the reason you often get sticky uPVC doors in summer!!
No it wouldn't. My bad - was thinking of the uPVC foamed core board. However, the window frame of course will move around as described, and if the window board is a different material with different expansion rates you still have to allow for the thermal movement.
Would not be satisfied with that at all, it looks what it is, a mickey mouse job. Would you have joining strips on your kitchen worktop? or get the worktop joined properly, it is an eyesore like that.
You may well be right, and no I wouldn't, but at least the strip is fitted correctly which was the point I was making, they couldn't even do that.
I know the point you were making, and I am sorry if you think I was having a go at you, which was not meant, I was trying to make a comparison. The original poster did not even want a plastic window board, he asked for a timber one, they should be ripping it out and putting in what the customer asked for when he gave them the job.
Not at all, didn't think that. You made a valid point. The problem the OP now has is that they can argue (correctly or incorrectly) that the joining strip is a standard way of doing it, even if they couldn't do that right. They do need to at the very least fit it correctly though. What they can't argue is that it is fitted correctly. I am assuming their fitters can't join two pieces of wood together at an angle, in which case they are not fitters.