Help with garage law!

[Tom_the_great]

Long story short...

garage company built a garage on a base slightly off level(no parties noticed), never said a thing during construction. we found bad building quailtiy big leaks and reported it one month later garage company comes back for inspection say they will fix it again not mentioning base and then come back a week later to try a fix it.... proceed to make it worse we report it again to manager, then comes out and blames base now at a stale mate ... where do i stand what are my options ?

ive had couple of builders etc round and the base is off level but not that bad!

base was done by friend of friend garage by "professional" company...

regards tom.

[Owenski]

Is the garage a pre-fab?
Might be a case of taking it back down, leveling the base off and putting it back up.

[Tom_the_great]

Is the garage a pre-fab?
Might be a case of taking it back down, leveling the base off and putting it back up.

Forgot to mention that yes its pre fab, thats part of the problem the sides dont fit properly and wrong sealant used ...

have been told to redo base will be nightmare as cant just level off would have to be re done :(

[the_lone_wolf]

I would imagine your beef is with whoever you contracted to carry out the work

If you paid and contracted company A and they then got company B in to carry out the work then it's company A that needs to sort it out

If they won't then you can try trading standards or failing that you could have the work done yourself and pursue the company through the small claims court

[Owenski]

Forgot to mention that yes its pre fab, thats part of the problem the sides dont fit properly and wrong sealant used ...

have been told to redo base will be nightmare as cant just level off would have to be re done :(

Think you'll just have to bite the bullet, it shouldnt need removing and re-casting. Put some formwork back up the outside edges, ENSURE ITS LEVEL and that it comes at least about 10mm above the existing slab at its highest point.

Pour the new mix in and use a drag float, guided by the formwork to drag off the excess. Once its gone green you'll be left with a nice flat slab to re-assemble the garage on.

Shouldnt cost more than £100 or so, if you get ready mix delivered.

[454697819]

I fail to see how a slightly off level base will make the garage leak..

where is it leaking from, was there a dpm under the base whats the roofing material, etc etc

[Red Herring]

Is it off level, or twisted as in not flat?

[Tom_the_great]

best way to explain is if you look at the garage from the side the rear is higher then the front, the garage roof is highest at the front therefore creating a flat roof meaning water sits on top,

[G]

Turn the roof around, problem solved.

The problem here is clearly the base, which is your fault. I cant see the comebak through the prefab company.

[Tom_the_great]

we agree the base is our issue the problem is we asked if the base was satisfactory and if they had checked it they said yes and built the garage on the base now only because there is an issue they are blaming the base ... the have been out 3 times before now in over 2 months and not once questioned it. the simple solution would be to raise the roof creating the angle needed for the drainage but they are unwilling to pay for the work ? which in all fairness would be minimal.

[454697819]

re roof it with a slightly greater pitch?

[Tom_the_great]

re roof it with a slightly greater pitch?

would be soloution but we disagree on who should pay for it.

[454697819]

would be soloution but we disagree on who should pay for it.

Its quite simple,

If a direct sub contractor to you laid it and the quote says or details level base and you haven't signed it off as completed then they should. If its signed off by you then its now your problem.

If the base layer was a s/c to the garage company then the garage company should.

If you laid the base but there is a sign off sheet to say the base is true and level to proceed then the garage company.

if you laid the base and no one checked it then that is a whole big issue, I imagine having to meet 3 ways on the cost, u, garage company and base.

[Owenski]

Base was laid by a friend of friend, I assume cash in hand no questions asked no forms signed.

[Tom_the_great]

a friend in the pub runs a building company an said he would do it so i can go back to him no problem as said not trying to cause hassel fuss i just want a garage for my bike simple... the problem was the garage company checked and said the base was fine came back after first reported the leak no mention of base then said we can see the problem an attepted to fix the leaks making it worse so reported again an now the mention of a un-level base is mentioned... hence the arguement with the garage company plus there work is less the satisfactory and the fact they have tryed to intimidate my mum who kindly agreed to take the days off so some one was in by tell her its all our fault when asking what the issue was then giving her abuse when she points out there mistakes as told to her by a professional roofer.

hope that makes sense little bit of a rush on lunch.

[454697819]

a friend in the pub runs a building company an said he would do it so i can go back to him no problem as said not trying to cause hassel fuss i just want a garage for my bike simple... the problem was the garage company checked and said the base was fine came back after first reported the leak no mention of base then said we can see the problem an attepted to fix the leaks making it worse so reported again an now the mention of a un-level base is mentioned... hence the arguement with the garage company plus there work is less the satisfactory and the fact they have tryed to intimidate my mum who kindly agreed to take the days off so some one was in by tell her its all our fault when asking what the issue was then giving her abuse when she points out there mistakes as told to her by a professional roofer.

hope that makes sense little bit of a rush on lunch.

to be honest it sounds like the garage company are at fault, if the base was that unlevel the square garage sections wouldn't have gone in square,

I dare say they are just trying to get out of fixing it properly, it is their responsibility to check the slab before construction like it is ours, they could have easilly packed up the roof on install to avoid this issue, now I imagine thier bad workmanship has let them down and they dont want to put it right,

Keep at em and get Trading standards involved if needs be!

[embee]

It's quite common to lay a garage floor with a slope towards the door to prevent water ingress etc. It kind of depends how much of a slope you're talking about, any slope would usually be significantly less than the fall of a roof.

It depends whether it was meant to have a fall or to be level.

Sounds a bit of a tangle to be honest, these things usually end up being easiest to sort by biting the bullet and learning from the mistake, might not be right but it's easiest.

[Electro]

to be honest it sounds like the garage company are at fault, if the base was that unlevel the square garage sections wouldn't have gone in square,

I dare say they are just trying to get out of fixing it properly, it is their responsibility to check the slab before construction like it is ours, they could have easilly packed up the roof on install to avoid this issue, now I imagine thier bad workmanship has let them down and they dont want to put it right,

Keep at em and get Trading standards involved if needs be!

+1. If the garage company deemed the base to be good enough to fit the garage on, the leaks are down to them. I agree with everything said above. If I put a radiator on a wall thats not flat is it the housebuilders fault if it leaks??? I think not. Tell them trading standards will be informed in 1 week if a suitable agreement for repair is not proposed in writing and stick to your guns mate.

I built a 2nd hand sectional garage 2 months ago. Laid 1.7 cubic metres of concrete myself 1st. Had no help putting it all together, some brilliant balancing acts believe me lol. Sealed the base and all sections and not one leak so if i can do it on a dodgy slab a pro company must be able to.