The garden had been renovated less than four years before I went out to tender for the house project in early 2018. The renovation scheme had included a brand new deck next to the house, beautifully constructed with a solid timber sub-frame, weed suppressing membrane and new composite deck boards made of recycled material which doesn't rot, splinter or warp. They still looked like new at the time the house project started.
Knowing that there would below ground works as part of the house project, the tender documents specifically called for the deck boards to be taken up and stored while the sub-frame was altered to accommodate the new extension and below ground works. Only when these works were finished, were the deck boards to be replaced carefully. Well, that was the plan...
...In the event, the deck boards were not taken up and stored, but cut willy-nilly as and when the builders needed to get below ground. The one spare board I had saved for emergencies was unceremoniously cut up to make a ramp for the builder's wheelbarrow. When the below ground works were finished, there were bits missing and holes drilled in random patterns as they had attempted to re-fix the boards to the altered frame. Rather than being supported purely on the timber sub-frame, the builders had piled up a load of rubble under some of the boards to provide a bit of extra support and stop them sagging. In short, a real mess...
To his credit, the builder agreed to replace the deck boards with something similar. Unfortunately, the material chosen - whilst grey and composite - was about half the thickness of standard deck board - far too flimsy to hold its own weight let alone a person or heavy plant pot. Before too long, the deck surface waved up and down like a roller coaster - barely a flat area large enough to put down a cup of coffee without spilling it - with puddles collecting in the dips, and raised boards high enough to be a serious trip hazard. A "cock up" to use the printer's term...
The builder's solution was to remove one line of boards and relay the rest with more room between them to stop what he referred to as buckling. With some trepidation, I agreed that they could come back in early June as lockdown restrictions eased, to have a go at re-laying the boards to see if that would do the trick. It wasn't the best experience. Masks were removed the moment the man in charge left site and didn't go back on again, even though the guys were going backwards and forwards through the house all day, fetching and carrying. The builders touched handles, switches, newel post and hand rails, kitchen work surfaces with no attempt to sanitise or, indeed, wash their hands. I was even asked to give one a glass of water.
In normal times, none of this would have mattered. But when these are the first outsiders to enter your safe haven of home post complete lockdown, you suddenly feel quite vulnerable...or at least, I did. In the event, it was all a waste of time. The surface of the deck is still uneven, rain water collects in puddles, there are badly glued joints, boards are pock marked with random screw holes, and the manhole cover sticks up above the deck on one side and sinks below on the other. It looks more of a mess now than the original damaged deck.
The fundamental problem is that the boards are not fit for purpose and ought to be replaced with something that is. But the builder won't accept liability for his firm's poor choice of materials, so we have reached an impasse. To add insult to injury, he told the carpenter to tack the weed suppressing membrane to the top of the wooden sub frame, rather than on the ground. This is exactly what you shouldn't do, according to my research! And now he won't even discuss how we might resolve our differences. Sadly, this is one of a long list of items he's not put right. Read the next few blog posts, if you want to find out what else has gone wrong...
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