door frustration

[MetManMark]

I am hoping that you are all going to cheer me up as I am somewhat annoyed / upset at the moment....

We have had a stable door made for our kitchen. This has been done by a local chap using ash. It looks lovely but it doesn't fit. Firstly the door (and frame) are 2.5" too short. Secondly all the door furniture doesn't line up properly. Our builder has kind of fitted it today but the carpenter is coming tomorrow at 9 to check it out.

We have already paid £250 for materials - the final price was £550. But it is not currently fit for purpose. I am assuming with a little fiddling we can sort out the alignment but I am more concerned about the fact that it isn't tall enough.

As it is I would hit my head on the top of the door. One option would be for him to put a 2.5" threshold plate on the bottom - but we didn't want this. I guess the other option would be for him to add the required timber to the bottom of the door. But how would this work - especially with the frame.

Some top tips to easy my frustration / irritation would be much appreciated!
Thanks
Mark

 

[Bayliss]

If your door has been made to the wrong measurement I would imagine the person who has made the error will have to supply another door correctly measured. You may have to withhold payment until satisfaction. Alternately, you could allow for a craftsman to scarve in a new section at his expense and I would be expecting a reduction of the cost of the door. Either way I am sure they will want to put matters right and it would perhaps be churlish to not allow them to discuss plans with you. After all we all make mistakes. Good luck.

 

[MetManMark]

Thank you Bayliss for your calm, sensible thoughts... I will have to wait to hear what he says. I am expecting him to suggest putting in a threshold plate on the floor and just to lift the whole door and the frame up 2.5". This would mean that I don't smack my head on the door but it will mean that we now have a trip hazard. We have just had the floor tiled with Victorian tiles and they look fab - having a threshold plate would look a little odd...

I was wondering about the viability of adding wood at the bottom of the door / frame. Surely this would look a little odd and would result in a door that isn't as robust?

Mark

 

[Flyfisher]

I'm sure it won't be a comfortable discussion, but if you ordered a door and frame that was supposed to be 2.5 inches higher then they have clearly failed to fulfill your order.

Why did the builder fit it if it didn't fit properly? 2.5 inches would have been obvious, surely?

I would start by listening to what the carpenter suggests to rectify the mistake. I wouldn't be happy to accept a compromise such as an unwanted threshold filling the gap. If you didn't want that in the first place, why would you want it now? The carpenter doesn't have to live with the door - you do.

Good luck!

 

[middi]

I know it may sound simple, but. the person that measured the dimensions initially has the responsability to accept the mistake.

If it was the " chippie" then he has to hold his hands up, apologise, and rectify his mistake.

The easiest way for him is to make an intermediate lapped and scribed two and a half inch section glued and screwed below the top half of the door, this could be made as a mid doors feature and it would look quite nice. ( I know, I made the same c**k up myself once, the customer was very pleased in the end. All at my expense of course). It would entail repositioning the hingies of one of the doors

What do they say ?. Measure twice, cut once.

Middi

 

[MdB]

I won two brand new (probably illegally harvested - sorry Biff) hardwood sash windows on ebay for £22 direct from the guy who had made them. He flogged them off due to a missmeasure and would have had to remake them to the correct dimensions. I guess the customer would have paid something like £700 each for the windows so it would have been expensive for him but that is life.

Get you chippy to either fix to your satisfaction or remake.

 

[Lime]

Tradespeople will try anything on and the more you put up with it the more you will be taken.
Why on earth your builder tried to fit the frame and door I don't know... that could make things far worse dispute-wise.
However it is all down to the person who took the measurements or those who agreed the measurements.
Don't get fobbed off.
Sue if neccessary, it is not hard nor difficult, you can do it online.

 

[Bayliss]

The builder will write the loss off from his tax anyway, so don't feel bad for him/her.

 

[MetManMark]

Thanks all...
The chap came round this morning and agreed that it wasn't quite right. In hind sight what I should have done is made sure that I was there when he did the measuring up and checked everything. Where he went wrong is that he made a door that was exactly the same size as the old one. Having ripped the old one out the hole was somewhat larger than he had expected. I suppose I should have ripped the door out and then asked him to fill the hole...
So he'll be putting new feet on the bottom of the frame (dowel I think?) and then fixing a new panel on the bottom of the door and replacing the weather strip on the outside.
Not ideal but still.
M

 

[LadyArowana]

Thanks all...
The chap came round this morning and agreed that it wasn't quite right. In hind sight what I should have done is made sure that I was there when he did the measuring up and checked everything. Where he went wrong is that he made a door that was exactly the same size as the old one. Having ripped the old one out the hole was somewhat larger than he had expected. I suppose I should have ripped the door out and then asked him to fill the hole...
So he'll be putting new feet on the bottom of the frame (dowel I think?) and then fixing a new panel on the bottom of the door and replacing the weather strip on the outside.
Not ideal but still.
M

You are very lucky that he didn't claim that he supplied a replacement door as ordered and gave a you a free "hole" as a gift with purchase :lol:

 

[MetManMark]

We did specify that the door we wanted wasn't a direct like for like replacement but should go up to the roof line (it is a lean-to).
M