Windows installed incorrectly in masonry wall, how to fix?

[husbygget74]

Hello,

We have bought a turnkey house, a split-level. In the brick wall for the split-level section, there are several windows. Last week we found out that the windows were installed incorrectly. The holes in the wall for the windows had been made too low. They have now removed the windows and cut the concrete beams above the windows to raise the windows about 25 cm. Instead of the beams that were there, they have built a wooden frame around the windows that is supposed to be load-bearing and will be bricked in. We have been promised that this is an okay solution but we feel very uncertain about whether this will hold. Our construction manager says that he doesn't check such things and only keeps track of the admin.

Who can we contact for an opinion on this? Is it the municipality that we should talk to? After all, it's a change in the load-bearing structure.

Grateful for help!

 

[Plupp 405730]

Hi,

We have bought a turnkey house, terraced. In the brick wall for the terraced section, there are several windows. It was revealed last week that the windows were placed incorrectly. The holes in the wall for the windows were made too low. They have now removed the windows and cut the concrete beams that were above the windows to raise the windows about 25 cm. Instead of the beams that were there, they have built a wooden frame around the windows that is supposed to be load-bearing and then embedded. We have been promised that this is an okay solution, but we feel very uncertain that this will hold. Our construction manager says that he doesn't check such things and only oversees the admin.

Who can we contact for an opinion on this? Is it the municipality we should talk to? After all, it is a change in the load-bearing construction.

Thankful for help!

You have an agreement that is based on drawings such as a construction drawing for the basement, it should be followed otherwise the company must contact the designer for a recalculation if they want to do it another way, and if there is a change in appearance, you must approve it beforehand.

What kind of agreement do you have?
Who are you building with, a house firm, builders who build according to drawings?

 

[husbygget74]

We have a turnkey contract. I believe the designer works at the house company. Our KA is the person who designed the house for us (architect-designed house, so not a catalog house), and then this company calculated how to build it as a modular house (so not from stick-built), which we went with. I don't want to out the company because otherwise, they have done a good job, but we just want to be sure about this part We feel that it can't be optimal to embed wood, it should rot, right? And if it's structural and rots, that's not good, so we want a second opinion to ensure that the solution is okay.

 

[husbygget74]

I can add that those who produced the house in the factory have the same owner as the construction company working on the house on site.

 

[Plupp 405730]

We have a turnkey contract. I believe the designer works at the house company. Our KA is the one who designed the house for us (architect-designed house so not a catalog house), then this company has calculated to build it as a modular house (so not stick-built), which we've gone with. We don't want to out the company as they've otherwise done a good job, but with this part, we want to be sure we feel that it can't be optimal to embed wood, it should rot, right? And if it's load-bearing and rots, it's not good, so we want a second opinion on whether the solution is okay.

Then you should stop it and point out that there is no structural drawing for the new solution and that you don't want wood in the basement since you bought a construction that is masonry, and that's what you want, nothing else.

You don't really need to say much more, just take it in writing.

 

[husbygget74]

But then you need to stop it and refer to the fact that there is no K-drawing of the new solution and that you do not want wood in the basement since you have bought a performance that is masonry, and that is what you want and nothing else...

You don't really need to say anything more, handle it in writing.

Yes ok, we'll deal with this tomorrow

 

[AG A]

But someone must have designed your house from the beginning. You believe that the designer works at the house company. Doesn't it sound reasonable that it's the same designer who has designed the change? If you trust that the company has designed the house correctly, then you should trust them to handle the change.
I would understand you if the designer worked at another company and only created the K-drawing for the house.

 

[Plupp 405730]

But someone must have designed your house from the beginning. You believe that the designer works at the house company. Doesn't it sound reasonable then that it is the same designer who has designed the change? If you trust that the company has designed the house correctly, you should trust them to fix the change.
I would understand you if the designer worked at another company and only produced the K-drawing for the house.

One question is whether it is structurally okay...

Another more important in this case is the significant change in the wall's load-bearing parts that the company wants to replace masonry/poured beams with a wooden structure in a masonry wall, which in itself is a deterioration compared to what they have ordered, as well as an appearance change as well..

I wouldn't agree to this if it were my house...

 

[AG A]

One question is whether it is structurally okay...

Another more important one in this case is the significant change in the wall's load-bearing parts as the company wants to replace masonry/cast beams with a wooden construction in a masonry wall, which in itself is a downgrade from what they have ordered, and also a change in appearance.

I wouldn't have agreed to this if it were mine

Now, I can't speak for the actual case, as I haven't seen any pictures or drawings. But generally, it's usually possible to solve structurally. You just replace some masonry/cast parts with wood. This can often be done without losing load-bearing capacity/stability. Regarding the aesthetics, I understood that the wood would then be plastered, so it shouldn't be visible in that case.

Furthermore, since this was a turnkey project, if they build something that doesn't hold or isn't okay in other ways, it should be noticeable during an inspection. And why would they suddenly cut corners here? They have an entire house full of opportunities to cut corners if that was what they aimed for. But why would they? "Save money," you might say. But once again, there are far better places to cut corners to save money if that's the case.

But the OP can naturally ask who made/designed the change.

 

[Plupp 405730]

Now, I can't answer for the current case, as I haven't seen pictures or drawings. But generally, it can be resolved from a construction standpoint. You just replace some of the masonry/cast parts with wood. It can often be done without losing load-bearing capacity/structural strength.
Regarding aesthetics, I understood it as the wood would then be plastered, so it shouldn't be noticeable.
Furthermore, this was a turnkey contract. If they build something that doesn't hold up or isn't okay in other ways, it will likely be noticed during an inspection. Also, why would they suddenly cheat here? They have a whole house full of opportunities to cheat if that's what they were after. But why would they do that? "Save money," you might say. But again, if so, there are significantly better ways to cut costs if they wanted to cheat.

But TS can, of course, ask who made/designed the change.

Again, the customer has the final say when it comes to visible changes that are for the worse.
Wood is inferior in a masonry construction compared to brick and cast beams.
They missed and made a mistake with the heights; that in itself isn't cheating but a mistake that should be rectified by perhaps lowering the courses under the window...

 

[AG A]

Once again, the customer has the final word when it comes to visible changes that are for the worse..
Wood is worse in a masonry construction than bricks and cast beams…
They have missed and made mistakes with the heights; that in itself is not cheating but a mistake that should be corrected by lowering the courses under the window perhaps…

Whether the customer has the final word or not depends a bit on the contract. But it may be possible.
Then you are welcome to elaborate on "why wood is worse"? Do you mean that it will collapse, or that the wood will rot prematurely? I mean that it probably doesn't matter much, as the window frames are likely made of wood. Which means it should last as long as the windows. Whether you want the windows to be the same size, no one knows.

 

[Plupp 405730]

Whether the customer has the final say or not depends a bit on the agreement. But it may be possible.
Then please elaborate on "why is wood worse"? Do you mean it will collapse, or that the wood will rot prematurely? I argue that it likely doesn't matter much, as the window frames are probably made of wood. Which means it should last as long as the windows. If one then wants equally sized windows, no one knows.

Yes, wood together with masonry is worse in terms of moisture, mixing types and then plastering means you will need expansion joints where the different materials meet, otherwise it cracks and becomes void.
But that the windows are made of wood is a completely different matter than changing a load-bearing structure..