regrets

@Alan Ambrose Agreed Alan, it is 25mm exactly on the welds, which should be easy to find. Will have a scout around this afternoon. @saveasteading No washers or packing but this is about to change.

@joe90 Agreed. I will get the fitters to loosen the frame and then insert 25mm slotted wood in between the bolts. At least they won't have to remove anything and the beams will remain straight. Now, I am thinking what type of wood. Would 25mm Structural Hardwood Plywood Poplar Core work? It must be able to withstand the the pressure over time. Should I be looking at oak or teak?

@joe90 the manufacturer refused to give me instructions because they only deal with retailers. They did say it is normal.

@Alan Ambrose I have measured the distance between the beams, it is squeezed by about 5mm where the bolts are, compared to where the weld is. If you keep on tightening the bolts at the bottom then the beams will just bend more out of place. Spacers/washers over the tension bolts would prevent this.

Aluminum roof frame for orangery is bolted together without any spacers to prevent torsion. Is this acceptable?

@Mr Punter agreed, the steel will rust away in a few years, then there will be nothing supporting the footing.

@markc the orangery is connected to the house, 4mx6.5m. Don't know about any spec for the foundation. They dug a 600mm trench. On one side the pile went down 4m. Most other places it was 2m. The ground is made up of building rubble with a layer of top soil over it. My concern is the way that the piles where (not) filled. They were not rodded and no tremie was used. Concrete was just into the footing. The piles were already filled with ground water. If done slowly to one side of the pile I can understand displacement, but not the way these clowns poured it.

Hello Everybody! We are adding an orangery to the house. After the footings were dug we were told we need piling, I could see that the land had previously been filled in and found all sorts of rubble. The builder contacted a company who quoted over the phone. No site visit, no soil samples, no structural engineer, no drawings nor calculations. 150mm steel cased piles were driven into the ground about 1800mm apart. A slurry concrete mix was pumped into the footing and not into the piles. The footing had ground water in it. Initially the piles filled up with concrete, but the last couple of piles filled to the top with water. No tremie was used. Just concrete pumped into the footing expecting the concrete to displace the water a couple of meters down. If poured slowly it may have worked but the footing over the water filled piles was filled to the top very quickly. I expect that some concrete would have made its way down the piles, but the aggregate probably separated during the long journey through the water and is probably lying on top of the mud that was washed into the bottom of the piles. My bet is that there is water suspended in the middle of the piles. Does this seem normal, do I have a reason for concern? I have video of the pouring, where can I go to get an expert opinion? Should I stop all works? Desperate for unbiased feedback. Thanks C