You couldn't make it up...over 5 months and windows not sorted

[jamiehamy]

So, just over 5 months since the first windows arrived, the replacement glass for the largest unit arrived today, having come from abroad. It had originally been supplied wrongly with Solar Glazing which was not specced and made the glass look blue when no other windows on that elevation had that tint. 

 

I had a quick check before it came off the truck to make sure the spacer bars were the right colour. Once it was off I could see a dusty material lying in the glazing gap. I phoned the window company having emailed this pic and was told the unit was failed and couldn't be fitted. 

 

We are still waiting on the glass to be taken out of all the units and fitted with security tape and a new set of French doors to come in January, as well as the alu cladding to be replaced on two that don't match the rest (which, are actually ALL the wrong colour). 

 

 Glass left 20 mins later and I'm meeting the MD of the window company tomorrow. I'll see if we can resolve this amicably but I took legal advise this morning so let's see how it pans out. Where will it end - and more importantly - when?! 

 

Unreal. I'm only being kept from getting too angry by the state of the world elsewhere which does put our problems into perspective. 

 

 

[ProDave]

Are you going to name the make of the windows?
 

[Steptoe]

Buy British,?

 

[MikeSharp01]

8 hours ago, Steptoe said:

Buy British,?

Wish we could but cannot find any suitable passive house certified windows made in the UK, or any passive house windows not built from imported sections at all for that matter!

[jamiehamy]

I agree - if you want fairly standard uPVC or timber windows, then there are plenty made in the UK, but for timber AluClad to the u-value we were looking for, I wasn't aware of any UK companies doing this - once you dug down you found most of the components were made elsewhere. 

[ToughButterCup]

45 minutes ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Wish we could but cannot find any suitable passive house certified windows made in the UK, or any passive house windows not built from imported sections at all for that matter!

 

Ah, that's an annoyance...., but not quite the irritation that @jamiehamy is experiencing. That meeting will be a delicate one @jamiehamy. I do so wish that @Steptoe's resolution was one we could all use.

 

Might be an idea to mention that lots of us will be following how the company deals with it.

 

Correctly handled, this issue has the potential to improve the company's reputation: systems and people prove themselves for what they are when things go wrong.

[ProDave]

3 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Wish we could but cannot find any suitable passive house certified windows made in the UK, or any passive house windows not built from imported sections at all for that matter!

If you really want British, try Tree Craft in Dornoch, not far from me.

 

But I found them expensive and hard to deal with. Rationel were much cheaper and their distributor ADW were a lot easier to deal with.

 

Shame as I would have liked to use the local manufacturer, but it just wasn't to be.
 

[oranjeboom]

Anything 'specialised' in this country warrants a 'special' price, i.e. overpriced. 3G windows are almost the norm in many European countries and the price for passiv is negligibly more. If you do get locally sourced windows in the UK, then it seems that installers do a poor job fitting them.

 

I would have liked to buy my windows local too, but the service I received was awful even at the quotes stage. Good luck with getting your issues resolved  @jamiehamy  . If not, it's just another example of the service 'one-off' self builders get in this country. I sincerely hope they rectify the issues seeing it's dragged on for almost half a year.