It’s a roof Jim but not as we know it... (Or, how to get construction right!)

Blog Post
How to get a roof right - picture of roofing fail

Another horror story emerged from one of our surveyors recently when they were called out to unauthorised work where an outbuilding was being extended and converted.

The "contractor" was clearly a fan of timber because aside from the roof extension shown in the picture below, they had also removed a large section of masonry to form a new opening from the rear of the house and supported it on a structural timber door frame spanning over 3m.

How to get a roof right

Usually our articles highlight poor building practice and then follow up with tips on how to build it correctly to ensure compliance with building regulations.

In this instance we are at a complete loss where to start other than to begin with the basics of construction.

The right way to extend a roof

In the aforementioned picture you might spot the fact that the new roof joists are laid horizontally at 600mm centres, at a minimal pitch.

This was apparently to avoid removing the existing roof covering and still keep a reasonable head height in the room.

You might notice that the uncoursed masonry over the timber door lintel is held together with two m.s. angles screwed into the vertical timber support that’s actually carrying the 3m timber lintel over the rear patio door on the other side of the external wall.

It gets worse when you look at the quality of the new single skin external walls:

How to get construction right

The vertical timber carries the new wall plate behind another single skin that has had some form of render applied to it.

Probably most surprising is that the house owner was actually paying someone to do this - it’s not a DIY job.

Standing up for quality construction

It does however highlight the enforcement function of council teams having a duty to deal with work like this all over the country, when they would much rather be dealing with the calibre of developments that make it to our LABC Building Excellence Awards each year.

Needless to say, the offending work has now been removed, the building made safe and the local council are looking to prosecute the "contractor".

This really is one of the worst examples of building work we have come across, unless of course you know about something worse...

Comments

Worse than usual

Submitted 5 years 6 months ago

Worse than the usual in fact criminal proceedings should be made but I would bet it was originally a cash job and the cheapest possible quote and was carried out by our new friends

Wow

Submitted 5 years 6 months ago

Wow, I've seen some very substandard work and a lot of "that'll do" work but that really is STUNNING!

Hope you inspectors are remembering your hard hats (and life insurance!!).

Similar extension

Submitted 5 years 6 months ago

I came across a similarly disastrous house extension that was condemned by the Building Control inspector. The homeowner went to sue the builder only to discover the builder had no assets. It cost £40k to put right. So the builder got off scot free. And he's still doing house extensions today!

Shocking

Submitted 5 years 6 months ago

Shocking construction, the fact the owners believed the construction was ok and were happy to pay for it is surprising. I can only assume they were vulnerable and this highlights the need to ensure only competent and professional people are able to call themselves "builders". It gives the vast majority who do a great job a bad name. It is only right and proper enforcement action was taken.

Come to Crawley

Submitted 5 years 6 months ago

Come to Crawley, you would be pleased to see quality work like this !

Speechless

Submitted 5 years 6 months ago

I find that, for one of just a very few instances in my life and my work as a builder I am totally speechless !! I just don't know what to say.

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