Advice needed for poorly finished brickwork and beam installation.

[fandyman]

Hi,

I've had a reputable and recommended building company who installed additional external leaf steel lintel next to already existing internal concrete lintel. I've this job certified by council building inspector. I have also sourced the company from recommendation. Since then I had a brickie come and visit to assess and quote another job who pointed out poorly installed beam and messed up brickwork above. He pointed out the following things:

• ⁠uneven bricks layout, every brick is at different angles
• appears no string used to level the bricks
•⁠ bricks not stepped/staggered correctly
•⁠ ⁠gaps between bricks are too large, don’t match the rest of the house
•⁠ ⁠size of the bricks doesn’t match house bricks, they are much smaller
•⁠ ⁠steel beam is not levelled
•⁠ ⁠steal beam is installed higher than concrete lintel (40-50 mm higher as seen on the photos) creating potential issues with door installation
•⁠ weep holes in incorrect place - should be at soldier course level not above
•⁠ ⁠brickwork uneven and poorly finished
•⁠ ⁠incompletely filled bed joints
•⁠ ⁠visible gaps between bricks
•⁠ ⁠bed joints that are too thick
•⁠ poor standard of pointing

The scope of works was as follows:

Install a steel beam (next to already existing concrete lintel) to support bowed brickwork above the existing opening between living room and conservatory and meet building regulations. Supply and install inc make good to brickwork only.

Could you please let me know whether he is right and I should call them to come back and fix it or should we accept this job?

In your opinion would a sliding door installation pose a problem in this configuration?

I will take more photos tomorrow.

 

[23vc]

Is it an I beam steel with the bricks cut into it? Sitting on a third of a brick? It’s to be an external door opening? Looks a complete mess, although the weep hole position might be ok if that’s where they’ve done the cavity tray

 

[fandyman]

Yes it is an I beam steel with the bricks cut into it. It's sitting on a imperial size brick each side. The I beam is 2700mm long and the opening was 2440 mm wide. It's to be an external door opening.

See some more photos from the day of installation.

Left side close up:

From distance props up:

Bricks cot into beam:

Before the job:

 

[noseall]

Rough as a bears arse.

 

[23vc]

It’s not actually on the brick though, is it? Looks like it’s massively offset. And I’d have thought it should be on padstones anyway.
If that’s to be external facing brickwork, it’s a shocker, gaps under soldier course which will be visible after door installation etc.

 

[^woody^]

Shiite. And I've not even read the post.

 

[fandyman]

It’s not actually on the brick though, is it? Looks like it’s massively offset. And I’d have thought it should be on padstones anyway.
If that’s to be external facing brickwork, it’s a shocker, gaps under soldier course which will be visible after door installation etc.

It is actually on a brickwork. The soldier course and row of bricks above are protruding outwards and so not level with the wall too. Yes it is a shocker with the gaps under solider course and I am going to be calling them to come back and fix it. Remains to be seen if that is going to happen though.

 

[23vc]

Looks to me like it’s a cavity wall, and the outer skin (soldier course included) is way further forward than the steel, which seems to sit partially on it and partially in the cavity.

 

[fandyman]

Looks to me like it’s a cavity wall, and the outer skin (soldier course included) is way further forward than the steel, which seems to sit partially on it and partially in the cavity.
View attachment 351341

Yes that is exactly what it is. Is this a reason for concern?

 

[fandyman]

Some more photos.

 

[23vc]

It’s really bad, yeah. I don’t think anyone in their right mind could argue otherwise.

 

[fandyman]

It’s really bad, yeah. I don’t think anyone in their right mind could argue otherwise.

Thanks for confirming. I am trying to find leverage over the builder so wonder, apart from a shoddy brickwork, is the beam installation unsafe. One sad thing is that it was looked over by building regs inspector and approved without any detailed checks whatsoever (I doubt they know what they are doing or how this should be done) so I am trying to find an independent expert advise whether the beam installed this way is safe and structurally sound?

 

[fandyman]

Ok so spoke to the builder and he initially said he would arrange for someone to come and visit but went silent since then (2 days now). I preemptively spoke with my bank to find out where I stand and they said if the builder does not come back to assess/rectify in 15 working days from notification they will reverse the payment.

What would you do in this case? I will try contacting the builder every few days but is it a good idea to reverse the payment after 15 days of no response?

 

[fandyman]

The builder has agreed today to poor workmanship on the brickwork but denies anything wrong with the beam installation. He said he would cover someone else fixing the brickwork.

Would you be able to advise whether the external beam being 50mm higher from internal one causes an issue with the doors? I've explained the visual aspect of the doors, once installed, would be detrimental as there would need to be a 50mm trim above the door but not on the sides which they disregarded saying there is nothing wrong with the beam at this height as long as it is structurally safe. Aside from the fact I am not sure it is structurally safe (as it is only level on the length but not level on the depth being tilted inside) I do not agree it is correctly installed due to the fact the bricks can be cut into (like other openings on the house) to match the height of the internal lintel.

Is the beam still a case to pursue in your view?

 

[23vc]

Sounds like a bunch of absolute aris holes. How the hell you were led to believe they were decent builders in the first place is worrying.

Beam/lintel is at the wrong height for fixing doors without bodging the top.