Before, during, and after far too much time and disruption was spent while the guys from Wood Newton and George Wimpey stripped off almost every Trespa panel from the house (scuffing and chipping several in the process) and put them back up again after putting their new wonder flash band material around the windows and on some joins, we had raised the concern that water was coming in at locations on our wrapping window in the kitchen that were concealed by our balcony… You can see where this is going already can’t you.
Well, after the joy of watching our house being pulled apart and reconstructed (again, not to “as new’ condition as assured) it didn’t take long for the rain to return. As has been the case since we moved here, rain means worry, and worry means inspection time, and inspection time leads to…. Discovering more water marks, of course! This means that in December, the house is still not water tight, despite extensive repairs and assurances.
The water was coming through and again penetrating and marking the ceiling area above the small part of our kitchen window which is under the balcony. This lead the the almost inevitable, we had to have the first floor balcony taken apart, literally, while the problem areas were flash banded and repaired.
This lead to more disruption, and it was pretty shocking to see the state of the materials hidden behind the trespa, already looking too damp, mouldy, and in a generally very poor state. Fortunately, the house wasn’t looking as bad as the throw away and replace balcony sections, but it wasn’t nice to see at all. Apparently this wasn’t anything to worry about. But you do, don’t you?
The work was no small task and took several days to complete, during which time the balcony was off limits. The Trespa panels were removed, the fibreboard panels behind those were then removed, some foam filler taken off, several slats removed from the floor, so all that remained on the first floor was the small steel shell. Parts had to be cut out, because they’re not made to be taken apart this way, then put back together by the carpenters. BIG job. This is NOT the kind of stress you need during the build up to Christmas, with two kids about the place too!
Anyway, this may or may not have solved the problem, the stains have been stain blocked and painted over (badly, but that’s a whole other post!) but it appears that recently, over two months after the repair, we may have new water marks above that window. Again. The following show some of the work on the balcony, I had intended to post some photos of the work being undertaken on the front and back of the house, but it’s much of a muchness to the photos of the side being stripped down. Messy, and noisy, especially with a baby at home!
The repairs are, as of March 11th, not finished. The gaps were not good, so were filled, badly, and have been left in a state. Considering the strong design ethos behind these house, and how important it was to us (shallow as that may seem to some) in our buying decision, we’re gutted at the state our house has been in for so much of the time we’ve lived here so far.
