Last night (6th October) we had a long awaited meeting with our site manager from George Wimpey and one of the directors of Wood Newton. Very courteously this was arranged out of hours to suit our work load and let us get the kids away for the night. So thanks to all concerned for that.
The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss our leaky window problems, but other areas where also touched upon which may be of interest to residents and could be residents reading this blog alike.
For us the meeting was pretty much all positives. We finally know what work will be carried out on our property in terms of sorting out the problems with the leaky doors and windows. The good news is that we’ve seen the drawings for our new windows and they seem to eliminate all potential issues we’ve encountered. We also saw test results for windows currently installed in the most recently built plots, and while a lot of it is quite technical, the results seem very good indeed. Certainly weather proof!
The down side for us is that the work on our property could take a very long time to complete, potentially as much as three weeks. That work can’t begin until the windows have been made, which could be another couple of weeks, possibly a little more. Feels terribly daunting.
We also have to make some decisions about what happens to the family while the work is being carried out. It’s going to be messy and disruptive. Beyond that, it still feels very unsure.
Fortunately Wood Newton and Wimpey genuinely seem to want to look after us during this time. I just hope it all carries through as planned. If it does, we should be home and dry before the winter really takes hold. At long, long last!
It felt from our meeting that the problems we’ve had are still a bit of a mystery to Wood Newton and Wimpey. The answers wont be forthcoming until the windows are out and tested, cut open and inspected. Anyway, from a selfish point of view we don’t really need to know why, we just know it’s happened, it’s been a nightmare, and we have to trust the latest window design and construction will be an end to it all. Fingers crossed!
On a wider scale, John Green from Wood Newton offered some words of reassurance not only for us but for other Oxley Woods residents. They certainly appear aware as we are, that the NHBC warranty is patchy at best, and that, of course, several residents are worried about their situations as time moves on and their two year George Wimpey warranty expires.
The long and the short of it is that John has said, and he’s in a position to be seen as “Mr Wood Newton”, that they will look after customers beyond the two year warranty. This isn’t in writing, and as such it is not a special extended warranty, but there’s no reason to doubt the sincerity of the gesture.
Wood Newton and Wimpey both have a lot at stake here at Oxley Park, if not only in financial terms, but also kudos and reputation (and pride), so it makes sense they look after the residents. In our view the way we’ve been looked after so far simply hasn’t been good enough, but it feels like the builders between them are taking it on the chin and genuinely want to move forward in a more positive and co-operative way. Has to be a good thing, right?
