ᐅ Poor workmanship on the interior staircase, or is this something I just have to accept?
Created on: 6 Jan 2024 11:18
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Berlinho2
Hello dear forum,
I am at the final stage of my construction project with a general contractor.
Yesterday, my interior staircase was installed, and I was really shocked by the quality, appearance, and the staircase builder’s decision to install everything exactly like this.
I want to set aside the “Frankenstein” look for now, since the staircase builder says we approved it this way, but I believe that nowhere in the world would anyone “voluntarily” approve something like this.
What really bothers me right now is this unbelievably ugly railing structure on the ground floor with posts of different sizes and this unnecessary grated dust barrier between the stair stringer and the railing itself. I have never seen anything like this and never expected that with a new build, despite detailed measurements and enough planning and preparation time by the staircase builder/carpenter, such an on-site improvisation would have to be accepted in the end.
Is this already poor workmanship, or is this something one has to accept?
No payment has been made yet, as a retention is in place and the general contractor is still owed significantly more money overall than the value of the services delivered.
Thank you very much for your assessments.
I am at the final stage of my construction project with a general contractor.
Yesterday, my interior staircase was installed, and I was really shocked by the quality, appearance, and the staircase builder’s decision to install everything exactly like this.
I want to set aside the “Frankenstein” look for now, since the staircase builder says we approved it this way, but I believe that nowhere in the world would anyone “voluntarily” approve something like this.
What really bothers me right now is this unbelievably ugly railing structure on the ground floor with posts of different sizes and this unnecessary grated dust barrier between the stair stringer and the railing itself. I have never seen anything like this and never expected that with a new build, despite detailed measurements and enough planning and preparation time by the staircase builder/carpenter, such an on-site improvisation would have to be accepted in the end.
Is this already poor workmanship, or is this something one has to accept?
No payment has been made yet, as a retention is in place and the general contractor is still owed significantly more money overall than the value of the services delivered.
Thank you very much for your assessments.
Benutzer1236 Jan 2024 19:37You shouldn’t have to pay a single cent for that. Fingers crossed it can still be fixed.
Berlinho2 schrieb:
I am at the final stage of my build with a general contractor.
Yesterday, my interior staircase was installed, and the quality, appearance, and the stairbuilder’s decision to install everything this way really blew me away. Not at all, after
Berlinho2 schrieb:
I am currently building a single-family house on an existing basement. At the beginning of April 2022, I signed the fixed-price contract offer. Five months after signing the contract, I was informed that the existing foundation cannot support the load of the new house and therefore needs to be reinforced. I am supposed to cover all additional costs in full. any commendable completion of the project would have surprised me.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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Berlinho26 Jan 2024 22:2611ant schrieb:
Not at all, after
any commendable completion of the project would have surprised me. @11ant
Yes... there were so many problems that had to be solved. It basically continued on a large scale just like in the initial post. In this case, I don’t want to place too much blame on the general contractor, the site manager, or whoever. The subcontractor was the one who actually built the masterpiece.
Still, I would genuinely be interested to know if this is serious enough here to justify refusing acceptance of this point.
Is there a specific standard or code?
How do staircase builders normally work? Because apart from catalog pictures, we never saw any actual "planning" documentation.
Which points can I specifically highlight here as not being "professionally executed," or is it just a matter of purely subjective "appearance"?
So far, all I’ve gathered is that no one wanted to have this kind of staircase in their own stairwell.
I would appreciate any concrete feedback—I may have overlooked defects that would immediately catch a trained eye.
Thank you very much!
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Berlinho26 Jan 2024 22:34hanghaus2023 schrieb:
Did you approve the plan as it is?@hanghaus2023 What exactly do you mean by "plan"? What is the usual process here? Because I think ours didn’t follow the textbook procedure entirely.X
xMisterDx6 Jan 2024 23:56On what grounds should the final acceptance be refused here? There is no design plan; this was left to the general contractor or the stair builder, probably the stair specialist(?).
If the client does not provide any specifications, I design the HMI freely, based on what I think fits.
Certainly, a few minor issues need to be fixed. But you can’t reject a staircase worth 10,000 euros because of cosmetic defects worth 500 euros and refuse to pay anything.
That would be just ridiculous. The client uses the system productively and withholds the final payment because two buttons have the wrong color and there is a spelling mistake in the manual...
If the client does not provide any specifications, I design the HMI freely, based on what I think fits.
Certainly, a few minor issues need to be fixed. But you can’t reject a staircase worth 10,000 euros because of cosmetic defects worth 500 euros and refuse to pay anything.
That would be just ridiculous. The client uses the system productively and withholds the final payment because two buttons have the wrong color and there is a spelling mistake in the manual...
Berlinho2 schrieb:
It basically continued on a large scale just like in the original post. In this case, I don’t really want to place much blame on the general contractor (GC) or the site manager or whoever. The subcontractor is the one who actually built this masterpiece. [...] How do staircase installers usually work? Because apart from catalog pictures, we haven’t seen any kind of “planning” at all? [...] Maybe I just missed defects that would immediately stand out to a trained eye. [...] @hanghaus2023 What exactly do you mean by “planning”? I believe the question (rhetorically) was intended exactly like that: that not even a hint of anything that could be called planning would catch a trained eye here. Why you refer to your GC, which apparently mainly acts as a mailbox contractor, as a general contractor (GC) is beyond me: the main difference between a true general contractor and a mailbox contractor is precisely that the former can be seriously asked for “a finished house, turnkey” and would deliver proper planning as well.
Catalog pictures are never planning, and the staircase installer works based on detailed planning (which either comes from the architect or the general contractor, or from the installer himself). By the way, any staircase installer who cares even halfway about their reputation would never leave the whole job so exposed to the remaining construction work.
I’m very unsure what you have too much of: money, nerves, humor, or all of the above? But certainly not sense or skill when choosing those bringing your building dreams to life. That said: thanks on behalf of all readers for this cautionary example.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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