T
Traumhaus167 Jul 2016 13:05Hello everyone,
Our shell construction is finished, and the screed has been poured. Yesterday, I noticed that our two basement exit doors are not at the same height.
I need to explain the following: Our house and our garage have separate basements. For KfW (a German development bank) requirements, the screed layer in the basement under the house is thicker than in the basement under the garage. The latter is intended to be a storage room for garden tools and does not have underfloor heating. So far, everything seems fine and acceptable to us.
However, because of the different screed heights, the doors, which are located close to each other, are at different heights. Even at this stage of construction, this looks quite unusual. Most of our basement is actually above ground level!
My question is: is this considered a construction defect? Shouldn’t the architect have taken this into account? It doesn’t seem right to distort the exterior appearance of the house in this way.
His response was that we had seen the plans and were aware that the screed heights would be different. We are laypeople and did not think about the doors.
I hope you can help us.
Our shell construction is finished, and the screed has been poured. Yesterday, I noticed that our two basement exit doors are not at the same height.
I need to explain the following: Our house and our garage have separate basements. For KfW (a German development bank) requirements, the screed layer in the basement under the house is thicker than in the basement under the garage. The latter is intended to be a storage room for garden tools and does not have underfloor heating. So far, everything seems fine and acceptable to us.
However, because of the different screed heights, the doors, which are located close to each other, are at different heights. Even at this stage of construction, this looks quite unusual. Most of our basement is actually above ground level!
My question is: is this considered a construction defect? Shouldn’t the architect have taken this into account? It doesn’t seem right to distort the exterior appearance of the house in this way.
His response was that we had seen the plans and were aware that the screed heights would be different. We are laypeople and did not think about the doors.
I hope you can help us.
The different heights of the finished floor result in varying bottom edges of the doors, which should be clear to you, right? Or did you actually want a step hazard at the garage cellar door? Alternatively, I could have installed a thicker screed in the garage cellar. Is it perhaps still possible to enlarge the opening for the garage cellar door upwards and order a taller door? That way, at least the top edges of the doors would align.
B
Bieber08157 Jul 2016 15:46Are the clear ceiling heights measured from the top of the finished floor different? They should be visible in the plans. How much do the screed levels or floor construction differ? Has the screed already been installed? Do you have a photo?
First of all, that’s unfortunate. Maybe it can still be fixed (raising the floor construction in the garage basement, adjusting the door lintel). Who will cover the costs is another matter...
First of all, that’s unfortunate. Maybe it can still be fixed (raising the floor construction in the garage basement, adjusting the door lintel). Who will cover the costs is another matter...
T
Traumhaus1613 Jul 2016 00:36Thank you in advance for your responses.
The screed has already been installed.
Since we have no building experience at all, we didn’t think much about the different heights.
Isn’t it the architect’s responsibility to ensure that everything is at the correct height?
In our planning drawings, there is no indication of different door heights.
Here are two photos showing how it looks.
It’s not very noticeable yet because we still have a temporary construction door installed.
In the second photo, you can also see that the liquid screed was not poured up to the door but stopped a short distance before it. At a later stage, this area was repaired with cement screed. Why was no masonry work done beneath the door?
The screed has already been installed.
Since we have no building experience at all, we didn’t think much about the different heights.
Isn’t it the architect’s responsibility to ensure that everything is at the correct height?
In our planning drawings, there is no indication of different door heights.
Here are two photos showing how it looks.
It’s not very noticeable yet because we still have a temporary construction door installed.
In the second photo, you can also see that the liquid screed was not poured up to the door but stopped a short distance before it. At a later stage, this area was repaired with cement screed. Why was no masonry work done beneath the door?
T
Traumhaus1613 Jul 2016 00:39Here is the example photo from our architects.
Similar topics