Hello everyone,
We are currently planning the garden for our newly built semi-detached house.
Our rear terrace is supposed to be level with the house and laid with ceramic tiles.
Unfortunately, it has turned out that the side door of the garage (1 m x 2 m) cannot be opened. The terrace would be 3 cm (1 inch) higher than the garage.
This is a prefabricated garage from Hörmann.
Two options have been proposed to us:
1. The terrace is set 15 cm (6 inches) lower than the house. This would also require installing a step block.
2. The terrace remains as planned, but a lowered area or plateau is made around the garage side door.
We don’t find either option acceptable, as we want a barrier-free access to the terrace. Option 2 would allow this, but water and dirt would constantly collect in the lowered area.
My suggestion is to remove the door frame of the garage side door and set it slightly higher. About 3 cm (1 inch) would need to be milled above the door frame. According to the builder, this is not possible. The manufacturer reportedly said the construction would be damaged. There is steel directly above the door frame.
We paid extra for this garage side door (€850). If we had known about this problem, we would never have ordered the door. We were not informed about this. According to the builder, it was not foreseeable that we would extend the terrace so extensively (by the way, the terrace is small—what else could we have done?). He also suggested buying a new door that is a bit shorter. However, he will not cover the additional costs (about €1000). This is obviously unacceptable, as we have invested a lot of money in the project.
Do you have any ideas on what else we could try?
We are currently planning the garden for our newly built semi-detached house.
Our rear terrace is supposed to be level with the house and laid with ceramic tiles.
Unfortunately, it has turned out that the side door of the garage (1 m x 2 m) cannot be opened. The terrace would be 3 cm (1 inch) higher than the garage.
This is a prefabricated garage from Hörmann.
Two options have been proposed to us:
1. The terrace is set 15 cm (6 inches) lower than the house. This would also require installing a step block.
2. The terrace remains as planned, but a lowered area or plateau is made around the garage side door.
We don’t find either option acceptable, as we want a barrier-free access to the terrace. Option 2 would allow this, but water and dirt would constantly collect in the lowered area.
My suggestion is to remove the door frame of the garage side door and set it slightly higher. About 3 cm (1 inch) would need to be milled above the door frame. According to the builder, this is not possible. The manufacturer reportedly said the construction would be damaged. There is steel directly above the door frame.
We paid extra for this garage side door (€850). If we had known about this problem, we would never have ordered the door. We were not informed about this. According to the builder, it was not foreseeable that we would extend the terrace so extensively (by the way, the terrace is small—what else could we have done?). He also suggested buying a new door that is a bit shorter. However, he will not cover the additional costs (about €1000). This is obviously unacceptable, as we have invested a lot of money in the project.
Do you have any ideas on what else we could try?
Could you please draw the terrace as it is currently planned? At the moment, we only have the information that "we are making it bigger, so the door potentially won’t open." I’m also wondering if the property line continues behind the garage or not.
Am I understanding correctly that you are still working with the landscaping contractor to finalize everything? If so, I would try to find a suitable solution at this stage. For example, plan the terrace slightly differently, include a smaller step, or consider another option. I understand that the builder (or whoever is responsible here) does not want to shorten the door, but perhaps this could be an option “after handover” at your own risk. (I don’t know if this can be formally agreed on in advance, but if the builder doesn’t agree, it will likely be difficult.) As already mentioned, any warranty would probably become void in that case—but then it depends on what is more important to you.
My thought is, if you absolutely do not want to change the terrace or walkway, try to find out if another company could shorten the door afterwards (whether this is technically possible and what the consequences would be). Then, you could plan with the landscaping contractor to only install the paving slabs in front of the door after the house handover or similar.
Am I understanding correctly that you are still working with the landscaping contractor to finalize everything? If so, I would try to find a suitable solution at this stage. For example, plan the terrace slightly differently, include a smaller step, or consider another option. I understand that the builder (or whoever is responsible here) does not want to shorten the door, but perhaps this could be an option “after handover” at your own risk. (I don’t know if this can be formally agreed on in advance, but if the builder doesn’t agree, it will likely be difficult.) As already mentioned, any warranty would probably become void in that case—but then it depends on what is more important to you.
My thought is, if you absolutely do not want to change the terrace or walkway, try to find out if another company could shorten the door afterwards (whether this is technically possible and what the consequences would be). Then, you could plan with the landscaping contractor to only install the paving slabs in front of the door after the house handover or similar.
In der Ruine27 Oct 2022 20:26Is it possible to modify the side door of the garage so that it opens inward?
Similar topics