ᐅ Improper installation of windows and doors not meeting standards
Created on: 15 Oct 2020 18:06
H
Hausbau-Sanny
Hello dear fellow home builders!
Since June of this year, we have been building our house using timber frame construction. Due to COVID, we really had a lot of time and were present during every step of the work.
I have two concerns:
1.) Our windows were installed without flashing tape, only foamed in place. I know this is not up to code, and we were absolutely misadvised here; we have no warranty – please don’t lecture me about how we could have done it better. I would simply appreciate if you could suggest solutions for what we can do now without having to remove all the windows again. The interior walls are already plastered and painted, and the connections to the windows are done. On the outside, the primer coat is already applied.
Our wall assembly is as follows:
From outside to inside
60 mm (2.4 inches) Steico wood fiberboards
20 mm (0.8 inches) Steico wood insulation
15 mm (0.6 inches) OSB board (all joints glued with tape)
40 mm (1.6 inches) battens (for the installation level)
15 mm (0.6 inches) OSB board
12 mm (0.5 inches) drywall
Why were we advised so incorrectly? My father-in-law’s former colleague, who is now self-employed selling and installing windows, is convinced – as part of the old school – that the house would become too airtight if the windows are installed with flashing tape. A friend of my father, who installed windows for many years at a well-known window company, shares the same opinion. Every company that visited our construction site was shocked about the windows only being foamed in place. Everyone says the same thing: buildings used to be less airtight, everything was different before. Today, buildings are constructed much tighter. I am really at my wit’s end. My father-in-law is helping us a lot with the build, but it feels like talking to a wall. I begged to have the windows installed with flashing tape – okay, that’s another story…
2.) Next week, our front door will be installed. Currently, we do not have a Purenit base (insulating sub-sill) but a larch wood base that prevented the screed from leaking out. (Our foundation slab has concrete base blocks that are flame-treated, on which the timber frame house stands.) My plan was to remove the larch wood base and have a code-compliant Purenit base installed. I had also ordered this from the mentioned window installer. Today, I get a call from my father-in-law saying he has sorted everything out and that we don’t need a Purenit base – the larch wood base is sufficient. Two hours earlier, the window installer stressed how important the Purenit base is since it has zero give, while with the larch base it can happen that it sags and the door won’t open anymore. I am just completely exhausted – it’s like talking to a wall. Yes, I know we are the homeowners, but when my husband called the window installer again, he said after talking to my father-in-law, no, no, the larch base is fine. Our front door costs $7,000, and “no, no, that’s fine” is not enough for me – a 180-degree change of opinion. I kindly ask, can anyone help me? How important is a Purenit base really? Do you have experience?
Thank you, I am grateful for any advice – this is our first house, and I have tried to inform myself as well as I could.
Best regards
Since June of this year, we have been building our house using timber frame construction. Due to COVID, we really had a lot of time and were present during every step of the work.
I have two concerns:
1.) Our windows were installed without flashing tape, only foamed in place. I know this is not up to code, and we were absolutely misadvised here; we have no warranty – please don’t lecture me about how we could have done it better. I would simply appreciate if you could suggest solutions for what we can do now without having to remove all the windows again. The interior walls are already plastered and painted, and the connections to the windows are done. On the outside, the primer coat is already applied.
Our wall assembly is as follows:
From outside to inside
60 mm (2.4 inches) Steico wood fiberboards
20 mm (0.8 inches) Steico wood insulation
15 mm (0.6 inches) OSB board (all joints glued with tape)
40 mm (1.6 inches) battens (for the installation level)
15 mm (0.6 inches) OSB board
12 mm (0.5 inches) drywall
Why were we advised so incorrectly? My father-in-law’s former colleague, who is now self-employed selling and installing windows, is convinced – as part of the old school – that the house would become too airtight if the windows are installed with flashing tape. A friend of my father, who installed windows for many years at a well-known window company, shares the same opinion. Every company that visited our construction site was shocked about the windows only being foamed in place. Everyone says the same thing: buildings used to be less airtight, everything was different before. Today, buildings are constructed much tighter. I am really at my wit’s end. My father-in-law is helping us a lot with the build, but it feels like talking to a wall. I begged to have the windows installed with flashing tape – okay, that’s another story…
2.) Next week, our front door will be installed. Currently, we do not have a Purenit base (insulating sub-sill) but a larch wood base that prevented the screed from leaking out. (Our foundation slab has concrete base blocks that are flame-treated, on which the timber frame house stands.) My plan was to remove the larch wood base and have a code-compliant Purenit base installed. I had also ordered this from the mentioned window installer. Today, I get a call from my father-in-law saying he has sorted everything out and that we don’t need a Purenit base – the larch wood base is sufficient. Two hours earlier, the window installer stressed how important the Purenit base is since it has zero give, while with the larch base it can happen that it sags and the door won’t open anymore. I am just completely exhausted – it’s like talking to a wall. Yes, I know we are the homeowners, but when my husband called the window installer again, he said after talking to my father-in-law, no, no, the larch base is fine. Our front door costs $7,000, and “no, no, that’s fine” is not enough for me – a 180-degree change of opinion. I kindly ask, can anyone help me? How important is a Purenit base really? Do you have experience?
Thank you, I am grateful for any advice – this is our first house, and I have tried to inform myself as well as I could.
Best regards
11ant schrieb:
I cannot follow you at all. By the tape, you probably mean compressible sealing tape, that much I understand. I looked up Purenit, but what on earth is a larch baseboard supposed to be, where should it go, and why would it prevent the screed from leaking (where to), and which concrete bases is a slab supposed to have, why, and how do you flame treat them?
I add up your wall construction to 162 mm (6.4 inches) total thickness—who builds like that?
Seven thousand euros is not a small amount for a front door, actually quite a lot, and I didn’t see which material was used here (?), so I expected a professional company and not half-hearted, unclear instructions, but clear and verifiable installation guidelines. Compliant window installation seems to be almost a rarity these days, foam is applied everywhere generously and often as a supposed proper substitute for precise measuring and exact installation. You say on the one hand that you have too much time to constantly wander around the construction site—but on the other hand you let the bunglers carry on until everything is installed in such a way that correcting it would cause more damage than anything else. What is your native language, if I may ask? That’s quite a warm welcome. It’s also possible to ask politely and not treat a newcomer like an idiot in their first post. As an expert, you should know that a wooden wall still needs some kind of structural support element.
icandoit schrieb:
As a professional, you should know that a wooden wall still requires some kind of supporting element.Whatever professional you are referring to with your unclear words, wood is certainly an excellent building material for many perfectly self-supporting structures.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
Whatever specialist your incomprehensible words may refer to, wood is certainly an excellent building material for all kinds of perfectly self-supporting structures.Even as a floor between stories in multi-story buildings without sound transmission.icandoit schrieb:
Even as a floor slab in multi-story buildings without sound transmission.icandoit schrieb:
However, the soundproof ceiling usually only applies if it is made of concrete."As for my talk from yesterday, why should I worry about it," once said Chancellor Adenauer.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
"As Chancellor Adenauer once said, 'What does my chatter from yesterday matter to me?'" Well, the word "mostly" is sometimes overlooked.
I am currently looking for a plot of land to build my wooden house.
bauenmk202017 Oct 2020 09:57@Hausbau-Sanny
I can really understand you!
However, I can say that during our build, some things were done differently than what is often described as "correct" on the internet or here in the forum. I have learned that every tradesperson (whether civil engineering, painter, etc.) has THEIR own way of working. As a layperson or a well-informed homeowner, it is difficult to change this mindset.
You often read in the forum: "If the company uses material XY, you shouldn’t change anything here. Or hire a company that works with the preferred material XX" (or something similar).
What does your site manager say about this?
I can really understand you!
However, I can say that during our build, some things were done differently than what is often described as "correct" on the internet or here in the forum. I have learned that every tradesperson (whether civil engineering, painter, etc.) has THEIR own way of working. As a layperson or a well-informed homeowner, it is difficult to change this mindset.
You often read in the forum: "If the company uses material XY, you shouldn’t change anything here. Or hire a company that works with the preferred material XX" (or something similar).
What does your site manager say about this?