faulty door

[brian_the_gas]

Hi every one and I hope some one can give some advice on the above. Contacted a bespoke joinery company to make an internal door to fit in an existing arched door frame. We agreed a price of £360:00 and the door was made. However, after picking the door up, i sanded down and prepared it for fixing when I discovered the wood splitting allong a joint and also the full length of a glazing bar. I contacted the joiner and he has offered to glue the joint and glazing bar to prevent ite cracks from running any further. If this were a £30:00 door it wouldnt be so bad, but £360:00! I told him it was unacceptable but I fear there will be arguments, what are my options?

Thanks in advance.

Brian.

[buzby]

It shouldn't be cracking. Irrespective of whether you plan to varnish or paint it (obscureing the blemish) if the door was made for you, they've used wood that has not been adequately prepared before manufacture.

 

THE caveat is if they try to say your 'preparation' caused the problem. In your shoes, I'f go for the 'reasonable; approach - love the door, but as you don't plan to paint it, the split will become an unwanted 'feature'. They shouldn't baulk at replacing the reevant section at their own cost if you return it to them.

[brian_the_gas]

Thanks for the reply buzby, I had thought of the caveat you mention. But your meant to prep the wood prior to decorating it, and the only way to replace the defective sections is to cut them out and that would ruin the door. I dont want to be awkward with the guy, but at the same time I paid a lot of money for this door and what will it be like a year down the road from now!

[buzby]

Completely agree. I've founf the 'hapless customer' approach usually works - if you suggest it didn't arrive cracked (if that is the case) and simply there must be an internal flaw they couldn;t have noticed at the time, but is certainly ias evident now. As such, you really are not happy. Leave mentioning SOGA if they seem unconvinced it is their problem!

[brian_the_gas]

Thanks buzby. I noticed the splitting whilst I was sanding the door down so it would have been there when i picked it up, I just didnt look at it that closely.By the way, excuse my ignorance but who is soga?

[brian_the_gas]

Got it now, Sale Of Goods Act

[buzby]

Yup - it applies for all goods purchased by individuals. It dosn;t matter if it was handmade, it must be of satisfactory quality.

[danielr]

speaking practically (from someone who does woodwork as a hobby).

 

a lot of glue lines can be invisible, and I imagine that the split is caused along the grain of the wood. So the split could either be completely invisible when glued, or appear to form a natural part of the grain of the wood? also a lot of glue bonds very well with woods and forms a stronger material than the actual wood itself in some cases (depending on the wood).

 

Also, how are you sure that the wood can't be removed without ruining the door? it's a glazing bar that you're talking about on a door, surely this is a piece of the door that is meant to be removable with minimum fuss or damage so as to allow the replacement of the glazing should the need ever occur?

 

What's the position with the sales of goods act if the carpenter takes away the door and fixes it (either by gluing the split or replacing the section), and you deem the repair not good enough, can you then proceed to reject completely after the seller has tried to remedy the faults in the product?

 

If you can still reject the door after the carpenter has done his best efforts to repair the door then why not let him have a go at repairing it first, you might be surprised with how well the repair is made.

[buzby]

I agree, glue lines - if done well, can be invisible. However, as wood is a natural mediam, natural imperfections are allowed. The nature of the split could be cumulative - bearable now, but ongoing stresses of use cause it to split more. As doors are meant to be used (by their very nature) the stresses will continue for the life of the product, therefore in paying so much money for real wood, I would be far from happy at putting up with a non-natural imperfection that had the possibility of getting much worse and with no hope of recourse.

[brian_the_gas]

danielr. I paid a lot of money for this door and dont want it glued together.With regards to the glazing bar, there are four of them running from East to West and form part of the doors strength (as theyre jointed into the main fraim) making it impossible to remove without damaging the door. buzby. The guy came round and without any huffing and puffing, agreed that it was indeed faulty (blaming the wood) has taken it away and will make another for me, end of! thanks to all who contributed.

Brian.

P.S I love this site

Edited December 17, 2009 by brian_the_gas
spelling

[buzby]

Glad it's worked out for you Brian - natural wood (as you've found) can have issues, and any reputable firm knows this. The fact they've done the decent thing is a welcome change!

[danielr]

glad it's worked out...

 

I wasn't suggesting that you should take second best, just that it might be easier to let him try his way first.

 

glad that you don't have to wait for repair though

[reidnet]

Nice to see a straightforwards open and shut case so to speak..