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Had a loft conversion done by a local company who are still trading back in Sep 2008. Shortly after the work was completed we had some windy weather and it became apparent that the loft floor shudders back and forth under such conditions (over around 20/25mph). Not only that, but the next floor down also vibrates now. The end result was that we couldn't use the left as our bedroom - too scary.
We had a very unfortunate run of luck immediately after, repeated miscarriages, death in the family, heart surgery - you name it and the end result is that I've waited far too long to get this sorted, though for the past 6 months I've have been trying hard.
In 2011 I notified the builders of the issue. They said "nothing could be done without major structural work" and that it was "normal". Three attempts that year to get them to come out resulted in nothing.
The loft was designed by an architect whom the building firm use. I paid the builders, they forwarded it on. The architect used a structural engineer to check the beam calcs.
This year, I requested beam calcs and plans from the architect. He went back to the structural engineer who looked at my house on Google Streetview and then admitted he hadn't taken wind load into consideration during the design and came up with a raft of suggestions to fix.
I've been in touch with the company who did the building control certificate and they are coming out to look next month.
Meanwhile though, I'm being totally ignored by the builders. I've asked them time and again to please come and have a look - I just want to know whether it's safe. I can't imagine that it is and I honestly can't decide whether to have the roof fall on me on a windy night or be on top when it falls! The monitor on my desk wobbles on the first floor and all the plants shake in the loft room.
So my question is, I'd like to find out what the remedy is and then employ another company to do the work. After getting a quote, I'd like to issue a court claim to the original builders for that amount. However, I honestly am not sure who is at fault and who I should be pushing. Architect? Building Control? Engineer? Builders?
I called trading standards and they said a) It's more than 6 years now and I can't do anything, and b) It would have been the builders as it was them whom I was a customer of.
If someone could point me in the right direction that'd be great. Apologies for the long post...
We had a very unfortunate run of luck immediately after, repeated miscarriages, death in the family, heart surgery - you name it and the end result is that I've waited far too long to get this sorted, though for the past 6 months I've have been trying hard.
In 2011 I notified the builders of the issue. They said "nothing could be done without major structural work" and that it was "normal". Three attempts that year to get them to come out resulted in nothing.
The loft was designed by an architect whom the building firm use. I paid the builders, they forwarded it on. The architect used a structural engineer to check the beam calcs.
This year, I requested beam calcs and plans from the architect. He went back to the structural engineer who looked at my house on Google Streetview and then admitted he hadn't taken wind load into consideration during the design and came up with a raft of suggestions to fix.
I've been in touch with the company who did the building control certificate and they are coming out to look next month.
Meanwhile though, I'm being totally ignored by the builders. I've asked them time and again to please come and have a look - I just want to know whether it's safe. I can't imagine that it is and I honestly can't decide whether to have the roof fall on me on a windy night or be on top when it falls! The monitor on my desk wobbles on the first floor and all the plants shake in the loft room.
So my question is, I'd like to find out what the remedy is and then employ another company to do the work. After getting a quote, I'd like to issue a court claim to the original builders for that amount. However, I honestly am not sure who is at fault and who I should be pushing. Architect? Building Control? Engineer? Builders?
I called trading standards and they said a) It's more than 6 years now and I can't do anything, and b) It would have been the builders as it was them whom I was a customer of.
If someone could point me in the right direction that'd be great. Apologies for the long post...
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