Urgent carpenter advice needed about poorly fitted walk-in-wardrobes ... :(

MusRo

Hi there,
I recently employed the services of a local carpenter to fit out some walk-in-wardrobes in our new house. I got two different quotes and decided to go with this guy even though he was more expensive as he sounded like he knew what he was talking about and that he could give a high quality finish which is what I wanted. He gave what seemed like better advice about how to make best use of the space.

Fast forward a few weeks and he has almost "finished" the job (in his eyes) but my husband and I are very far from satisfied with the finished product and with the lack of professionalism this guy has shown us over the past few weeks. My husband and I made a snagging list of all the things that were not right and I went through them with the carpenter today. Needless to say he wasn't pleased to hear this and kept saying things like "It's too late to change this now as i'd have to take out the whole unit" or he came up with quick and dirty "solutions". I don't think my husband and I are being unreasonable in our requests but perhaps the carpenters here can enlighten me....

One thing was that the backs of the units have 3mm hardboard backing and this was bowed and leaving a large (up to 1cm) gap at the back of the shelving... I asked if he could rectify this and he said this was "normal" and it might pop back when the heating was on in the house... I know that my kids' little t-shirts etc would fall down through the gap at the back onto the next shelf. I've assembled plenty of flat-pack furniture in my time and even I know that these are panel pinned down to make them stay flat. He reluctantly added a lat of wood at the back which has partially fixed the issue for some of the shelves.

Another thing was that one of the shelves was split where a screw was inserted too near the surface of the laminated mdf. The guy caulked it rather than replace the shelf....

Some of the shelves do not fit snugly and shift about with 1 to 2 mm gaps either side. They guy won't replace them with new properly fitted ones. I could go on but i'm getting upset again even writing this.

I don't think i'm asking for too much here. This job is costing us approx €3500 which is a lot of money for us and we can both barely go into the wardrobes now we are so disappointed... Can someone give me advice on what to do or at least tell me if I am being too picky and asking for too much from this guy?

woodturner

You're not being too picky at all. A lot of the things you're not happy with can be easily rectified. The gap between the back and shelves can be easily fixed by using light screws to screw into the back of the shelves. The gap you mention that is both ends of the shelves could be there as they are adjustable. Fixing the middle shelf in position permanently will tighten up the gap somewhat. When I make wardrobes I usually cut the top and bottom and the shelves of the unit at the same time, they are then quite snug inside the unit.

Carpenter

Hi Musro
Were the shelf positions agreed before or after the units were standing and did he not seal all the joints with silicone to be fair to him and you it is an easy fix if done right but if he was aware of the shelf positions before standing and fixing the units it would have being very easy as said above by woodturner to screw them from the back but now that they are just finished the silicone would be a finish I think you would be happy with IMO.

Hobs

Problems you've talked about are easily fixed like woodturner says,and to be honest these problems should have been fixed by carpenter without having to ask. Stopped using hardboard years ago on backs cos of bowing issues. For a walk in wardrobe of €3500 you are right to expect quality.

recipio

You have a right under law to expect a professional service and what you describe is the work of a complete chancer. A hardboard back should be attached to the shelves to prevent buckling and there should be no gaps at the ends of shelves.
Sounds like you have already paid him but I would set out in writing what you feel is wrong and send a copy to your solicitor.
If you don't act, think of the next victims of his shoddy work.
I always ask about previous work if I engage anybody and actually go and see their standard of workmanship.

Miname

Has he been paid yet? If not tell him he's not getting it until everything's sorted. As said their easy fixes but everyone hates going over work a second time. I don't believe the crack with the solicitor will do anything but add to your expenses.

woodturner

I always view Boards.ie on my mobile and peoples locations are never shown. If your anywhere near me I can fix whatever needs fixing. I don't want anything for it. I just hate seeing people not getting quality work.

Hootanany

The heating will fix the bow, that old chestnut.
Tell him you are not satisfied he is only as good as his last job. hope you get sorted.

recipio

Miname wrote: »

Has he been paid yet? If not tell him he's not getting it until everything's sorted. As said their easy fixes but everyone hates going over work a second time. I don't believe the crack with the solicitor will do anything but add to your expenses.

If the hardboard back is buckling then the whole unit will have to be taken out probably a days work. It costs nothing to put your solicitor on notice but you may have to threaten legal action if he does not respond.
He may hate doing the work but I'm sure he didn't hate taking the clients money.

MusRo

Thank you to all of you for your responses. It is much appreciated. So to answer some questions, yes the position of all shelves and rails etc was discussed at length before any work was done. He knew I wanted shelves that could be moved in the future if necessary, so I don't understand why he used that flimsy backing knowing that it would buckle.... To be fair I never explicitly asked him for a hard backing and he never mentioned the thickness of the backing. However he is the professional and I trusted him to advise me accordingly as i've never had a walk-in-wardrobe before.

He ended up using a combination of L-shaped brackets under the shelves attached to the hardboard to somewhat pull in the backing or in some units he put a lat of wood at the back of the unit, but there are still gaps. Some of the shelves themselves are not square and don't fit snugly in the units... I asked him what he could do about this and if he could cut a new shelf and he said no... So i'm stuck with them.. It's bad that this was done in my wardrobe, but he made a unit of shelves for my 5 yr old's wardrobe and I am concerned that one of the shelves shifts about so much that she will pull it on top of herself or that she will try to climb on them and they will slide off the peg things underneath..

My Dad was a carpenter in his day (a seriously good one and a perfectionist) and he came round today to have a look at the wardrobes after I told him of our issues. Sadly he had to retire from carpentry in his early 50's due to Parkinson's disease. It was difficult to see the reaction on his face and the sadness in his eyes that he could not have made these for me. I know they would have been amazing. I felt I needed to post in this forum as I thought things may have moved on since my Dad's time as a carpenter and that perhaps his standards were too high (and consequently I thought I was asking for too much). Having watched him work down the years I picked up a thing or two about the right and wrong way to do things and I knew my Dad would never have left someone with something sub-standard like that. He couldn't believe how poor the work was.

Unfortunately, I have paid him now as I just wanted him out of my life. I hated handing over the money to him for something that is sub standard but he had me over a barrel as I am only a few weeks away from giving birth and don't need the stress of going down the legal route. Needless to say I will not be recommending him to anyone.. The wardrobes are functional for now but to say that my husband and I feel down trodden about the whole thing is an understatement. We both came from nothing and have worked so so hard to get where we are today. It is sad thinking that we are now stuck with something sub standard and have to look at and use them every day for the forseeable future.

Anyway, there are more important things in life and i'm sure it will fade into a haze when i've had many a sleepless night in the coming weeks

MusRo

Thank you woodturner for your kind offer to come and fix the issues. I'm a bit far away from you and to be honest, I just want to get the clothes out of boxes, suitcases and off the floor and into the wardrobes now so I can have get some semblance of normality before this baby arrives. Thanks again

woodturner

MusRo wrote: »

Thank you woodturner for your kind offer to come and fix the issues. I'm a bit far away from you and to be honest, I just want to get the clothes out of boxes, suitcases and off the floor and into the wardrobes now so I can have get some semblance of normality before this baby arrives. Thanks again

No worries.

recipio

MusRo, that is a terrible outcome and personally I would take the legal route. I suspect the design was poor. If you have movable shelves then you need a very rigid 'carcass' and an attached back to maintain stiffness.
If the shelves were on pegs they need to be very snug to prevent lateral movement.
I would contact your Citizens Advice Bureau for free advice.