Fugly
I know I shouldn’t complain.
Gift horses and all that shit.
But there again, at my age it is apparently mandatory that I complain about everything and anything. So here goes.
They have fucked up the Manor. Or rather they have fucked up the old part.
The old part is around two hundred years old and is built of solid granite which has been whitewashed over the years. It has smallish windows recessed with fine granite sills. A couple of painter lads where were here a couple of years back had the bright idea of painting the sills and the reveals dark grey and the result was very effective. I’m sure I have photographs but I’m damned if I can find them.
Anyhows the latest gang arrived as I mentioned. They had all the new windows made to measure in the back of the van. They attacked the job with gusto, ripping out the old windows and replacing them with the new double-glazed units. They eventually left, leaving the place in a bit of a mess.
The new windows are really fucking ugly. In particular the front of the Manor has lost its cottagy look. Where the windows were recessed there are now single panes of glass flush with the granite wall. The window sill is now just a small protrusion with no room left for the window boxes that were now dumped in the front garden. I know architects talk about clean lines and shit like that but the new look is soulless.
I suppose I’ll get used to them. I don’t really have much choice. I can’t demand my old windows back because they smashed them up [leaving broken glass shards around the area where I normally park the car].
Yes the new windows are energy efficient. The house, and in particular Herself’s room should be a tad warmer. Once I have replaced the blinds that the lads so casually removed she can even sleep beyond sunrise.
Fuck the Greens and their “energy efficiency”.
Looks like the windows haven’t been sealed properly, the expanding foam needs trimming back and then sealant applying, or a thin bead around the edge token it sealed.
On my to-do list for Monday – get onto the project supervisor.
It doesn’t look like the neatest job in the world right enough. 🙁
I presume too that inside either now needs plaster, or else they have put in enormous bits of plastic trim to hide the damage?
Inside isn’t too bad. Only one window has suspicious plastic trim.
But the gift horse was the government – and I’m sure they said they were there to help. If you were to do that yourself in the UK the local council might even make you remove them as not in keeping with an old building.
When are they coming back to finish the job? As Ifb_uk said above that expanding foam should be cut back and sealed! Open cell expanding foam isn’t waterproof, if its not sealed with mastic or mastic and trim, water will Wick in and cause damp on the inside.
If water does get into the foam, you’ll never get it back out.
You should complain, at your age you should be pretty good at that! 😉
I have yet to have a visit from another team to pump-fill cavity walls and apply exterior cladding on one wall. I’ll be watching very closely!
Sadly, it’s the Greens that get to fuck you. That’s the whole point of these scams. They take your tax money and give it to their mates to spend on “energy efficiency” schemes and all the other boondoggles.
If it were just you, spending your own hard earned on new windows you could at least refuse to pay the bill until they did a decent job. But this is “close enough for government work” so unfortunately you’ll just have to bend over and try to enjoy 😉
To be honest, if I were doing the job myself I would have done only one window [Herself’s room]. The others had slight problems with rot in the frame but nothing serious.
Consider running an ad in the classifieds section of the paper.
Include that photo and the name of the business that did the work. They may even thank you for the free advertising.
(But more than likely, not.)
You do tempt me… I actually found a photo I had taken a few years back showing the window in its former glory.
If you are feeling really daring, do a side-by-side comparison of the two and post them on the web.
Caption to read, one is original to the house, the other is paid for by the Irish Government in the name of energy efficiency. Guess which one is which.