I had a relatively expensive (circa £5k) 44mm wood shed/cabin erected, wood paint treated twice mid December on a concrete base which has consistently leaked during rainfall on two sides ever since.
After a number of emails complaining about the quality to the supplier (who also installed) I initiated a chargeback through my credit card company.
It has since been disputed by the supplier and I am now waiting on them providing the evidence to the credit card company which I will then be able to dispute and evidence back for the second time around.
Has anyone experienced something of this nature before?
It is being disputed as ‘defective goods’ and would make an excellent wooden sieve! I have been told by the call handler that if it is disputed for the second time it will be in the hands of Mastercard to make a final decision.
I had a local builder take a look at the finish and he believes that the tongue and groove simply wasn’t hammered down enough during the build causing the sides to leak.
Any advice or guidance would be much appreciated.
I'm assuming the company hasn't volunteered to come out and assess the problem before dismissing it? That won't work in their favour.
Will the local builder give you a report to back up the claim? Sounds like a slam dunk to me but the CC company might need more persuading. Gather as much evidence as you can.
If CCC fails then small claims court would the route I'd follow, and some honest reviews of the company all over Twitter and review websites.
T&G boarding shrinks after fitting as it dries out. Are the boards fitted horizontally or vertically? If horizontally, the tongues should be at the top. Wind and capillary attraction may also be playing a part, as can knots on the mating surfaces! A shed, is a shed, so if you want fully waterproof, you need to specify it at the time of ordering as it will involve design additions.
OP doesn’t say what he’s done to establish why the shed is leaking, whilst I would certainly take it up with the supplier to me it makes sense to get to the root cause of the problem and share this info with them. It’s frustrating, but it helps to try and work with the supplier to resolve problems, going down the chargeback route should be an absolute last resort. If the shed can be fixed easily that is the best outcome for all.
Is it really leaking through the tongue and grooved joints? Sheds usually leak through the roof in my experience, if the felt isn’t put on correctly water will get in.
Thanks for your reply -Originally Posted by Onelasttime
They have been keeping a low profile ever since the photos/videos of the leaks appeared in the side walls.
I appreciate it is made of wood and expect some teething problems but don't have the same issue on the cheap and cheerful £950 wooden shed which is now close to 10 years old.
Local builders will be happy to help in terms of a report.
Thanks for the info.
It is horizontally boarded and a decent size 4.5m x 3m construction. I would always expect a few issues just not the fact that two sides have consistently leaked from the outset despite two coatings of wood treatment paint. No issues with water coming in from the roof or base.
Can't see that painting with wood treatment will help, there must be gaps between boards or holes somewhere.
I’m guessing the leaking walls have been fitted with the tongue and groove upside down. The seemingly dry ones may have been fitted upside down too, but aren’t on the weather facing side. If that’s the case it’s clearly a simple/major fault !
Correspondence has been one-sided from myself to the supplier with it all going cold once I had sent the photo/video evidence.
I have sent 6 further emails since but unfortunately, they are ignoring me. Leaking is through the joints and not the roof or through the base.
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