Steel Building Trim Question

[loosegoosegarage]

Odd question, but looking for photos of your steel building trim installed for garage door, man door and exterior corners.
Horizontal siding if that matters.
Contractor 'finished' today and it all looks wrong to me, doesn't fully cover seams, warped, etc.

 

[PCustoms]

Contractor 'finished' today and it all looks wrong to me, doesn't fully cover seams, warped, etc.

How about you post a few pics?

Horizontal metal siding sounds.... different. But generally the trim should start behind the siding and then wrap around to cover the edge. There's specific profiles depending on where/what is being done.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yes, pics please.

 

[readhead]

Trim on horizontal siding can be a problem. There should be lots of outside clousers involved and corners will be a simple 90 degree piece. Good luck.

 

[Bert_]

Tin ran horizontal is the cheap way. I've done it before on a storage building. There's gonna be gaps but it still keeps the weather off stuff.

Not what you would want if you have any plans for an insulated/sealed building

 

[Firebrick43]

Odd question, but looking for photos of your steel building trim installed for garage door, man door and exterior corners.
Horizontal siding if that matters.
Contractor 'finished' today and it all looks wrong to me, doesn't fully cover seams, warped, etc.

Did you do the roof horizontal? or vertical?

 

[jack stand]

He must have a light guage "tube" type building where horizontal metal is std.

 

[loosegoosegarage]

Yes lighter duty steel/ tube building not red iron, double legs all around, 30'x50'x14'. Went horizontal trim to match house as color was supposed to be the same, which of course is not even close, that's another story. Roof is vertical.
To me it seems the corner trim should be square, not L shape, with about 3" both ways to cover the gaps. But to leave the framing tubes exposed seems wild to me.
This whole process has been a $#!+ show from start to now, and the crew that did all this trim and front wall siding was NOT the same crew that did the rest of the building, who in my opinion did much better work.
Will be speaking with the contractor today as they want to get paid now that it's 'done'. I've made a list of the issues I've seen but if anyone knows the proper way to rectify these as best as possible, would be much appreciated so I can cover my bases.

Corner trim is L shaped, with shorter edge on side, not covering edge of panels, twisted at bottom.





Header trim for 1 garage door opening was too short so they spliced in a 3" piece, other garage door is 1 full pice.


All 3 door openings are wavy like they are too long, minimal fasteners used


No ground level flashing/ trim, framing tubes exposed


Different corner trim, again short side not covering edge of panels and a nice kick to add some flair

 

[PCustoms]

That looks like ****, and out of square/plumb all over.

Typically screws are color matched to the panel they are on, not silver on a dark panel.

Aside from those issues, the trim should have covered more of the ends of the panels. Guessing they bought the "narrow" option out of the catalog (it's cheaper obviously).

 

[Carchie]

Man, that looks incredibly frustrating. You are totally right to hold back payment until this is fixed that trim job looks completely rushed and sloppy. Definitely stand your ground with the contractor today!

 

[readhead]

Unfortunately this is pretty common for this type of building. There’s nothing wrong with the building but when it comes down to the finish this is what happens. Press the building company hard to make it right. The big problem is that they will probably send out the same guys that did it wrong to fix it. When I would get hired is when the building company would offer some kind of cash settlement for you to go away. At that point I would come in with all new trim and closures and clean up the mess. Usually for more than what you settled for.

It is a bad situation but it can be fixed. I won’t get into the economics of this particular type of building but be assured that if the company doesn’t get the final payment they won’t get hurt.

 

[PopcornSutton]

I looked into metal siding quite a bit, most of the major manufacturers have their own standard details and trim pieces for just about every condition. But sometimes things always "standard", that's when flat stock colored metal, a brake, and a good mechanic makes problems go away.

 

[loosegoosegarage]

Unfortunately this is pretty common for this type of building. There’s nothing wrong with the building but when it comes down to the finish this is what happens. Press the building company hard to make it right. The big problem is that they will probably send out the same guys that did it wrong to fix it. When I would get hired is when the building company would offer some kind of cash settlement for you to go away. At that point I would come in with all new trim and closures and clean up the mess. Usually for more than what you settled for.

It is a bad situation but it can be fixed. I won’t get into the economics of this particular type of building but be assured that if the company doesn’t get the final payment they won’t get hurt.

What would a rough, ballpark estimate be for the 2 corner trims (14' Tall), the 2, 10' wide Garage Headers, 36" Man Door Header and the ground flashing? I know there are many factors but just trying to get an idea. I would rather they just settle it for a discount at this point rather than them coming to 'fix' it.

 

[TOWLC]

What would a rough, ballpark estimate be for the 2 corner trims (14' Tall), the 2, 10' wide Garage Headers, 36" Man Door Header and the ground flashing? I know there are many factors but just trying to get an idea. I would rather they just settle it for a discount at this point rather than them coming to 'fix' it.

The materials aren't all that expensive, labor is going to be the more expensive part. But, if they replace those pieces with wider corners (which they need to be) they aren't going to match the other corners, so I personally would want all corners replaced to match. And as PCustoms said, any exposed screws should be color matched.

Doesn't look like anything really major, overall just sloppy, but easily fixed. Ballpark with labor I'd "guestimate" around $1000, but that's a very rough guess without knowing for sure what all pieces need replaced.

 

[readhead]

I don’t know your market so I couldn’t say. As mentioned the material isn’t the big money. Also keep in mind that a lot of closures need to be installed. 112’ just at the corners.

 

[loosegoosegarage]

I don’t know your market so I couldn’t say. As mentioned the material isn’t the big money. Also keep in mind that a lot of closures need to be installed. 112’ just at the corners.

Ok, thank you, I get what you're saying now.

 

[loosegoosegarage]

The materials aren't all that expensive, labor is going to be the more expensive part. But, if they replace those pieces with wider corners (which they need to be) they aren't going to match the other corners, so I personally would want all corners replaced to match. And as PCustoms said, any exposed screws should be color matched.

Doesn't look like anything really major, overall just sloppy, but easily fixed. Ballpark with labor I'd "guestimate" around $1000, but that's a very rough guess without knowing for sure what all pieces need replaced.

Makes sense. I could live with the back corners not matching front corners if they are going to try and fix it, just so they don't make those worse. Unless I end up having a local guy come do them, then I would swap them. I appreciate your input

 

[Codyboy]

Do not pay a dime for that junk install.
Discount?
It would have to be a heavy , very heavy discount. If you have to call someone else to make it right their labor and materials would be twicw as much if even you could get anyone to do it.

 

[jack stand]

I looked into metal siding quite a bit, most of the major manufacturers have their own standard details and trim pieces for just about every condition. But sometimes things always "standard", that's when flat stock colored metal, a brake, and a good mechanic makes problems go away.

Those "corners" look like they were bent up on site. Very poorly.

 

[PugetDude]

Location would be helpful if you want more specific recommendations.

 

[loosegoosegarage]

Location would be helpful if you want more specific recommendations.

Northern Connecticut

 

[loosegoosegarage]

Those "corners" look like they were bent up on site. Very poorly.

They were pre bent, already on trailer when they arrived

 

[PugetDude]

They used gable trim for the corners.
Outside corner trim should be 4" x4" equal leg.

 

[loosegoosegarage]

Here we are a month later, still no repairs made, and building company keeps pushing them back, week after week.
What are my options at this point? I have spoken to both sales company and building company, explained how this is delaying my business, costing me sales, etc. and they do not seem to care, nor have any sense of urgency to rectify the issues. We are over 1 1/2 months into a 3 day build now.

Sales company has a 15% deposit from when I ordered building. Building company does not get paid until job is done, which it is still not, so they have not received anything from me. I have told both that I would just take a discount in lieu of repairs being done to just get this over with so I can hire a competent company to fix this, and have gotten no answer either way for that, just the sales company saying they will talk to the building company and let me know; that has been their go to response for the past 3+ weeks.

What should my next steps be?

 

[bob smith1]

Ah, the ol thin gauge square tube scam bites again! I'd want to start with any engineered design plans????? Then realize the whole thing is a compromise, front to back, all of it! No bracing, panels not stitched, not enough fasteners by far, etc.

Get back what little cash you can and hire a real pro to try to fix what they can. I've been called to look at several of these with very desperate owners. Hate to say, starting over is generally the best route.

If it gets hot in legal land, any competent engineer will shoot holes a mile wide through the design, but it will cost money. If you have a kind attorney, they may be willing to file suit with the sole purpose of a "settlement motivation".

 

[mm08822]

I would get an estimate from a tin knocker to rip all that **** down and redo. That looks like someone installed it half tanked up using a flashlight at midnight.

Take that estimate to your sales guy and tell him if they dont replace all of that horrible work in x days, then the estimate is coming off of any balance due.

Send it certified mail.

Actually not an estimate but a firm price quote. Maybe get two so they can't dispute amounts.

 

[readhead]

The sales guy is out of the picture. The 15% “deposit“ is his commission. He serves no other function than to make sales with no weight behind him. As I mentioned earlier, if the company doesn’t get paid they will not get hurt. I don’t know what the balance is but about one third is real money that they will eat.

Read the contract very carefully for any traps if you don’t pay. Complete, can mean many things. Depending on what you read and understand the next possibility would be to send a certified, ten day drop dead letter to finish to your satisfaction. If nothing happens by day eleven then send a notice of contract default and that no money will be coming from you.

Be prepared because some of these guys have attorneys on speed dial and you may get sued or they might place a lean on your property. Don’t let a lean scare you. It is a tactic to get you to pay but most leans never get perfected and filed with the county.

I would send the drop dead letter but I doubt that anything will happen. This is a cautionary tale and a very common one. There are good dealers and manufacturers for tube steel buildings but the industry is rampant with bad actors and the result is stories just like yours.

 

[PopcornSutton]

I had the house siding replaced earlier this year with vinyl. Window and corners are easily handled with the standard trim. The contractor included wrapping the door frames with color matched vinyl covered coil stock, and there were some areas that required some special transitions to cover. The guy doing the metal work was very meticulous and fit the metal very well. Again, a good metal guy can make things go away.