New(ish) house - garden problem.

[chili1]

Hi guys,

Looking for advice and opinions.

I bought a new build house just under 2 years ago from a well known house builder - lets call them carrot.
House has a decking area to the rear with steps down to patio and garden.
The treads are made from 10x2 tanalised timber which I have treated twice.The treads were originally attached with just 2 nails per tread which caused them to rock. They came back and put another 2 nails per tread. Over time the treads have started to split lengthways with 3 of the 11 splitting all the way through. We have a 2 year warranty so I rang the builder to ask them to look at the steps. Carpenter turned up today, said "I can see your problem, I'll try to replace all of them but they might not agree it. I'll measure up and see what they say".
Carrot customer services rang to say that the carpenter had contacted them to say that its general wear and tear and is expected to happen to external timber, as a result they will not replace.
I said that if this is expected to occur within to years then the materials are not fit for purpose and as such they should not have used the timber. The site manager is allegedly coming tomorrow to speak to me.

Is it reasonable to expect the timber to only last 2 years? Decking shows no wear or tear whatsoever.
Can I use the "not fit to purpose" argument?
Anything else that I can use to argue my case?

Thanks in advacne.

[Flintstone]

Two years? They're taking the mickey.

[Laurel Green]

Are the treads let into the risers? They should be and, if not, incorrectly installed. So, not-fit-for-purpose seems about right.

[MrV]

Well it should have been screwed to start of with not nailed.I would guess it is starting to split along where the nails have gone through ?

[chili1]

Risers were not fitted originally, although I did add risers as my disabled cat managed to fall through one of the 6 inch gaps where the risers should have been!!

I did originally say that they should be screwed not nailed when they first came. His answer was - they'll still rock on screws. Didn't fill me with confidence1

[SAGgy chef]

If you have neighbours with the same age construction, speak to them and see if they have similar problems. The more of you fighting for the same cause has to be better, there's streangth in numbers.
Good luck.

[chili1]

Thanks for the replies.

Spoke to 2 neighbours last night as its only the 3 of us that have this set up. The one is fine, but his steps don't get any sun at all. The other neighbours steps (face same direction as mine) are in a worse state than mine - he's going to contact Carrot as well.