Please critique the weld quality (photos enclosed)

[plowhog]

I am having fencing/gates installed. Steel material that is/was powder coated.

The photos are for hinge welds for heavy gates. 6x6 steel posts and steel gates to cover a 16 foot opening.

Before approving the job, I'd like to make sure the weld quality is sufficient for long term reliable use. Except I do not know how to evaluate the quality of a weld. Does this work look right to you?

 

[ArlyA]

Kinda rustic looking. I wonder if they didn't grind any paint off before they welded it.

 

[Buckeye Guy]

I am by no means a welding expert, but know enough that these welds are very amateurish. Looks like they have been welded over and over again, and not very well. Now whether they will hold up or not is another story. Can ugly welds be sufficient? Of course, if it has good penetration into the steel. I am quite certain that other members will chime in that know a lot more than i do, but my observation is that these are not very good

 

[MTGreen]

Looks very amateur. Not enough heat, way too much filler, not nearly enough grinding for the quantity of filler used and probably inadequate prep. Lots of nooks and crannies for water to accumulate in and rust to develop.
Might be okay to support the weight of the gate but I wouldn't go climbing on it or hang anything from it.

If I was paying money for that from a professional company I'd be pissed

 

[Doofy]

They look like crap. My welds look like that too. Even with fancy auto darkening helmets and light blocking cloth drapes on the back of the helmet, I just can't see well. My goose-poop welds seem to hold okay though.

 

[ruffdog]

After about 1 inch, the person should have stopped and fixed the problem or get someone else. Man that is bad.

 

[Doorman63]

One side should look perfect because it was welded in a controlled environment. The “field” welded side may not look as nice.
Neither of those look “good”

Did you see what they were using to weld?
Stick/wire/etc

What’s the warranty on the work?

 

[ovrszd]

They are very consistent. All junk. Couldn't pay for that. This will probably turn into a battle.

 

[Code54]

They look very poor. I am not a welder by trade but can do a lot better than that.

 

[Have tractor did travel]

Like Ovrszd, I see a battle.

Without a contract, you could reasonably expect performance (the welding job) to meet the minimum standards of the trade. In the following link, are provided the six standards of the trade, with the lowest standard being appearance.
6 Levels of Welding Quality Standards

6 Levels of Welding Quality Standards​ We received a large number of email responses and comments to our article from two weeks ago pertaining to weld ...

Present the judgements from TBN participants to support your claim that the work does not meet appearance standards of the trade.
If you decide not to pay for the job, and the vendor will not redo the job, be careful. You do not want an enforceable mechanic's lien placed on your property.

 

[YanmarFever]

In welders terms, those are called pigeon crap welds.

 

[ruffdog]

I don't see a bunch of porosity like a lack of shield gas. It is more like a very jumpy wire feed or a too big (missing) wire guide. Were they trying to weld without a face shield by just closing their eyes? OR....a half blind novice with a bad case of the shakes? You can see in the pictures that they tried to grind away the worst of the goobers.

 

[Doofy]

Even tho they look terrible, those gates could outlive us all.

 

[Will S]

Zero chance that I'd accept that. Whoever made that mess knows nothing about welding.

Have someone who actually knows how to weld, grind off all that crap, and do the job right.

You could probably do way better yourself, even if you never welded, but watched a couple of Jamie's videos on weldingtipsandtricks.com.

Man, get it done right.

 

[plowhog]

Thank you for the opinions and responses.

The work is from a professional fence/gate company. There have been many job problems beyond weld quality. More than can be attributed to a supply chain problem or rogue employee.

The owner is now involved. He has a professional demeanor-- he and I can talk the same language. But after ~6 months of problems and fumbles it is unclear if this is going to end successfully or become something different.

 

[ovrszd]

Even tho they look terrible, those gates could outlive us all.

If you buy a new tractor and the paint looks like that are you satisfied? Afterall, it will outlive us all.

 

[Doofy]

There is a lot of difference between a Tractor and a Gate. It's his money and he's the one that has to look at it. His choice as what to do. Those ugly welds do distract and make the whole job look inferior.

 

[scootr]

What a mess. Those welds would not pass any inspection.
I can think of 3 reasons why the company is going to remove the gates and rework the welding.
Can you show us a few examples of the gate construction welds. Are they the same or better quality?

Assuming the gate construction welds are good and only the hinge welds are poor quality...
The gates are very heavy and if they fell due to substandard workmanship a pedestrian or a worker could be killed and the gate company will be liable.


I have a friend who is a professional welder. He does better than that on a 16ft ladder outdoors in the wind. I would be worried about structure. Ugly welds are usually caused by under penetration. But also water intrusion causing long term failure.

 

[Doofy]

I certainly hope the fencing looks better than the gates. Photos Please.

 

[M59]

Thank you for the opinions and responses.

The work is from a professional fence/gate company. There have been many job problems beyond weld quality. More than can be attributed to a supply chain problem or rogue employee.

The owner is now involved. He has a professional demeanor-- he and I can talk the same language. But after ~6 months of problems and fumbles it is unclear if this is going to end successfully or become something different.

plowhog,

The business owner has ALWAYS been involved. You just got a face to face with the owner when you objected to poor/ shoddy work. The business owner has always been involved because they either were directly responsible for hiring the amateur welder and then sent them out on jobs OR an employee of the owner hired the amateur but the owner is not setting the expectation within the company of building a company by creating a network of satisfied customers who then refer future customers.

These welds are crap from an amateur who doesn't know how to prepare a surface for welding. They are clearly contaminated by either the powder coating or galvanization that was not removed from weld site. Also insufficient heat was applied ( low amperage ) during welding so the weld is superficial with little to no penetration into the joint. I would expect joint failure in near future.

You mention other problems above and beyond the welds. Sounds like you have a business owner who doesn't rely on word of mouth from satisfied customers to grow the business because he sequentially screws each customer.

I hope you are on a progress payment system and you have withheld enough to get a reputable contractor to correct this crap in the pictures. Expect to end up in court.

I had a similar issue with contractor who installed new windows in our house which was many hours away in another state ( absent homeowner ). Before final payment I visited the house and examined all the windows. I examined several windows in detail and found water behind the window trim on each window. I pulled trim off one window and found large amounts of water and mold behind the trim ( future rot and mold problems ). I contacted the window manufacturer and asked if they would warranty the windows as installed ( provided pictures to manufacturer ). They said warranty was void unless the windows were removed and correctly installed. The window manufacture's local installation represententive looked at windows in person and then suggested a local professional window installer who would remove and reinstall correctly and then the warranty would be in force. The window representative also wrote a letter to me detailing the defects observed in the initial installation. I immediately fired the original installer, hired and paid for the correct installation. The original installer took me to court. I presented the window representative's letter as evidence and the original installer lost the court case.