wooden floor buckling - joiner getting difficult

poppet

hamblettamaud wrote: »

he told me that it's probably damp & that he can't be responsible for that

No wood floor should be fitted untill the sub floor has been checked for moisture levels.

Its the very first step in installing a wood or laminate floor - only a cowboy or an amature wouldnt take readings first.

If your sub floor was damp before the job began then no amount of re-fixing will resolve this. The floor will have to come up and the sub floor problems addressed first.

The fitter could have put a DPM down between the sub floor and the new timber to keep any moisture away from the wood - in our line of business we see this kind of thing all the time im afraid, a large percentage of our work is rectifying basic mistakes made by inexpereinced fitters, many of whom are carpenters and joiners.

poppet

hamblettamaud wrote: »

i don't think the house is damp. (there's no condensation or other evidence & TBH just doesn't feel damp.) however, the heating has been off for a few weeks, although i admit i tend not to keep heating on all the time. & in spring & summer it will definitely be off all the time.

Normal everyday heating would not cause a floor to buckle and warp. Wood flooring can tollerate temperature changes such as you expect in a house with heating.
"Damp" is a different issue, if youve got damp, central heating wont fix it. Damp will be coming in from outside or be caused by water leaking somewhere.

hamblettamaud

thanks, everyone.

TBH, i don't feel personally that it's a problem with damp. even though it's an old house (approx 100 years old) it lay empty for over three years before i bought it & started renovating. & it just doesn't smell damp. the radiators are not leaking & the floor is concrete. i'm not aware whether or not the joiner took any dampness readings.

however, what way can i proceed legally, should it unfortunately have come to that? do any of the trade associations he (probably) belongs to have any powers to compel him to complete properly? or is the small claims court more appropriate? can i get another joiner in to complete the job satisfactorily & then charge the bill to the original joiner?

lots of questions, sorry.

but thanks everyone for replies so far.

hamble :-)

poppet

Again you cant possibly concider taking legal action untill you have

1. had a second opinion
2. given him chance to put it right to your satisfaction

getting a second opinion could be as simple (and free) as phoning 2 or 3 other wood floor fitters up and asking them to come and quote for repairing a damaged wood floor. They'll come along to have a look and give you a price - if it is a moisture problem they will know as soon as they look at it.

if you are able to take pics of it and pm them to me i might be able to give you a better idea - i would need an overall photo of the floor more than close up pics.

TomsMom

hamblettamaud wrote: »

again, the difficulty is that he is married to a friend & it would be awful to have to threaten him with court action, so i really need to know what his responsibilities are.

hamble

How much of a friend is this friend?

If she's a real friend, would she not be trying to get her husband to sort out your problem?

How much do you value her friendship and do you want to keep her as a friend? Just thinking that if you take some sort of legal action there wont be a friendship any more!

If she's just an aqaintance then go for it, you've paid for a job to be done. If he takes any pride in his work he'll want to sort out the problem, if he doesn't then he's a cowboy!

poppet

hamblettamaud wrote: »

thanks, everyone.

TBH, i don't feel personally that it's a problem with damp.

A leak is different to damp. A leak wont necc smell "damp", a leak in the kitchen for example could cause problems to a wood floor in a different part of the ground floor, say in the lounge for example.

poppet

hamblettamaud wrote: »

& the floor is concrete.

Concrete or screed or latex sub floors can get damp in them or hold water on its surface following a leak of some kind, trapping water between the wood and the subfloor.

poppet

hamblettamaud wrote: »

i'm not aware whether or not the joiner took any dampness readings.

This would be a key part of a legal complaint - you have to find out if he did or he didnt.
if he didnt, then you have room to take further action becasue without mositure readings no wood floor installation should proceed. Putting a wood floor onto a damp or wet sub floor is a complete waste of money - the floor will fail.

poppet

hamblettamaud wrote: »

however, what way can i proceed legally, should it unfortunately have come to that?
You can't proceed at all untill you are certain of the facts - you MUST get a second opinion or any claim you may have against him will not stand up in court. Without a second opinion it will be his word against yours and he could quite probably talk his way out of it.

do any of the trade associations he (probably) belongs to have any powers to compel him to complete properly? or is the small claims court more appropriate?
but at the moment you have no proof or evidence that he has fitted the floor poorly - it reamins your word against his untill you get a second and third opinion from a proffesional. there are companies out there who will come out and asses his work and provide a report but they will charge you hundreds. Getting a coupld of wood floor specialists in to give you a quote to put it right wont cost you anything. make sure they specialise in wood flooring and not general flooring companies doing a bit of everything.

can i get another joiner in to complete the job satisfactorily & then charge the bill to the original joiner?

yes you can.....eventually...once you have proved it is indeed the joiners fault...untill then no, you might end up with egg on your face and another joiners bill to foot. A court will tell you that you have to assertain blame and then give the defendent opportunity to correct it to your satisfaction. if you have stopped asking him to come out and correct it, then this could be seen as you NOT giving him chance to correct it.
The joiner is telling you it is a moisture issue, ask him to prove it.

quote]

hamblettamaud

thanks to everyone - especially poppet! - for all the advice. all very helpful & welcome. i am absolutely certain this is not caused by a leak.

i have to do this, apparently, in this order:

(i) get second (& third) opinion
(ii) ask joiner if there was dampness & what was the reading
(iii) give joiner a chance to put it right
(iv) take it further in the small claims court if necessary
(v) forfeit friendship with his wife!

there is a further problem. i contracted the joiner to do a lot of work on the old house. however, he subcontracted someone else to do the floor. i assume my problem is with the original joiner's contract.

thanks, guys. i'll get this sorted. i'm determined.

:-) hamble