Near Death by Kitchen

Maxfield

Hi All,

My parents have had a new kitchen fitted in Sept. 2011. Which seemed fine until yesturday evening.

I had visited my parent for dinner and was assisting with clearing up when the whole wall of kitchen units pulled away from the wall and collapsed.

I pushed my farther out of the way and managed to narrowly avoid injury myself.

My parents have contacted the company who fitted the kitchen this morning who are sending the fitter round this afternoon to re install the kitchen.

Could someone pelase advise how this should be dealt with by my parents as the fiiter seem less than cooperative at this time?

The units are damaged not to mention the all of the contents of the unit shave been destroyed.

Many Thanks,

G Maxfield

pinkteapot

Maxfield wrote: »

Hi All,

My parents have had a new kitchen fitted in Sept. 2011. Which seemed fine until yesturday evening.

I had visited my parent for dinner and was assisting with clearing up when the whole wall of kitchen units pulled away from the wall and collapsed.

I pushed my farther out of the way and managed to narrowly avoid injury myself.

My parents have contacted the company who fitted the kitchen this morning who are sending the fitter round this afternoon to re install the kitchen.

Could someone pelase advise how this should be dealt with by my parents as the fiiter seem less than cooperative at this time?

The units are damaged not to mention the all of the contents of the unit shave been destroyed.

Many Thanks,

G Maxfield

I would expect the company to cover all the costs of putting it right (putting the units back up, redecorating if there's any damage, replacing worktops if they were damaged by the stuff coming down). They should also pay for the items inside that were ruined.

I would also want a good explanation of why it came down, and personally I would be asking for a different fitter this time.

If your parents won't feel confident in this kitchen once it's re-done, they could try getting a refund instead and then getting a kitchen from elsewhere, but they probably don't have any legal right to this if the company remedies the situation by re-fitting.

spadoosh

At the very least a claim on the insurance. Would try and seek damages from the company for the damaged goods and would expect them to repair and make good the units (replace if beyond repair). Dont go in saying 'near death' as they might think your being a bit over the top and be less inclined to help. Nopoint in arguing what couldve been stick to the facts and actual damage. Say your extremely disappointed with the fitting service. And expect all problems to be rectified. Problem is withmost kitchen companies once theyve had their money and the kitchen fittedthey tend to think its not their problem anymore.

Is there any chance that the cupboards were holding more than the recommended weight, because if they were any chance of the claim would be out of the window?!

How were the units fixed to the wall?! Was it the proper brackets (like a finger hook that you tighten and it pulls the unit flush to the wall) or was it more of a botch job with battons?

Maxfield

spadoosh wrote: »

At the very least a claim on the insurance. Would try and seek damages from the company for the damaged goods and would expect them to repair and make good the units (replace if beyond repair). Dont go in saying 'near death' as they might think your being a bit over the top and be less inclined to help. Nopoint in arguing what couldve been stick to the facts and actual damage. Say your extremely disappointed with the fitting service. And expect all problems to be rectified. Problem is withmost kitchen companies once theyve had their money and the kitchen fittedthey tend to think its not their problem anymore.

Is there any chance that the cupboards were holding more than the recommended weight, because if they were any chance of the claim would be out of the window?!

How were the units fixed to the wall?! Was it the proper brackets (like a finger hook that you tighten and it pulls the unit flush to the wall) or was it more of a botch job with battons?

The only items in the cuboards were pots and glasses so no way the weight of these should be too large.

The units were fixed with four tripple screw hooks which the units were placed onto. These appear to not have been properly inserted into the wall.

I have taken photo's of the kitchen as it stands without moving anything.

Regards,

G

ic

This could be a problem for your home insurance to worry about? The argument is no doubt going to centre around the strength of the wall and the quality of the fitting job. However, a good fitter should have recognised that the wall wasn't able to carry the load and not installed the cabinets before correcting the situation.

Was the wall brick? Is it plasterboard or skimmed? What size were the screws holding the fittings? What colour were the rawl plugs (colour indicates their size)?

pinkteapot

Don't claim on your home insurance; it'll whack your premiums up. This should be paid for by the kitchen company's insurance. From your perspective though, it's the kitchen company you need to speak to. Whether they can then claim on their insurance or have to foot the bill themselves isn't your problem.

Even if your parents have an odd type of wall, or a wall that was never going to hold kitchen cabinets, that's down to the company to have recognised.

Maxfield

ic wrote: »

This could be a problem for your home insurance to worry about? The argument is no doubt going to centre around the strength of the wall and the quality of the fitting job. However, a good fitter should have recognised that the wall wasn't able to carry the load and not installed the cabinets before correcting the situation.

Was the wall brick? Is it plasterboard or skimmed? What size were the screws holding the fittings? What colour were the rawl plugs (colour indicates their size)?

The units were attached to an interior wall with 2 inch screws and metal raw plugs.

budgetdiyer

It might not necessarily be the kitchen fitters fault, for example i've seen wall units that have failed because of water leaks and similar that have weakened the walls.

I'd wait to see what the kitchen fitters say, if they repair / replace without charge then ask for cost of damaged items, if they argue they are not to blame its a whole other matter....

Or as someone else said just claim on your home insurance as it will all be covered by that.

greyteam1959

Maxfield wrote: »

The units were attached to an interior wall with 2 inch screws and metal raw plugs.

What is the interior wall contructed of ??
Metal raw ( rawl ) plugs sounds to me like a plasterboard wall.
And if so the cupboards should have been screwed into the timber supports not just the palsterboard.