Laminate floor finish... bodge job or 'acceptable'

Annie1960

When you say they are winding up the business and you have a 25 year guarantee, is the guarantee underwritten by a third party? Otherwise, if they are no longer in business, your guarantee will be worthless.

I_have_spoken

We've paid £50 psm for which £20 is the laminate

OMG! I'd be raging too. Looks like £100 cash-in-hand job

lidlest

Just a few of my thoughts

1) that looks worse than my 'not at all trained' husband and father in laws effort 5 years ago

2) I'm paying £32 a square metre for mine to be fitted tomorrow , and that's including the laminate, underlay, beading and door bars
( the laminate is £20 gloss walnut with 25 yr warranty)

3) I would fight them all the way

Owain_Moneysaver

That looks like 5-year-old cheap laminate that has fallen apart.

If it looks that bad now what will it look like in a few years' time?

andyhop

Wolfsbane2k wrote: »

I was more than happy to have them come back in and rectify the situation to add the expansion gaps, but they said it wasn't required and wouldn't do it when I asked as part of the snagging list work, so I wasn't particularly happy then, and having given them a second chance to rectifiy the situation they declined again.

Therefore, the only bargaining chip I had to get the job done was to withhold payment until it is addressed, at which point they said they would see me in court.

Given that we have since learnt they are winding the business up in 3 weeks or so to start a shop instead, I feel that this is the only option I have, especially as I'm paying for a floor with a 25 year guarantee, which is currently invalid due to the poor installation.

And this is before any damage gets done to my house... I currently have a 7m run which as no expansion gap butted up against a PVC door at one end and brick at the other, and the door has already started to move...

And the pictures above are just the tip of the iceberg.

No fitter would walk away for 3k for what could be no more than a days work to lift and relay for a team of 2

IMO we are not getting told the full or accurate story, you seem eager to start legal proceedings rather than sorting a simple resoloution, you know the company is winding up and I think you are hoping for a free job!

Wolfsbane2k

andyhop wrote: »

No fitter would walk away for 3k for what could be no more than a days work to lift and relay for a team of 2

IMO we are not getting told the full or accurate story, you seem eager to start legal proceedings rather than sorting a simple resoloution, you know the company is winding up and I think you are hoping for a free job!

I dont think that They will walk away as well, but my concern is that they actually think this is a good job as they have done it this way many times before and nobody appears to have complained about it yet!


I am eager to start legal proceedings as I want this addressed ASAP which requires a relaying of the flooring, which they are not willing to do, so I'm in a house that should be having furniture fitted, and being able to relax in, but instead I will have to go through a complete upheaval again, meaning I can't get on with living in my house and making it my home..

The point of hiring professionals was to give me quality time with the kids during my holiday, instead I'm going to have to take time off work again to witness them correct all mistakes, and then book another set of time off to do the rest of the work that i had this week booked off to do.
So I really want them to pay all coats with me taking more holiday, or getting a different professional to do the jobs.

And no, I don't want the job for free. I am willing to pay or a good job. And since they can't do it, I want them out, and someone who can do it properly to do it. And they can take their damaged, bent, chipped laminate with them (or collect it from the end of the drive)

The guarantee is with the manufacturer of the boards, not the builder, and I have seen evidence of it being third party backed. So it doesn't cover the costs of refitting, hence why I want if done properly!

Wolfsbane2k

lidlest wrote: »

Just a few of my thoughts

1) that looks worse than my 'not at all trained' husband and father in laws effort 5 years ago

2) I'm paying £32 a square metre for mine to be fitted tomorrow , and that's including the laminate, underlay, beading and door bars
( the laminate is £20 gloss walnut with 25 yr warranty)

3) I would fight them all the way

1} agreed. I know I could have done a better job then they have!
2) yes, I know we are paying more than 'normal' now, but we agreed to the price so that's 'mugs' written over our face.
3) intend to!

Thanks.

curiosity101

Wolfsbane2k wrote: »

I am eager to start legal proceedings as I want this addressed ASAP which requires a relaying of the flooring, which they are not willing to do, so I'm in a house that should be having furniture fitted, and being able to relax in, but instead I will have to go through a complete upheaval again, meaning I can't get on with living in my house and making it my home..

I can understand this. Just be careful you don't do anything too rash that it comes back to bite you. Do give them the 'required' reasonable amount of time to fix the problem, and the chance to actually come and do it.

I work full time and the idea of losing such a chunk of my holiday time to supervise something that should've just been done right would be very frustrating, but you still have to be sure you've done the right thing so that if they don't give you a proper resolution you can keep your money and get professionals in.

Wolfsbane2k

curiosity101 wrote: »

I can understand this. Just be careful you don't do anything too rash that it comes back to bite you. Do give them the 'required' reasonable amount of time to fix the problem, and the chance to actually come and do it.

I work full time and the idea of losing such a chunk of my holiday time to supervise something that should've just been done right would be very frustrating, but you still have to be sure you've done the right thing so that if they don't give you a proper resolution you can keep your money and get professionals in.

This is the difficulty I am having at the moment as I've offered opportunity twice and they have declined, but only verbally to date. I gave them a snagging list including the lack of expansion gaps at the first opportunity I had, and they convinced me (being professionals) that the expansion gaps were fitted where required, so agreed to leave it subject to them coming back if there was a problem, and summarised that the missing t bar thresholds were to be purchased and installed the following day, but I had to tell them what part i wanted fitting to be 'in accordance with industry standards', as they didnt appear to know what i meant, as as far as they were concerned the t bar thresholds would be attached to the laminate flooring and move with it!
That evening, I told them that the expansion gaps had to be provided , and they refused, so I used the only bargaining chip I had to force it to be done... Withhold payment, and they said 'see you in court'.. Breaking down the relationship was their call.

So as far as I'm concerned I have already given them an opportunity to address the problem which they declined (verbally) to do, meaning that they have had 'reasonable opportunity' to address the problem, but have stated that they won't, so I want it fixed asap, so court action started if they want to go down that route.

jellie

If you haven't done already, put all the issues to them in writing and ask them to sort the problems out. Give them a timescale, after which you will go to court. Get a receipt of postage from the post office. This will be acceptable as evidence that they've received your letter. Don't send recorded delivery as they may not collect it. Verbal communication is easy to deny.