uneven laminate worktops in new kitchen

gelmc

I bought a new kitchen from Howdens and found my own joiners to fit it - so far so good. There has been a major glitch with the worktops, as the join nearest to the sink wasn't sealed properly, and also wasn't a snug fit as there was a milimetre gap or so.

Well, what do you know, water seeped through and the worktop started to swell/warp. Considering I'd spent £5800 on the kitchen, I was very disappointed. I texted the pics to the joiners and they said that they would remedy this at their cost.

Fast forward to today, and they came to replace the worktop that the sink it is fitted in. Prior to this they came on Thursday and took some of the mdf out of the worktop piece which the sink ktchen worktop joins up with. They then bulked it out with something (pva or something they'd bought) and clamped it down with clamps overnight Thurs and Fri.

So they came back today to rectify the problem, however, the join is now not warped but it is ueneven by a millimeter or so, therefore not smooth like one of the other worktop joins in the kitchen. Furthermore, the join at the other end of the sink kitchen worktop is uneven too (where on one side it's a millimeter higher, and then further towards the wall on the other side is a millimeter higher - so totally uneven).

I am becoming increasingley exasperated :mad:, as they first began working on the kitchen on the 24th September and I'm desperate for it to be finished so I can paint it before Christmas.

I'm wondering whether to give them a 3rd chance to get the worktops right or to get someone else to quote for it and take it out of their remaining payment (I've paid them half so far). In both cases this will mean taking out all of the worktops and taking the tiles off then putting new worktops in and retiling again.

Your help and advice is much anticipated, needed and appreciated.
Thanks!

dingdongsaving

This sounds so frustrating. Do you have any paperwork that says the final balance is due on completion of satisfactory work? Or were you just told that the final payment was due on a certain date? I'd look back at your quotation/documentation carefully. Also, is there a chain of command you can move up or is it a 1 man band?

Can they say they don't need to come back and rectify things if you refuse payment? Can they then pass on your details to a collection agency?

Sorry! I've raised even more questions! Surely someone on here knows what you can do next.

I hope you get it sorted.

adamg

two options
they fix it at their cost
you fix it at their cost

gelmc

Thanks dingdongsaving for your response. There is no paperwork as such. I get the feeling that the joiners are not hot on that sort of thing. It's a family business consisting just of two of them. The email they did send me ( containing the invoice) was not particularly professional, and just listed the jobs they'd done and there costs.

I may contact them today and say I'm disappointed with the finish. But I am not confident they will fix it promptly as they seem to juggling jobs :-(.

gelmc

Yes, adamg. I feel like they have already 2 chances to sort it but it's still not right. I can see them coming to fix it in a week or two instead of straight away.