Underfloor Heating wrongly installed

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HI All

I had UF heating mats put down in my bathroom by a person who does all types of home improvement stuff e.g. carpentry/tiling/sill replacement etc - he has his own business doing this sort of stuff. Any way 6 months in the Under floor heating stopped working. I had to pay 300 + vat for a company to come and and check the fault..stating if it was a manufacturing fault the product provider (prowarm) would pay. The cold tail joint had overheated (and bulged) as it wasn't encapsulated in tile adhesive underneath the tiles (which is stated in large print in the installation guide) but in the wall. How can i go about approaching the person who laid this for me and what reasonably should I expect from him?

Thanks in advance

andyhop

99% of installers don't know how to correct fit electric UFH. You must fully encapsulate the lot otherwise it overheats and burns out

You could try asking for him to compensate for the loss, chances are if he hasn't got the start of the cable right the rest won't be any better.

tacpot12

I think it is reasonable to expect them to refund the cost of the parts and labour but only a fraction of the testing fee:£300 strikes me as excessive and you haven't given them any chance to investigate themselves. It was your decision to engage the testing company.

You need to invite him around; just say "it's not working, will you come round to look at it?" When he gets there explain it failed a while ago and that you have paid to have the cause investigated. Gently explain that the cause is how it was installed and have the instructions ready to show him.

They say that you would like to be reimbursed for the cost of the materials and labour. Take it slowly; he will need time to come to a decision as to whether he is at fault and what he can do about it. You should also ask if he has any professional liability insurance he could claim on.

If he has no insurance, you might have to compromise on the amount of refund, e.g. He might agree to reimburse the labour element, leaving you to foot the bill for the materials. If there is no insurer, anything you get will be a bonus.

You could sue him in the small claims court, but you will need his home address, so try to get this when you meet him, if you don't already have it.

Good luck