New limestone fireplace - ugly adhesive stains

firely2327

I purchased an ex-display limestone fireplace and white stove at end of November 2017. Aside from a crack in one of the side chamber panels, it was in perfect condition. The shop arranged for their installer to install it. When the guys were leaving they point out that they'd washed it down with warm water to clean it before leaving, and had put a sealant on the hearth, leaving me the remainder of the bottle contents. It looked a bit patchy in colour in the chamber but was told it would dry out perfectly. Two weeks later and the cream/brown patches weren't shifted and they stayed the same size. When I phoned I was told they're still drying, wait a bit longer. So two weeks ago when I rang again they promised to send someone out. The guy arrived on Friday, spent two hours polishing it by hand and managed to remove some of the stains/marks, which he said was due to the adhesive/bonding seeping through the limestone. One of the side marks, circa 8x8in, is still very prominent on the side. Even worse is the rear of the chamber and where it meets the heart. The browning is very apparent in there approx. 3-4inches down the rear panel and the same on the rear hearth. The expert on Friday said he couldn't polish properly in there due to the stove being in the way. It looks terrible, and a visitor on Saturday clocked it immediately.


I'm not looking forward to contacting the shop again, given that they were so dismissive originally and even on Friday, when I questioned them about another issue (the questionable 'sealing' that had been done..... the sealant used wasn't good), they were trying to contradict me, despite everything.


What are my rights here in terms of what I should expect of them now. They sent an expert who supposedly did what he could but I'm still left with an ugly fireplace, the whole lot setting me back £3k. In my mind I should at least be due a partial refund if they're not going/able to send someone to bring it up to scratch.:(

Furts

Ex display can be sold as seen so you could have the company claiming the marks were there when you purchased.

Staining coming through from the adhesive/sealant sounds like the wrong product has been used. I would not be surprised if you said your fireplace was held in place, or jointed together, by contractors silicone - which will cause staining. If so, this is because the installers have penny pinched. As far as I am aware, there is nothing you can do about this. If this is so, then expect the stove fitting to be bodged - the very least you should do is carefully inspect this.

Post some photos, and/or explain how the fireplace was fixed. mse folks may then be able to shed more light on matters.