New Build - Build refuses to fix floor

reallydontaskmetosignin

So we've just moved in to a new build, built by a local developer, and there have been a few snagging issues, which the builder has been fixing as we've discovered them (they're still on site as ours is the second completed build in a 5 house development).

There is however a big issue that he's equivocating about: The floor. It's very uneven on both floors.

In the kitchen you can see gaps in some places of up to 3-4 mm to the plinth, in the lounge you have a similar situation with the patio door where the floor raises and drops by as much as 6 mm and so on, pretty noticeable if you look for it.

We have LVT so in order to fix it, it would need to be ripped up and new LVT installed, which is why he's not willing to do it, specially as we paid extra to get kardean LVT

The house does have a 10 year warranty

Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

Thanks

G_M

Big sign in the front garden, addressed to the developer:


" Why ismy floor sobadly fitted and why are you not fixing it?"


That should get his attention if he's still looking for buyers for the remaining 3 houses.


If no reaction in a week, take a photo (of the sign not the floor) with a covering letter to the local paper.

AdrianC

What is the floor? Concrete?

How are you measuring the drop?

Doozergirl

It would be more sensible to adjust what's meeting the floor, rather than the floor itself. Building work isn't precision engineering, there has to be a margin of tolerance.

Carpenters work on wonky houses as a matter of course. If you're paying attention to detail, you'd scribe the kick plates and skirting, but you can also put sealant around LVT flooring, so the gap should disappear.

Who laid the LVT? Them? Photos are helpful.

reallydontaskmetosignin

G_M

I like your idea of the big sign out front, sadly I believe all the properties have already been sold, I could be wrong.

AdrianC

It's some sort of screed underneath, not 100% the material

I've measured by dragging a plank of wood around between two "peaks" and measuring the drop.

Doozergirl

I don't think I explained myself very well:

It's not that there is a constant gap of 3-4 mm in the kitchen, it's 3-4 mm in places and a perfect fit in others. This is the case in a few places. For instance, the TV stand has a gap on either end of about 2 mm, but it's find in the centre (I've placed the stand elsewhere and I can see the gap size changing)

I realise that there would be some sort of tolerance in how flat the floor would be but this feels very much outside it

RelievedSheff

The NHBC tolerance for a screeded floor is +/-5mm so it does sound as though your floor screed is within tolerances.

reallydontaskmetosignin

RelievedSheff wrote: »

The NHBC tolerance for a screeded floor is +/-5mm so it does sound as though your floor screed is within tolerances.

From having had a read to this document (can't post the link I'm afraid as new to site)* and I don't believe the warranty is NHBC, it would seem that the floors don't meet the standard

Maximum 4mm out of level per metre for floors up to 6m across, and maximum 25mm overall in any other case.

I can certainly find more than 4 mm across per metre in a few places but not everywhere.

I will need to find out which warranty we have and what they say

In any case, I'll try talking to the builder with the above and see what he says.

* search for this in google: filedownload,15912,en.pdf

RelievedSheff

There are two different clauses regarding floor tolerances. You need them both.

If you don't have NHBC warranty then you need to find out who your insurance provider is and check their tolerances. They are usually very similar to the NHBC guidance.

reallydontaskmetosignin

RelievedSheff wrote: »

There are two different clauses regarding floor tolerances. You need them both.

If you don't have NHBC warranty then you need to find out who your insurance provider is and check their tolerances. They are usually very similar to the NHBC guidance.

I would've thought that I need to take the finished tolerances as that is what I'm measuring rather than the tolerances of the screed (can't measure them without ripping the lvt up) but maybe I'm misunderstanding you.

I'll check the warranty and see what their tolerances are. I think that based on another post on the brand-newhomes forum there is a chance that some but not all fall foul of the tolerances (assuming same tolerances)

I'm surprised by how high the tolerances are, even a 2 mm gap is pretty noticeable. I suppose they're more geared towards carpets, where they're less likely to be noticeable although I've never seen carpet in a kitchen ....

phill99

reallydontaskmetosignin wrote: »

I'm surprised by how high the tolerances are, even a 2 mm gap is pretty noticeable. I suppose they're more geared towards carpets, where they're less likely to be noticeable although I've never seen carpet in a kitchen ....

A tolerance of half a mm is noticeable if the plinth or skirting is not finished properly.


What Doozergirl is suggesting is that where the floor meets the plinth, the plinth needs to be scribed in so that the bottom of the plinth effectively takes the shape of the floor. This is pretty standard work for a joiner or kitchen fitter.


Also where the skirting meets the floor under the patio door, then a bead of mastic or acrylic sealant and then painted to match the skirting will sort this problem out.


It sounds like your floors are within tolerances, so you will probably get no where with getting the floor re-levelled.

princeofpounds

I'm surprised by how high the tolerances are, even a 2 mm gap is pretty noticeable

I'm a stickler for good quality of finish too, so on the one hand, I do know what you mean by it being noticeable.


On the other hand, 2mm is nothing. 3/4mm is still pretty much nothing. I just got out a ruler to double check my sense of scale!


Your house probably moves more than 2mm due to summer/winter heating/moisture cycles in all sorts of ways.


Whilst I'm not going to say 5/6mm isn't up to spec, or that your sub-floor may not be constructed properly (I just don't know), I do think you may have an unrealistic idea of tolerances in housing construction. I know it looks worse when you have factory-precision skirting and tiles that are meant to align, especially when you notice it you see it all the time.


Also, it may not be the floor that is the problem. It may well be the skirting and the positioning and finishing of things like the patio door. But I'm sure you're aware of this.