Floorboards left in a mess after central heating installation

JIL

We had a central heating system put into our house we are currently renovating. The engineer was a local tradesman and did the work over two days, working 2 x 12 hour shifts. He brought his mate with him.
The gas engineer did most of the work downstairs, fitting the boiler and running pipework. I wanted all pipework to be hidden and that's what they did. More than happy with that aspect.
However the mate did the work upstairs. The house is empty, no carpets and no furniture. Floorboards were pulled up from the landing, three bedrooms and bathroom and many were damaged. They were all heaped up in the corner of one bedroom. It was impossible to see where they had come from. Some were cut, not on a joist but just a random cut which means the whole floorboard will need to be replaced anyway.  We have had to spend over £200 on new boards.  Is this acceptable is this common practice?  It's not something I even thought about.  I hadnt even considered that this would be an issue. When we talked about a price I was ensuring, rubbish would be removed and the old boiler taken out and removed. I didnt even think about the floorboards.  Am I unreasonable or is this just par for the course?

tonyh66

They should have re-laid the floorboards as part of the job.

TELLIT01

No it's not acceptable.  Some damage to tongues on boards is likely where the lift the first board in an area but nothing more than that.  Random cuts, not over joists is ridiculous.  I would have first asked the tradesman to provide and lay replacement boards, and failing that reduced the bill by the cost of the boards plus my time for doing the work.

TELLIT01

tonyh66 said:

They should have re-laid the floorboards as part of the job.

As some of the cuts weren't over joists, so board ends are hanging in mid air, it's probably a good thing that they didn't relay them.

stator

If they've been taken up they would never look the same again anyway.

You won't get them to pay for new boards

FreeBear

Recut the boards neatly so that the join falls on a joist. If you measure well, you can slide the loose board along and end up with a small gap at one end - Something in the region of 400mm or so - Purchase a length of board from a timber merchant of the right width & thickness. Or if it is an old property, you might want to try a building reclaim yard. With any luck, you'll only need a metre or two of timber.

tacpot12

You have learned two useful lessons about house renovation:
1. You need to agree with trades people whose job it is to "make good", if you want them to refit anything that needs to be removed so they can do the work. Be aware that you don't necessarily want plumbers and electricians to be doing joinery or plastering; it's not their trade and they will generally not be as skilled in it as a plasterer or joiner.
2. You need to plan the work so that you are not doing work just to have it ripped up by the next trades person who comes to do a job.

Hope you can repair your floor.    

JIL

Thank you all, I think the electricians spoiled me. Clearly explaining that they weren't plasterers. Leaving the floorboards next to where they were moved from, Sweeping up and taking all their rubbish away.
The plumbers heaping all the boards in one big pile was a shock.  I think at the very least I expected to find the ones from each bedroom in the right room. 
Thankyou freebear, we needed two packs. My father in law is a carpenter by trade, but isnt too mobile. He has been up to advise us on cutting and where. It's a slow process but we will get there.

FreeBear

JIL said: we needed two packs [of boards].

Hope you are not using the likes of B&Q or Wickes...

I have been singularly disappointed with any planed timber over ~50mm in width (as well as moldings). Invariably bowed, twisted, cupped, and gone out of shape. Floorboards are not too difficult to deal with as they can go down either way up and screwing down takes out most of the distortion. Moldings like skirting board, cupped the wrong way, and it is only fit for firewood.

JIL

They were from wickes, delivered from a timber company. Father in law said they were good quality. I wont be getting skirting from there, that will be left to the carpenter to supply and fit when he does the bannister.