Is kitchen fitter responsible for dishwasher leak 6 months after installation?

Jennifer83

Hoping for some advice/common sense! In June last year, I had a local kitchen fitter (one man band) in to replace a couple of kitchen units and install a slimline dishwasher (previously there hadn't been any dishwasher). The dishwasher installation involved him having to cut some of the kitchen floor (solid bamboo tongue and groove planks) to stop just in front of it, rather than run underneath the dishwasher because the way previous owners of the flat had laid floors on top of each other, there wasn't room under the worktop. 
 
Around August or September I noticed that an area of floor in front of the dishwasher had changed colour. The discoloured area extended about six inches either side of the width of the dishwasher and protruded about 12 inches in front. It now sounds VERY stupid that I didn't do anything about it at the time or in the intervening months but initially it wasn't a drastic change, the floor never felt damp and the colour had gone warmer/more red so seemed unlikely (to me) that it was moisture related. I thought perhaps it had overheated as I had used a different programme. I periodically checked whether the floor felt damp and if the size of the discoloured area had grown but it always felt dry and seemed to stay the same.

However about a month ago, it started looking much worse and it seems clear there is water damage: some of the boards in front of the dishwasher are warping and cracking and a small spot right by the dishwasher has gone black. I have stopped using the dishwasher but I am not sure how to deal with the situation. The floor boards are stuck down so I can't take them up or move the dishwasher to see what's happening.

I have been thinking about getting the kitchen fitter back to look at it. Part of my delay is I think feeling bad that I'm sure their business has been badly affected by Covid, if I expect them to spend time trying to fix it for free, I feel a bit guilty about that. But on the flipside, I was quoted and paid for two days work and it took just over a day. But I'm not even sure if the work should be covered - I was looking at my quote, service agreement and invoice and it doesn't say anywhere that installations or any element of the work is guaranteed for any period of time. Is that normal, or something I should have checked about at the time/be aware of in future?

If I would need to pay him to fix it, then I'll deal with that but also wondering if I should be getting someone else in instead so that I can be more confident it will be ok. Just a bit problematic that it involves taking up the floor so I'm not sure who other than a kitchen fitter can do it...e.g. I would probably need to find someone to take up that area of floor before a plumber can get in, and then come back to sort the floor. But maybe that's best?
  
I'm wondering if it would be simpler to claim on insurance but I have no experience of doing that and the excess is £450.

Should I just tell the kitchen fitter what has happened and see what they say?? Any advice much appreciated. 

Boohoo

Jennifer83 said:

Hoping for some advice/common sense! In June last year, I had a local kitchen fitter (one man band) in to replace a couple of kitchen units and install a slimline dishwasher (previously there hadn't been any dishwasher). The dishwasher installation involved him having to cut some of the kitchen floor (solid bamboo tongue and groove planks) to stop just in front of it, rather than run underneath the dishwasher because the way previous owners of the flat had laid floors on top of each other, there wasn't room under the worktop. 
 
Around August or September I noticed that an area of floor in front of the dishwasher had changed colour. The discoloured area extended about six inches either side of the width of the dishwasher and protruded about 12 inches in front. It now sounds VERY stupid that I didn't do anything about it at the time or in the intervening months but initially it wasn't a drastic change, the floor never felt damp and the colour had gone warmer/more red so seemed unlikely (to me) that it was moisture related. I thought perhaps it had overheated as I had used a different programme. I periodically checked whether the floor felt damp and if the size of the discoloured area had grown but it always felt dry and seemed to stay the same.

However about a month ago, it started looking much worse and it seems clear there is water damage: some of the boards in front of the dishwasher are warping and cracking and a small spot right by the dishwasher has gone black. I have stopped using the dishwasher but I am not sure how to deal with the situation. The floor boards are stuck down so I can't take them up or move the dishwasher to see what's happening.

I have been thinking about getting the kitchen fitter back to look at it. Part of my delay is I think feeling bad that I'm sure their business has been badly affected by Covid, if I expect them to spend time trying to fix it for free, I feel a bit guilty about that. But on the flipside, I was quoted and paid for two days work and it took just over a day. But I'm not even sure if the work should be covered - I was looking at my quote, service agreement and invoice and it doesn't say anywhere that installations or any element of the work is guaranteed for any period of time. Is that normal, or something I should have checked about at the time/be aware of in future?

If I would need to pay him to fix it, then I'll deal with that but also wondering if I should be getting someone else in instead so that I can be more confident it will be ok. Just a bit problematic that it involves taking up the floor so I'm not sure who other than a kitchen fitter can do it...e.g. I would probably need to find someone to take up that area of floor before a plumber can get in, and then come back to sort the floor. But maybe that's best?
  
I'm wondering if it would be simpler to claim on insurance but I have no experience of doing that and the excess is £450.

Should I just tell the kitchen fitter what has happened and see what they say?? Any advice much appreciated. 

If i was in your situation i would 1st of all make sure you know what is leaking and where from.
Do you just have the dishwasher near to where the water/damp is or are there any other white goods near by?
Is there a sink near to where the water/damp is?

Can you take any photo's of the layout/area that has this issue so people can get a better understanding of your issue.
If the dishwasher needs to come out and and is being hampered by the glued flooring then the flooring will have to be ripped up to gain access to the machine and if you don't know if it is the dishwasher or connections that are cause of  the leak it could become expensive. Find the cause of the leak before you contact the kitchen fitter.

Sandtree

Did they sell you the dishwasher or just fit it?

Assuming they didnt sell it to you then whos to blame cannot be established until its identified where the water is coming from... it could be the fitter made a mistake or it could be a fault with the machine itself.

fenwick458

1, you should really have done something about it as soon as you noticed
2, yeah by all means get him back, but unless you know exactly what the problem is, there's a chance it's not his fault and he has done nothing wrong, maybe an existing pipe is leaking, maybe the dishwashers faulty, if it's either of them you'll be charged for it. if he has made some some of error and the leak is down to the installation, then it should be free to rectify.
So If you can, can you not find out where it's leaking from before calling him out again? only way to know for sure where the problem lies

neilmcl

Is the dishwasher at fault or his installation? Did he supply the dishwasher or did you but it yourself?

fenwick458

neilmcl said:

Is the dishwasher at fault or his installation? Did he supply the dishwasher or did you but it yourself?

that is the question you'll never really know if you just get them back. say for example they pull it out, notice a connection hasn't been tightened properly and has been dripping for 6 months, 9 times out of 10 they will just nip it up, say nothing, bill the customer for a callout and say it might be a fault with something else

Jennifer83

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the advice and comments. I bought the dishwasher myself, kitchen fitter just installed it. So yes, not sure what is at fault - good point. Unfortunately the way things are laid out and fitted, I can't get access to see where the fault is. The dishwasher is next to the sink but from what I can access under and behind the sink, it's not leaking from there. There aren't any other white goods nearby. I couldn't work out how to attach a photo before but this shows the set up and damaged area of the floor

rach_k

Is there absolutely no way to move the dishwasher forward yourself?  Does that bottom panel pop off and give you a little more wiggle room?

twopenny

Maybe just me but with such a lovely kitchen, unless you can gauge where the leak is, I'd ask the kitchen fitter to come back and have a look.

He knows how he fitted everything and can explore with relative ease and the least damage. He won't want to spoil his work. It will cost of course but waiting may cause more damage and end up costing more.

Jennifer83

rach_k said:

Is there absolutely no way to move the dishwasher forward yourself?  Does that bottom panel pop off and give you a little more wiggle room?

Thanks for the good suggestion. I hadn't thought about this...had an investigate but that panel's completely attached and won't move. Thank you though!

Jennifer83

twopenny said:

Maybe just me but with such a lovely kitchen, unless you can gauge where the leak is, I'd ask the kitchen fitter to come back and have a look.

He knows how he fitted everything and can explore with relative ease and the least damage. He won't want to spoil his work. It will cost of course but waiting may cause more damage and end up costing more.

Thanks for this...good points - this may be best option!