Taking a tradesman to small claims court

anewloginapparently

Hi,

We're in a dispute with a tradesman who installed laminate throughout our flat which from the get go was extremely noisy with excess movement. 

He claimed it just needed time to settle but of course it never did.

Anyway it transpired that he recommended the wrong underlay that was much too thick (6mm over 3mm).

However he's refused to come back and resolve, without us further paying for his labour, saying he installed it correctly & we should take it up with the manufacturer (a well known reputable floor manufacturer, that the installer recommended to us).

The manufacturer say it's installation & because the wrong underlay was used it invalidates the warranty.

We've asked other flooring installers what's wrong & they say it was incorrectly installed & the wrong underlay used. They also say insufficient expansion gaps were left & that thresholds should have been installed between the rooms.

So what's my options? 

We spent about £3000 on the floor roughly split between materials & installation.

No other installer wants to take on the repairs so right now we're faced with having to rip it up & start again.

How do we go about getting the floor either fixed or our costs refunded?

We're in Scotland so aware the process might be a bit different than in England?

I believe the first step is to right a formal letter of complaint, then if no resolution then have a consumer ombudsman inspection & failing that take him to court.

If we get that far do we apply for the costs of materials & labour or just labour?

sheramber

How did you choose the installer?

If you won a court case does he have any money to repay you?  

Alderbank

What make of laminate is it? And what are the specifications of the two types of underlay?

Are the individual planks glued or clicked together? Most, but not all, floors are clicked together nowadays. When was it fitted?

Did he remove then refit your skirting boards or did he fit quadrant moulding to cover the edges? 

I think the main difference between here and England is that in E&W you would probably not have been permitted to fit laminate in the first place. Most flats there are owned by a landlord and sold leasehold, and the leases do not normally allow laminate floors because of the noise issue

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Alderbank said:

Are the individual planks glued or clicked together? 

In addition to this what happened at the edges? Did the skirting go over the boards or was scotia beading or such put around the edges? 

Emmia

This relates to your other thread?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6475652/noisy-laminate-flooring#latest