Poor Workmanship in en-suite, now leaking, what are my options

juliedee4663

Hi everyone, would appreciate some advice please.

We had a new en-suite fitted in July 2022. We arranged this through a local bathroom/kitchen shop where we chose all the fittings and they arranged the fitter and cost us about £9,000 so a considerable amount of money.

We were really please with the work, however less than 6 months later we noticed a damp patch on the ceiling below the ensuite.  We contacted the shop who sent the fitter back. He said it appeared to be a problem with the sealant round the shower tray (Nuance shower walls, not tiles). He replaced this and up to now we haven't noticed any further problems.

However, a couple of weeks ago we noticed that the floor next to the side of the shower tray felt "spongy" when we stood on it and that the sealant had completely cracked in the middle along both sides of the shower tray which were against the walls. On taking the trim panels of the front and side of the shower tray and looking underneath we discovered that the floor under the shower was saturated, and we think the sealant has cracked in the way it has because the floor under the shower tray has moved because it is so wet. There is also some "give" in the wall panels if you gently press them, moving them away from the shower tray.  There has been no evidence this time of water damage to the ceiling below.

Even though everything was arranged by the bathroom shop, we paid separate invoices, one to them for materials and a separate invoice for work carried out by the fitting directly to the fitter. There is a 12 month guarantee for workmanship which we are now outside.

We have started an insurance claim, and are waiting for them to get back to us, however we have been told that they can refuse claims if it appears that the damage is down to failed sealant, even though it is less than 2 years old and was not obviously damaged until we think the floor moved. Also, we are not 100% that this is the cause, although the water damage is definitely around the shower tray area.

If the insurance does refuse to settle the claim where do you think we stand? We really don't want the original fitter anywhere near our house again, but neither do we want to be having to pay another considerable sum to put right what we feel has been his poor workmanship. Would we be able to claim through anything like the Small Claims Court either from the shop or the fitter to have the work re-done properly?

MysteryMe

There might be some information here that helps

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/problem-with-home-improvements/