Flooring poorly installed

Lea247

Hello all,

I had kitchen flooring professionally installed. Old skirting boards and flooring were taken out and new flooring laid as part of a wider kitchen installation. I sourced and paid for new skirting boards, which my dad installed as this wasn't included in the installation.

It became clear soon after the flooring was laid that it was done badly, a joint where the floor panels meet has lifted because a flat wire was put under the floor (at my request) but laid right under the joint.

I made the kitchen people aware of this and now they are saying

'As skirting boards are classed as supplementary works this is not something that we do offer nor do we provide the stock to do so.'

Is this correct or is there a legislation where they have to replace everything for what it was like? If there is, please can you tell me the legislation. Chances are the skirting boards will get ruined being removed.

Thank you!

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Generally they should cover the costs of putting things right.

Pragmatically it might be best to ask Dad if he can take them off, if they come off without damage and Dad can put them back again there’s no real cost there. 

If the skirting boards are ruined when pulled off I’d get the floor repaired and then seek the cost of new boards back from the floor co as damages. Letter before action might give a nudge if not you have to decide whether to go to small claims but important bit is get the repair done first otherwise they might refused to do that too!  

HillStreetBlues

Agree with the comment above, but you can't force them to replace skirting boards.

tacpot12

I think the flooring installer will be held liable for the reasonable cost of reinstating the skirting boards. The argument is that it is reasonably forseeable that the customer will want to install skirting boards, so if the floor is installed incorrectly, it is likely that the skirting boards will need to be removed to allow the flooring to be reinstalled correctly. 

However, if your father has fitted the skirting boards in a way that means that they will be ruined if they are removed, I don't think a judge would order the flooring installer to pay for the skirting borads, because your Dad could have fixed them in a way that made them easy to remove. It's not the installer's fault that your Dad choose to install the skirting boards the way he did. 

Thus I think the flooring installer is liable for the labour to uninstall and install the skirting boards again, they aren't liable if the skirting boards can't be reused.

If you have home insurance, check to see if you have legal expenses cover as part of the policy. If you do, you will have a legal helpline you can call to check to see if the above is correct. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

tacpot12 said:

However, if your father has fitted the skirting boards in a way that means that they will be ruined if they are removed, I don't think a judge would order the flooring installer to pay for the skirting borads, because your Dad could have fixed them in a way that made them easy to remove. It's not the installer's fault that your Dad choose to install the skirting boards the way he did. 

I’m not so sure on this, our skirting is fixed with adhesive but also Lost Tite screws (very small heads) with the holes obviously filled, I’m not sure how you’d remove it really without causing damage, even if you drilled out the filler they are star head screws which a bit won’t bite if partly filled with filler. 

Oak skirting that has just been glued I imagine would pull off without the wood snapping but MDF for example may break as you pull it off.

Other than screw it with exposed screws and no adhesive I’m not sure how you’d fix skirting without it being difficult to get off (perhaps there is a way?) 

Lea247

Thanks everyone.

What legislation states that the installer is liable for fitting the new skirting boards? I just want something to quote to them so they can't say no to fitting the new skirting basically. My dad would do it again sure, but I don't feel he should.

sheramber

My skirting boards were  removed to lay flooring and replaced with no damge.

This was also done in my last house with no damage to the skirting boards.

35har1old

Lea247 said:

Hello all,

I had kitchen flooring professionally installed. Old skirting boards and flooring were taken out and new flooring laid as part of a wider kitchen installation. I sourced and paid for new skirting boards, which my dad installed as this wasn't included in the installation.

It became clear soon after the flooring was laid that it was done badly, a joint where the floor panels meet has lifted because a flat wire was put under the floor (at my request) but laid right under the joint.

I made the kitchen people aware of this and now they are saying

'As skirting boards are classed as supplementary works this is not something that we do offer nor do we provide the stock to do so.'

Is this correct or is there a legislation where they have to replace everything for what it was like? If there is, please can you tell me the legislation. Chances are the skirting boards will get ruined being removed.

Thank you!

Was the flooring that was removed a secondary floor and your where left the existing flooring underneath?
What was the flat wire for?

Lea247

35har1old said:

Lea247 said:

Hello all,

I had kitchen flooring professionally installed. Old skirting boards and flooring were taken out and new flooring laid as part of a wider kitchen installation. I sourced and paid for new skirting boards, which my dad installed as this wasn't included in the installation.

It became clear soon after the flooring was laid that it was done badly, a joint where the floor panels meet has lifted because a flat wire was put under the floor (at my request) but laid right under the joint.

I made the kitchen people aware of this and now they are saying

'As skirting boards are classed as supplementary works this is not something that we do offer nor do we provide the stock to do so.'

Is this correct or is there a legislation where they have to replace everything for what it was like? If there is, please can you tell me the legislation. Chances are the skirting boards will get ruined being removed.

Thank you!

Was the flooring that was removed a secondary floor and your where left the existing flooring underneath?
What was the flat wire for?

The flooring that was removed revealed the floorboards underneath.

Wire is for security cameras outside, it links the router and the hub for the cameras.

oldagetraveller1

I would have thought that the correct routing of the wire is under the existing floor boards? It should only need a minimal number lifting for running it.

Money_Grabber13579

oldagetraveller1 said:

I would have thought that the correct routing of the wire is under the existing floor boards? It should only need a minimal number lifting for running it.

That would have been my inexperienced view as well. If the wire was between the floor boards and the wooden floor, then it’s always going to create a pressure point on the wooden floor and either lift the floor or warp it (irrespective of how flat the wire was).