LVT flooring

BelugaWhale

We are based in Nottingham.

We hired a builder for an extension, and while the price was fair, he said it would take 3 months. We're now in month 7. My wife is due any day now.

We waited a year for him to start, and before he began, I told him my wife was 2 months pregnant and asked if it would be an issue. He said no. Yet, he treated our project like a holiday job, disappearing for weeks at a time. I saw his social media posts - doing other jobs. Though the work is mostly good, I’m livid about the stress he has caused. We have been camping in one room.

The same builder recommended an LVT installer who charged £3,500 for 36 m². I thought it was steep, but the builder reassured me it was fair. We needed the floor done before the baby arrives, and he could do it at short notice, so I agreed. I later found out the materials would have cost me around £1,300. The installer said it would take him 3 days, but finished in a day and a half. We’re essentially paying £2,100 for the labour.

He arrived on Wednesday at 10am, painted some blue stuff on the floor. Half an hour later, he put some levelling concrete down. He was gone by noon.

On Thursday, he arrived at 10, laid the tiles, and was gone by 4.

The flooring doesn’t fit properly in some areas - it's lifting ever so slightly. We were told it would appear seamless. On some tiles it is, on others it's very noticeable as a thin black line. When we called him back, he said to let it settle, and that the underfloor heating would help make it supple. He said he'd come back in two weeks time if it hasn't.

I haven’t paid him yet -- £3,500 in total.

Have I been ripped off?

gwynlas

Our installer laid sheets of thin plywood on top of concrete screed prior to laying LVT. Very pleased with it still after 4 years wear.
Invite him to remedy issues and renegociate price.

My original edit did not appear.

Contact other suppliers/fitters of LVT in your area and ask for estimates and installation times giving you a guideline for negociation.

BelugaWhale

How do I renegotiate the price after the work has been done?

gzoom

BelugaWhale said:

The same builder recommended an LVT installer who charged £3,500 for 36 m²....

....I haven’t paid him yet -- £3,500 in total.

Have I been ripped off?

So you were quoted just under £100/sq meter 'All in', for both materials and fitting? If so that seems OK?

It depends on good the tiles/flooring is, by we essentially paid the same for labour as the actual flooring materials, but we went for quite expensive large format procelaine tiles. We paid about £1200 labour though for fitting 40sq meters of tiles in the kitchen. It took 2 guys about 3 days, and they came to work over the weekend as the kitchen fitters were coming the following Monday. But that was only part of a much larger project so I suspect we got cheaper overall labour rates due to the amount of total work we needed doing - around 140sq meters including 2 bathrooms.

Cannot tell if you have been over charged but once you have agreed a price it's hard to back out. Though you can at least ensure you don't pay till the work is 100% done and there are no issues.

As for builder timelines.....we were told 8 months, and 19 months in I don't think I'll be paying the final invoice till after Xmas .

gwynlas

@BelugaWhale see edit above

tacpot12

If you have home insurance, check to see if you have legal expenses cover. If you do, you can call the Legal Helpline provided by your insurers for advice. 

gzoom

tacpot12 said:

If you have home insurance, check to see if you have legal expenses cover. If you do, you can call the Legal Helpline provided by your insurers for advice. 

Why would the OP go 'legal', £100/sq meter if its all in price is probably OK? Builder delays are pretty much normal on any build.