Badly fitted floor a year on…

sophlouwhit

Had some flooring done Feb 2024. 3 weeks later there were issues, pins coming thru (LVT) they fixed the odd tile. Happened again and fixed again. Happened again this time they fixed and decided to say it is the subfloor so no cover and no more. Well obviously again we have pin issues.
this i believe is due to bad fitting as its not present in hallway which has subfloor, ply then lvt. In the lounge its present where the is subfloor,ply,old lvt, ply and new lvt. The reason the hall only has 3 layers is because old floor was ripped up prior. We was advised it best to layer the lvt up then not. It seems odd to me the issue is only in the lounge. 

Im at a bit of a loss now as i am thinking the lounge should be redone and stripped back so all old lvt is pulled up so like hall it is subfloor, ply, lvt. Im not sure they are going to agree. Seeing as it was barely 3 weeks after installation had an issue (and luckily have email evidence of this) where can i take this consumer wise should they refuse to help? I add this floor has so called lifetime fitters guarantee also
please help, i need to know where to escalate before i talk to them again. Thanks in advanced.

pinkshoes

As it's been a year and numerous problems that they seem to be denying, it would probably be worth getting a flooring expert to examine it and establish the cause of the fault. If the fault is due to an inherent fault or the fitting then you can use this report to go back to the shop and seek a remedy, with a threat of court action if necessary.

I'd argue they've had more than enough fixes and they need to either rip it out and refund or redo it!

After Tapi messed up my floor for a second time they took it out and I got a full refund and got an independent to fit a floor.

eskbanker

sophlouwhit said:

We was advised it best to layer the lvt up then not.

Not sure I'm understanding this bit - who was it that issued this advice, and if they changed their mind, on what basis was that?  What was agreed at the point of fitting?

sophlouwhit

eskbanker said:

sophlouwhit said:

We was advised it best to layer the lvt up then not.

Not sure I'm understanding this bit - who was it that issued this advice, and if they changed their mind, on what basis was that?  What was agreed at the point of fitting?

Sorry the fitter come round and said it would be better to lay the new ply and lvt over old lvt and ply rather then rip other lot up and go from subfloor. Sorry re read and yeah i wrote it poorly he was very ademant it was best for the floor and we went along with it as it was advised to do.

pinkshoes

sophlouwhit said:

eskbanker said:

sophlouwhit said:

We was advised it best to layer the lvt up then not.

Not sure I'm understanding this bit - who was it that issued this advice, and if they changed their mind, on what basis was that?  What was agreed at the point of fitting?

Sorry the fitter come round and said it would be better to lay the new ply and lvt over old lvt and ply rather then rip other lot up and go from subfloor. Sorry re read and yeah i wrote it poorly he was very ademant it was best for the floor and we went along with it as it was advised to do.

Well they're the flooring experts, so if they say it's best to fit it on top of the old floor, then that's their decision.

Get an independent flooring person to come and write a report, then use the report to seek a remedy of either correct installation or a full refund and the flooring removed. 

Is this one of these large chain stores where they use independent fitters who you pay directly, or a shop where you pay them the full amount and they send one of their own fitters?

(my dispute with Tapi was complicated by the fact that you pay them for the floor and then THEIR fitter directly once it is fitted. When the problems occurred, the fitter blamed Tapi, and Tapi blamed the fitter and I was stuck in the middle!)

Jumblebumble

sophlouwhit said:

eskbanker said:

sophlouwhit said:

We was advised it best to layer the lvt up then not.

Not sure I'm understanding this bit - who was it that issued this advice, and if they changed their mind, on what basis was that?  What was agreed at the point of fitting?

Sorry the fitter come round and said it would be better to lay the new ply and lvt over old lvt and ply rather then rip other lot up and go from subfloor. Sorry re read and yeah i wrote it poorly he was very ademant it was best for the floor and we went along with it as it was advised to do.

In these sort of cases I would always contact the LVT manufacturer for their take on such matters
What seems to be certain is that the nails used to secure the ply were not fit for purpose
Perhaps the fact that they is somewhere around 10mm difference in the nails length that would be embedded  in the subfloor assuming that the same nails were used would explain the issue as well as the fact that LVT is probably slightly compressible so the top ply flexing would pull out the nails
As an aside I understand brad nails are not the answer. It needs ring shank nails if manual or staples if power nails

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Very quick look suggests you can lay over old flooring if the old is in good condition, when you say pins coming through I guess that's from the ply being pinned over the old but there being movement in the floor pushing the floor down but the pins up through the new LVT? If so suggests (to my amateur mind) the old floor was not of sufficient quality to have new laid over and should have been removed or that the new ply was not fixed sufficiently. 

As above you'd need something to show it wasn't done correctly and then claim the costs of fixing as damages due to breach of contract (service not carried out with due care and skill).