Tapi flooring installation issues after 2.5 years – looking for advice

Charliewashere

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice regarding flooring installed by Tapi Carpets in October 2023.

As part of the same job, Tapi supplied and fitted laminate flooring downstairs and LVT flooring upstairs, including the bathroom. Before installation, Tapi sent someone to inspect and measure the floors, and we were told the existing floors were suitable for the flooring we had chosen. No subfloor preparation or levelling work was recommended or carried out.

Since installation, we have experienced a number of issues:

• The installer has already returned a couple of times to address slipping LVT tiles.
• One bathroom LVT tile has now cracked, and another has started separating.
• We have also had an issue where the corner of an LVT tile lifted/dog-eared, creating a trip hazard. We applied adhesive ourselves as a temporary measure to secure it back down.
• Several laminate planks downstairs have started separating.
• A handful of laminate planks in the kitchen area have also become loose.
• There are noticeable dips/uneven areas in parts of the downstairs laminate.
• One laminate plank sits approximately 8mm higher than the adjacent plank.
• The cuts around the kitchen kickboards appear to have been cut too short, causing the kickboards to not sit correctly and collapse away from the flooring.

We contacted Tapi regarding the bathroom LVT issue. Their initial response, based only on photos, was that there did not appear to be a fault with the flooring or installation and that it was "perhaps" accidental damage. We challenged this and requested an inspection under their 5-year fitting guarantee, which we are currently awaiting.

Our concern is that this may not be a collection of unrelated issues, but a wider installation or subfloor issue affecting the flooring throughout the property.

Before installation, our home survey did note some unevenness in one area of the living room. However, Tapi carried out their own pre-installation assessment afterwards and confirmed the floors were suitable for the chosen flooring, with no preparation work recommended.

I appreciate it has been nearly three years since installation, but the concern is that these issues have appeared gradually and seem to be increasing over time rather than being isolated incidents and to a level which can no longer be considered normal. Any help or advice is appreciated

LightFlare

May or may not be helpful, but we've just had LVT laid through our downstairs

The house is ~15 years old and all the surface was concrete base.

The guy who laid it spent 2 days just prep - which mostly was 2 applications of self levelling

I'm staggered that no prep was done for your installation.

It may be worthwhile getting an independent fitter in to have a look and write a report for you

Aylesbury_Duck

I agree with LightFlare. For most things the preparation is the important thing, whether it's flooring, carpet, tiling or painting. The rest of the job is normally straightforward if the preparation is done well.

Pay an independent fitter to do a proper inspection and report. If they deny your guarantee claim they'd almost certainly insist on an independent report if you try and claim through consumer rights legislation.

gwynlas

It sounds as though you are having problems due to lack of sub floor preparation.

If there were noticeable dips on the groundfloor they should have been screeded prior to laying of laminate.

Similarly I had LVT laid but installer insisted on fitting plywood to sub floor first.

Getting Tapi to agree faults at this stage is likely to be an uphill battle.

pinkshoes

I would be tempted to get an independent opinion on the floor in case Tapi dig their heels in.

Tapi put the wrong subflooring down and absolutely butchered our kitchen floor which they ended up ripping out and refunding, leaving the floor covered in sticking up nails! I was no impressed.

I then employed an independent to fit a similar floor who used a very different method and spent a long time prepping the subfloor!!