P
pollybampton
This is my first post and it's a long one. Hope someone can help.
I had a limestone floor in my kitchen installed 9 months ago. Total area around 50sqm. Original floor was mahogany flooring on top of floor boards. Our kitchen was being renewed as well. The kitchen was being handled by the same firm that installed a previous kitchen in my last house. They're good.
They recommended going across the road to a shop for the floor. I'm happy to take the recommendation. The guy who owns the flooring store seems knowledgeable and reliable. He comes out to see our kitchen to measure up. We fancy travertine but he can't get it. We look at limestone. He can get that and we're happy.
The floor will need a ply wood subfloor. That's fine as we have to build up to the previous height anyway. From memory it's 18mm plywood.
At all times i stress to the kitchen people and to the flooring people, that they have to liase and work together to get the job done quickly and efficiently. Both companies agree.
So far so good.
Kitchen company offers to do the plywood work. They'll include it in the previously agreed price. This will save us £600 in time. Floor company are happy with this.
Plywood is completed. I see one of the fitters has bad blistering from all of the screwing down of the plywood. It takes 3-4 days.
Kitchen is fitted. Limestone arrives. 2 fitters arrive from the floor company. They are young and keen. They are sub contractors that do a lot of work for the floor company. The supply all adhesive , grout etc. There work starts, I have to get them to re-lay a couple of tiles that are well different. Surprised they would not have noticed themselves.
Floor is complete. Everybody happy. Floor has cost approx £6000.00 incl fitting. Fitters are paid cash. Within 3 months, hairline cracks begin to appear.
Floor company blames sub floor. I ask tilers if sub floor was ok. They say yes, they think so. I say it was OK as I saw them do it. Floor company says, for the first time, that maybe the floor itself is moving.House is 100 years old and no sign of subsidence.Tilers are sent out to "fill cracks." Looks fine. 6 weeks later, more cracks.
Blame game has started.
9 months down the line, the tilers have been out 3 times in total to repair cracks. The floor is completely covered in cracks running both ways on the tiles.
Kitchen company went bust early this year , and can't track down the plywood fitters. Floor people say it's the ply wood fitters fault, or the fault of the house ; it may be moving they say. Tilers say it would only be their responsibility if they had fitted the ply wood.
When the guy from the floor company came out at first, he never once mentioned anything about the possibility of tiles cracking. Not once, and floor movement was never mentioned either, despite the guy visiting our home.
I feel well and truly shafted, with no comeback. Can anybody advise me on how I approach this? Wife is a lawyer and says one is blaming the other and we're caught in the middle, so difficult to litigate.
One last point. We were told that limestone was easy to keep clean . We got the lithofin stuff as recommended. The tilers , sealed the floor before and after grouting and we followed instructions on daily/ weekly maintenance. the floor looks a disaster. The tiles are very light and seem impossible to clean. I'm not talking here about building up a patina, I'm talking that no matter how much you clean, and we have a steamer now as well, it never looks clean.
Any help or pointers or advice would be gratefully received.
If we resolve this, you'll be happy to know that you probably won't hear from me again.
cheers
Pollybampton:mad2:
I had a limestone floor in my kitchen installed 9 months ago. Total area around 50sqm. Original floor was mahogany flooring on top of floor boards. Our kitchen was being renewed as well. The kitchen was being handled by the same firm that installed a previous kitchen in my last house. They're good.
They recommended going across the road to a shop for the floor. I'm happy to take the recommendation. The guy who owns the flooring store seems knowledgeable and reliable. He comes out to see our kitchen to measure up. We fancy travertine but he can't get it. We look at limestone. He can get that and we're happy.
The floor will need a ply wood subfloor. That's fine as we have to build up to the previous height anyway. From memory it's 18mm plywood.
At all times i stress to the kitchen people and to the flooring people, that they have to liase and work together to get the job done quickly and efficiently. Both companies agree.
So far so good.
Kitchen company offers to do the plywood work. They'll include it in the previously agreed price. This will save us £600 in time. Floor company are happy with this.
Plywood is completed. I see one of the fitters has bad blistering from all of the screwing down of the plywood. It takes 3-4 days.
Kitchen is fitted. Limestone arrives. 2 fitters arrive from the floor company. They are young and keen. They are sub contractors that do a lot of work for the floor company. The supply all adhesive , grout etc. There work starts, I have to get them to re-lay a couple of tiles that are well different. Surprised they would not have noticed themselves.
Floor is complete. Everybody happy. Floor has cost approx £6000.00 incl fitting. Fitters are paid cash. Within 3 months, hairline cracks begin to appear.
Floor company blames sub floor. I ask tilers if sub floor was ok. They say yes, they think so. I say it was OK as I saw them do it. Floor company says, for the first time, that maybe the floor itself is moving.House is 100 years old and no sign of subsidence.Tilers are sent out to "fill cracks." Looks fine. 6 weeks later, more cracks.
Blame game has started.
9 months down the line, the tilers have been out 3 times in total to repair cracks. The floor is completely covered in cracks running both ways on the tiles.
Kitchen company went bust early this year , and can't track down the plywood fitters. Floor people say it's the ply wood fitters fault, or the fault of the house ; it may be moving they say. Tilers say it would only be their responsibility if they had fitted the ply wood.
When the guy from the floor company came out at first, he never once mentioned anything about the possibility of tiles cracking. Not once, and floor movement was never mentioned either, despite the guy visiting our home.
I feel well and truly shafted, with no comeback. Can anybody advise me on how I approach this? Wife is a lawyer and says one is blaming the other and we're caught in the middle, so difficult to litigate.
One last point. We were told that limestone was easy to keep clean . We got the lithofin stuff as recommended. The tilers , sealed the floor before and after grouting and we followed instructions on daily/ weekly maintenance. the floor looks a disaster. The tiles are very light and seem impossible to clean. I'm not talking here about building up a patina, I'm talking that no matter how much you clean, and we have a steamer now as well, it never looks clean.
Any help or pointers or advice would be gratefully received.
If we resolve this, you'll be happy to know that you probably won't hear from me again.
cheers
Pollybampton:mad2:
