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Just had a parquet floor fitted, we chose good quality hard wood panels from the supplier / fitter, but they've made a right hash of the job, uneven surface joins in places, splintered edges on some of the cuts, a decent amount of filler between gaps (while the one directly above has no filler due to it being cut to the right length...) plus hand prints over newly painted walls, and general grubbyness
It basically looks like i'd expect it to look if i'd done it myself, which is why i didn't
I've paid the full amount and have the company owner coming in later to view, although i doubt he's going to want to rip the floor up and so it again.
What resolutions would you be looking for in this situation? All I've got on my side at the moment is a potential poor Google review heading their way
Your most effective tool at this point is being reasonable.
If you start getting arsey and making demands you're likely to meet with much the same in return.
Point out the bits that you're not happy with and give the guy a chance to make it good. It's perfectly OK to be unsatisfied with the standard of the workmanship and not to settle for a substandard job, but threatening bad reviews or Trading Standards or lawyers should be the final steps in the process.
The phrase I generally finding myself using in this situation is "Would you be happy to accept that in your own house?"
Generally, tradesmen are a proud lot and would rather agree that someone else's work is shite than admit that their own personal standards are low.
I’ve paid the full amount
You've not no chance now, IMHO.
I suppose if asking nicely doesn't work you could leave a negative review on Checkatrade or whatever, but they'll know who it was and I wouldn't want some petrol squirted through my letterbox in the middle of the night.
“Would you be happy to accept that in your own house?”
Yeah, this is where I'm starting, the owner has said he's having the same flooring in his house so I'd ask if that's the finish he'd expect
With it all tongue and grooved it's a nightmare to put right if laid incorrectly so we may be stuck with it
You are in a corner if you have paid the full amount and I suspect they won't want to rip it up and start again. They may offer to fix some of the issues where they can/without ripping it up and starting again but that's about the best you can hope for.
You are in a corner if you have paid the full amount
Depends how you paid it and it's often not so easy nowadays to 'pay on completion'. You have the advantage of the seller and fitter being the same company so at least they can't blame anyone else.
As has been said, be reasonable and if the owner is decent then he/she should rectify it to your satisfaction. It could have been a new fitter and the owner will be very keen to keep up a good reputation, especially if as they are in that type of market as parquet flooring isn't cheap!
Yes just be polite with the owner, I had a similar experience years ago and every time I look at the poor work I think I should have rejected it. Believe me, it doesn't look better with time.
Can I just ask, why did you pay in the first instance?
Paid all in as it was quoted together and I trusted the firm, the Owner has just visited and said its so bad it needs to be ripped up and re-done, so he's now in discussion with the timber supplier, and a different fitter!
Thanks for the advice this morning!
Blimey, that's a result!
Just goes to show that not everyone in the construction industry is a money grabbing , deceptive charlatan*
The vast majority are decent, honest people just trying to earn a living.
*I'm one, obviously, but not everyone is.
Great result 👍
Great result, another example of why the going nuclear option is not usually the best course of action. Nice one.
Yeah, if anyone has a similar problem it's worth having a 2 penny coin in hand to illustrate the difference in levels between the panels, at points the 2p coin was placed on one panel with with the one next to it being flush with the top of the coin, I'm still not sure how they achieved that with a tongue and groove fit.
But yeah I paid in full as I trusted the firm so I'm glad they've come through here.
Yes brilliant welĺ done
as above not everyone's a rip off merchant, be right with people
on the basis of his response if it was me I would probably me more likely to recommend them to someone. its dead easy in business if its all gone well but its how a firm fixes a bad job that shows a good outfit
Sound honest. If they're near Bristol I'd like to know who they are please.
Excellent. However, why didn't you get deadly to do it? He came all the way to London for my floor (I felt very lucky)
And Manchester for mine.
at points the 2p coin was placed on one panel with with the one next to it being flush with the top of the coin, I’m still not sure how they achieved that with a tongue and groove fit.
Depends on the product used, but it’s “easy” to lay some types the wrong way up which would achieve the effect you describe (if a few were flipped) as the tongue/groove are not normally centred.
Excellent. However, why didn’t you get deadly to do it? He came all the way to London for my floor (I felt very lucky)
+1. Not a creak nor any apparent movement in 7 years and still looks great.
Cheers guys. Good to hear positive feedback after so long. OP if you’re still following your thread, can you post some pics (or pm if you want off-forum advice). It sounds like the guy who owns the company is sorting it for you - but I suspect if you’ve got such uneven parquet blocks, you may have some sub-floor issues. Modern parquet is almost impossible to fit upside down - not without making a deliberate ****-up.
When you say “panels” - are you referring to individual blocks or did you buy a product where a block weave pattern is pre-glued to a square plywood panel and then the panels are glued to the sub-floor to repeat the pattern?
after so long
ha - remember the baby DD? She’s going to be 8 in a couple of months. Time flies.
sounds like a floor issue below the new timber, or the floor wasnt brushed clean of small debris, or even that the flooring was sub standard it may well have been a job lot bought in error, and the t and g s dont align properly, but great customer care by the owner to get it sorted so quickly.
Some of the stuff from the diuy sheds is so poor, minute tounges that snap off,or dont fit level,poor quality finish so thin it wears off
It's nice to see an owner behaving as you would expect. It's more worrying that nowadays the standard is to expect to be shafted and anything else is above and beyond. The world is a little shitty at the moment but folks like the OP questioning dodgy work helps so well done
The blocks are 'Engineered' wood blocks supplied by a manufacture in South Wales (who seem a decent brand) the original boards were boarded over with plywood sheet, then the parquet fitted with a double block border with the field in the center, from what I saw all the blocks were pinned at the side and glued to the sheet so I'd have hoped underfloor issues would be minimal
a manufacture in South Wales
Named after a bird by any chance?
Are they prefinished blocks? So, are they supplied with a finish already applied, microbevelled on all sides with no sanding & oiling? Can you remember if they’re left and right handed blocks or are they grooved on three sides?
Over-plying is fine - but the sub-floor, presumably floorboards should be level. Over-plying will not flatten the floor, and the new parquet will “try” to follow existing contours, leading to lipping between blocks. Minor changes in level can lead to quite bad lipping.
From how you described the laying, was the border laid first and then the field infilled or field first, then cut back and border to finish?
Yeah, Pre-finished, no sanding or oiling, from what I noticed left and right handed.
They inspected the sub-floor before nailing the plywood down, and where needed I heard them bang a few more nails down to firm things up a little. Yeah border laid first then infilled.
On the cutting, some of the blocks have fraid / splintered edges, I assumed the reason for this was that they'd cut through the top face but fitted the bottom face up, is there any other way to get this effect? or possibly a very blunt chop-saw?
Thanks for the info though Deadly, I'm not looking to argue the point any further but it's good to know for background knowledge
Well, it looks like they’re going to sort it out for you. However, that’s going to be an expensive job. So make sure it’s done properly. I also suspect the original fitter might not have been up to the game as much as he may have made out.
Bordered floors should be fitted field first, then sawn back and border fitted against a nice straight cut.
Blocks shouldn’t be pinned either.
If the sub-floor isn’t level enough to lay an engineered floor by full coverage adhesive, it shouldn’t even be started on in the first place.
A few other points kinda set my “specialist” tentacles on edge but seems pointless going over them now. If the owner is sorting your floor out, then let him get on with it.