Firstly... I'm having a new flat floored with solid wood, upstairs is floorboards, downstairs is concrete. The fitter ( ex-fitter, read on for story) , recommending using a Sika product to epoxy the wood to the concrete.... I've done some research, and this was probably a reasonable plan.
So, before the fitter arrives, we go to work on demolishing the floor covering: carpet, underlay, dodgy vinyl tiles stuck to marley tiles.....
Removing the vinyl tiles proved that the adhesive sticking the vinyl down was stronger than that holding the marley tiles down... so up they came.
It appears that the marley tiles were stuck to the concrete with some sort of bitumen (black tarry stuff). which we were then told would not hold the epoxy. fair enough... The bitumen looks as below, and we've been told that it must be removed : via grinding, or a "floor plane"... any thoughts?
Before the discovery of the bitumen issue, we were quoted the whole job, upstairs (3 beds & hallway over floorboards) and downstairs (large living room and hallway on concrete)... 5 days for fitter and apprentice for £1,500... plus materials (flooring, nails, skirting, epoxy etc).
After a couple of days, the bitumen issue was raised, he contacted me, and explained that they would need 2 extra days to remove the bitumen and complete the job, this would incur an extra cost... fine.
So, five days into the job (original completion date) only the upstairs has been completed new boards nailed directly to the floorboards. We're conforted with the news that it will be another 5 days of work, taking the cost of the job to £3,000
Couple this with the demand for payment (cash in hand) for the weeks work, we were somewhat miffed.
We expressed our concerns about the original quote suddenly being doubled, and our reluctance to pay the "whole of the original quote" for half of the job, and offered to pay half the quote (cash) and discuss further work and costs
Fitter was none too happy, and argued his case that we'd asked him to continue the floor into a walk in wardrobe (2m square if that) that wasn't originally discussed, and that the extra cutting had accounted for the lost time.
We asserted that even with any of the 'unexpected difficulties' he had encountered, very little was related to the upper floor, for which he could not justify why after 5 days (the inital estimate) he had not finished half the job.
Examination of the wardrobe shows that the planks go smoothly into the opening, without needing cutouts, and only 3 or 4 cut planks are required to fill the space
and 
. Didn't notice in time to ask why he'd put skirting on the cupboard door that clearly needed framing, hindsight is great.
After a phone call to his "boss" he offered that we pay him for the four days work that we apparently belived he had achieved.. we agreed - it seemed fair, so handed over a pile of cash.
Despite settling on the offer that he had made, he was clearly not happy. He handed back the house-key that he had, and declared that he would not be returning after the weekend to complete the job. Before leaving, he declared that we should count ourselves lucky that he had not called his apprentice to turn up with a crow bar as "that floor would come up a lot quicker than it went down"
We're in North London, got the fitter through recommendation from a local timber merchants (who supplied the flooring), questioned the fitter when the quote and duration was doubled on the day when completion was expected. We have to move into the flat in 5 days. Can someone recommend someone honest and reliable to complete the job - make a quote, give a realistic timeframe and stick to it (not too much to ask)...?
Thanks,
Tim.
For amusement.. would anyone bother putting a piece of skirting over this huge self inflicted hole in the plaster???? He did :
So, before the fitter arrives, we go to work on demolishing the floor covering: carpet, underlay, dodgy vinyl tiles stuck to marley tiles.....
Removing the vinyl tiles proved that the adhesive sticking the vinyl down was stronger than that holding the marley tiles down... so up they came.
It appears that the marley tiles were stuck to the concrete with some sort of bitumen (black tarry stuff). which we were then told would not hold the epoxy. fair enough... The bitumen looks as below, and we've been told that it must be removed : via grinding, or a "floor plane"... any thoughts?
Before the discovery of the bitumen issue, we were quoted the whole job, upstairs (3 beds & hallway over floorboards) and downstairs (large living room and hallway on concrete)... 5 days for fitter and apprentice for £1,500... plus materials (flooring, nails, skirting, epoxy etc).
After a couple of days, the bitumen issue was raised, he contacted me, and explained that they would need 2 extra days to remove the bitumen and complete the job, this would incur an extra cost... fine.
So, five days into the job (original completion date) only the upstairs has been completed new boards nailed directly to the floorboards. We're conforted with the news that it will be another 5 days of work, taking the cost of the job to £3,000
Couple this with the demand for payment (cash in hand) for the weeks work, we were somewhat miffed.
We expressed our concerns about the original quote suddenly being doubled, and our reluctance to pay the "whole of the original quote" for half of the job, and offered to pay half the quote (cash) and discuss further work and costs
Fitter was none too happy, and argued his case that we'd asked him to continue the floor into a walk in wardrobe (2m square if that) that wasn't originally discussed, and that the extra cutting had accounted for the lost time.
We asserted that even with any of the 'unexpected difficulties' he had encountered, very little was related to the upper floor, for which he could not justify why after 5 days (the inital estimate) he had not finished half the job.
Examination of the wardrobe shows that the planks go smoothly into the opening, without needing cutouts, and only 3 or 4 cut planks are required to fill the space
and 
. Didn't notice in time to ask why he'd put skirting on the cupboard door that clearly needed framing, hindsight is great.After a phone call to his "boss" he offered that we pay him for the four days work that we apparently belived he had achieved.. we agreed - it seemed fair, so handed over a pile of cash.
Despite settling on the offer that he had made, he was clearly not happy. He handed back the house-key that he had, and declared that he would not be returning after the weekend to complete the job. Before leaving, he declared that we should count ourselves lucky that he had not called his apprentice to turn up with a crow bar as "that floor would come up a lot quicker than it went down"
We're in North London, got the fitter through recommendation from a local timber merchants (who supplied the flooring), questioned the fitter when the quote and duration was doubled on the day when completion was expected. We have to move into the flat in 5 days. Can someone recommend someone honest and reliable to complete the job - make a quote, give a realistic timeframe and stick to it (not too much to ask)...?
Thanks,
Tim.
For amusement.. would anyone bother putting a piece of skirting over this huge self inflicted hole in the plaster???? He did :
