Kitchen fitting issues

[Doggit]

Oh dear, another cowboy builder website. They normally have to pay to advertise on their, so the website owners tend to support them rather than you, but it's still worth putting in a complaint. Otherwise, threaten to resort to social media to put the story online.

I thought the wood was too dark for oak, but a lot of the blocks had the right grain for it, so I didn't consider it to be walnut, but that should be fine with ordinary screws, however, you still need to check that they have slotted angle brackets, not fixed ones.

So have you paid them all the money yet. If you work out the sizes of the worktops, you may be able to move them round, and not have to replace them all.

Be prepared for a battle, but just stand your ground, and outglare them.

 

[sarah long]

No we haven't paid them anything yet. just had a fitter round to have a look and see what can be done. He was quite shocked at the quality of the work. Going to start formulation a letter of complaint.

The main issue that we have is if we can get the worktops apart to remove them. If we need to replace all the worktops that's about £800 just for those.

I cant really see any brackets connecting the worktop to the cabinets.

I have also discovered that they are trading under a company name that was dissolved in Nov 17!

 

[Doggit]

Well trading under a disolved company is an offence, but they'll shrug it off and say they were using up the old stationary - but it might help you if you threaten to call companies house, and the HMRC.

There should be a couple (poss 3) of worktop bolts on each joint, and once they've been taken off, you should be able to exert pressure to break the joint. The long piece can then be routed to redo the edge, and it's the short piece that become pottentially useless because in cleaning a couple of mill off the damaged end, it's then that little bit shorter.

 

[sarah long]

Already called companies house and reported them. They have their public liability insurance certificate on mybuilder.com under the ltd company name, so presumably that's null and void.

The shorter worktop has a massive overhang, so losing a couple of mm wouldn't really be and issue. The hob run has been cut too short, so we probably need to replace that anyway.

 

[Doggit]

As I've mentioned before, look for the walnut upstands, and by using those, the new fitters should be able to do a nice job for you.

 

[John D v2.0]

good idea about the upstands, we had 20mm thick upstands and you could hide all manner of sins in the gap! Not that there were any I hope.
The only thing to watch is combustibles too close to the hob, ours is quartz but if you get timber obviously that wouldn't be a good idea.

 

[sarah long]

Hi, yes will look into up stands. My partner isn't keen but will help to cover any gaps. Ideally we want it fixed rather than trying to cover up the shoddy work. We will need to remove all the worktops to properly seal them and reposition the larder, so hopefully can reduce the gaps too.

 

[Doggit]

Don't reduce the gaps too much, as even being sealed, the worktops will still expand slightly, and that's why you use wooden upstands so that they can slide back and forth under them.

Read the worktop express website and look at the information section, and that'll give you a better understanding.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

.... so I didn't consider it to be walnut, but that should be fine with ordinary screws, however, you still need to check that they have slotted angle brackets, not fixed ones.

Not so sure about that, Doggit, because walnut, like true mahoganies and oak, contains tannin. Whilst the tannin content is nowhere near as high is it is in Oak I'd still tend to err on the side of caution and use stainless steel or brass fittings wherever practicable. A minor point, I know, but worth bearing in mind where screws, etc are visible

 

[Ian H]

If you rudice the overhang now you will have to cut the fronts of the worktops rather than the backs.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

If you rudice the overhang now you will have to cut the fronts of the worktops rather than the backs.

Doable with a rail saw and a block plane - if you have the nouse