Carpet runner installation

I had a runner installed and a crack has appeared in the plaster/paint work.

I spotted it the day after the runner was installed.

Carpet fitter says it wasn’t them. Decorator says it isn’t his fault.

Anyone have a view on who is most likely at fault?

I haven’t paid the carpet fitter in full yet and have the decorator coming to fix it.

I suspect the impacts of knocking the carpet into place would be the cause. It would have to be bashed a bit to fit tightly and have some nails for gripper or staples fired into the wood to hold it.

I'm not sure it is fair to blame the carpet layer for the damage through as from his perspective he will think the plaster was too weak or the stairs not fixed solidly enough and this was the root cause. His work involves a degree of force that is reasonable and expected and if your stairs can't cope then you shouldn't have asked him to do this work.

Personally I would accept that stuff happens and just fill it and repaint - houses will always have degrees of settlement of some kind and to look for someone to blame for these minor events is going to lead to a lot of ill will.

Yeah, although I want it fixed the decorators opinion and an idea of cost before I settle the carpet bill.

I’m tending to agree with you. I wouldn’t have grumbled if the whole job took a £100 more, so that much to fix it now wont bother me.

Neither is at fault. The plaster could have cracked at any time when someone stepped a bit more heavily on the steps. It is weak plaster at that point and probably a previous crack was already there.

I don't see it as being anyone's fault either.

Your wall colour is so dark that it may be the case that the whole wall will need to be repainted. Some strong/dark colours end up with a slightly different sheen around the edges when touched in.

I once had to apply 4 extra coats of a dark emulsion because of letterboxing- you could see a difference in sheen) where the rolled paint met the cut in paint. In the end I had to thin the paint by 20% with Floetrol and hire another decorator to roll the walls as I was cutting them in.

You decorator (having previously used the paint) will be able to advise further.

The decorator that did this is incredibly unreliable. He’s not shown up 3-4 times to sort some snags.

He disappeared half way through the job for almost 2 weeks.

So... it’s probably a days job for another decorator?

If the decorator uses two pack filler they will be able to fill and sand half an hour later. Some decorators don't like using 2 pack though because it is harder to sand. If they use a powder filler they may need to return the next day.

I haven't seen the job but based on the images, I would guess; 30 mins for sheeting up, 60 mins for filling and sanding. 30 mins for touching in one or two coats of emulsion and 120-180 mins for repainting the whole wall. Roughly a long half day. You might want to find some snagging for the decorator to bump up the time given that they will probably want to charge you for a full day. Rough labour cost per day- £160-180 (or £200 if you use one of those recommendation sites).

With persistent cracks in plaster I rake out and apply Toupret Fibracryl first. It is like decorator's caulk but has fibres in it. It needs a day or two dry before filling though. Assuming that the crack didn't exist before and that there is no bounce, then I would be happy to use 2 pack filler.