CASE STUDY ONE

A good quality, solid oak floor will last a lifetime.  But, oak is a very strong, complex, living material.  Buying sub-standard products or the use of inexperienced fitters can have devastating consequences to a home, as the following case illustrates.  It cost £18,000 to sort out this problem!  It also resulted in months of frustration, heartache and massive inconvenience for the customer.

Mr X, purchased a top quality, solid oak floor from a well-established high street chain who commissioned ‘Tim,’ a carpenter with 40 years’ experience, to undertake the fitting.  Although he was an expert carpenter, Tim had limited experience and training in fitting floors.

Initially Mr X was delighted with the result – the workmanship seemed to be excellent and the quality of finish was of a particularly high standard.

However, problems soon started to appear.  The floor began to buckle and warp.  Worse still, it broke away from its concrete base!  Tim made numerous attempts to rectify the situation but, despite his best efforts, the problems just kept coming back.

Eventually Mr X communicated his frustration to the senior management of the high street chain who turned to us for help.

The problems?  Excess moisture in the sub-floor; the sub floor had not been properly sealed; initial moisture readings had not been taken; because the carpenter did not now this was required, and the manufacturer’s instructions had not been followed. Consequently, the wood continued to expand after it had been fitted, pulling up a 4-inch thick concrete base! you can imagine the cost of resolving such a case.

80 meters of solid oak floor had to be ripped up and thrown in the skip. The skirting had to be removed and the sub-floor completely re-screed before a new oak floor could be laid properly. with lots of delays due to drying time.

CASE STUDY TWO

A solid wood floor is an object of real beauty that can make a major contribution towards the creation of your dream home.  But the use of sub-standard materials or unqualified and inexperienced fitters can have devastating consequences to your pocket, your peace of mind and even your health!  In addition to the huge costs and disruption involved, this case graphically illustrates the personal difficulties that can result from cutting corners.

Mr & Mrs A invested a very significant amount of money renovating, modifying and extending their home.  A major part of the project involved the installation of 90 meters of solid oak flooring in the down stairs area.

Although initially on completion they were very happy, and all seemed well, fissures (cracks) started to appear in the surface of the wood soon after installation.  Extensive investigation was required to establish the causes – including the involvement of a specialist from the German Standards Institute.  Eventually three contributory factors were identified:

• The new building work in the property had not been given sufficient time to dry out before the floor was installed.
• The oak had not been allowed to acclimatise properly prior to installation.
• The flooring manufacturer had cut corners by attempting to dry the wood too fast.

It cost over £76,000 to rectify the situation, which involved a new floor, substantial legal fees and an out of court settlement - in addition to extensive rectification and redecoration work.  Mrs A suffered long-term stress as a direct consequence of the experience, resulting in prolonged absence from work.

To avoid the above happening to yourselves please click here to read our top five tips or alternatively contact us by clicking the link here and we will be more than happy to answer any of your concerns and questions.