Browse Forums Kitchen Corner 1 Jun 14, 2007 7:42 pm Hi,
We are half way thru building our first home with Henley. We elected to install a blackwood timber kitchen, which was to be "apparently" supplied by Laminex. Anyway we are now in disputes with Henley/Laminex over the quality of a major part of the kitchen. The island bench was supposed to be done in matching Blackwood veneer (ie to the ends and where the bar stools go). This veneer is also in a "fame" around the microwave stand etc and kickboards. Our problem ****** in the fact that the veneer is 4 times lighter than the doors. IT LOOKS DISGUSTING. We are quite happy with the quality of the doors etc but the veneer is unacceptable. Henley has arranged for 2 inspections from laminex and both have said that the veneer is ok as while there is a siginifcant colour variation it is still blackwood therefore ok. We are now taking this further with henley and will be withholding further payment of any invoices. My question to anyone who might be able to help is what can be done tho fix the problem, is there an australian standard for colour variation and do you think I have a leg to stand on. [/img] Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 2Jun 14, 2007 7:55 pm Timber is a natural product which can have massive colour variations in some species. Blackwood ( which is actually a wattle tree!!) generally has an even tone.
Are the benches doors etc. laminates or real timber veneers??? Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 3Jun 14, 2007 8:15 pm Sounds a bit iffy to me I'm afraid. Timber variations are natural. Keep calm and try to deal with them rationally. Emotions can work against your case. Hopefully, you can come to a mutually satisfactory outcome. If you act reasonably and they are professional, they will do their best to keep you happy.
Good luck with it! Ash. Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 4Jun 14, 2007 8:29 pm The doors are solid timber and the island end panels and rear panel and surround of microwave tower are timber veneer.
Henley so far have been great to deal with. Hopefully now that we are having to formalise this further we will get more response. Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 5Jun 14, 2007 8:39 pm So which part did Laminex supply, they do a laminate and the new veneers.
I personally have a pink kitten every time I do a furniture selection for commercial work if the word “veneer” gets mentioned. I try and stay away from it. Off the top of my head here, can you oil the veneer with a furniture oil to darken the colour, since it is a very thin layer a timber???? Luke what do you think? You will NEVER get a laminate or a timber to match perfectly. I have never seen it done yet. Good luck, I hope it all works out for you! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 6Jun 14, 2007 8:43 pm The doors are actually supplied by Laminex. They do solid timber doors as well just don't have any brochures on it. We did all the right things and went and saw a lot of examples of the doors - which we are happy with but the veneer is just so light - it looks wrong. By the way the c'stone (ice snow) has already been fitted - so not sure how that is going to complicate things
We are hoping that they will be able at the very least to put some timber panels around the island over the top of the veneer. Does this sound doable?? But I have no idea how to fix the surround to the microwave tower. Our construction supervisor agrees it looks wrong. We were assured that the colours would match Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 7Jun 14, 2007 9:02 pm Your very right, I’m sorry I forgot Laminex does Timber doors!!
Not too many people use them to do their timber. Not my clients anyway. Not sure why…..I only ever use Laminex for my laminates, they have the best colour selections. My rep is great! Mudtrilogy, where there’s a will, there’s a way…..in my eyes everything is doable! If the person is willing to do it! It sounds like the people your dealing with are happy to help you. Which is good. Putting the timber panels on is the best way to go. Maybe for your microwave tower they can use slimmer pieces of timber. Don’t stress too much, I can see this being sorted for you. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 8Jun 15, 2007 8:00 pm Lets not gat 'laminate' and 'veneer' confused here.
A veneer is as Michelle said a thin layer of real timber glued to a substrate. A timber-look laminate is essentially a printed copy of a timber species. Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 9Jun 15, 2007 8:36 pm Its definately solid doors and veneer panels - trust me laminate would look better than this veneer.
On a positive note Henley called at 5.30 - its progress to 2 big boss's who are meeting with Laminex on site next week. They have promised to resolve issues. God knows how now that c'stone is down Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 10Jun 17, 2007 10:25 am I had a similar problem with a vanity I did for a customer a few months ago.
The vanity was designed by an architect and had 3 solid timber doors and a set of solid timber drawers. It had a curved facia above the doors. The timber was blackwood. The problem arose with large a difference in colour between the doors and the facia. Unfortunatly blackwood has a huge colour variance. But instead of sending it out to my customer with the colour difference, I had my polisher colour match a stain for the fascia. Once stained it looked a perfect match for the doors. Laminex are right in saying that it is a natural timber and with that comes colour differences, but I believe the company that built your kitchen are wrong for supplying it with such a big difference. A quick phone call to the customer advising them of the problem and giving them a few solutions could have avoided this problem. Unfortunatly this is one of the problems with using big companys. They dont care. Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 11Jun 18, 2007 9:22 pm Cuttingedgecabinets…..that’s answered my question about it being oiled, OR stained in your case. Being real timber, it is easier to fix the problem.
Top points for you, for solving the issue before it became one. There should be more tradesmen like you!! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Help and Advice wanted - Blackwood timber kitchen 12Jun 24, 2007 9:08 am Michelle Top points for you, for solving the issue before it became one. There should be more tradesmen like you!! Why thank you mam. Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 17309 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15904 Yes, unless you are in a low intensity rainfall area or the area is protected from rain. Do you have access to NCC Part 2 or can you download it? I can email you a copy… 10 12508 |