Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Apr 16, 2020 4:08 pm Hi All, Just had a laminate floor laid by a known bunch in melbourne and to be honest I am not really happy with the state of the finish. Hoping to find out how to deal with this and is expected and what isnt. The gaps under the door frames are rough and the ends are well, just cut and not tidy. I can see holes and gaps. How much can i ask of them to fix before i pay them the rest and how much will i have to do myself later? Is asking for a reduction of the final payment fair? Just feels like the job is not complete and i am going to possibly still need to spend on finishing myself. They will come out and tidy up i have been told but the over cut door frames apparently will not be touched. Just want to make sure i am well informed for when they come out. I have a bunch of photos that paint a clearer picture. Really hoping for advice on how to move forward with these guys. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1TvBesYYZRcrJTFXcbYcIOmIjtCBGz6Ky Thanks in advance. Re: Laminate floor finishing 2Apr 16, 2020 5:18 pm Hi mate. All in all it's a shabby looking install. There is obviously a complete lack of pride in the work by the installers. With regards the undercut frames. Besides the fact that it looks like they used their teeth to cut it (it's very rough), it could just be gap filled and paint touched up you won't really notice it. What really grabs your attention, is the scotia trim they have put around. It's terrible. All the ends should be mitred to return back to the skirting so you don't have that raw unfinished end. The corner mitres are horrible. It's a finished product so you need to be super accurate when you cut them. There is no excuse for leaving open mitres like they have. There are just so many little details that indicate a poor job. The overall floor looks ok but it's the finishing details that let it down so badly. Even little things like not straightening the bent tile trim. Just a little tap with a hammer would have got that back straight and then the trim on the flooring would sit hard over. They will say that the bent trim was there (which it may have been) but anyone with a little pride would have taken the 30 seconds to make it right before installing the flooring. In my experience many floor installers aren't tradesmen (particularly when it comes to laminates). They are basic labouring subcontractors with a few tools getting paid a metre rate so they just smash it out and don't care. Personally I'd be requesting all the defective scotia be replaced. Why should you pay for the job then have to fix it yourself. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Laminate floor finishing 3Apr 19, 2020 7:38 am Thanks heaps for replying mate! I was going in a similar direction and my research of DIY flooring just on youtube showed me how much of a difference the simplest of finishes will make, and this is DIY I have been looking at too. I would have expected better from pros. Thanks again for the reply. I have their guys coming out again to redo the corners and ends, and a few damaged areas to be fixed also. Walls, ceiling and a skirt. Re: Laminate floor finishing 4Apr 27, 2020 8:36 am I live in Adelaide and when my mother had laminate flooring laid a couple of years ago, the scotia was installed exactly the same as yours. I assumed it was an industry standard as I’ve seen the same finishes in friends houses with laminate. Quite frankly it’s poor. And would be very disappointing after the money I’m sure you’ve paid. It put me off ever considering laminate flooring as an option for the new house we were building and moved into just a few weeks ago. So we opted for high end vinyl planks (coincidentally they are being installed today). No scotia required, so a cleaner look overall. 🤞 Re: Laminate floor finishing 5Apr 27, 2020 12:22 pm chippy Hi mate. All in all it's a shabby looking install. There is obviously a complete lack of pride in the work by the installers. With regards the undercut frames. Besides the fact that it looks like they used their teeth to cut it (it's very rough), it could just be gap filled and paint touched up you won't really notice it. What really grabs your attention, is the scotia trim they have put around. It's terrible. All the ends should be mitred to return back to the skirting so you don't have that raw unfinished end. The corner mitres are horrible. It's a finished product so you need to be super accurate when you cut them. There is no excuse for leaving open mitres like they have. There are just so many little details that indicate a poor job. The overall floor looks ok but it's the finishing details that let it down so badly. Even little things like not straightening the bent tile trim. Just a little tap with a hammer would have got that back straight and then the trim on the flooring would sit hard over. They will say that the bent trim was there (which it may have been) but anyone with a little pride would have taken the 30 seconds to make it right before installing the flooring. In my experience many floor installers aren't tradesmen (particularly when it comes to laminates). They are basic labouring subcontractors with a few tools getting paid a metre rate so they just smash it out and don't care. Personally I'd be requesting all the defective scotia be replaced. Why should you pay for the job then have to fix it yourself. Do you really have to be tradesman to install floors? It is a simple DYI job and anyone with minimum training can do it well. The problem is not with the qualification, the problem is either with the lack of basic understanding of what involves a good quality (I doubt as this is supposed to be a professional installer) or simply "who cares, she'll be fine" approach towards worksmanship (which is more likely). I am quite sure the same contractors have much better workmanship in their own houses. Re: Laminate floor finishing 6Apr 27, 2020 1:00 pm This looks like house we are now renting. The house was newly built when we rented last year. It has A very poor finished everywhere in everything. built by a very unknown small private builder/ owner builder. I hope you get the job rectified before you pay them full Re: Laminate floor finishing 7Apr 27, 2020 1:46 pm alexp79 chippy Hi mate. All in all it's a shabby looking install. There is obviously a complete lack of pride in the work by the installers. With regards the undercut frames. Besides the fact that it looks like they used their teeth to cut it (it's very rough), it could just be gap filled and paint touched up you won't really notice it. What really grabs your attention, is the scotia trim they have put around. It's terrible. All the ends should be mitred to return back to the skirting so you don't have that raw unfinished end. The corner mitres are horrible. It's a finished product so you need to be super accurate when you cut them. There is no excuse for leaving open mitres like they have. There are just so many little details that indicate a poor job. The overall floor looks ok but it's the finishing details that let it down so badly. Even little things like not straightening the bent tile trim. Just a little tap with a hammer would have got that back straight and then the trim on the flooring would sit hard over. They will say that the bent trim was there (which it may have been) but anyone with a little pride would have taken the 30 seconds to make it right before installing the flooring. In my experience many floor installers aren't tradesmen (particularly when it comes to laminates). They are basic labouring subcontractors with a few tools getting paid a metre rate so they just smash it out and don't care. Personally I'd be requesting all the defective scotia be replaced. Why should you pay for the job then have to fix it yourself. Do you really have to be tradesman to install floors? It is a simple DYI job and anyone with minimum training can do it well. The problem is not with the qualification, the problem is either with the lack of basic understanding of what involves a good quality (I doubt as this is supposed to be a professional installer) or simply "who cares, she'll be fine" approach towards worksmanship (which is more likely). I am quite sure the same contractors have much better workmanship in their own houses. alexp79 you seem to love commenting on my posts, I'm flattered. I think if you read my post I basically say that the job has been done by someone with a lack of pride in their work (and quite possible a lack of understanding of what makes a good job) regardless of whether they are a tradesman or otherwise. Being a tradesmen isn't a guarantee of a good job but at least it's a step in the right direction. Because flooring is a simple job you don't have to be a tradesmen to do it which is why many so called "professional installers" don't even understand the basics of getting things right. They are just monkey see monkey do. This is a real issue in much of the building trade today. There a so many workers that have never done any formal training. They watch someone do it for a week and then get unleashed on the job. Because of their complete lack of knowledge and oversight the job quality is very poor. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Laminate floor finishing 8Apr 27, 2020 1:52 pm chippy alexp79 chippy Hi mate. All in all it's a shabby looking install. There is obviously a complete lack of pride in the work by the installers. With regards the undercut frames. Besides the fact that it looks like they used their teeth to cut it (it's very rough), it could just be gap filled and paint touched up you won't really notice it. What really grabs your attention, is the scotia trim they have put around. It's terrible. All the ends should be mitred to return back to the skirting so you don't have that raw unfinished end. The corner mitres are horrible. It's a finished product so you need to be super accurate when you cut them. There is no excuse for leaving open mitres like they have. There are just so many little details that indicate a poor job. The overall floor looks ok but it's the finishing details that let it down so badly. Even little things like not straightening the bent tile trim. Just a little tap with a hammer would have got that back straight and then the trim on the flooring would sit hard over. They will say that the bent trim was there (which it may have been) but anyone with a little pride would have taken the 30 seconds to make it right before installing the flooring. In my experience many floor installers aren't tradesmen (particularly when it comes to laminates). They are basic labouring subcontractors with a few tools getting paid a metre rate so they just smash it out and don't care. Personally I'd be requesting all the defective scotia be replaced. Why should you pay for the job then have to fix it yourself. Do you really have to be tradesman to install floors? It is a simple DYI job and anyone with minimum training can do it well. The problem is not with the qualification, the problem is either with the lack of basic understanding of what involves a good quality (I doubt as this is supposed to be a professional installer) or simply "who cares, she'll be fine" approach towards worksmanship (which is more likely). I am quite sure the same contractors have much better workmanship in their own houses. alexp79 you seem to love commenting on my posts, I'm flattered. I think if you read my post I basically say that the job has been done by someone with a lack of pride in their work (and quite possible a lack of understanding of what makes a good job) regardless of whether they are a tradesman or otherwise. Being a tradesmen isn't a guarantee of a good job but at least it's a step in the right direction. Because flooring is a simple job you don't have to be a tradesmen to do it which is why many so called "professional installers" don't even understand the basics of getting things right. They are just monkey see monkey do. This is a real issue in much of the building trade today. There a so many workers that have never done any formal training. They watch someone do it for a week and then get unleashed on the job. Because of their complete lack of knowledge and oversight the job quality is very poor. This is because your comments are always very interesting to read. It seems that in this particular case it can be a "hiring" issue, as big companies hire tons of people without even properly testing them in real life. The more concern is their supervisor who clearly seeing bad job and yet doing nothing about it hoping that the client will just accept it. I believe that such people and companies should be just pushed out of the industry. @vicmic why don't you just complain to the management of the flooring company and show them those photos? Tell them that you are planning to sue them if they don't rectify. Re: Laminate floor finishing 9Apr 29, 2020 9:06 am Just send them a letter disputing their invoice because job is not yet done, explaing the reasons why. Ask for a written response as to what they intend to do, and when. Don't pay anything until it's done properly. Give them a reasonable chance to do it properly before you get a professional in to fix it. You should then invoice them the cost plus a small margin for your efforts. Keep everything in writing should you need to go to fair trading later. Lets hope you are actually helping them to improve the quality of their workmanship and pride. Re: Laminate floor finishing 10May 18, 2020 9:30 pm Thanks all for the responses! This was resolved and now looks as it should, anyone with an eye for detail would expect for a "professionally installed" job. The guys that came back werent happy as expected and tried to tell me its normal/standard etc. They re-did practically all the finishings with all errors corrected. The torrent of excuses during the work was incredible, but in the end through all of their complaining they fixed it up. Also got $300 off for a few dints they put in my plaster during the installation. I still have paint as it was a freshly painted home and fixed it myself. Shouldnt have to go through anything like that though. Building Standards; Getting It Right! Don't think they are designed for double brick. WA has a particular way of building and unfortunately that's the way a large amount of sills are finished. 3 7187 CDC Housing Code 3 When to apply Floor Area external face of wall vs Gross Floor Area internal face of wall. Reading thru CDC Housing Code 3, lets take a lot 915sqm.… 0 17007 isn't a garage level with the rest of the house a given? pretty sure they 'came around' long time ago. if you have a flat block, the garage is usually level with the rest… 1 17831 |