Hello, I've just gotten new wooden floors, placed yesterday and today by a professional. We knew our floors were not perfectly flat, but the guy said not to worry: he'll first place a layer of special cement exactly for that purpose, to fill the "holes" in the rooms, so that in the end we won't see or feel a difference. Well, in one of the rooms, there's an area of about 1x1.5m where, as soon as I walked over, I felt the floor was notably concave. And unfortunately it's just in front of the window, where we'll obviously often walk or stand, not a place which could be covered by a bed or a cupboard. I immediately took the 2m long bar he was using to check the level, and there was a clear concave bend. I measured it and it was about 12mm (1.2cm) towards the middle. I asked him about it and he said that's "normal", and that he told us from the beginning it was never going to be 100% straight. I reminded him that he said we won't "see or feel" a difference, and that for me "not 100%" anyway means a matter of millimeters, or that the floor would slightly go down from one end to the other of the room, in a way that I won't notice. But not a "hole" just in front of my window that I feel the moment I step into the area. And then the conversation reached an impasse, because no matter what argument I tried to bring up, he kept going back to "but you don't actually see it" and the fact that he warned it would never be "100%". So I guess my questions are: - Is this normal? Are there any standards or rules I can use to challenge him back? - Is there really no solution to it? Because he says there's nothing that can be done now. My feeling is that he just doesn't want to invest his time and money into fixing his mistake, which would probably mean removing about 1m² of floor (which might not be reusable?), use some cement or something to level the area, then place back the floor. I don't know anybody in the field, so I could use some advice or tips on how to handle it, or at least a confirmation it's not just me being too picky about it. Should I insist that he fixes it? Should I refuse to pay the full bill? Thanks in advance! PS: I also added a poll for those who prefer that as quick answer, but of course it would be great to also receive advise on how to deal with it.
Your fitter needs to sort it out as it sounds like he's missed that 'dip' in the floor. How much is the movement when you stand on it? 10mm, 20mm.....? Sounds like it needs some rapid set chucking in the 'ditch'! It is a ballache but it needs to be rectified as you'll soon find the wood bowing the more it is walked on. The floor wont be bang on 100% but from what it sounds it aint even near 50% Have you paid him? Just be nice with him and use the soft approach. You cant leave it like that no matter what.
Thanks for the answers. There is no movement... it's like the wood follows a (pretty) uneven base. It stays concave even if I walk away. Or lets say, if I pour a glass of water or drop some marbles, they easily find their way to the middle of the 'dip', without me needing to step in that area. I guess it's glued to the floor in the shape of the floor beneath, which I thought we agreed he would make flat by use of "cement" (well, "egaline" is the name of it here, but that may go under a different name in UK: a cement like product usually used for that very purpose - filling in holes in uneven floors, because it's very liquid and a thin layer is enough to stick well to the existing floor).
12mm shallow the title suggests having just reread it, no thats not acceptable its over the acceptable tolerance for wood.
It's 12mm (1.2cm) indeed. I corrected myself in the original post, sorry. What is the acceptable tolerance?
Well to British standards it's I believe 3mm but not sure that would hold much weight unless you were in the uk
Is that the V30 version if so then it does 3mm up to 25mm so as said before perhaps he's missed that bit.
