Tradesman damaged floor

[Waggily]

Hello, I'm hoping you wise people might be able to help us with this.

On Monday a glazier delivered glass for our internal doors. The glass should have been ready for the fitter in the morning but wasn't and they said they would deliver it. It arrived an hour after they said it would.

The glazier decided the best place to store the glass would be in the back yard and started to carry it through the house. There are 2 small steps into the kitchen and he fell down them, landing in his side and smashing the glass. He got up, said he was fine, took the broken glass away and left the other pane in the front garden.

After he'd gone, we realised there is a big dent and several large scratches In our 3 day old engineered wood floor. The floor fitter (who's also reconditioning the doors for us) said he would speak to the glazer about paying for the repair and it was agreed that this would go ahead. Now the glazier is saying he will only pay half and is seeking legal advice with the intention of sueing us as we didn't tell him about the step.

Any ideas on where we stand? I didn't tell him about the step but it was daylight and didn't think to. The kitchen fitter says any professional should check before they walk anywhere in case the floor is up etc. He admitted he'd seen the first step but caught his foot on the second, so his argument is flawed anyway. I think he was rushing because of the previous delays and is trying to get out of paying.

Any advice on what we need to do now would be greatly appreciated.

[wowfudge]

I suggest telling him you can claim via his insurance or he can pay for the repairs. Alternatively you can choose to pay for the repairs yourselves. Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? Just thinking he may counterclaim as he'll have to cover the cost of replacing the glass and repairing the floor. He may also claim for personal injury. You need the floor fitter to provide a witness statement.

[engineersthumb]

Are you sure that it was caused by the glazier? Also is it really so bad that it's worth the bad feeling caused? Obviously if the damage is bad then you do want a solution, perhaps talk directly with him.

[Waggily]

Thanks for your replies.

It was definitely the glazier, the floor was perfect before and now it has a dent and several big, deep, visible scratches on it. And I get the point about is it worth it but the floor was three days old and replacing the damaged pieces involves having to take out quite a large area of flooring and the plinths of the cupboards etc. Why should we pay for that when we haven't caused the damage?

Also, my husband pointed out that the glazier was wearing crocs which don't seem to be the most appropriate footwear for delivering goods. The 1982 Goods and Service Act says that all services must be provided with a level of skill and care, which you could argue he has not done.

It's so frustrating. We've spent months doing up the house, finally get it to a lovable condition and then this happens. I guess we'll see what he comes back with in Monday.

[tittysprinkles]

About 2 weeks after we moved into our newly refurbished house a curtain fitter dropped his huge box full of fixtures and screws from the top of the stairs onto our new wooden floor by the front door - the handle broke off. There were literally hundreds of screws everywhere and the box itself crashed on top of them.

Poor bloke was mortified and scrabbling round on the floor trying to pick them all up. I was just glad it hadn't landed on one of the kids. There were quite a few scratches but they've got filled with a bit of dirt and now just look like part of the staining.

We didn't chase it up but I might have done if there were some really long gouges (the sort more usually done by chair legs). I figured it was just the beginning of the injuries the wooden floor is going to get over the years and wasn't worth fixing. Do you think it might weather a bit with time?

[OnceUponATimeInLondon]

I had a very similar situation with a window and a tiled floor. I asked the window company to pay as I assumed they were insured for that sort of thing. They agreed but then queried the cost later (even though I'd let them know what it would be). I made it clear they would need to pay for the repair, to the point where I had to mention small claims court (which was a route I would have gone down as I felt it was the principle), and eventually they did.

IMO I think you need to decide if its bad enough that it needs repairing, as pp have said, and if so make it clear you expect them to pay the full amount for the repair.

Sorry you are in this situation, its so awkward. I understand the feeling that you have spent time and money getting something exactly how you'd like it and then it is imperfect because of an accident. But again IMO tradesman should take a professional approach to this and fix it! Hope none of that sounds too over the top.