Flooring issues

[Mitosisgirl]

Hi all,

Our house is being renovated and a few weeks back I got a quote from a flooring guy from Mybuilderjobs for 1200 GBP. This was to tile an area of 29 square metres, apply laminate 23 square metres, priming and screeding. We already had the tiles and laminate planks. The floor was very uneven and he ended up using 20 bags of screed. He successfully did the laminate flooring. He told us to get Durabase matting for the tiling and we spent 300 quid on this. Yesterday, he told us that he does not have the confidence to tile, as he could not get the tiles level, so he decided to bow out. He suggested that we get someone more experienced or consider another type of flooring. Currently, the areas to be tiled are covered in Durabase. These areas have been screeded.
He said that he won't charge us for the tiling. I get an invoice today for 700 quid (250 for laminate fitting, 309 for screed, 54 for adhesive and 87 for laminate underlay).
We are getting a more professional tiler to take a look at the floor on Saturday, but I don't know what to make of the invoice. He has sent us receipts as proof. Not sure how good his screeding is. Will the new guy have to undo his work? What do you think?

Not sure on the screed (but you should be able ro Google the cost of it at least and break down labour).

But i think £15 per sqm is a reasonable fitting charge and you've been charged less than that so doesn't seem terrible on the surface of it.

I would hold off paying til the new guy has assessed the existing screed.

The invoice sounds reasonable for what he fitted and the materials he provided, and I'm impressed he was honest and stepped away rather than attempt the tiling and make a bodge of it.

Yes that sounds decent. But get the more experienced guy to look at his work and see if anything needs undoing or changing.

Or get a long straight edge 3m plus and try it all over the screed and you will be able to see how flat it is for yourselves.

Thank you, ladies. I was going to wait for the new guy and see what he says. Really hope the screeding is okay. It will be a shame if it ends being undone. He has charged us to install the laminate and materials.

I think those costs sound very fair. I also admire his honesty in admitting he wouldn’t be confident in achieving a perfect level finish. A less scrupulous tradesman might of ‘had a go’, made a mess and you’d be minus the tiles plus the cost of ripping it up and starting again.