Problem with a concrete company

[Bainesg]

Hi 

I had a concrete slab poured last week ( wed 29th July) anyway it was very poorly laid, it’s rough, and uneven and has started to crack, I’ve approached the company to come and rectified the issues but they are blaming me and want to charge me to sort it 

where do I stand with either them coming out to sort it or getting a refund 

 

 

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

Why do the company say the problem is your fault?

 

Best, HB

[Bainesg]

2 hours ago, honeybee13 said:

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

Why do the company say the problem is your fault?

 

Best, HB

Obviously we live in a house (residential property) we wasn’t given any options to what finish we wanted, I presumed with it been a residential property the finish would have automatically have been a floated finish ( smooth) but they left us with a very rough ( tampered ) finish but then obviously the other faults as above, when we complained about the faults and finish they said it’s our fault because we didn’t stipulate what finish we wanted ( no choice offered) so there are refusing to rectifie the finish and faults and want us to pay for them doing 

I hope that all makes sense 

[BankFodder]

I'm afraid but I think you are going to have a difficult time from what I understand.

there seems to be a bad case of miscommunication here and it's a shame that the details of this work weren't agreed in writing.

Was the price for the work agreed in advance?

 

 

 

[Bainesg]

Yes the price of the concrete then £175 installation cost

[BankFodder]

Thanks. If you had told me that the price has not been agreed then I would have asked you if the price was a reasonable price for the work that was done or if it was more reasonable with the top layer of screed applied.

 

However as the price was agreed then there is very little you can do about it I think unless you want to tell us that the quality of the work which was actually carried out was poor in any event.

 

However if the quality of the work which was carried out was good for the kind of work which was done then I'm afraid I'm not sure that you have got any way that you can make a complaint

[Bainesg]

My complaint is the company have done a very poor job in laying it and now it has started to crack after only 1 week I can’t upload any pictures  because the pictures are to many mb 

[BankFodder]

Yes sorry, that passed me by.

 

In that case, in respect of the quality of the work which has been done and the cracking, you are going to have to get an independent assessment.

 

If you can get a written opinion that the work was badly carried out and maybe even the reason for the cracking then you will be able to recover your money

 

Even better than that you will be able to get the work made good even if that means uninstalling the concrete which has been laid so far.

 

Get an independent assessment of the quality of the work and the reason for the problem.

Also get an independent quotation for the cost of of putting the work right which might include clearing the concrete which has been laid so far.

I suggest that you send the existing installer a letter telling them that this is what you are doing and that if they want they can carry out their own assessment and their own quotation for putting the work right.

However you should probably inform them that you don't propose to ask them to do the work in any event as they don't have your confidence anymore.

 

tell them in your letter that once you have established that the fault is theirs in the way that the work was carried out, that you will probably be proceeding to a county court claim for recovery of the full costs of making good which might include removing the existing concrete.

once you have got the assessments and quotations then come back here and we will help you further.

 

 

 

 

[Bainesg]

Thanks for the information I’ll go away and see what I can get sorted and let you know 

[ericsbrother]

 a lot of what may cause the concrete to crack hasnt been mentioned, what is the subbase and how thick is that, how thick id the concrete layer, how big is the slab ( width x length), was it covered over whilst curing, how long ago was it laid?

Arguing about the surface finish is a red herring if the sab is structurally compromised, you mught have to start again. Who was the supplier, a big outfit of a small one?

naming name is best, not to shame them but so we can offer a path to the right person to sort.

the bigger co's can send round someone with a rebound hammer to test the strength of the slab and then determine whether it is up to the job ( thicknes will determine this to a large degree) a smaller outfit may well offer to wallpaper over the cracks but the your council building control officer will stop you from continuing and that may well be at a late stage after you ahve spent a lot more money so get it looked at now.

A second year civil engineering student will be able to do the testing and nunber crunching if you have a suitable uni nearby