Questions about two LVT quotes

Discussion in 'Vinyl / Impervious floor coverings' started by James02432, Oct 27, 2020.

  1. James02432

    James02432 Member

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    Hi,

    I got two quotes back from different flooring fitters to fit Harvey Maria m-series glue down LVT in my 33sqm living room and coridoor area (and uplift and dispose older LVT, which was poorly fitted by original builders). I live in south east which may make things a bit more expensive.

    They have proposed two different fitting methods, and i'm not sure which is best, or if there's any important difference.

    Fitter 1 (quote was 4.3K, materials alone is 2.1K):
    Their quote included the following steps:
    • NC 118 Repair mortar
    • PE 280 Primer
    • NC 110 Smoothing compound
    • KE 49 High Temp Adhesive
    • Fitting LVT

    Fitter 2 (Quote is 2.3K):
    • SP101 plyboard (assume to lay over existing floor)
    • F48 Adhesive
    • LVT installation
    I imagine the second option is cheaper as its quicker and requires less expensive materials.

    Im also not sure if Fitter 1 is quoting the RRP price of Harvey Maria or its currently "discounted" price (been discounted for months...).

    But do you think either option is substantially better or worse?

    Thanks
    James
     
  2. James02432

    James02432 Member

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    Just to add, i think they said the first approach requires an overnight pause for something to dry (maybe the NC110?)
     
  3. dazlight

    dazlight Super Moderator

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    Hi James. What’s the sub floor ? Is it concrete or floorboards / chipboard ?
     
  4. FloorCandles

    FloorCandles Active Member

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    Hi James. I'm guessing the old lvt was laid on screed? If so I'm not sure why the second fitter would want to ply on top of that. Yes the preperation of subfloor and screeding would be the first day as the screed will need around 20 hours to dry so make sure they dont start laying without making sure the screed is dried out fully. The first quote seems very expensive. The materials they are using are quality. If the second quote was screeding, fitting and materials, that sounds like a good deal to me. Btw I dont quote for many jobs as I'm almost always working for a company so dont just take my opinion!
     
  5. FloorCandles

    FloorCandles Active Member

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    Also I would ask them to lay the flooring with harvey Maria branded glue as the alternatives could void your warranty. Not to say uzin ke49 or f48 are bad products but you dont want to have problems and Harvey Maria to turn their back on you
     
  6. J d clarkson flooring

    J d clarkson flooring Well-Known Member

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    If the floor has been badly fitted by builders is the increase in price down to uplifting the old lvt and also the old levelling compound and grinding the surface.....
    From experience when builders have done floors I have had to rip out back to the original concrete base and start again.
    This could be why the cost is dramatically more......
    If the second quote has seen the job and it’s a solid floor and he suggests plywooding then sack them off as they don’t know what there doing
     
  7. Spacey

    Spacey Super Moderator Staff Member

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    The first guy is using all Uzin products so he probably knows what he's doing ;)
     
  8. James02432

    James02432 Member

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    Adding pics of the subfloor, not sure what it is! Feels like wood (Added a picture from under the bath, as that was open whilst a plumber was fixing a leak, so its a bit more obvious).

    Not sure if builders fitted subfloor badly, they're both listed as "trained harvey maria fitters" on the HM website...

    I agree the first fitter's quote seems more convincing, if a bit high for 33sqm. They said the quote includes adjusting doors and kitchen kickboards as they will slightly raise the height of the floor...
     

    Attached Files:

  9. James02432

    James02432 Member

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    Oh forgot to mention, the main issue was that the builder-installed LVT was all coming apart... a few people in my apartment building had the same issue. Luckily i'm getting compensated by them (about 3K), but sadly theres only two HM fitters near me. Fitter 2 said that they installed glue-down LVT over an underlay....

    Fitter 1 does seem to have a great website and service (they even sent a video explaning the quote to me), and seem to have excellent service (they're also pretty fully booked till after xmas). Fitter 2 seems to have a worse website, but they both have loads of 5* google reviews (though they both have mostly reviews from people who've only done 1-4 reviews before, but maybe thats common here).
     
  10. Spacey

    Spacey Super Moderator Staff Member

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    Looks like chip board thats been screeded over Oh dear
     
  11. Paul webb

    Paul webb Well-Known Member

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    It looks like it's been fitted on a self adhesive underlay, so rip out should be easy enough.although if the floor was smooth and it was a decent underlay, fitted properly, i would have thought it would have been ok. I assume fitter 1 is planning to screed directly over the chipboard?
     
  12. Paul webb

    Paul webb Well-Known Member

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    When you say it's come apart do you mean gaps have appeared or it's lifting? And was it fitted up to the skirting or under them?
     
  13. James02432

    James02432 Member

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    A bit of both. The floor was fine, then one day the builders came to fix a dent in the middle of the floor my pulling out a single tile in the middle of the kitchen. That then led to gaps appearing near between other tiles nearby. A few months after that the builders replaced all the kitchen tiles, but then id get problems with some tiles moving apart in places, and in other places it seemed they were getting pushed together.

    Would be useful to know what quote people think would be better to go for. Obviously the cheaper one would be preferable if it was fine, but it would be better to go with the expensive one if the cheaper installation will lead to problems. I noticed both fitting options are listed as fine on the hm website at fitting-info/for-the-home/
     
  14. Distinctive Adam

    Distinctive Adam Well-Known Member

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    Where are you based james ? Option 1 is what you require.
     
  15. Floorever

    Floorever Well-Known Member

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    Looks like chipboard but I cant see any joints or print on it.
    You need to identify the subfloor as if its timber/chipboard then option 1 is wrong. If its solid/concrete, option 2 is wrong.
     
  16. Floorever

    Floorever Well-Known Member

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    I would imagine its solid as from what youre saying, it sounds like the screed has blown, hence the problems and gapping afterwards.
    If youre unsure, ask the guys who quoted to clarify what the subfloor is
     
  17. Rugmunching

    Rugmunching Well-Known Member

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    Is it a loose lay click lvt that was down?
     
  18. James02432

    James02432 Member

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    Picture of subfloor under kitchen, looks like chipboard?

    Cambridge, so only have these two Harvey Maria fitters based nearby!

    This hasn't been mentioned by the 3 fitters who came to look at it recently (one was to give a quote for my compensation). The problems started when someone extracted a tile in the middle of the floor (to "fix" a dent), and then some tiles were moving apart. The current fitting is generally a bit dodgey - the tiles rise a little when they join the skirting board, its a bit bouncy, and the fitters have all remarked that the current LVT is very cheap.
     

    Attached Files:

  19. Floorever

    Floorever Well-Known Member

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    Ok, that’s clearer.
    Your subfloor is chipboard and you currently have a click flooring. Some are ok but there aren’t great.
    It’s not a way to replace a plank on the middle of the floor (but it can be done) so they’ve almost certainly made things worse.

    Top and bottom of it is....
    The first quote is completely wrong!!! Bin them off!
    They are extremely expensive too!

    Second quote/method is correct. Obviously look into it as much as you want or need but I would go with the second one - 100%
     
  20. Floorever

    Floorever Well-Known Member

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    Btw, the existing floor will come up in minutes
     

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