Anyone have a floor fitted by Des Kelly?

Is your floor level already?

I had a new floor laid by them about 2 months ago and it is an awful job!

There was no time care taken with choosing which board to lay next, with the result that right in the centre of my living room, are 4 boards nest to each other which are identical and it looks awful.

I also had skirting boards laid and all were cut at exactly 45 degrees when my walls are not exactly plumb and the gaps were filled in with lumps of caulk. The top gap along the length of the board was also filled in with lumps of caulk and spread half way up my newly plastered and painted walls. The caulk is now starting to go off colour and is really noticeable.

They also had to put a trim around my fireplace which was cut too short leaving gaps at the corners.

Lastly, I had to ask the fitter had he any packets left over (I knew he had, as I counted the empty packets which he threw into my skip). This is not the first time that this has happened with Des Kelly, as last time, 2 packets of flooring disappeared with the fitters.

Maybe it's just me and I'm too fussy but I wouldn't recommend them and won't be using them again.

We had the same issue. The floor installer (not DKI) refused to install because he floor wasn't level so they wouldn't stand over the 20 year warranty. We had to get the builders back (twice!) to level the floor properly

Standard practice, don't worry about it. But make sure you don't sign off on the house until the builder has this sorted!

I definitely would not use them again. They layed a floor for us and it was awful. I called the manager and they sent the guy who laid it to inspect.... I couldn’t believe it. Anyway their customer service is poor at best. So if you have something where you may need to follow up I wouldn’t use them.

Interested to read the different reviews.

It does sound like their fitting service is hit and miss. I did feel lucky that the guys who did mine were qualified carpenters. As above, they did a good job

I'm actually buying a new place now, so looking at flooring again, so will be wary....

Just wondering with flooring companies like DK is part of the fitting service that they take the old floor up or are they just expecting to lay the new on top of the old? Ive a kitchen-living room 50/50 tiles and laminate and wanted to replace entirely with new laminate.

cheif kaiser wrote: »

No they won't take up your old floor or carpet. You are expected to have the old floor removed, the underfloor prepared and clean and your furniture completely removed.

If they call and none of the above is done, they will refuse to lay the floor and just walk off.

Not quite as black & white as that. You discuss this up front when you buy the floor. And you base your deal on whether or not you want the fitters to remove the current floor and take away the rubbish. Obviously this will cost more than if you do the stuff you mention above yourself.

Got a wooden floor and carpets done, quality of the job was good but getting them to actually turn up and begin the job was a pure pain in the hole, left a feeling where I'd never pay them a single cent again for the hassle.

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Muahahaha wrote: »

Just wondering with flooring companies like DK is part of the fitting service that they take the old floor up or are they just expecting to lay the new on top of the old? Ive a kitchen-living room 50/50 tiles and laminate and wanted to replace entirely with new laminate.

As above, they will remove and take away old carpeting for an additional charge, which you obviously need to agree in advance. I believe the same applies to old laminate. The charge is significant enough, so as per above poster, if you're able to do this yourself, and dispose of it, you would save money.

However, where you will have a possibly significant challenge is the existing tiling. Des Kelly installers will not take this up, nor will TC Matthews etc. It's a very messy job, and you'd need to get the floor levelled after. I've been literally investigating this point in the last few weeks, for a tiled room in my new property. I eventually got a guy who would be able to take up the tiling, but after further discussion with him and other parties, we agreed eventually to lay the new laminate on top of the existing tiling. This is something you could consider, but would need to take a look at the change in levels from one part of the room to the other.

Why don't you lay the floors yourself? Putting down laminate is one of the easiest DIY jobs to do. The modern laminates just click together and are very easy to cut. I've laid dozens of floors in my own houses over the years and family/friends houses. A typical room of 12ftx18ft can be done in 2-3 hours completed. You tube is your friend here for how to do it.

Something that has been overlooked by all is that if this is a new build, the moisture level in the concrete floor may still be too high and putting laminate down now may end up a disaster as the laminate will soak up the moisture and buckle resulting in you having to tear it up. A moisture meter (available from tool hire companies) will tell you if the water level in the concrete is still too high. If so, throw down a few scraps of carpet to walk on and sit back for a few months until the floors dry out as the house is lived in. If the moisture level is at an acceptable level, you will still need to lay a quality damp proof membrane on ground floors to prevent residual moisture seeping up into the laminate over the years. As for underlay, the white crap they supply in DK's and other flooring companies is useless and will flatten to paper thin over the years resulting in your floors effectively lying on cold concrete and you'll feel the cold coming up. I use the green wood fibre underlay boards from B&Q that are 8mm thick, insulate against the cold concrete beneath, soundproof and most importantly allow for some uneveness in the floor so it doesn't have to be billiard table level.

So what I do is lay the damp proof membrane and then the wood fibre boards (both available from B&Q) on top. Allow to settle. Place boxes of laminate in room for 48 hours to acclimatise before laying the laminate. Finish off with screwing the skirting boards on because if you decide to change the floor at some point, you can easily screw them off. If you nail them on or glue them, they'll break when you try to remove them.

Give it a try yourself and take your time. All you need is a pencil, tape measure, and a jigsaw. Plan out which way the boards are going to be laid, measure to make sure you don't end up with a sliver of board on the last row (adjust the first row to counteract this). Throw on some music and away you go. Honestly, it is quite easy to do.

As for laying a new floor on top of old, don't do it as most doors supplied by builders are not solid wood doors. They have a wood frame but are effectively cardboard in their core. They usually only allow a max of 4mm to be shaved off the ends of the door. Laying 12mm laminate on top of old may mean new doors as you won't be able to shave the old ones down enough.!!! Plus laying laminate on top of old may give you squeaky floors as they grind together. The feel of a laminate floor is all down to the underlay you use. The white stuff is useless but a good thick underlay will make the laminate feel and sound like solid wood when you walk on it.

Any company that outsources installation, be that floors, windows, whatever means the guys want to get in and out to the next job asap.
If you want quality then you are probably better off with a place that employs their own fitters.