On 26th February 2014 the wooden parquet floor was delivered on my flat to acclimatise.
On 04th March 2014 I had another meeting with the following people:
- Mr Gary D., Claims Technician, Zurich Insurance PLC
- Mr Paul C., Regional Executive Adjusting Manager, of GAB Robins Ltd
- Mr Adrian M., Adjuster GAB Robins Ltd
- Mr Nick H., Technical Director both from GAB Robins Ltd
I listed all the problems and I explained why the floor preparation was done against the manufacturers recommendations and instructions. The details of the whole story can be found here.
Unfortunately this means that we have to spend more time in the hotel because it has been agreed that the floor will be redone from the beginning.
On 11th March 2014 the works have started again without any protection to the stairs, radiators or kitchen. On top of that the contractors created more damages to the concrete floor. It is also obvious that the BAL F76 (waterproof membrane) is absent even if everybody was insisting that it was installed.
Look at the photos below.
On 12th March 2014 the works continued for the second day. Minor improvements on the kitchen protection (applied masking tape on the dust sheet I installed).
On 14th March 2014, the contractors did the following:
- Repair of local screed damage : Ardex Ardurapid Patch Repair Mortar was used to repair the damaged screed locally used to repair the broken screed.
- To provide a level/uniform finish, this was then overlain with a new latex self levelling compound typically circa 3 mm thick and this was Ardex Arditex NA circa 3mm thick. This product apparently is a 2 part powder and latex which is designed to receive a DPM
GAB Robins Ltd also informed us that:
Following a conversation we understand the flooring sub-contractor had with F Ball & Co , they were advised that F Ball Stopgap 300 would not be suitable for the screed repair & for use under a DPM because it is apparently a water mixed product. The flooring specialist then made a call to Ardex to discuss their most suitable product and they advised the use of Ardex Ardurapid Patch Repair Mortar, leading to selection of the product specified above and both these products were laid on Friday 14 March.
Following application of the above 2 products on Friday 14 March, the specification for the Arditex NA indicates it achieves final set after 90 mins. It was however left to dry for the entire weekend. See photos below:
Below are some damages to the stairs due to lack of protection and some damages to the entrance door:
On 17th March 2014, the new DPM was laid over Arditex NA which GAB Robins understands to be F Ball & Co Stopgap F76 which is a high performance one coat application waterproof surface membrane and this has now been allowed to cure/dry overnight to achieve set in accordance with manufacturers recommendations.
On 18th March 2014, the flooring sub-contractor will return to lay the final coat, being F Ball & Co Stopgap 300HD [heavy duty floor smoothing underlayment] & whilst this is ready to receive floor coverings within 6-12 hours, it will be allowed to cure for significantly longer as commencement of laying of the parquet flooring will not begin until Thursday (20th March 2014) morning.
On 21st March 2014, the flooring sub-contractor started to install the wooden parquet floor.
On 24th March 2014, the flooring sub-contractor did the sealing of the parquet flooring and the floor must not now be walked on at all until Thursday 27 March at the earliest whilst the drying/curing process is ongoing.
On 28th March 2014, the flooring sub-contractor did managed to destroy the newly installed wooden floor again. Read more here.
The same problem was present on July 2013 but nothing was learnt from the previous mistakes. History repeats itself.
On 31st March 2014, the Zurich Insurance’s sub-contractor managed to destroyed the newly installed floor. The area inside the downstairs toilet was full with water under the plastic protection sheets.
They also damaged the first riser of my stairs. Read More.
On 15th April 2014, it came to my attention that the E. J. Taylor Ltd had arranged for the inspection of the waste pipe inside the small toilet. They used a CCTV system to check for any blockage but they probably did not close the pipe properly and water came out.