I am going to try and keep this simply but I am sure it wont be.

In my lounge we have 14 mm engineered flooring which was laid over very thick form underlay as the original floor was very unlevel and in some places 40 year old parket and in others lumps of concrete. Its been down 4 years and cost around £45 per m2 which I have been quite happy with. The engineered flooring was tounge & groove and had to be glued together. We also had custom made skirting board affixed to the whole room which is around 10 inch high and patterened (we have none left).

Last week a carpenter we have been using for the last two years drilled into the central heating pipe behind a wall and we had quite a bit of a flood in the living room. Results are the engineered wood is now all splitting at the joins and bowing or warped in many places. Its definitely not the floor it was last week!!

I have put in a claim on my household insurance which they have accepted (10 year no-claims blown). The surveyor came today and nicely told me the following:

1) Flooring is all ruined and needs replacing - no problem there but he thinks it costs around £30 per meter - have the prices dropped in the last four years??

2) All the underlay needs replacing as well.

3) It may takes days for the floor to dry out once its removed before we can put down any new flooring.

4) We need to remove the skirting to reinstall the new flooring as I dont want beading (hate it).

Problems have now arisen due to:

a) Insurance company (Axa) have only talked about paying 75% of a new floor
b) Surveyor has said they will not do any of the work themselves, I must arrange it (or do it?)
c) How can I replace the skirting as doubt it can come off in one piece and go back on in one piece (natural wood)
d) Is insurance supposed to pay for labour, skip and re-installation on new product?
e) Can I put underfloor heating down now if we have to start from scratch again and just have it in one room while still keeping the central heating and gas fire as well? (I am disabled the the living room is the coldest in the house due to a stupid conservatory add-on that has removed one wall and major window other side).
f) They have said I have to replace the flooring from one of their approved suppliers catalogue which actually only gives 2 in my area or I lose another 15%.
g) Is there anyway anyone can recycle the old flooring anywhere or is it just for the skip?

I need about 20m2 new flooring and underlay and I was wondering if the old parket flooring has to come up as well (I assume water will have leaked down) what can I use to build up the floor so that we can stay on the 14mm size flooring.

How do I find a decent person to do the work as I am disabled and every workman I employ just sees me as an easy touch and either does a bad job or rips me off financially. Would really like to avoid it this time as I have no spare money.

The old flooring is now becoming a tripping hazard for myself and my 5 year old daugher so want to get it up asap.

Thanks so much for any advise or help you can give.

Catherine
West Midlands

Just out of curiosity does the carpenter have insurance?

Also, most carpenters can install wood floors too. If he was willing to help you out with some funds and/or labor it might offset the 15% the insurance company is shorting you.

An attorney might also help with negotiating a better deal with the insurance company.

The floor should come up soon at any rate so that you don't have mold issues under the floor adding to your nightmare.