ᐅ The screed in four rooms is 1.5 to 2 cm too high.

Created on: 31 Jan 2020 06:54
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Kabelmodem87
Hello everyone,

I need some advice. We recently built a new house, and in the upper floor, all rooms except the bathroom were supposed to have a screed that is 0.5cm (0.2 inches) higher than the hallway. The hallway and stairs have real wood flooring, the rooms have laminate...

Everything was ordered through the architect and was documented by email.

For whatever reason, the screed in the four rooms (about 60sqm (645 sq ft) total) is 2–2.5cm (0.8–1 inch) higher than the hallway.

The screed company denies any responsibility and literally says they “won’t do a single move in the house” again. If I withhold part of the final payment (4,000€), they might take legal action.

We currently have the following options:

- Leave everything as is and accept a threshold of 1.5–2cm (0.6–0.8 inches).
- Use leveling compound in the hallway, but then the last step of the stairs would be 1.5cm (0.6 inches) higher, which is not acceptable. The height would need to be distributed exactly across all steps. The extra work plus leveling compound would cost me about 500€.
- Grind down/sand the floors in all rooms (60sqm (645 sq ft)) by 1.5–2cm (0.6–0.8 inches) and then apply leveling compound on top. Would this be precise enough? Completely removing the screed is not an option due to underfloor heating.

With the last option, the ceiling height, window sill height, and switch height would be as originally planned.

Would this be a reasonable position in court if they sue for the money? For your information, I have legal protection insurance for construction law that I arranged before the build...

Ideally, our move-in date should not be delayed too much.

What would you do in our situation?

Thanks in advance...
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Bookstar
31 Jan 2020 13:44
This means a custom size is required, which in many cases means standard doors will not fit.
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Scout
31 Jan 2020 13:48
Bookstar schrieb:

But this means a custom size
...or a plunge track saw with guide rails. It was more than sufficient for this exact purpose during the renovation of my colleague’s house. If the door handle ends up hanging about 2cm (1 inch) lower as shown here, that should still be fine.
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borderpuschl
3 Feb 2020 08:58
You cannot always simply trim all doors to the desired size. Depending on the type of door, it may be possible, only possible up to a certain size, or not possible at all.
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Maria16
3 Feb 2020 11:32
guckuck2 schrieb:

last layer with more thickness or just a strip

I would never do something like that voluntarily. Even a single centimeter (0.4 inches) stands out significantly and, in my opinion, considerably increases the risk of accidents.
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guckuck2
3 Feb 2020 11:34
Maria16 schrieb:

I would never do something like that voluntarily. Even a single centimeter (0.4 inches) stands out significantly and, in my opinion, clearly increases the risk of accidents.

So, which solution are you advocating for?
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Maria16
3 Feb 2020 13:02
Either accept the 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) gap at the doors (in my experience, nobody ever trips over that in an older building, whereas the “incorrect” stair step of similar height I know still causes people to lose their footing) or have the staircase completely adjusted.