ᐅ Screed - Incorrect Height - How to Fix It?

Hello everyone,

I need some opinions on our problem. We are currently in the middle of building our house, and so far everything has gone smoothly.

Last week, the screed (cement screed) was applied. Since yesterday the screed is walkable, and we visited the construction site for the first time again. We noticed that the heights of the screed in the hallway and the wardrobe area are not correct.

The plan was for the entrance area/wardrobe to have tiles, while the remaining hallway would have parquet flooring (just like the rest of the ground floor, except the bathroom). This was also clearly specified in the construction plans.

For the parquet, a finish height of 15 mm (0.6 inches) was planned, and for the tiles, 13 mm (0.5 inches). Unfortunately, the screed installer has reversed the heights. In the entrance/wardrobe area there is still 15 mm (0.6 inches) of space left (but tiles are supposed to be installed here), while in the hallway it is only 13 mm (0.5 inches) (but parquet is supposed to be installed here).

We addressed this directly with the screed installer yesterday evening. He sent us the plan he received from the site manager, which incorrectly shows tiles for both the wardrobe and the hallway, which does not correspond at all to the actual plan. He is now referring to this plan.

On Wednesday morning, we even discussed the different rooms again with the screed installer and explicitly pointed out the different floor coverings for the hallway and wardrobe. Apparently, he did not listen carefully about what was planned where. This, combined with the wrong plan, caused this situation.

Since our site manager is currently on vacation, we have now contacted the head office and are waiting for their feedback.

I am interested to know what options are available to fix this defect so that everything fits correctly afterward. Or is this not such a big problem after all? Essentially, the screed in the wardrobe would need to be raised by 2 mm (0.08 inches), but in the hallway it is now exactly 2 mm (0.08 inches) too high.

Leaving it as is is not an option. The parquet will be laid continuously from the kitchen/dining/living area into the hallway and study (it will be glued), and the transition to the tiles will be done without a transition strip, using only a silicone joint. The heights in the other rooms are correct so far.

Thanks!

2 mm (0.08 inches) can be sanded down. However, the question of who is responsible and who will cover the costs needs to be clarified.

No one will mind a 2mm difference. That is still within the tolerance range. Are the tiles and the parquet flooring already available?
First, check the dimensional accuracy.

The parquet can be installed, and the area to be tiled can be raised by 2mm (0.08 inches) using leveling compound. I don’t see any problems with that.

A 2 mm tolerance can be distributed over several meters within a flooring without it being noticeable. It really depends on how strict you want to be about it.

That doesn’t sound too bad at first...

The tiles and the hardwood flooring have been sampled since the beginning of the year, and I believe they have also been ordered (we are having a turnkey build with a general contractor and selected the floor coverings through the respective contractors).

Our main concern is that everything fits properly in the long term and that there are no unsightly transitions anywhere.

So, we’ll wait and see what the home builder says about it.

Don’t worry, 2mm is practically nothing. Even within a tiled surface, from one tile to the next (just barely), this is within the tiler’s tolerance (keyword lippage).

The screed installer doesn’t even have to guarantee 2mm, just as a side note.