Hey everyone! So, I recently moved into a newly built home that still has a warranty. It came with carpeting and vinyl flooring, but I decided to hire a well-known contractor to install luxury vinyl planks (LVP). After the installation, I noticed two areas in different rooms that have slopes which are out of tolerance. The contractor did come back to fix it by pouring some self-leveling compound, but one room is still not flat. When I reached out to the builder for help, they told me they couldn't fix it because the floor was within the standard for carpet, and since I changed the flooring, I'm on my own. The flooring contractor said they could level it again for an additional fee. I also consulted the inspector I hired, but he mentioned that floor flatness wasn't something they were monitoring. Now I'm stuck wondering if I have any right to ask for fixes or if this is all on me to cover the costs. Who should I be upset with here?
4 Answers
There is an option, but the upgrades can be super expensive or limited in choice. It felt more like negotiating for a car rather than just picking a floor—every little change adds up. I needed custom materials and designs that the builder didn’t offer, so I opted to go with my own contractor after. In a way, that gave me more control over the quality I wanted.
As a flooring installer, I can tell you that we're not typically responsible for making the subfloor flat unless that was part of the agreement. Our job is to ensure it's smooth enough so you don't have visible imperfections once the LVP is laid down. It's pretty standard to encounter some floor unevenness, even in new builds. Adjusting your expectations might help you here; fixing it might fall on you.
Looks like this is a tough situation, but unfortunately, it seems to be your problem to tackle now. Just curious, didn’t you have an option to choose LVP directly from the builder? That might have been an easier fix.
It seems like the inspector did their job according to protocol by checking for major safety issues, not for floor flatness. The builder is right to say that they built the home to comply with the standards for carpet, so they might not be responsible for the issues with your LVP installation since you're making modifications. Plus, the flooring contractor should have brought up the levelness of the floor before installation and discussed any extra costs upfront. Unfortunately, it sounds like you’ll need to pay for the adjustments to flatten the floors now since that's how it works in these cases.