Why is the Carpet or Flooring in my Newbuild home Bubbled, Failing or Lifting?
- Stanley Flooring
- May 8
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 12
I've been working on newbuild homes for the last 13 years and I've pretty much seen it all. So, let me break down some of the common problems we encounter.
The first big issue with newbuild sites is that they're now managed by accountants. About 20 or 30 years ago, most site managers were ex-tradesmen. There are still a few around, but most have retired or switched jobs because they wouldn't put up with the stuff being pushed on them by people higher up. Nowadays, site managers are mostly university graduates who lack real-world experience in trades or people management. This means a lot of things go unchecked or completely missed, leading to all sorts of problems.
Jobs are often called in way too early forcing many fitters to rush their work. Since 90% of the time they're on price work, they can't make enough money after spending hours cleaning, cutting out silicone from the skirtings, moving their van around because there are no roads or driveways yet and this forces them to cut corners and rush.
My Carpet is Wrinkled / Bubbled
Lots of newbuild homes are now having flooring installed way earlier than they should, even before there's water or electricity in the houses. This means no heating and no humidity in the home.
The above explains that Carpets should be installed with a room temperature of at least 18 degrees Celsius, the reason for this is that carpets will relax and stretch with heat. If for example they're installed at 6 degrees in the winter and the heating is turned on weeks later this will cause the carpet to relax. If its been stretched really well by a competent fitter then youre unlikely to see much movement initially , once you move in however and foot traffic begins to go up and down, it then starts to get looser. If youre unlucky and get an average or bad fitter (which is more common than not, especially on newbuilds) then the carpet will be wrinkled before the heating even comes on as stretching a carpet in 6 degrees can be near on impossible with some variants of carpet.
Why has my LVT Failed?
The above information about heating is also true for LVT, except it can have far worse consequences. While A carpet can be restretched most of the time, LVT is a much more involved process
LVT when laid in the cold will expand in the heat and cause it to buckle around the edges, depending on how this is done can make all the difference as LVT is quite an intricate material and their is a method for upping the heating day by day to allow it to adjust gradually.
LVT most commonly fails from the subfloor below where not enough/the correct type of primer has been used, a lack of DPM, or just moisture in general. Newbuilds have fresh concrete slabs laid, this slab takes time to release its moisture, this needs to be checked before installation that it meets criteria, if it doesn't and the flooring is installed then the moisture will rise up through the slab and begin to separate the smoothing compound from the cement and cause it to fail.
As with the carpets above, the LVT can be installed far too soon in a newbuild, the house can have leaks, rain come through the front door/windows and left to puddle and also spills. if its winter the doors will often be left open and this can create a fluctuation of temperature which if left open all day can cause planks to shrink.
How can i stop it?
The best advice we can give is, if possible, to purchase your flooring and install outside of the purchase of the home, this way they will hand over a home without flooring. Not only will this allow you to see the state of the subfloor throughout the home without them covering it up and hiding cracked cement, uneven floors and terrible workmanship, but it will also give you the chance to raise this with the builder and have it rectified instead of finding out 5 or 10 years later when its too late and your home is out of warranty.
Lastly we will be much cheaper than flooring supplied by the builder, obviously every housebuilder is different and who they use the price will differ, but we've seen first hand a flooring company charge a significant amount to the builder who will then double the cost to the customer.
example: materials cost £3,000,company charges £6,000 to the builder, builder charges £12,000 to the customer.
This price is usually included in the mortgage which is why many people will take them up on it but just remember that 3% a year for 20 years effectively makes that £12k flooring cost £19,200!
Just to reiterate that the above media is taken first hand by me, you will rightfully question why a floor layer wouldn't raise these issues and the answer is they do, the attitude of site management is that you should shut up and get on with it and if you dont like it go home without pay. Sadly this is happening all over the country.
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