IKEA beech worktop split - Guaranteed?

Discussion in 'Kitchen Fitters' Talk' started by dan1974, Apr 8, 2015.

  1. dan1974

    dan1974 New Member

    Hello

    We had an Ikea kitchen installed a couple of years ago with solid beech worktops. A split developed a few months after this - only now have I bothered to contact IKEA to see if I can get it sorted on the back of the 25 guarantee they offer.

    So we had the 3rd party inspection a week or so ago which has gone back to IKEA claiming "no manufacturing fault." i.e it must be someone else's fault! Just so happens that this type of process has been highlighted in the media recently, see:

    http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/28/ikea-25-year-kitchen-guarantee

    So this is pretty much exactly what I have experienced.

    Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether it's worth me digging my heals in with this? I have oiled the worktop regularly by the way.

    I've uploaded a picture of the split.

    cheers

    Dan
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Dan.

    It's as simple as this - are you sure you did nothing to cause this? No water damage or nuffink?

    Cool.

    Then this is what you do - you write to Ikea, to the CEO or general manager of the branch you went to, and give them an ultimatum; they pay up willingly within a week (you give a precise date), or you will replace it and then sue them using MoneyClaim.gov (or you can use Small Claims County Court).

    You make it clear in this letter that the worktop has been treated exactly as it should have been, and any inspection will show that it has not been abused in any way. You finish by saying you know you will win this - it's as clear as it can be that they are liable and that the worktop failed through defective materials or manufacture. It is up to Ikea to prove this isn't the case.

    Finish by saying that, if they put you to the hassle of suing, you will use every social media format available to you to publicise their action and dereliction of responsibility, and that this will include the No1 Trade/DIY forum in the land (I made that last bit up...)

    Send it, sue the b'ds and feel good.
     
    FatHands likes this.
  3. dan1974

    dan1974 New Member

    Hi Guys

    I thought i'd update this. I've now had the report back and it looks like the worktop wasn't installed correctly. You can see the details below.

    Is it worth retrospectively getting the brackets changed so they are the right way round? To the untrained eye it looks like the rest of the worktop is ok and if it was going to split it would have done by now as it was installed June 2013. So perhaps just leave it be and fill in the splits with wood filler.





    Reported Problem
    Customer complained that the block wood worktop is splitting in two places

    Why Liability
    Brackets fitting the worktop to the units have been put on the wrong way round and no gaps have been allowed for the worktop to move

    Action Taken
    Found no extractor unit fitted. Brackets holding the worktop to the units put on the wrong way and no expansion gap against the wall. This is not a manufacture fault . Customer fitting issue
     
  4. joinerjohn1

    joinerjohn1 Screwfix Select

    Ahh, there's the major problem,, you couldn't afford an extractor fan.. Ask yourself on the fitting instructions, do Ikea state, "Must only be fitted in kitchens with an extractor unit fitted" I doubt it. Anyway, these companies almost always wiggle their way out of any fault. I had a cordless jigsaw some years ago. Only used it twice and the motor burnt out. Manufacturer said it had been abused. (yeah, gotta watch those tool abusers on the production line then) I maintained that I'd only used it twice, both times on laminate flooring 9mm thick, with a brand new blade too, so how on earth could this be down to abuse? Eventually got a replacement though.

    Could be the brackets have been fitted the wrong way round. (I'm assuming these are angle brackets with a hole in one side and a slot in the other ) If you are going to fill the gap, then I'd strongly suggest using a flexible filler (because timber will move throughout it's life) and sort the brackets out. ;);)
     
  5. Phil the Paver

    Phil the Paver Screwfix Select

    You say you had the 3rd party inspection????, who organized this????.

    What has "no extractor unit fitted" got to do with anything.

    At the end of the day this is just bits of wood glued together, the glue has failed, who's faults that, well it would be hard to see how it could be yours, you didn't make.!!!
     
  6. dan1974

    dan1974 New Member

    What is an extractor unit?
     
  7. joinerjohn1

    joinerjohn1 Screwfix Select

    Extractor fan. ;);)
     
  8. dan1974

    dan1974 New Member

    erm......strange - I have an extractor fan above my hob - pretty difficult to miss! Maybe he's written that as it doesn't take air out of the room. It's just a carbon filter type fan.
     
  9. Yes, I suspect that's what they are trying to say - moisture from cooking was not extracted outside.

    It does all sound slippery of them; could your li'l angle brackets really hold this worktop so tightly it couldn't move with expansion/contraction?!

    Seems you may have to bite the bullet on this one - it'll take some doing to show they are wrong :(
     
  10. dan1974

    dan1974 New Member

    yes - all rather annoying. I'm sure they would go to the ends of the earth to point out anything but them is to blame!
     
  11. Yep.


    These brackets - you could simple drill over-size holes in them, but still small enough to stop the screw heads popping through (or add washers...)

    Then oil and oil and oil and oil...
     

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