Carpet cleaners ruined baseboards

[LdiJ]

Not buying it. Have you ever tried to steam bend wood? If you have (and I have) you would agree with me. It takes considerable time to actually cause moisture to permeate the wood. Then, for it to warp, the moisture would have to penetrate deeply into the wood. Moisture in the surface layer of the wood won’t cause it to warp. It must soak deep into the wood.


The warpage is most likely caused by the regular steam and possible liquid water the wood has been exposed to. This is likely a typical situation where a customer doesn’t notice the condition of their property until somebody does some work for them. Then when they inspect the work, they notice the preexisting damage and blame it on the worker.

The good thing about this is you can tell if the wood has been exposed to moisture over a period of time or this was the first time it was wet. Depending on the cost of the repair the floor cleaner may just eat it but if the cost is more than they wish to bear, they have a means to defend the claim

But even better: the plaintiff has to prove the carpet cleaner caused rhe damage. Having worked in construction for decades, I could easily prove if it was new or preexisting damage and I could throw doubt onto a claim if they don’t actually bring in a piece of the warped wood.

It really depends on the baseboards. The thin cheap kind can warp very easily. The heavier kind I would agree with you.

 

[justalayman]

It really depends on the baseboards. The thin cheap kind can warp very easily. The heavier kind I would agree with you.

I spoke to wood baseboards in that statement. I’m sticking with my statement on wood baseboards. Op has since stated it is not wood, or solid wood anyway. Its likely mdf which to me is crap. It sucks up moisture and falls apart. It has no place in a bathroom.

Op

If the cleaner won’t pay you don’t really have any option but to sue.

Now to prevail you will have to prove they damaged the baseboard. A simple statement by you isn’t proof.

 

[crumb]

I was thinking about the poor baseboards and remembered I had flooded one of my bathrooms a couple years ago. This bathroom was not cleaned by the tile cleaners. Even with the flooding there is no swelling on any of the wood in that bathroom. I am not convinced it was the fault of the mdf. They must have done something more than just getting fluid on it.
Anyway the company wouldn't pay me to have another company repair it so they are going to do the work themselves. They also do this kind of work. Hopefully they do a better job than the cleaning.

 

[justalayman]

It sounds like the best solution for you, as long as the work is acceptable.