We're deciding on hardwood flooring, and going over the usual choices... diy versus installed. Anyone have consumer advice regarding this company, or others in the area?
Haggle with them.... they will give you some crazy price - dont accept it. If you do you will over pay. We used them to put down flooring in our old house. They did an ok job... nothing great. If I had to do it again I would do it with a local company.
I called about carpet. Their prices were OUTRAGEOUS! Plus they couldn't do it next day. As far as I'm concerned it's classic bait and switch.
I have never used them, but my 2 cents: They are based out of Chicago and have been running the same commercial for at least 30 years, same guy. You can even buy a doll of him up there. My guess is that they sub contract local, like Lowe's, Home Depot, and Sears do. It's a crapshoot. I'd find my own local person. To me, if someone is able to that stuff that fast, there's a catch: either it's really expensive or crappy work OR both. Good Luck!
I've got the name of a person we have used 3 times. He always does nice work. You can get the estimate from Empire and I'm sure he will be a lot cheaper! PM me if you want his info.
Thanks for all the info... I'll definitely not be using Empire! My husband talks about doing it himself, getting his brothers together and getting it done. I just know how long it takes from "planning" to "doing" and I thought maybe it would just be cheaper and less hassle to have someone else do it. I guess I'll either wait for him, or find a really good local deal.
I just finished installing 1200 sq. ft. of engineered wood flooring. Lowe's wanted $3.00 per sq. ft. to install. So I saved a few thousand on the installation with the DIY approach. Of course, I had to move furniture, pull up carpet, pad, staples, and nail strips and then haul it to the landfill (not the furniture). That $3.00 per sq. ft. does not include all of that, just the installation of the wood. My point? I had to buy a chop saw, door-jam saw, pry bar, wood tap tool, wood bar puller, knee pads, etc., etc. My point? My good knee is now my bad knee, my back hurts, I have carpenter's elbow, etc., etc. Finally my point! There is a lot involved with the DIY approach. But, the floor looks great. My wife is pleased. I don't have to rent those damned carpet shampooers anymore. I wanted the challenge and I rose to it and completed it. I feel good about that, but my body says otherwise. You might want to consider hiring someone to do that job for you. But, not me!
Scott King in Clayton. Number is in the book. or Cherokee Hardwood. Reccomendations per my husband, who lays carpet, says they are the best
Yep, I understand your position. I installed hardwood in the family room of the last house. The full 3/4" thickness stuff, which was thankfully pre-finished. The sledge for the nailer I rented was a bit rounded so it would "kick out" which screwed up my wrist. Favoring my wrist threw out my elbow, which in turn threw out my shoulder. I finished the "weekend project" in two weekends with evenings in between and had trouble with my right arm for months afterward. In this house, I paid someone to install it and only regretted it when they cut two of the most visible jambs too high and left a couple of minor cracks for me to fill. They did four times as much flooring (three rooms and a hallway) in two days includign the removal of the carpet. There were five of them and they were not cheap but my arm was still usable. On the other hand, we finished the downstairs master bath in four months from demolition to finish for just a few thousand dollars in materials. The professional tile folks that looked at it afterward estimated they would have bid about 25K for the project. The only thing we left was the tub and it was refinished instead of replaced because a replacement would have required part of the wall being removed.
We used a guy out at 40/42 behind the bojangles. I can't remember the name of the guy for nothing but if you take that back road you will see them.. Very reasonable and great work. We have been very pleased
Hardwood Flooring Installer Call Michael Gardner, owner of Gardner Hardwood Flooring, 325-8101. He will beat any price and does quality work.
