Decorating Connections

8-24-09

Always two sides to every story
It's unfortunate that we have an unhappy consumer this is definately not our intention. I have been in this business for over 20 years, 10 of them with my own Company. We at Decorating Connections provide quality service, and care about our customers. I have in fact over the years seen jobs done by others that could be classified as the worst in 52 years on earth this is not one of them.
1st - the consumer forgot to mention that they had 2 layers of existing ceramic tile installed in the kitchen with a brand new kitchen on top. Our crew removed two layers of tile without damaging any of the cabinets and re-installed chissled travertine perfectly in the Kitchen.
2nd - there is no mention of the removal of existing tile from the front foyer and a perfect slate flooring installed.
3rd - there is no mention of the custom templated patterned stair runner on a hollywood staircase installed perfectly.
4th - there is no mention of all new baseboards, casings with backbend and new doors supplied and installed perfectly - painted complete. - And the fact that the homeowner praised our installer and would have them back in their home anytime. I believe the words where I love Jack he is so respectful of our home. I love Lonnie and wanted to make sure that I compensated him properly for all the extra time and effort he took when removing the hardwood floor and carefully inspecting the new floor and replacing it.
5th - there is also no mention that we installed a floating engineered hardwood over existing ceramic tile throughout the rest of the main floor with each room full of furniture that we moved at no extra charge to the client.
6th - It was stated that we sent one man to do the work when in fact we had 4 different men on this site. Painter, plumber, ceramic tile installer, hardwood flooring installer, and carpet installer.
7th - The original job was completed in a very timely manner, finished to satisfaction.
It was only after we were done that the client complained that the floor moved up and down when walked on. We attended the home with the supplier who authorized replacement of the wood in question with new boxes. The date was scheduled for us to return with another 80 sq ft to replace the area of concern for the client. At this time the new boxes had a different sheen level and color than the original wood. Therefore the replacement area could not be matched. We again contacted our supplier who inturn authorized a full replacement floor for the consumer who inturn came in and chose their alternative floor (WE DID NOT PROVIDE THEM WITH AN INFERIOR PRODUCT, THE PRODUCT INSTALLED WAS THE ONE CHOSEN BY CLIENT). -- The replacement material was shipped to site -- when opening the boxes our installer noticed to much deflection with the boards that had been shipped. -- Our office was notified and we were on site with the Supplier -- Our supplier recommended us to continue and they would send any extra boxes required to complete the project and had our installer hand inspect every board before it was installed -- At this time our installer carfully inspected each board before it was installed -- 900 sq ft of floating hardwood would normally take 3 - 4 days. It took 16 days due to the fact that every board had to be inspected and any boards set aside to be returned to the supplier that were unacceptable to the client. I have been in this industry over 20 years and I know of no other installer who would take this kind of care. They would simply say I am out of here. -- It was the final day when we were to finish up and install the balance of the trim when we received a call from the homeowner once again that she was not happy with the deflection in the floor. On arriving to the home we found sticky notes all over the floor. The supplier was immediately called and attended the site within 20 minutes. The supplier suggested that an Independent Inspector attend the site to inspect the floor. The inspection report indicates that the flooring and the installation and the hardwood in question is within Industry standards and found no quality issues with the product.
I would be more than happy to try to resolve this matter, the best suggestion would be to remove the hardwood flooring, remove the ceramic from underneath the hardwood and level the floor properly. Unfortunately the homeowner does not want to go through the mess or the expense to have this done. With floating floors there will always be some deflection. To replace this floor again with a floating floor I believe the client would still not be happy. We have not abandoned them and would love to resolve this matter with the client. We are in business to have satisfied customers and have had hundreds over the years.
The fact remains that we have now replaced this floor twice with a floating application, we have leveled the floor underneath with leveling compound to meet the standards for a floating application as best we could with so much furniture in the room.
Again we have not gone anywhere we have tried on several occasions to resolve this matter we believe that we will not be able to solve their issues by replacing this floor with the same type of install.
The client has requested that we completely remove the floor again, have someone come in and completely re-level the ceramics underneath the hardwoodr and supply and install once again their original selection that was removed and disposed of the first time.
We believe to totally make this floor perfectly level with no deflection would cost much more than the original $600.00 that we had incorporated into the price for leveling to meet industry tolerances for a floating floor and still no guarantees that deflection would not be obvious with this application.

This firm does not keep their promises and does low quality workmanship. Since April 2008 up to Feb. 2009 we have been fighting to get our hardwoood floors done properly and other reno work completed. They left us in a mess and refuse to complete to industry standards. This has been the worst experience we have ever seen when hiring contractors to do work.