Friday, July 6, 2012

General Contractors and Flooring

General contractors and home builders, in my experience, do not do a good job with specialty trades.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a flooring contractor, so I probably carry around a small chip on my shoulder.  That said, I believe consumers of remolding services should hire a reputable flooring contractor even if they already have a GC.  In my 20+ years of experience in the remodeling industry at many different levels, I witness more flaws in flooring than in all the other trades combined when inspecting new or remodel construction.

Why?  Well, I can see a couple of reasons.  For starters, builders and GCs are not willing to pay even decent rates for flooring work.  Thus, if they sub out the floor work, the tend to hire from the bottom of the barrel.  Additionally, the floor work is also usually the highest margin work, which means the temptation to do the work themselves (or hiring bottom feeders) becomes even more tempting.

This then leads to 2 problems.  The 1st and most obvious is the work is sub-par.  The 2nd problem is that the GC and/or builder know enough about flooring to be dangerous and not nearly enough to be proficient.  In the flooring industry, there is so much to know about all the different types of flooring, that only someone who spends all of their time in the industry can be helpful.  I cannot count the number of times I see mid-grade and often cheap pre-finished flooring installed in nice homes.  I also, (gasp) see a ton of t-molding, quarter round, door jambs that aren't undercut, etc...  Because an average carpenter can probably do an o.k. job installing pre-finished flooring, they insist that pre-finished flooring is the only option.  I suppose this is better than a jack-of-all trades trying to sand and finish a floor, but again, you - the person paying big bucks for a remodel - shouldn't have the most visible and used portion of the project done by hackers and amateurs.

My advice is simple.  Find out who the contractor uses to do the flooring work.  If they don't use someone who has an excellent reputation you can verify on Angie's List or similar site, I would find the flooring company on your own.  Not only will you get better floors, you will probably pay less; avoiding the proverbial double whammy.

42 comments:

  1. Yes,you are absolutely right the General contractors and home builders are not makes good flooring as compare to Flooring Contractors.Because they having good knowledge about making a good flooring.Thanks for sharing a valuable post.

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  2. Hats off for this blog and tips. Its very useful.

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  3. Absolutely, experience do teaches a lot of things that leads to perfection.. And you are certainly one of the best example.. Thanks for the informative input...

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  4. Yes, contractor which experts should also have a certificate.
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  5. I myself had that kind of experienced in my life and I had solved it by asking help from the experts just like general contractors.Anyway, I had much time reading your post and I can say that I can relate and I do understand you. Thank you for sharing and I hope that one day you could also write an article about hardwood flooring. More articles soon.

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  6. Thanks for the information.. It do really helps a lot to those people planning on renovation to set things wisely...

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  7. Thanks for the information.. It do really helps a lot to those people planning on renovation to set things wisely...

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  8. Hi,

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  9. I have been researching flooring for a new home. I am looking specifically for flooring in Needham MA. Does anyone know of a good source to check?

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  11. I think their are cheap contractors but offer same good quality services when putting up floorings

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  13. wonderful post, lovely information about contractors, as well as we are specialist are a London based plumbing and heating company that also specialise in house extensions london

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  14. Great post and wonderful information. it can be applied in Industrial floorings also. thanks a milling for sharing this post

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  16. For a good flooring, you should have a good contractor who provides good quality of natural stones.
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  19. I personally want to get maple flooring in my kitchen. I think that it makes one of the prettiest and cleanest types of flooring. Would you happen to know if there is a specific kind of floor finishing I should use after we lay the wood down? http://www.bestconcretecoatings.com/services/

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  20. Nice post.
    I like your blog.
    It is an advantage if the home improvement contractor can also include a flooring contractor.
    Thanks! for sharing good post about home improvement.
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  21. This is very helpful information, thank you for sharing. I have been looking for a company to install some wood flooring in my basement. My wife and I have finally decided that it was time to get our basement finished. I want to get wood flooring installed because I think that it will be the easiest to clean. We have a kitchen down there and we think that wood flooring will look best.

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  25. I am having unfinished hickory 4" put down in my entire home. Is oil based or water based or emulsion based better. And if using oil based how much does it yellow or amber over time.

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  28. Oh yes, I so agree with this. I have seen so many issues with GC's including not gluing 5" or wider wood (and floors are permanently separating, poor sand jobs, using wrong type of poly, etc.

    Many feel pressure to use their GC as they are right there on site and put the pressure on, but it's smart for them to do their homework here.

    Also, many aren't able to guide their clients on the best type of hardwood, stain or finish to meet their desired look.

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  29. It kinda tells it all and shows why hardwood floors are really the best there is. You can’t beat hardwood for quality and look in a home. Thanks for the article.
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  31. I myself had that kind of experienced in my life and I had solved it by asking help from the experts just like general contractors.
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