Torson's Flooring

Our experience dealing with Nick Torson and his partner Brian Himenes was not a good one. I just wanted to relay our experience here basically to warn others. I found Nick's original contact info off of Craigslist, which looking back is probably only OK for the smallest of jobs. Now, I really plan to rely on Angie's list for any significant job, as there will be a plan in place to provide feedback for work done, both good and bad. Anyway, we wrote up a contract to have around 1100 square feet of laminate installed in our home. The money has been very tight for my wife and I the last few years, so I was hoping to save some money via Craigslist and Nick's ad. He seemed reasonable on the phone and in person and promised installation of around $2 / sq ft, so we decided to move forward. Our problems started when at some point we were told the actual square footage was closer to 1200 square feet and we would need more laminate. I should have had doubts from that point. I think the actual measured area was 1081 sq ft, so to be off by more than 100 sq ft (a 10' x 10' area) is quite a lot. We wanted to get the floor done as we had a flood which prompted this, so we pressed on. My wife and I both worked the day installation began. Originally, we thought the installation didn't look too bad, but upon more detailed inspection (and after pulling up their work later) realized it was really pretty bad. What caught our eyes was the cheap quality of the material. So, after some deliberation, my wife and I made the decision to scrap the job and go with the more expensive engineered hardwood, which we really couldn't afford. We had paid around $2000 for the materials (laminate), which would cover almost half the job. We were told to wait for them to finish the job and inspect it. If we weren't happy with it, we didn't have to pay them. The total contract was for around $4300. After day 1, I called Brian to tell him we wanted out of the deal and we weren't happy with the laminate. The way I see it, there is no point in being mean and saying we don't like you, your work or your material. We tried to blame it on the material since we didn't trust them and they knew where we lived. He basically told us that we owed him another $1000 just to get out of our contract. We went back and forth and tried looking at other options, but ultimately, my wife and I decided that not only did we not like the laminate, but also we didn't trust Brian and Nick. Ultimately, we paid the extra $1000 to get out of the contract so we could move on. So, in other words, we were now out $3000 total and still no floor. I reminded Brian that they told us we only had to pay them if we were happy with their work. He said that our issue was only with the product and not the workmanship. Turns out our issue was with both. Fast forward a few weeks later, after we've moved on from Brian and Nick and going to install new engineered hardwood. Part of the contract read "includes floor preparation". Most folks would assume this includes leveling out the floor and filling large holes in the cement. Well, apparently not. When we did finally remove this cheap laminate from our house, that's what we saw... many large holes and very uneven flooring. It seemed they had done very little floor preparation, so much so that it cost us another $1000 extra for the next guys to smooth out the floor and bring in a bring grinder / sander to smooth out the floor. Anyway, suffice to say this whole experience was very bad. Oh, and here is the kicker. Nick and Brian kept insisting that we paid around $2 / sq foot for the laminate. It wasn't until I returned the material to the place where they bought it that I realized they we actually paid $1.09 for it.... NICE!!! Now, I'm thinking this isn't just poor workmanship. This is an outright SCAM!!! BUYER BEWARE!!!