Flooring Depot

We purchased the best grade of padding however were disappointed with the quality of the carpet after installation. The store did remedy some of the issues however I do not feel that we were adequately informed of the carpet quality prior to the purchase.

Overall, it was okay. Initially, the technicians were punctual, professional, and did a good job with the work. We love the floor and I think they did a great job, but we’ve run into a couple of issues, and it’s taken a very long time for them to get back to us. They still haven’t gotten back to us about one of the issues, and it’s been about a month since I talked with them last.

The Flooring Depot installer made a determination that my sub-floor had elevated moisture levels. The acceptable limit was 14%, and I had 14.4%. Stuart Hutchison, a Flooring Depot manager, refused to allow the floor to be installed under those conditions, and offered two choices: re-schedule at another date after moisture levels were remedied, or accept the flooring and have it installed by someone else. I had taken two days off in preparation for the install--and was faced with a difficult choice. Based on the facts as presented to me that day, I made the decision to go ahead with the installation. The Flooring Depot installer who was to perform the work was the same installer I paid directly that day, for the same amount of the original labor cost. The flooring was then installed on top of a serviceable existing vinyl floor. The following day I purchased my own moisture meter and began investigating my problem areas. In the perimeter of the installation area (there was no longer direct access to the original floor), I could not find any moisture readings above 8-9%. I did find elevated moisture levels in the joists around the crawlspace entrance, next to a bathroom. This area is in a separate location in the house. I looked at my moisture meter and noted that it had an accuracy of +/- 3% and realized that the installer's meter should have similar accuracy tolerances. The importance of the accuracy was that being within .4% of acceptable (it would have been with standard rounding), I might not have a problem at all. I asked Mr. Hutchison to revisit his decision not to provide the standard installation guarantee, and he remained firm. We exchanged several emails as I inquired about the accuracy of the moisture meter used, and he continued to remain firm not to revisit his decision. In further investigation, the Flooring Depot installer representative described the measuring device as being shoved through the vinyl flooring in an attempt to reach the sub-floor. My personal moisture meter, if representative of the installer's, does not allow for this kind of use. That further led credence to concerns about the accuracy of the moisture readings. I finally contacted a representative of the flooring product at Shaw Industries, described the installation environment, and he said this was acceptable, particularly since the floor was installed on top of an impermeable vinyl floor, with a moisture barrier between it and the new floor. In five email exchanges, all attempts to resolve this has resulted in no progress in resolving the matter. Recently I got an invoice from them with a balance due (the original installation was paid in full, but the labor costs were refunded to the credit card. Supposedly that was the end of it). I requested an explanation, and almost 2 weeks later, no response. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and even they have had no luck in getting Flooring Depot to respond to their emails and calls. A response deadline has come and gone, and the complaint remains unresolved. Flooring Depot has been unresponsive to my requests to resolve the issue. I suggested that new moisture readings be taken under a more supervised situation (I am still not sure the measuring equipment was used correctly). If the moisture readings are indeed too high, so be it...I will accept my choice to pay for the installation separately, and not accept the installation guarantee. But even this offer has gone un-responded to. If you are looking for a flooring installer, this is not one I would recommend doing business with based on my personal experience with them.

The reason I give them a B instead of an A is that the pattern of the vinyl was considerably off square with the room, and $500 seems a little high to me for a room that is a bit under 7x12. On the other hand, because that room has a toilet that had to be lifted, a vanity to cut around, the water heater, water meter, and furnace--it seems like a dozen things coming out of the floor--given the difficulty of working in that room, the work was outstanding and I didn't really want to quibble--especially since I had a washer-dryer to be installed the next day. The men were courteous, polite, punctual, careful--everything you could want.