CITY & SUBURBAN FLOOR SANDING CO

Excellent. Bill responded to my initial call quickly. He came out and expressed some concern over his ability to match the "Builder's mix" flooring in the bedrooms when he put the new floor down in the hallway. He made sure I understood their could be some variation in color. He came back again to meet with the contractor working on my bathroom remodel to coordinate their activities. His son, Sean, manages the team that does the actual work. Sean was great! He also made sure I understood that they may not be able to remove all the stains on the floor (when we pulled the carpet up, it was bad underneath). His team worked hard to hand scrape the stairs and they are BEAUTIFUL - you wouldn't know they were a disaster a week ago. He was patient as I struggled to pick out a stain color and made sure I contemplated the lighting in the bedrooms and hallway. There was very little dust with their system. The floors look great and I would recommend them to anyone

I went through the Complaint Resolution Process through Angie's List and I recently received a full refund of $5,250 from Bill Kelly, the owner, for work done by his son, Shawn, and another worker.

The job started on Weds 8/26 and took about 2 hours. Shawn arrived right on schedule at 9:30 am and got right to work removing a number of screws embedded in the floor which my husband was unable to remove and then sanding the floor. He sealed the floor with a natural sealant before he left. The rest of the work was completed on Thurs 8/27 (about 1 hour). Shawn coated the floor with 2 coats of satin polyurethane.

They showed up on time, began working immediately. They had the entire floor patched, sanded, and the first finish coat down the first day of work! There was very, very little dust due to their sanding machine technology! This was nice. When doing the sanding they were good about getting right up next to the base board/wall so the finish had no gaps when completed. The second day they put down clear coat finish and the job was completed. I stayed out of the house for 3 days total giving the floors 1 full day to dry after they were completed. There was some odor from the finishes, but not overpowering at all. Overall, it was a very positive experience.

So after another company went bankrupt and screwed me out of $50,000 effectively killing the addition I had planned for my home I took a hard look at what I could afford to do to the house to update it and I decided one area that needed addressing was to fix the flooring. Since the other company screwed me and my money is now very limited I considered putting down a Laminate floor but when I examined the cost as compared to refinishing and repairing my 68 year old Oak flooring, the refinishing won hands down. And I now if I ever decide to sell I can put “Hardwood Floors Throughout” and earn a few more bucks on the sale price. My house was built in 1941 in the Norwood Park neighborhood of Chicago. The Oak floors were covered with carpet on the first floor when I moved here 27 years ago. I had pets (dogs and cats) that had “accidents” and a male Malamute that insisted on marking the downstairs bedroom relentlessly. The damage to the floors was severe but it turns out that 3/4” thick Oak planks are quite resilient. Some planks however had to be replaced.I called three companies to quote on repairing and refinishing some 900’ of Oak flooring. I selected Bill Kelly and City and Suburban Floor Sanding Company (C&S FSC )to do the job. I had received C&S FSC name from my niece after she saw their work at a friend’s house so I included them as one of the three companies to give quotes. Bill’s quote was $2700 to sand down and apply on sealer/stain coat and two coats of water based urethane to the flooring. Then there was $550 for the same treatment to 14 stair treads. Repairs to the animal and some insect damaged Oak planks were estimated at $580 and there were additional repairs discovered after the job started for $175. I scheduled them and it took a one week for them to start. Since I was doing the second floor also they worked with me and gave me plenty of time to move all the furniture out of the second floor bedrooms before they returned to finish the job. I also removed all the quarter round, thresholds and carpet. They didn’t ask me to but I took off all the doors in the areas they were working in for ease of access. They took three days to finish the downstairs and one day of that was spent doing the floor repairs and the stair treads. With no replacement of Oak planks on the second floor they finished the sanding and stain/sealing in one day and applied the two coats of urethane on the second day. The water based Urethane has no smell. But the Sealer/Stain is plenty stinky and you should ask to smell the sealer to verify if you want to live with this smell for a day. You can still smell it after a day but it’s not hard to deal with. However the first 8 to 10 hours after it’s put down it’s pretty harsh. It smells exactly like it does in the can. In summer of course this would not have been an issue at all because you could just open the windows. I would absolutely recommend C&S FSC to do any refinishing or repair.

They went above and beyond. I have already recommended them to friends.

We have worked with City and Suburban Flooring many times in the past and I have even served as a reference for new customers. The job, which was initially going to take two days, was happily completed in a few hours. When I checked the work after it was finished, the new flooring did not match the existing and it appears as though there is a white stripe down the center of my floor - see picture. When I called the owner to request that this issue be fixed, he said they performed the work as discussed and fixing it would cost another $300. Sadly, I can no longer recommend City and Suburban flooring and will have to spend more money to correct the problem.

I had left requests at several floor refinishing companies and this one not only called me back but called within an hour of when I left my initial message. Shawn arrived early for the job, did a fantastic job on the floor, and was also personable, warm and friendly. He was a wealth of knowledge and patient as I asked a number of questions regarding the possibility of changing a kitchen floor from one-piece flooring to hardwood. There was so little mess or dust, I was surprised and pleased.

Prompt response to my initial call. Arrived for estimate when scheduled. Estimate was within range of what I expected to pay. Work scheduled within one week. Mr. Kelly's son and one other worker completed the work over 4 days as promised. Both workers were friendly, courteous and helpful in explaining process and what the schedule would look like day to day while working in my home. It was a "dustless" process and I actually had very little dust anywhere else in the house during the sanding process. We were able to remain in house while refinishing took place with very little inconvenience. As I work out of my home, the noise from the sanding machine was the only issue but that was something I knew I would have to work around and planned my work calls accordingly. The floors look great and the finish seems to be very substantial. Any moisture that gets on floor beads up allowing us time to dry floor as needed before soaking into wood and causing wood damage.

Bill was incredibly responsive and professional, uses high quality products and equipment and came in with a reasonable bid. Unfortunately, we were not able to hire him due to a scheduling conflict {we were on a particularly tight time frame, and he did not think the work could be completed in time).

Excellent service and results! Bill provided a quote on a per square foot basis over the phone, came out and measured on Saturday and refinished the floors on Monday. The floors look great and the process was almost completely dust free (a little bit of dust on the baseboard near the work areas but nothing elsewhere in the house).

I get so tired of wasting time on service personnel who don't show or call when they say they will. For all I know, this guy's work might be top-notch, but I'll never know because I refuse to do business with someone who doesn't follow through. Sorry.

Bill Kelly, did an excellent job from answering my initial phone request, to making our floors look beautiful.

The company was prompt and meticulous. Our floors now look brand new. The prep and sanding was meticulous. You can't tell that the floors were refinished after the cabinets and molding were installed.

Work was done at the estimated cost and schedule. Work was performed very professionally, and no rework was required. Questions were readily answered with sufficient pro & con information given for decisions to be made. We were highly impressed with final product.

Bill and Sean did a great job from start to finish. There were never any surprises, they always arrived on time, were very professional and the floors look great! Also, we scratched one of the floors a few days after they were finished and they fixed it without charging extra and were very understanding. They also gave us some extra stain to use on our stairway railings at no extra charge.

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE! The foyer and entire floor looks great! They went above and beyond, even putting hardwood in the closet and replacing a board with a hole in it, that I forgot to ask them about beforehand. They did the work while we were on vacation, and worked around our schedule completely. We came back to absolutely beautiful floors. There was no dust, as promised (or so little, as it didn't matter), and they totally cleaned up after themselves. The new portion blends perfectly with the older portion. I dealt solely with Bill Kelly, who is impressively professional, punctual, and nice. By the way, this is the first time I used Angie's List to find a contractor, and I'm thrilled with the results.

WOW!! That's really all there is to say. My floor looks great. It looks like new and my floors are older than me!! There was only one problem, now the floor in my dining room really looks bad. Guess I will have to call City & Suburban Floor Sanding to refinish my dining room floor too!

We got 5 estimates for the work and his estimate was right in the middle. What clinched it for us was his professionalism and honesty. The work looked great when completed and the kitchen looked brand new. We had covered everything in plastic and he told us it was unnecessary and he was right. We did not find any dust anywhere when he was done. It was amazing. We had one mishap where we moved some furniture around afterwards and got a big scuff. We spoke to him about what he could and Bill agreed to add another coat at a very reasonable cost. Overall a very good experience. Bill was a pleasure to work with and talk to about this process.

They fully explained procedure and amount of time it would take. The workers showed up on time, completed the work with minimal dust, and we were walking on it in 24 hours. The floors look great.

VERY PROFESSIONAL, PROMPT, DEPENDABLE. I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE QUALITY OF WORK.

WERE VERY RESPONSIVE IN PROVIDING ESTIMATE AND WERE ABLE TO SCHEDULE ME VERY QUICKLY. THE FLOOR REFINISHER WAS VERY GOOD AT KEEPING ME UP-TO-DATE ON PROGRESS. THEY FINISHED ONE DAY LATER THAN EXPECTED DUE TO HUMIDITY. I AM VERY HAPPY WITH THE WORKMANSHIP - MY FLOORS DID NOT LOOK THIS GOOD WHEN I MOVED IN. THE ONLY PROBLEM I HAD WAS THAT THE COMPANY DID NOT SEND ME A CARE SHEET AS PROMISED.

ESTIMATOR WAS ON TIME AND POLITE; WORKERS WERE ON TIME (THE FIRST DAY, BUT ABOUT 2 HRS LATER THAN THEY ESTIMATED THE 2ND DAY) AND POLITE AND CLEANED UP AFTER THEMSELVES VERY WELL. IF I HAD ANY PROBLEM, IT WAS THAT THEY DID NOT LET ME KNOW THEY WOULD BE LATER THE SECOND DAY AND I HAD TO CALL THEM TO SEE WHERE THEY WERE; ALSO THEY DID NOT ADVISE ME HOW LONG EACH STEP WOULD TAKE, BUT MAYBE THAT WAS MY FAULT FOR NOT ASKING MORE QUESTIONS!!!

VERY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE. BILL WALKER RETURNED MY FIRST CALL PROMPTLY, AND GAVE US AN ESTIMATE THAT WAS QUITE LOWER THAN A COUPLE OTHERS WE HAD DONE. HE WAS ABLE TO SCHEDULE US WITHIN A WEEK OF OUR ESTIMATE--SOME PLACES I CALLED COULDN'T SCHEDULE US FOR A MONTH OR SO. HIS WORKERS, SEAN AND FELIX, WERE PROFESSIONAL, AND SEAN OFFERED TERRIFIC FEEDBACK ABOUT A STAIN COLOR WE WERE LOOKING FOR, USING HIS PAST EXPERIENCE WITH THE STAIN. THE FLOORS LOOK GREAT, THE PRICE WAS RIGHT AND EVERYONE WAS NICE AND PROFESSIONAL.

THE COMPANY DOES HIGH QUALITY WORK. WHEN THE WORK WAS DONE, BILLY KELLY CAME TO OUR HOUSE TO MAKE SURE WE WERE SATISFIED AND EXPLAINED HOW TO CARE FOR THE FLOORS. WE HAD A VERY TIGHT TIME FRAME AND THE COMPANY MET OUR DEADLINE. THEY WERE EXTREMELY NEAT AND EFFICIENT.