Gardner Floor Covering

I purchased some in-stock wood look, waterproof linoleum product that is really nice looking and warms up the room, at a nice price. Installation was impeccable. Included a large living room, a small bedroom, and a hall. Further, I needed custom baseboard I had ordered elsewhere installed in some tricky situations, and Jantzen sent a nice finish carpenter type person who did an excellent job. Also, the latter genius solved an issue with my fancy smart-lock on my front door.

What was great for so long is now gone. I am a 3rd generation Gardner Floor customer. And this was a return visit for me. I bought my condo in 2009, had them replace wall to wall carpeting upstairs and downstairs. Process was seamless from choosing the carpet, to getting it done on time, and the installer was FANTASTIC. Did an impeccable job, and even went above and beyond fixing the floors underneath......so when I decided to replace the linoleum it was a no brainer who I would hire. I already knew what flooring I wanted, they could get it and I got an estimate that was a bit over my budget. I opted to remove my existing flooring myself, and have them install the new vinyl and baseboards. While I made the decision, my rep moved out of the state.....and then everything started to fall apart. I had already put half the estimate down for a deposit (the estimate that included them removing the flooring, and removing/replacing appliances and toilet). Then the new rep I was assigned wanted to come by and look at my place to make sure everything was as the previous rep had described and measured. So we made an apt to have him come look. And he didn't show up. When I called the office asking where he was, he was there and "forgot" about our appointment. When he showed up, no apology. He was pleasant enough and answered my questions, confirmed they would replace the appliances and toilet after the flooring install, so I decided to go ahead with the project. Worst mistake of my life. He was to return the week before the project to drop off baseboards for me to paint, but again didn't show up when he was supposed to. Again no apology. I called and asked for a different rep, and was told I would work directly with the new owner, Matt. I didn't see Matt until the second day of the install, after I found a lot of problems with the vinyl strips that were laid the day before. I tried to show the installer the problems I had found that first night (actually a visitor noticed it right away too) but he tried to convince me they are supposed to have huge gaps between them (in a kitchen, laundry and bathroom???? So crumbs and water can get under???), and the owner, Matt, showed up and would not look at what I was concerned about, just was flat out rude (mind you we had not met yet) and I heard he and the installer talking bad about me in my garage as I went to make a call. I had to call someone over emergently to help me get the installer and owner to actually look at my floors to see where the issue was, and it was only after this person I called as a witness was pointing out problems that Matt finally looked down (2 hours later) and saw the gaps, and then asked the installer to push the strips together. The different colors that were laid downstairs apparently had a manufacture defect in them as well and they had to order a new lot...which took 5 weeks to get in. I walked on a sticky dirty concrete floor downstairs for 5 weeks, with no toilet installed. When the installer showed up to replace and finish downstairs then, he was attentive to put the tiles close together but then installed the base boards like he had never done it before (he did the upstairs 5 weeks prior). The corners were jagged, and he didn't fill any nail holes like he did upstairs (which was sloppy but at least was done). When I asked him if he was going to, he said "no. Just dab a little paint in there and no one will notice". He practically ran out the door at 2pm, not giving me time to inspect and I asked him to make sure the owner (who I guess was my rep) to contact me to follow up and to pay the final owed amount. The installer replaced the toilet and left glue all over it, all over my fridge, all over the floors (took me 2 days scrubbing on my hands and knees with paint thinner to get the glue off), used bolts on the toilet that were too long to put a cover on (the originals were on the counter in the bathroom), half hung my doors (left some hinges out), replaced 2 carpet tacks without puling the carpet tight with a kicker (one doesn't even have the carpet even attached in it!!!!!!) and trimmed some baseboards to fit under cabinets lengthwise leaving the jagged edge against the floor. AWFUL! He could have told me they were too wide, I could have sanded them and painted them for a smooth edge. I had to glue down several tiles that were lifting, some didn't seem to have glue under them. The work looked like a toddler did it. So much for a professional. And I didn't get a follow up from Matt like I had asked, instead I got a bill A MONTH LATER that INCLUDED the charge for the removal of the floors I did myself with a tiny " discount" for having to live without floors for 5 weeks. When I complained the job was not complete nor was the bill accurate I got met with more rudeness, no desire to fix the job to my satisfaction, and a lot of excuses. "we don't normally reinstall toilets. Would you want a plumber installing your floors?" Apparently this installer's poor quality work is the new standard at Gardner He could do nothing wrong! Even the carpet not in the tack was something he didn't want to fix. I probably should have hired a plumber to do my floors. HE could have done a better job!!!!!

Did not have them do the work.

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They gave us a reasonable price and worked with our tight schedule to get it done. The installers did a high quality job and we are very happy with the carpet.

The person who came out was friendly (perhaps a little curt, but respectful) and professional. He looked things over carefully and said that it wouldn't be a problem and he would provide a quote shortly. I asked what the range would be (roughly) and he indicated between $200 and $300. That's reasonable. When the quote came it was for more than $400 and had no detail beyond the total. That was surprising, but not out of the realm of doable. What really killed the deal was when I asked about the difference (I asked if I could get a line-item quote). The salesperson indicated that they don't provide detailed quotes - just quotes for the whole job. I pushed back and said that I would need some reason for the increase in cost. Quite honestly, ANY reason would have done - even if they said something like "you live way out of town and the opportunity cost is high, given other work we have on our schedule." Any honest answer would have made me happy. They ignored my e-mail. I will not request services from this company again; that is not how I choose to do business. I quickly found another provider who happily (and very competently) did the repairs within that original $200 - $300 range.

Gardner's is about to be the best in the area. They did a super job. We met and kept what we wanted. They did a great job and I can't see anything bad. We liked them. They have very high quality stuff and their employees are very constable and very informative. They did a pretty good job.

They were awesome. They were wonderful. The quality of work was exceptional. They were here every time we wanted them to be. They were always here ahead of time and the work they did was exceptional.

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I've used them before, and should have contacted them first this time, too! The project manager, Jantzen, does a great job of including everything in the estimates he gives. Everything went just as planned, no surprises!