INDEPENDENT FLOORING INC

Everything about it was outstanding from start to finish!  There were certain aspects of the flooring that my husband and I couldn't quite agree on (go figure!) and they helped us out with great suggestions that we could both agree on.  Our house was built in 1951 so there were some issues with leveling and smoothing which they handled well.  Spencer is an artist when it comes to tile work.  HIghly recommend!

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The Work Itself:

Horrible. Chipped tiles in the showers. Chipped tiles on the fireplace hearth. Numerous chipped corners on the laminate flooring. Splintering on the edges of the laminate flooring.

Work Habits:

The owner underestimated the amount of materials needed and had to reorder, thus delaying completion, his workers periodically left the garage door open and doors unlocked and all the lights on when they left, they did not clean up after themselves, and many layers of dust permeated the house when they finished the job.

Deception:

They tried to cover up some cracked tile in the guest bath with something that looked like fingernail polish and also filled up other cracked tiles in the showers and on the fireplace hearth with grout, hoping we wouldn’t notice!. I’ve just recently discovered some of the flaws since it took time for the materials used to cover them up to wear off.

Unresolved Conflict:

We signed the contract with Independent Flooring on 9-5-12. The job was supposed to have been finished by 9-30-12 per the building permit. However, the crew did not finish until late October. Even then we could not move into the house because all the broken corners and splintering made the laminate floors too dangerous to walk on and for our grandchildren to crawl on. Not only that, but the floors could not be swept or mopped without additional splintering occurring.

The owner acknowledged that the laminate flooring needed to be replaced—he’d almost ripped off a fingernail when he ran his hand across it. But rather than replacing the flooring as we urged him to do, he kept stalling and shifting the blame for the chipped corners and splintering on Mannington, the manufacturer. Without our knowing it, he had filed a claim with Mannington on our behalf. When we found out, we told him that we had contracted with his company, Independent Flooring, to supply and install the flooring and therefore it was his responsibility to replace the flooring—not Mannington’s—and if he had an issue with Mannington then that was between him and Mannington.

Independent Flooring’s owner continued to stall however.

On 12-7-12, Mannington sent out an independent inspector to examine the floors and determine the cause of the defects. Their report confirmed that the flooring problems were caused by improper installation—it was not a manufacturing issue--and therefore it was Independent Flooring’s responsibility to make things right. We then told the owner we’d give him until 12-31-12 to either replace the laminate or reimburse us so we could hire someone else to do it.

January came, and the owner had still made no effort to make things right. We could not wait any longer to move forward because every day past the scheduled 9-30-12 completion date for the remodeling was costing us money that we simply didn’t have, which in turn caused me more and more stress. As a result, my health deteriorated to the point that my doctors told me I must resolve the issues causing my stress because it was killing me—literally.

So we hired Lowe’s to rip up and haul away the laminate that Independent Flooring had installed and to replace it with new laminate. The Lowe’s crew was extremely courteous and professional and had the work completed within three weeks.

After that, the owner called and told my husband he wanted to come by and pick up some more flawed boards to send to Mannington because he wanted to file the claim all over again. Another stalling tactic. My husband explained that we’d had Lowe’s replace the floors and haul off the former laminate and that we expected Independent Flooring to reimburse us for that expense.

The owner did promise that he would reimburse us, even if he had to borrow money to do so, but as of 6-30-14, he has still made no effort to pay us back.

The Total Monetary Cost:

Not only were we out the $16,000 we paid Independent Flooring, but we had to pay Lowe’s $7,872 to rip up and replace the laminate flooring with a similar product. But that’s not all. My husband and I were working in different cities and living separately in our small individually owned homes we’d lived in since before our recent marriage. We urgently needed to get into our new home (new as in new to us) so that we could rent out our old homes in order to pay the mortgage on our new home that we’d bought jointly. Lost rent and the extra utility and insurance bills we had to pay added up to approximately $2,900 a month, for four months.

Domino Effect: Nonmonetary Costs:

In addition to the toll the resulting stress took on my health, I had to work an additional year to pay for all that extra expense Independent Flooring was responsible for. In essence, the owner stole an entire year of my life from me.

What’s worse, never did he show compassion. Never did he apologize. Never did he make any genuine effort to repair the damage he caused.

I wish there were a way to warn everybody in the universe to avoid dealings with Independent Flooring. I’d hate for anybody else to have to go through the nightmare the owner put us through.

I telephoned Independent Flooring after noticing that a small area of the Laminate Flooring went bad, a year after they had installed it. Spencer Bazzell came out promptly to examine the flooring. He scheduled the replacement of the defective piece of Laminate just a few days after he had looked at it. He had to take up half the flooring in order to replace the defective piece. Plus he was also nice enough to move all the furniture out of the room to do the job, which is normally done by the customer. After he finished the job, he moved all the furniture back the way it was. I refer anyone who wants new carpet to contact Independent Flooring. They did an excellent job when they installed the flooring to start with, and I was surprised with their quick response to take care of my problem. And on top of everything, they didn't even charge me anything, that too was a blessing.
My name is Jim Wrye, I in live in Crestview and my phone number is (850) 683-0022 in case you want to contact me for more information on Independent Flooring.

This is the second time we have used this company. My wife and I couldn't have been pleased more. It turned out beautifully. I will definitely use them again when I get the upstairs recarpeted. I will gladly refer them to all my friends and to you. We live in Crestview, FL.

Excellent, would refer this company to anyone seeking professionals, quality, a fair price, and responsiveness.

This an excellent company. They were very timely and very professional with outstanding results. I will definetly use them again and I will refer them to my friends and neighbors.

I loved them, and they were great. I loved the guy Harland. I think he owns the place, and he was really nice and responsive. They did a good job, and they came when they said they would come. I got a lot done.

I looked at several flooring stores looking for a weathered driftwood look to go in my waterfront home that is decorated in light beach colors. When I went into Independent Flooring's store on Racetrack, Harlan knew just what I was looking for and showed me a sample and allowed me to take it home to view in the light at my house. The flooring was almost exactly what I wanted, and I knew I was not going to find what I was looking for without spending lots more money and time. Harlan promptly came to my home, measured, and gave me a quote that spelled out the cost for each phase of the job. He also explained the pros and cons of laminate versus real wood and the installation process. Because the majority of the work was being done on stairs, the price was much higher because of the cost of trim pieces and longer installation (this was pretty much the case at all the other flooring stores, as well). Harlan's son did the work (it is a family-owned business), and he did an outstanding job--arrived at the time he said he would be there, and worked long and hard while he was on the job. There were a couple of problem spots in my home (it is old), but Spencer quickly came up with viable solutions. Spencer matched the grain of the pieces everywhere that he could and the finished product is lovely.

The communication with everyone at the store, and Spencer, was very comfortable and productive. This was one of the smoothest transactions and best outcomes I've ever had while doing home improvements. I highly recommend Independent Flooring.