A & B HARDWOOD FLOORING INC
About us
A&B Hardwood Flooring prides itself on being a third generation family operated business. We plan on continuing the craft of perfecting wood floors into a fourth generation. We are proudly a member of the Aligned Contractor of Excellence Program, the National Wood Flooring Association, and the Better Business Bureau. We are committed to providing our customers with the classic beauty and warmth that hardwood floors brings to the home or office. If you are already familiar with the ageless beauty of a wood floor, then you can attest to how maintenance free wood truly is.
Services we offer
Install, stain and finish hardwood flooring. Nail-down and glue-down in unfinished and prefinished woods.
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 33% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 33% | ||
| 33% |
Scenario: We had just bought our home and aimed to do an extensive remodeling ahead of moving in our stuff. Barry indicated that this could be accomplished in the eleven days between closing and the arrival of the moving van. We were prepared to enter into a contract before the closing, as we had with the painter (A New Leaf). The painter even called A&B to coordinate the work, but he got no response.
Experience: The good: The floors turned out beautifully; the minor fixes were done promptly and there was virtually no dust in the finishing process.
The other: We ended up having to live in our home while A&B did their work, which meant moving furniture and boxes and staying in boxes longer than would have been the case had the company done what they said they would do when Barry mad the sale. I asked that the work be staged over two phases so that we could lead somewhat normal lives. Rich had other ideas, so his guys moved things out of their way and into ours. They promised to return to put the furniture back in place once the job was finished, but that promise went unfulfilled like so many others. Another example was a promise to finish removing carpeting and padding from one of the rooms A&B was preparing for new flooring, noting that their truck was too full to take it all. When they didn't return, Mercury Carpet and Flooring (who care about both your floors and you) removed A&B's scraps without hesitation or fuss. Throughout, A&B's idea of scheduling was to call the day before they had decided to do their next stage of work to tell us they were coming--no courtesies such as "will this work for you?" The final two stages of finish work were done on a weekend--again their mandate. By this time, we were so eager to be rid of them that we accommodated without complaint. We were given 0800 for Saturday and it was strongly suggested that we vacate in order to avoid the noxious fumes. For Sunday, we were first given an 0900 start, around which we planned our day. That evening the contractor informed via text message that he would prefer to start at 8 again. When I pushed back reminding him of his 0900 commitment, he said he'd really rather start at 8. Barry made the sale and Rich managed the work. Whenever I called Rich to learn were we stood, he was blunt bordering on rude. There's more but I will stop here, because I've no wish to punish.
Why would I hire them again? For two reasons: They did the original floor and were the only ones who could match the custom finish. The quality of the work is outstanding.
Oh, one more thing...the last time Rich called it was to ask to be paid, not to ask if we were happy with the work. I paid him on the phone using a credit card and asked if we could have a quart of a version of the stain used on the floors that would work to give us a match on birch beadboard. He said he'd think about it. That was more than a week ago.
However, the service provided by A&B was enough to make me pull my hair out. It appears to be a VERY POORLY run company. The son on the owner (CA) seems to be the main person in charge (although we did work with the brother of the owner by phone generally) and CA is very nice but seems completely inept at customer service and follow-up. The intial service person who came out to do some repairs was completely unreliable, appeared to be in a hurry each time, and slopped glue up the wall in the kitchen. He was let go fortunately as I would not have allowed him in our home to finish the job. I would leave many messages for CA when the workmen (not Gary or Mr. Knuckles) didn't show and would not hear back for 2-3 days (if ever). Even the brother of the owner had a hard time tracking CA down when I would call. I am a full time professional, so wasting time to make the follow-up calls was more than annoying. It also seemed that they had too many jobs going on at once. Mr. Knuckles had to leave to do a big job down in south Florida before our home was finished so CA had to come and get the job done. This took OVER a month to finish these details and we had to keep calling because the stain wouldn't match or he forgot to do the door thresholds. The last straw was when I called and asked what amount needed to be charged to my Visa (I was holding back the last payment until it was completely finished) and was told I had 0 balance. I was surprised but then I found out that CA had gone ahead and run my credit card - I didn't know they had kept my card on file as I had not authorized them to do so. I did write a letter to the owner last September outlining all the difficulties we encountered. I heard nary a word back, no phone call or anything.
For the money we were paying and their reputation, I expected top rate service. I had 2 other quotes that were several thousand dollars cheaper but went with A&B because of their (previous) reputation. I told our interior designer our saga and told her we would not recommend A&B to anyone.
"We are happy to hear that the customer was happy with the installation and work performed and unfortunately issues out of our control caused the job to take longer. From the beginning the customer was informed that due to the water damage and patch weave to repair that issue it would take time between each phase. The original plan was to remove the damaged wood and patch in the end of May 2012, install the new wood in beginning of Aug followed by sanding at the end of August. The damaged area had to be removed and allowed to dry completely before the new wood could be properly installed. This particular customers subfloor was very wet under the patch with moister readings at 20%. If we were to install the new floor in the time frame preferred by the homeowner within a week the floor would begin to buckle and cup and just need to be replaced again. Also, the new floor must have several days to a week for the glue to dry once installed before the sanding process can begin. As far as the color issues as explained in the signed contract and in person new wood will never match old wood exactly due to age. We do our best to make the color as close as possible by sometimes time and the aging process are the only way to get it perfect which is why that note was included on the customers proposal which is signed and dated prior to any work being preformed. Some peoples expectations of matching a color and differences in grain are unrealistic, it is a natural fiber and will always have variation. We are a small family business which means all of the work and phone calls are handled by family. It is not possible to answer a phone while sanding or installing a floor but every call is returned. No letter siting any issues from this customer was ever received, not by email, snail mail, or fax. If it were we would have gladly attempted to make any wrongs right."
They sent the final invoice 2 days "before" they were off the site and had the nerve to call me 4 days later and ask where the check was. YES, 4 DAYS later!
In the end I had to pay a painter $300.00 to finish the caulking and repaint the baseboards.
This company was a big mistake! Not recommended.
"This customers flooring job usually takes about 3 days as he was told. However, as the customer was informed once his job was started and the carpet was removed an extensive amount of floor prep was needed to level the horrible subfloor in order to do a proper and correct install. One area in particular needed 2 inches of prep to fill a large hole in the subfloor. Due to these unforeseen issues the job took longer to complete as we then had to wait three days for the prep to dry out completely before starting the installation. The "excuses" he is referring to are the facts of the matter. This customers job is not the only job that our company had going and he was not the first stop for our employees on Monday which is why they arrived later in the day. The subfloor was checked everyday with a moister meter until the readings stated the prep was dry and ready to lay the flooring. As stated on the customers signed and dated proposal any shoe mold or patch to concrete required but not listed would be in addition to the contract, neither were included on the proposal and both were provided at no addition cost. We completed his job in 6 days, working on Saturday to get the floor done as quickly as possible with the issues that were out of our control. We have never run out of chalk on a job and we were told by the customer that he was having a painter come in after we completed to paint the baseboards and shoemold prior to even starting the job. Our proposal states that final payment is due upon completion which is why our invoices are mailed prior to completion and are then able to be paid when due. Finally, no mention of any stucco damage was reported and there for not addressed. If any of these issues would have been mentioned to our company we would have gladly tried to make them right."
"First, we are happy to hear and see that the customer was happy with our work. We do use a few of sub contractors for our work if needed, most of which are family. Because most neighborhoods in our area do not allow "lettered" work trucks after hours we often use magnetic signs that can be removed if needed to get around this problem and work longer. The $225 extra charge was not to install one extra threshold it was to patch 150' and blend sand and finish 75' along with install the threshold. Also, the wood, paper, polyurethane & etc needed to complete this customers job cost more than $4,500 so the sub that made the comment must not have a clue about how much that kind of wood flooring job costs. We know we are not usually the cheapest but we are the best which is why we been in business for over 30 yrs."
"If we were professional and friendly we should be be given an F for professionalism."
Licensing
State Contractor License Requirements
All statements concerning insurance, licenses, and bonds are informational only, and are self-reported. Since insurance, licenses and bonds can expire and can be cancelled, homeowners should always check such information for themselves. To find more licensing information for your state, visit our Find Licensing Requirements page.
*Contact business to see additional licenses.
FAQ
Contact Information
1184 Mill Creek Dr, Saint Johns, FL 32259
Get our Angi-powered app
