HO'S HARDWOOD FLOORING

I can’t speak to the quality of the work they do, but I can speak to the level of professionalism. Our landlord hired this company to polyurethane the stairwell leading to the 2nd and 3rd floor apartments. I have a newborn baby and was worried about fumes so I sealed off our doors leading to the stairwell. I also locked the doors. One morning I was walking undressed through the apartment getting ready to feed my baby when one of the workers broke in through my LOCKED & sealed door because he wanted to plug in his sander. He kept trying to talk to me despite my repeated pleas asking him to leave as I tried to cover myself. He then still continued to walk further into my apartment and plug in his tool right next to my baby’s swing! The landlord had an outdoor outlet for them to use and had he contacted the landlord instead of BREAKING INTO MY APARTMENT he would’ve known that. Who does that?! It’s unbelievable that someone would do that. Professional? Not even close! Had my baby been in the room I would’ve been livid. Had we not been home and I’d seen someone broke through my sealed door I would’ve called the police. It’s insane. I am still shocked.

I called J. Ho on Monday and he came out Tuesday to look a the job. I needed the floors done as soon as possible, and Mr. Ho was able to do the job on Friday. They came back Saturday to do a 2nd coat. The floor looks beautiful, and they patched the hole in the floor for an extra $30.00. You cannot tell there was ever a hole. They did an outstanding job at a great price.

The crew did a great job with the floors. The work was beautiful and meticulous. The crew kept things very clean, and did excellent work overall. The price was unbeatable and we were thrilled with the results. The only downside is that the times the workmen gave to show up and begin are approximate and generally off by about 40 minutes. This was not such a problem for us, as our schedules were flexible and the work was so well done, we were very happy with the end result. They did start and end on the days that they originally outlined, so the general timeframe was consistent with the estimate. We would definitely work with them again, and just build an extra hour into our schedules. 

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They pretty much come in, do the work and get out. They are prompt. After they sanded, they did not vacuum away the dust, and so there was all this dust for us to take care of. We wanted a high quality finish, because our wood is soft, but they used a long drying one, and so we still have smell lingering because it is winter, and it takes longer to dry. The pricing is rock bottom, but you don't get any frills. They were very responsive, and very punctual. There are no marks for having people on your crew who don't speak English very well.

It turned out fine. On some of the floors, they left dust or hair in the finish, so we weren't happy about that. Also, they left very rough sand marks along the floorboards, so we were not happy about that either.

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We called Ho because he had done a good job on my mother in laws home 5 years ago.
What went right:
1) Flooring arrived on time and in good condition.
2) His layout and how to resolve simple problems, such as not quite square corners, was good.
3) He had the lowest bid on the job
What went wrong:
1) Him and his workers were never on time to start work; 2-4 hrs late.
2) The communication between him, his workers and ourselves was always strained. When we were able to overcome the language barrier, we were made to feel as if we were bothering him. For example: Calling and asking if they were on their way when they were late or asking his workers when they would be back the next day and them saying, "Call our boss."
3) The quality was standard at best. He had to be reminded to use screw nails instead of standard nails to secure the subfloor. The finishing was done over the course of 2 days, understandably, but there were brush hairs left in the finish on the stairs. We found a bee stuck to the floor after he left (most likely let in when they had left the door open).
What we learned: Never go cheap again.

We called and left a message about the job. The owner showed up when he said he would, gave us an estimate on the spot after looking over the floor and pointing out that water damage would not be removed by the sanding. He said they could start with one week's notice, that it would take three days and we should just call him if we wanted him to do the job. We got other estimates, but we liked our interactions with this company and felt that we could trust them to do the job they promised. As it turned out, we had to postpone the start day of the job a couple of times due to other work being done on our house at the same time. It was easy to reschedule and they were very willing to work within our time frame. They showed up on time, sanded the floor and put down one coat of poly on the first day.
Subsequent days went equally as smoothly and they were finished on the third day, as promised. In all, they were courteous, prompt, responsive and did a very good job.

James and his crew showed up on time, they tore up some vinyl tiles glued to hardwood and sanded 4 floors. They were polite, quick and cleaned up after themselves. Would hire this company again!

Unlike other refinishing places, James responded immediately to give an estimate, showed up on time, and stayed true to his price, which was the lowest offered. I was a little dubious of the low price, but he and his team did an excellent job. Better yet, they started on time and finished on time which was important because we had to move out of the house to have the work done. There was virtually no dust left behind because they did an excellent good job of covering the fixtures. One small section of the floor had to be repaired, which they did and now you can't even tell there was once a hole there. Nice work, would use them again.

He was very prompt. He did the work on time.

We bought a bank owned property in Somerville in August, the place was a mess, the floors were smelly and disgusting.

I had a general contractor that I had been dealing with tell me the hardwood floors needed to be replaced and there was no way refinishing would improve them significantly. Not having the money to replace them I decided it would be better to have them refinished knowing they may still not look that good.

I looked on Angie's list and found Ho, he showed up right after I called and told me they would come up nice, maybe have some shadows still as a result of years of rugs being in certain places and being sun stained.

When he finished my wife and I were stunned. Some of the floors that had stains all over them were transformed into brand new floors. the work he did was exceptional. I had that same contractor ask me who did my floors as he wanted to use Ho as a sub in similar situations to mine. I have done many home remodeling projects over the years and I can truly say that $1700 I spent was the best $1700 I have ever spent on any project, it truly tranformed the house into something we could live in.

Only down side is Ho does not speak the best english, but it works out if you make sure you both understood each other. Also, he does not use the "dustless" sanders so there is some dust left behind, they cleaned up most of it but when you are taking off what they took off it is impossible to get everything.

In closing, Ho is honest and a man of his word. He works hard and he far exceeded my expectations.

The job was completed on time and the price was great. There was a bit of sand dust left but James and his workers wiped down the effected surfaces after we asked them. The sanding and the final coat on the edges was not done very well as it was very grainy. Overall job was done well.

The whole reason I went with Ho's is because of the quote given to me and the reports on Angie's list. The two workers would arrive the two days scheduled about half hour to forty minutes late and communication was difficult because they did not speak a lot of english. There was mis communication occurring between me and Mr. Ho, which caused aggravation upon my part. I understood that the polyurethane coat was going to be laid on the next day. But because we decided to wait on refinishing the other section of our home, they were going to place the first coat that same day. I was not aware that the coat was going to be put on, and my wife stayed in the bed room with my 11 month old son. She realized that there was a strong smell coming into the bedroom and when she came out to ask the workers question upon the chemical being harmful to our son, they were gone. I was upset to know this when I got home that evening. They left my door wide open, and did not inform my wife that they were done for the day. They do not pay attention to detail as well on certain spots on our dining room hardwood. I had no issues if it came to having to replace a section on the floor, if need be. The worker just told me, that the sanding will take care of the moisture damage. It didn't. So when I called Mr. Ho to inform him of my concerns, the next day the couple of hardwood were replaced. The overall work was fair. The price was great, but I do feel that you get what you pay for.

The finished product is beautiful. Request 3 coats, really makes a difference.

Excellent price and work. There were a couple things I wasn’t thrilled with, but overall it was an excellent experience. There was a language barrier which made communication with him difficult, but he was attentive and always made sure he got it. He did this work for $3,000.00 less than 3 other companies I was looking at.

Overall the guys came out and did what was ordered. On the first day, two guys came out to sand the first floor, and apply the first coat. At the same time they buffed the second floor and applied the polyurethane. We just finished painting the walls, so I had few spots with paint on the floor. I was under the imprecation that the buff will take those spots out, and the coat will get applied on clean wood. Just in case that the worker will miss the spots, I specifically pointed out to them the spats, so that they are sure to take them out during buffing. On the next day, a different crew came out to finish the firs floor. When I inspected the upstairs, those little drips of paint still were there, but now are covered by varnish. Not Cool!!!. The paint was red and blue. So I showed the problem to the second crew, and they started scraping the floor, and trying to take the spots out. They did made it better, but defiantly left a lot of the paint on the floor. At the end of the job, they did leave few spots on the first floor that could have been done much better, but they were working very fast and not paying attention to details. I am not reducing a lot of points, since I did not pay a premium rate. I got what I payed for. If you want a perfect job, look somewhere else, but also prepare to pay more.

He was extraordinarily inexpensive and he did a great job. I was very happy with his work.

James responded quickly to my call and agreed to do the job, giving me an estimate immediately. We had a bad moment when it appeared Mr. Ho hadn't noted the exact date for the work, which was not flexible on my side since my daughter's family had already planned their day to move in soon afterwards. Mr. Ho was able to readjust his schedule and got the work done promptly and neatly. It looked great!

James and the crew did a great job. They sanded and applied three coats on the floor. We’re satisfied with their work.

The install work was fantastic, and the sanding/refinishing looks great. In three days he completely transformed my house! The only drawback was that he was somewhat late showing up with the wood delivery and for our estimate appointment. Very minor considering issues considering the value and quality of the work he (and his crew) did in my house.