Friends & Family Flooring

I contracted Friends and Family to do two floors of my house. Refinishing the hardwood on the first floor, installing and finishing stair treads, and carpet and LVP on the upper floor. Overall I was pretty happy with the outcome. However, I left them with many many linear feet of original wood floor from other parts of the house that I wanted to re-use for some repairs that were needed. They told me most of it was not useable and charged me for new boards that they filled in with. Those old boards have since been installed by another company in a friends house and are beautiful. But most offensively, and the reason I will never recommend this place is how disrespectful they have been about an issue that they created. The company was hired to install the treads and risers on a staircase then install LVP on the upper floor. Well, they lost the LVP stair nose so they glued down a mis-matched piece of transition while they waited for the replacement. FOUR MONTHS LATER after repeated calls to our rep Stuart, the missing part showed up on my porch with no note and no one to install it. Then after many more months of trying to get someone to come finish the work, I’ve been told by the office guy Jessie, who didn’t know how it was supposed to be installed, that the contractor put the riser in wrong and they can’t do anything about it. Welp, Friends and Family put the riser in and now they don’t seem to know how to fix it so they’re pawning it off on the contractor. So, now, a full 14 months after the job was supposed to be done, my stair transition looks like absolute garbage and I can’t do anything about it without buying new floor and hiring a new company to come fix this clowns shoddy work. I paid a lot of money for this job, now I’m angry every time I walk into my bedroom, don’t make the same mistake. (Two pictures of what it looks like now with the mismatched strip nailed back on, one of the stair nose piece not matching up to where they ended the flooring and me needing to replace those floor boards)

Overall, it was a good job. The installers were prompt and courteous and completed three bedrooms of flooring in one day. They consulted with me about the type of threshold needed for one of the room transitions. While it was a good job, what kept it from being a great job was cutting a few corners on the edges of the rooms (left gaps between the wall and the flooring that weren't covered by the edge molding) and carelessness by one of the installers, who made dents in the new floor when he dropped his installation tools on the new floor. This installer didn't always join the floorboards together well either, leaving some gaps and bumps in the finished floor. I would recommend them with the caveat that you need to supervise them and insist they consult you on their installation decisions.

BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY! This was one of the worst experiences I have ever had with a contractor. This company has been extremely rude and insulting to me because I have complained regarding their installation work and have questioned the quality of products that they used. I see they have another review section here which I will also post in so that customers will be warned of what happened to me. I am going to summarize what my experience has been but you can read all the details on the BBB website. Their sales person came to my home and recommended the flooring for my porch. When they came to install the flooring, it was raining and my concrete floor was wet from a bleach solution I used to kill the mold found under the old flooring. They tried drying the floor with a fan for two hours even though I asked them that it would be better for them to come back when the floor was completely dry. They sprayed glue on the concrete floor and started putting down cork sheets but did not tape them as I was told they would do. They laid the floor on top of that. I was not happy with how the floor looked as I was told it would look like marble but because they did not follow any pattern, so it looks like random Tile. Also they cut into one of the pieces of tile with one of their knives and I was not happy with the finished work and started noticing very soon that the floor was scratching and denting plus had an odor. I specifically asked for a non-fuming floor, as this area also serves as a play area for my grandchildren. I have repeatedly asked them for the USA contact information for the flooring company (product made in China and no paperwork was provided showing warranty info or anything else they claimed), information on the corking material or glue used, which they have refused to give me. They have been rude and insulting to me on numerous occasions, and I have found that their customer service skills are horrific. I am also going to file a complaint with the Maryland home improvement commission. They have been hounding me to pay the complete bill, but I told them with all the problems I am going to have to hire an independent flooring expert which is what I’ve been advised to do. I have consulted with other phone companies who not ever heard of the flooring material Company from China. One of the first things brought up to my attention was the fact that they failed to use a vapor barrier which is necessary if you have moisture issues which I have in that area. It was told me that the cork will get moldy and I will have to have the whole floor pulled up and replaced. Also I have been told that the glue will not hold the cork material not only because of the moisture but because of the temperature issues on the porch. They knew all of this and yet they failed to install this floor properly. I have sent them numerous emails requesting information which they have refused to provide. They insulted me numerous times trying to intimidate me to pay the bill in full. They have been anything but friendly or professional, and due to their rudeness I do not want them in my home ever again. I have also been told that they installed the wrong material for this area as there is a lot of movement from rocking chairs and rolling chairs and that it’s going to disengage the tile which clicks when something goes over it. Also it is scratching i’m not wearing well at all for Only being installed one month they said the floor has a 10 year warranty but what good is a warranty if the company is in China and doesn’t have a USA office. No other flooring company I have called has ever heard of this company or flooring product. I would recommend calling anyone else but not this company. Thank you

Friends & Family Flooring installed new wood flooring throughout our home. From start to finish, they were professional, reliable, and thorough. The finished product is just beautiful. We would highly recommend them!

We are very pleased with the job. We found the cost reasonable. Ronald was very accommodating and knowledgeable about the process. He and his two helpers worked efficiently and quickly with attention to details. They put dust covers on everything, so the dust residue was minimal.

Very professional and got the work done very quickly. The price was reasonable and competitive as well. They were able to match the flooring upstairs to that on the main floor (the person we bought the house from refinished those floors 1-2 years ago).

Everything went well. Very hard workers.

I’d highly recommend FRIENDS & FAMILY FLOORING to my real estate clients, neighbors, friends, and others looking for a top notch local Maryland business who makes your flooring needs and satisfaction their own. Steve Rados and their various install teams that completed our projects all were outstanding, and conveyed a consistent customer service ethic and attention to detail, particularly when it was necessary to make a few revisions to work completed. We interviewed several providers ranging greatly in price and their recommendations. Steve went above and beyond our expectations in taking the time to really understand our flooring needs, with a specific regard for balancing cost-effective suggestions that met our environmental sustainability preferences and need for enhancing the aesthetic of our home with flooring that is both functional and durable. In addition, I liked that Steve was available to speak with directly, and ensured that our process from beginning to end was smooth and to our satisfaction - that was really unique among other vendors we chose for our remodel. Excellent small business and definitely recommend!

They were very respectful and responsible when it came to the rules my property manager enforced. The quality of the work was excellent. They were very prompt. I would and have recommend them to my friends.

Appointment was made and they arrived right on time. Placed me quickly on the calendar and was given priority. They repaired existing carpeting which was pulled up for repairs in the basement.
They did a great job.

We don't believe that we've worked with a service provider in our professional or personal life that has shown so little ownership and accountability. Steve was haphazard in returning calls at the start of the project and scheduling his and quot;specialistand quot; to come look at the floors also took considerable time. The guys who installed the floor, we assume they were subcontractors as the van identified them as a company other than Friends and Family, came on site, they installed the floors leaving more than a 1/8 gap between the height of the new floor and the existing floor. The installers put int the floor and left our house without saying anything to us about it even though we were home the entire time.
When we spoke to Steve about it, he didn't volunteer to come and look at the work performed but rather had his assistant send us an updated invoice with an additional $2,000 charge. Steve didn't come and look at the floor, didn't apologize for the floor, didn't say that the installers should have called him with this issue. Steve just said that now the floors would need to be sanded and passed the entire cost to us. We had discussed with Steve before the project began as to whether sanding the floors would be necessary and he came out to the house - with the installers who appeared to have the expertise - to make this particular determination and said that the floors would not need to be sanded. A new invoice was sent immediately. Just an invoice. It's only when we expressed our disapproval that Steve offered the minor gesture of picking up the cost of a box or two of wood installed. We have doubts that four boxes of wood were even used as he suggested.
We were moving and had left the area but we came back to take a look at the sanding and finishing job, and we were disappointed again. The subcontractors Steve hired, sanded down the floors and exposed the considerable gaps between the new boards they installed. We are not sure if this was a measurement or installation issue, but it looked awful. Again, this was not brought to our attention. When we called to speak to Steve about it, he said he would have someone come back to install some wood putty. Putting aside any concern about the number of gaps evident after a professional installation, we were disappointed that this was not brought to our attention and taken care of. We moved across the country and have not come back another time to see how well, or how poorly, this work was done. We are not hopeful.
To make matters worse, one day after the work was supposedly complete - we never got to see the final job - Steve called us to ask for payment and then immediately followed up with an email indicating that we hadn't paid the remaining balance owed. However, we called to make payment that same day and no one was in the office. As it is detailed above, we communicated with hime throughout the process but we also emailed him at the end expressing our disappointment. He responded by email saying and quot;sometimes a person needs to hear this.and quot; There was no offer for a reduction in the fee or any efforts to make it right. We paid Steve in full but please don't use his service. We completed a $65,000 kitchen remodel and used wonderful contractors - he was the lone exception.

The price was fair. I think they were very good. They also installed flooring downstairs that just got completed a few weeks ago, which was also a good experience. The workers were knowledgeable, efficient and polite.

They were prompt in responding and showing up for an estimate. They offered about $1900 for the entire house refinishing which I nearly fainted (I am a first-time homeowner) but Steven was honest-- he offered options to remove to save ourselves money-- such as doing the stairs ourselves. Saved us $500. They worked with our dates because we had a very small window to refinish, move in, and live-in and especially when it was Thanksgiving and they were glad to work through the holiday (THANK YOU) and had the floors completed within three days. They did give us advices on how to be careful with the floors curing with our furniture moved in (e.g. no shoes on, use felt pads on all furnitures). I thought Steven was a nice and honest fella and he knew and respected our budget. He worked with our methods of communication (email and text only). The workers showed on time on every day and finished earlier on the third day which was great. The floors took a week to be fully cured. We are definitely satisfied with their job-- they worked around our radiators and worked their way into little nooks of our old house. We might call them out again for the staircase. :-) should've just gone ahead with the full house refinishing.

Went very well.

Friends and Family did a great job. They were upfront about possibly not being able to get some of the water stains out of the wood so we were pleasantly surprised when they were able to sand it right out. They took good care of the house, cleaned up after themselves, and the floors look amazing. We could not be happier.