Majestic Hardwood Floors

A buddy at work referred me to Mike Bowman and told me he did hardwood floors for the Taubman's (builders of Oakland mall and various other malls in the metro area) so I assumed he was reputable. I had recently moved and needed the floors redone in my previous home to get it ready to rent. When I pulled up the carpet, the original hardwood floors had deep stain spots. I had sanded and stained the living room 5 years before but had not found the time to refinish the 1st floor bedrooms myself. The original idea was to refinish the whole 1st floor. I wanted an estimate on a professional invoice and expressed my desires to Mike. He drew up the estimate on a blank piece of paper and said he would email me a copy but never did. That should've been a red flag to me, but I assumed that once the job was done, I would get the official invoice. That never happened. In my estimation, no professional contractor draws up an estimate on a blank sheet of paper. All I have is the bank record that the check was cashed. It turns out that there were stains soaked deep into the original hardwood floors that couldn't be sanded out because they had soaked in too deep, and Mike suggested that it would be better to put in laminate floors because it was more cost effective and would look better -which it did. Initially, I was pleased with the job. But, three weeks after installation, the floor bowed up right smack dab in the middle of the hallway roughly 2 inches vertically. I called him right when I saw it and he gave me the runaround. I had already paid him so he had no incentive to fix the problem. Initially he blamed it on the humidity as it was the height of the summer. I spent $250 on a dehumidifier but the problem didn't go away. Mike was worried that if he trimmed back the wood, the problem would manifest itself somewhere else. Nothing has been done. The floor is still bowed up in the middle of the winter and I am a dissatisfied customer. At this time, I don't recommend this contractor.