Bob Sidoti Floors Inc

Bob Sidoti and his team did a beautiful job refinishing my 100 year old floors. They were prompt and professional. They answered all of my many questions before and during the process. They gave me excellent advise on color and finish on the two different types of wood. It truly was dustless. The end product is gorgeous!

Disappointed and would not recommend or use Sidoti again.  Loose ends never closed on the finish work, lack of responsiveness fixing mistakes, and a doesn't-seem-to-care attitude after the job was done marred what could otherwise have been good work.
I contacted Bob in mid-June to ask about his services and get an estimate for refinishing the floors in a house we were purchasing.  Things started off OK -- Bob seemed like a good guy on the phone, knowledgeable and plenty experienced in his craft, and based on talking to him and some good reviews I'd read I felt reasonably confident considering him for the job.  I got 3 estimates before we had possession of the house.  Bob's came in in the middle at $6600 (using his Platinum refinishing products package), with JDL at $5715 and John Cronin at $7,494.  Shooting for the middle seemed like a reasonable bet.  (The job ended up less than the estimate, because we decided to omit an area of pre-finished flooring we had previously intended to refinish.)
Bob came to do an in-person estimate once we had access to the house in early July, but when it came to doing the job in late July he was barely there.  Once he got his crew set up, he was off to another job somewhere, and I wonder if that's where the quality started to suffer.  His guys worked really hard, but there's no substitute for a business owner with skin in the game being present to make quality his personal mission.
Most of the floor area came out well, but there were a few problems -- problems that could have been resolved to our satisfaction by a business owner who cared to, but were neglected, souring the whole experience for us:
1. In the days immediately after the job was completed, a gap in the pine floor bled a thick streak of refinishing product.  I contacted Bob to ask how this could be fixed, by phone and again later by email, and made clear I was available to let him in for a look, but he never responded about arranging a time to come by.  We now have a thick, dried streak of finishing product on our floor (and a few smaller instances of the same thing we've discovered).  Oh well.
2. In many places, the workmen left streaks of stain on the baseboards, or dripping down stair risers.  When we inspected the work with him, Bob got defensive and insisted "you can't do better than that".  He pointed out that this was disclaimed in the FAQ on his website, which I confirmed was true after talking with him (I thought I had read through the whole site thoroughly but must have missed it).  But it would have been reasonable for Bob to bring up this significant red flag when he came for the in-person estimate and I asked him whether the baseboards needed to be removed.  No, no need, he said.  They can sand right up to the edge.  The upshot was, we ended up with more painting to do, so in effect the flooring job cost us more than expected.  Bob's attitude in how he responded to this criticism soured things for us.  If it were my craft, I'd have more dedication to finding ways to do things better.  Our painters had no trouble keeping paint off the floor when they did the needed touch-up work.  I don't see why stain can't be kept off painted baseboards, or removed before it dries.  (Painter's tape, anyone?)
3. Our agreement included Bob furnishing saddles (transition strips) for two closet thresholds, which he said he would need to have custom-made.  They weren't ready yet by the time the rest of the job was finished, so we agreed he'd come back to install them at a later date, and I withheld the final $300 of the job price.  I've called and emailed Bob several times over the 3 months since, seeking an update.  He said he was very sorry/embarrassed, his guy hadn't come through with the saddles yet, he'd check with the guy and call me right back, but he never did get back to me with an answer or even a new estimated delivery date.  It wouldn't have been hard to fix this, but I guess Bob lost interest in finishing the job.  I finally got tired of bugging him.
Overall: Bob left us hanging for no particularly good reason.  It feels to me like he doesn't care very much about his reputation or the quality of the work he does, and is giving 80% and phoning the rest in.  With several other flooring contractors to choose from in the area, I don't see any reason to work with Bob again.

In April 2014, I contacted Bob Sidoti, Owner of Bob Sidoti Floors after having conducted a search for a competent and professional wood floor refinisher.  I had read his web site and his customer reviews on Yelp, Google and Angie?s List. 
Based on the mostly positive reviews, yet a bit concerned about the negative ones, I moved forward and hired him and his crew to perform a relatively small wood floor refinishing project in our home.  Specifically, to refinish the existing 14-yr. old, 128 sq. ft. area of maple wood strip flooring in the kitchen of our home.
As a registered/licensed Architect who is currently working in Construction Management, I have experience prequalifying, working with and coordinating various tradesmen and contractors.  I sent to Bob an email with photos of our kitchen that helped him see the setup and the floor, that allowed him to provide me with a cost quote for the work, without his actually coming
to our house. Since the kitchen wood flooring is maple that originally had a natural finish, we did not need any finish stain applied, just the polyurethane.  I realize that this is a small project and the cost had to be sufficient to be worthwhile for a vendor
to mobilize his crew for a full day job.  We agreed that his crew would perform his ?PLATINUM? wood floor refinishing package for a fixed price of $725 plus 7% NJ sales tax, as specified below to be paid upon the completion of this one-day project.  Two additional aspects that appealed to me was that Bob Sidoti accepts payment via a major credit card and, as per his web
site, that he guarantees his work for 10 years under normal household conditions, or he will recoat the floor at no cost to us.
In April, I spoke via telephone with Bob Sidoti, discussing the various options to be considered for refinishing the floor and settled on the following sequence of work and products:
1. Refinishing to include using their Dustless Floor Sanding technique to sand the floor and making the final cut with 80-100 grit paper and disc/screen to120-150 grit, in order to reduce the amount of grain raise.  Use a Tampico Brush on a buffer and vacuum thoroughly.  Tack with a dry Bona Microfiber Mop or cloth to remove dust.
2. Apply three (3) coats of Bona Traffic (WT150618075 - 1 Gallon ? Satin), water based polyurethane, allowing a minimum of two (2) hours to dry between each coat.  Tack with a dry Bona Microfiber Mop or cloth to remove dust between finish coats.
3. Upon completion of work, remove all project-related trash and refuse from the house and property and dispose of properly.
We agreed on a specific date and time in mid-May for this work to be performed.  We confirmed four (4) days in advance, the
date (a Thursday), and a time of 8:30 a.m. for he and his crew to arrive at our house to start the work.  I was insistent on confirming the date and time since I was taking a vacation day off from my job so I could be at the house to supervise the work.
 
At 7:45 a.m. on the scheduled work day, I get a tel. call from Bob Sidoti and he tells me that he ?is running late??. 
I said ?OK, so when will you and your crew be arriving at my house??  He responded ?probably around 1:00 p.m., and explained that he did not finish a project from the day prior and had to go their first.  I was surprised and upset and told him that was unacceptable and not what we had agreed to and insisted that he needs to arrive and start my work this morning.  He said he would call me back once he got to his other, unfinished job.  At 10:30 a.m. he finally calls me to say that he still expects to arrive at my home with his crew by 1:00 p.m.  I say ok, but that I anticipate that he will only be able to sand the floor and apply one, possibly two coats of the polyurethane today and will have to come back tomorrow with his crew to apply the third coat.  I say
that with the high humidity outside today, I did not think that the poly coats would have sufficient drying time to allow 3 applications with just a half day left.  He said ?we will see?and that he has another appointment scheduled for Friday morning?.   I told him that I did not want to be short changed due to his scheduling problems.  So 1:00 p.m. comes and goes and he is still a ?No Show?.  I call him at 1:30 p.m. and ask where is he and when does he expect to arrive.  He said that he is still at the same job and that due to the high humidity, that I was right about the long drying time and that he will call me back. 
By 3:00 p.m. I had yet to hear back from him and placed calls and left v.m. messages at his office and on his cell tel.
By 5:00 p.m. with no response, I realized that I have been screwed by Bob Sidoti and left out to dry since he obviously does not want my business.  Hence, it is now my experience that I made a very bad choice by attempting to work with him since he did not deliver what he said he would do and did not even have the courtesy to contact me before the end of the day to explain, let alone apologize or attempt to reschedule.  With my now 20/20 hindsight, as some other reviewers have implied, in my opinion he does have an attitude and comes across as ?Used Car Salesman?, totally unprofessional and unethical and he can be very defensive and dismissive of other ideas since he is the expert.  My sense and speculation is that he just wants to get in and out of the project and collect his money.
It is very frustrating and irritating, to say the least, that this guy is so cavalier about making assurances or commitments that he does not keep or come through for people to whom he has committed to, both verbally and in writing, (email).  He just decided to sacrifice my small job in order to finish a previous job that he had underestimated the required time to complete, which is a sad commentary on his so-called expertise, let alone any sort of professional integrity.
Realizing that I have now wasted one of my precious vacation days waiting around for this guy for work that was not performed, I spent the couple of remaining work hours that day doing more research on Angie?s List for other wood floor refinishers.  Based on much more, almost unanimous positive experience reviews, I contacted four other wood floor refinishing companies and have requested cost quotes and will ultimately select one to go with.  I cannot imagine that any of these four other floor refinishers will present me with as bad an experience as I had with Bob Sidoti.   Just before I posted this review, I spoke with one of the other contractors who based on my description of the desired work scope and specifications, emailed me a written proposal for less money, including his Certificate of Insurance, and Terms sheet.  Much more professional and he works on weekends.  I look forward to posting a positive review of his work in the near future.
My advice to other consumers looking for wood floor refinishing work: 
DO NOT WASTE YOUR PRECIOUS TIME AND EFFORTS WITH BOB SIDOTI?!
Go with someone else.

I called and was able to speak promptly with Mr. Sidoti.  I described the work that I needed and gave him exact measurements of rooms. He gave me a price. Since I had viewed his website I asked if this was the price for the platinum package. He told me that it was the price for the gold package. I requested the price for the platinum package because I wanted the higher quality finish. The price seemed reasonable to me compared with estimates from two other companies. We agreed on a date for the work. The team arrived promptly at the time I was told. The sanding was definitely dustless. The sanders have hoses that are connected to a vacuum inside the truck. I had told one of the workers what color I wanted but I wasn't sure. Three different colors were applied to the newly sanded floor in small patches so I could choose the color I wanted.  The floors came out looking beautiful. They took 6 hours to complete the work, and as far as I could tell 3 coats of finish were applied. I watched the entire process from my kitchen. The workers were pleasant and efficient. We were very happy with the end result. We did not have any problems.

We contracted Bob Sidoti to sand and refinish our floors.  First he over estimated the cost of the work.  Luckily I had measured the rooms myself first, otherwise I would have paid a few hundred more than was needed.  His crew did a poor job on our floors, leaving swirl marks everywhere along the baseboards.  Stain was spilled on the stairs, hairs and other debris was left under the stain. His crew left garbage behind as well. I had to clean up the spent sandpaper that was left.  I called Bob to ask him to come and look at the work that was done, and he did not answer any of my emails or voice mails.  He effectively disappeared and it took an initial complaint with the BBB to get him to respond to repeated phone calls and emails.  He finally came to our house to look at the floors, and argued with us that the work was "normal".  Only after a lot of arguing back and forth did he admit that the work was not up to standard, and agreed to redo the lower floor for us.  The upper floor already had furniture moved in, and we did not want to remove it, even though there were mistakes upstairs as well.   His crew moved all of the furniture downstairs into the kitchen, causing damage to our dining room table and they also slid a dresser down the hallway on it's side, with no protection, causing damage to the dresser.   
The redone floors were much improved from the original job, and even though there were still some pretty bad marks left, we did not complain because honestly we were tired of dealing with Bob Sidoti's excuses and poor customer service.  We asked for a receipt for the work that was done, as Bob Sidoti has a 10 year warranty on his work (please see his website for details).  We were not given anything in writing that the work was completed on our property, so there is no way for us to show the work has been done.  Bob called me and apologized, and promised to send the receipt.   That was over a month ago.  I emailed Bob and called him repeatedly, asking for the receipt.   Finally, after saying I would file a complaint, this is the response email I got back:
"Look Allen. I came to look at the floors and took care of your problem. I asked you to edit the sh*t reviews you wrote about me and you haven't done so. It's a two way street. Sh*t happens ...and I took care of it. I have been out of town now with a torn rotator cuff as if the freaken Achilles wasn't enough.   I know it's not your problem but where do you think  I'm going?  I've been in business for 30 years and have a great reputation in the thousands of floors we have done. You are one of only a few that i can count on 1 hand that have ever wrote negative sh*t about me.  Is your floor fixed?  Take the negative sh*t down"
Stay away from this guy, as he will sell you a product and then not deliver or stand behind his work.   Besides that, he's rude, and a liar. 

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They were very efficient and very neat, and they did an excellent job. I would absolutely use them again in the future.

We recently purchased a one family home and the hardwood floors on the first floor were in desperate need of being refinished. We had spoken to a few friends and looked up some contractors here on Angie's List. One of our colleagues had work done from Bob Sidoti Floors in the past and mentioned him. Before calling Bob we had two other contractors come over which gave us estimates in the range of $1100-$1400 using a water based finish, which is what we were looking for. Both contractors gave us their estimate based on what they measured was 475 square feet. After doing some research here on Angie's List and checking out Bob's website, we decided to give him a call and ask for a quote. On his website we found 4 packages available, the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. The platinum was the higher end package which consists of his dustless sanding system and the water based Bona Traffic finish. The Bona finish is the one Bob states he uses in his own home on his floors. After doing some research online and seeing that the Bona Traffic got good reviews we decided to go with that package even though it was more expensive. I filled out the form on his website and gave him a call. I told him we had about 475 sq feet that needed to be refinished and I was initially quoted $3.50 per square foot but I mentioned that his website had a Facebook "Like" discount and he brought the price down to $3.25 per square foot. So far so good, and we scheduled to have the work done a few days later.

On the day of the job at 8am Bob and his crew of 3 men arrived at the house as scheduled and on time. They pulled their truck into the driveway and began setting up to do the job. Bob walked around the rooms and measured the area to be worked on, he stated the area was 500 square feet. The previous two contractors who also physically measured the area told me it was 475 sq ft. I am also at fault for not specifically measuring the area myself but I wasn't going to make an issue over a 25 sq ft difference. Once measured, Bob walked around the floors with us and we pointed out our areas of concern. The main area we pointed out was at the entrance to the bedroom where there was a damaged floor board that had some wood missing. This hole which I measured is 4 inches long by 3/4 of an inch wide. Bob said they could use the wood filler or replace the board, I asked him what he thought and he said the wood filler would be fine. Bob states on his website that he has over 25 years experience, I have never had hardwood floors refinished so I had no reason to think this option would be of less quality than replacing the board. He said each board replaced would be $20. For the money we were spending on his high end package, $20 or even $100 extra was not an issue. On to the next room, we then pointed out a wood saddle that was connected to the hardwood floors in the entrance to the bathroom that we would also like to be stained to match the floors. The saddle is the length of the doorway and 6 inches wide, it had no damage but we just wanted it the same color and finish of the floors. Bob said that would be $15 extra, both previous contractors had said this was included in the job and they wouldn't charge extra. 

Bob then asked what stain color we would like and we were originally going with the mahogany, Bob gave his opinion (which we appreciated) and said it would be too strong and overpower the rooms. We agreed with him and found that he was 100% correct once we looked at some other samples. We decided to go with the provincial finish. I also specifically asked Bob if they were putting on 3 coats of the Bona Traffic and he stated yes. Once we got the measurements and details out of the way Bob calculated the cost and told us the final price would be $1750. We agreed and signed off.

Bob's men quickly got to work and started preparing the rooms for sanding, they plugged any small holes with wood filler and started setting up their machines. Bob stated his system is completely dustless and it really is, his sanding machines are connected to a vaccum type machine which is in his truck and all the sand and dust goes in there. The home did not get any dust at all. After about 30 minutes once the setup and work began Bob said he had to leave for another job, leaving his 3 men there to do the work. The work seemed to be going smooth and no issues came up. The work had started at 8am and just before 2pm one of the workers called me over to take a look at the floors before they applied the final coat. The floor color looked good and we were happy that we chose the provincial stain. About a half hour later the workers started packing up and told me they were done. I was pretty surprised as I thought the job would not have been finished until late afternoon considering the need to apply the stain and then 3 full coats of finish. A big concern of mine was that Bob never came back to see the job, never called back to check on any concerns or comments. In fact his only call was regarding the form of payment and how to pay him.

Overall the floors look ok (see picture attached) but you can tell that the quality and attention to detail was not there. I wasn't expecting new floors but there are some areas that lacked attention. I also have serious concerns if there were actually 3 full coats of finish applied to the floors. We left the house empty for a few days before walking on them (with socks only) even though the workers said that after 4 hours you could walk on them with socks. Once we walked around and inspected the work the first thing we noticed was the floor board that had the hole with wood filler (see picture attached). The color was completely off from what the finish looked like and totally blemished the rest of the finish. I quickly sent Bob an e-mail with pictures and described my concerns.  Four days passed and I did not hear back from Bob so I decided to call him. I told him who I was and asked him if he had received my e-mail, he knew what I was talking about so I quickly realized he didn't care because he hadn't responded. I asked Bob over the phone what he could do to remedy the situation and his answer and solution to me was to ask me if I knew an artist. I almost wanted to laugh but his suggestion was to get an artisit to paint on it to make it match the color of the finish and the grain. I told him I didn't know any artist and I didn't think that was a realistic option. He told me he couldn't replace the board at this point because the new board would never be level with the other boards, also that the color might be off from the other boards. I asked him for another solution and he said to place something over it, he even told me that it wasn't a big deal and I "was looking at it too much", his own words. I then asked him if this was the end result why he didn't recommend replacing the board, he tells me that it was my option at the time and he would have replaced the board if I had asked. Now for somebody that claims to have over 25 years experience in hardwood floors, why did he not recommend changing the board if it would come out looking that lousy in such a visible area? We discussed it a bit more and he actually tells me I was being "anal" about it, these are his own words. I also asked him if it was his own home what he would have done, he said he would have replaced the board. That being the case why didn't he recommend that when we asked him what would be best?

In conclusion here is how I graded Bob Sidoti Floors:

• Price: C - It was on the pricey side but thats because we chose the platinum package with the high end Bona Traffic water based finish. His 500 sq ft estimate was higher than the other

I contacted Bob Sidoti at the recommendation of a friend.  We have some minor water damage on a number of hardwood floors in our home that I was looking to have refinished.  When I described the project to Mr. Sidoti he said it sounded like I would need to replace the floors.  I responded that while replacing a portion of the floors may be necessary, I would like a professional (like him) to take a look and determine if they could be refinished (sanded & stained).  He was dismissive of the refinishing (cheaper) option.  At that point he asked me to take photos of the relevant floors and download them to his website.  He explained he would give me an estimate based on the photos.  He did not think it necessary to come to the house to give an estimate.  It is important to note that I would have paid Mr. Sidoti for his time to come to the house - either in a fee for the estimate/visit or as a downpayment for the entire job.
While I understand most people can take and download digital photos, I feel that it is the experts role to review the job and give an estimate based on their experience.  

unknown

I will not be using this company. Ever.

Bob and his crew did a great job finishing our floors. We had used him about 8years ago in our first home and just used him again in our new home. Bob returned my calls promptly and answered all of our questions. They began the job on time and as scheduled. The stain looks beautiful and everything was left neat and clean. We would definitely use Bob again and would recommend him.

They did our floors in January.  They finished on time and as promised.  They were prompt with their appointments.  They were here when they said they would.  The quality of the work was good and the floor looks beautiful.  The only thing was they did not clean up after themselves.  Of course we didn't ask or talk about that which was fine but they left all the stain cans and things like that were just left in our driveway when we came back.  We were new in the area and contractors would have had to clean up after themselves.  You have to make sure people do that because there was strain that had dripped through our sub floor down, into our basement.  That was the only opportunity area but the floor looks beautiful.  We were happy with them; it was only the clean up part we were unhappy about.  They were not the cheapest but they weren't much expensive either.  I would consider using them again but I would address the clean up issue upfront.               

They were good, quick and got everything done in one day.

Spoke to Bob on the phone and also communicated through emails before the job began - was concerned about not meeting him but his professionalism was easily established without having him to the house.  Bob rearranged a previous commitment to refinish my floors when it was convenient for my husband and I.  The floors are beautiful - the only concern was the stain on the woodwork,  I needed to have the woodwork repainted and clean look will add to the look of the floors.  The system is dustless - I had taken down my window dressings and found this to be unnecessary.  Bob recommended a mover -  this also turned out to be a positive experience.  We will recommend Bob our family, friends, and neighbors. 

The floors are beautiful. We had a problem with the way they sanded an area and they redid it. They knew that there was a problem with the area but did not say anything until we pointed it out. The workers did a good job. Bob comes and goes so they are on their own for most of the time. Bob is a character!

We originally hired Bob and his crew to put in prefinished hard wood floors in our first house, and they did a great job - they did the living room, hallway and family room in one day and the floors looked great. When we were concerned about how they did the transition by the front door, Bob came back personally the next day and corrected the problem to our satisfaction (even though we have already paid in full). When we moved to another house and needed to have 50-year-old floors redone, we knew Bob and his team would do a great job and we weren't disappointed. The dustless system worked much better than we would have ever expected. We used Bono natural satin finish and we still get compliments on our floors almost two years later. It really made a huge difference. Bob's team also installed brand new floors in our kitchen and hallway area and matched the seams, the wood and the stain so well, that you can't tell that they weren't original to the house. We found him very reliable and professional and the website extremely educational.

He is really good. The team he sends is experienced and skilled. They come in to make sure that everything is done up to the standards. If anything goes wrong, he is good about fixing the problem to make the customer happy. I would use them in the future if needed.

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Overall the contractor did a good job with the floors in the short period of time we had. We had not moved into the house yet and moved the appliances ourselves, so there were no obstacles. We selected the stain and finish (water based) after doing research on their website and speaking with the company's owner. The prices for labor and choices of finishes are clearly shown on the website. The dustless system worked better than expected and we were left with a clean house when the project was complete. The staining was even throughout the majority of the house. A couple of spots appear to be slightly uneven depending on the time of day and lighting in the room. I did expect some rubbing of the trim with the sanding equipment and will need to do some repainting. The only disappointment was some careless spillage occurred with the stain dripping and finger prints on walls and light switches. These could have been better attended to when the stain was wet and easier to clean. I will have to do some repainting for that as well.