Steve Fried The Handyman

"This customer is absolutely correct. Usually, it should not take 3 hours to install 100 sq ft of laminate flooring. What she did leave out was the fact that when I arrived, the closet had not been emptied, so we first had to empty it. Secondly, when she sent me a picture it was of the floor. This closet which appeared to run horizontally in the picture, actually ran the long way under a set of stairs, the end of which was about 8"tall, so I had to install that end of the closet laying on my belly and trying to lock in flooring with a hammer and flooring tool. Additionally, when she initially contacted me I told her to order 20% more material as with flooring you have to stagger the cuts and it most often takes more flooring as there is a certain "waste factor" when you have to stagger. Customer did not order enough flooring and I had to resort to using scrap pieces at the end to finish the job. Lastly, she did not feel my tool set up and break down should be included in my time charge, only the actual time I spent on the floor and she did not want anything cut inside, which I completely agree with. However, she insisted I wear booties in the house, which is fine with me, but, this means taking them off and putting them on every time I have to go out side to make a cut or retrieve a tool I might need from my van. All of this adds to the time factor."