ED HARRIS

The project: my wife and I have been doing a mostly-DIY kitchen renovation.  The plank flooring looks to be as old as the house (~113  years).  Some of the planks were covered with layers of dilapidated brown paint.  The flooring had two perpendicular trench-gaps (down to the sub-floor), which probably used to be the base of two walls that were taken out to combine two rooms into one.  Because the planks are an irregular width, replacement of the missing trench flooring left us few options.  We wound up reusing planks from areas that would be covered with cabinetry, but the issue remained that one of the filled trenches would run crosswise--different from the rest of the flooring, so getting the flooring as evenly sanded and stained as possible, to minimize the contrast, was important to us.  The other concern was that, because the kitchen opened onto a dining room, the new work might not match the dining room floor.
The estimate: Ed was responsive from the get go.  He scheduled the estimate the same day I phoned him (Sept. 6th).  At the meeting, he took a look at the space, calculated the square footage, took down my choice of stain and polyurethane and handed me an estimate that was lower than what it would cost my wife and me to rent the equipment and do it ourselves.  Ed mentioned he was getting booked up and the earliest he could schedule would be the 3rd week in September (to put this in perspective, another refinisher I had a referral for couldn't schedule anything before December--I'm told this is the norm, so Ed was pretty accommodating).  We actually had to schedule Ed for early October, due to other renovation-related scheduling.  Ed scheduled 3 days for sanding, staining and 3 coats of polyurethane.
The work: Per Ed's instructions, I tented off the kitchen (Ed doesn't work dustless, but both he and I agreed that it wasn't really an issue).  Pinning up 4 sheets of plastic took about 30 minutes.  Ed's crew arrived at 9 a.m. on the day of the work, and by 9:30 they were sanding.
I ran some errands and by 2 o'clock, when I returned, the floor was sanded and stained and one coat of sealant had been applied.  The second coat of sealant took, maybe, 10 minutes for them to apply.  Ed informed me that the last coat would be finished the next day, i.e. his crew was a day ahead of schedule.
The results: The floor looks great.  Particularly, those cross planks in the trenched areas looked like they belonged there--as seamless as it gets--and the kitchen/diningroom border was equally seamless.
Conclusions: Ed's work was professional, fast and affordable, and it turned out to be cheaper than DIY-ing. I highly recommend him.

He was a reference from a friend of mine. He was not reliable. He would not return our phone calls. He came at dusk and dug a trench where it was not supposed to be. He then asked for more money. It seemed like he just disappeared then. Overall we were completely dissatisfied with his services. We will not use him again. We have taken him to small claims court. 

Work was contracted from out of state and performed before moving in to house. Therefore homeowner could not supervise directly. Had to call Ed back to remove all debris per contract and to finish some portions of the job. Sanding was not up to snuff: swirls and gouges visible in several places. One section of 1st floor hall not done despite being specified in contract.

DAMAGED AREAS THEY SHOULDNT HAVE BEEN IN. MEMBER HAD TO FIRE COMPANY. THEY WERE UNFPROFESSIONAL, DAMAGED WOODWORK, LEFT DIRTY HANDPRINTS ON FRESHLY PAINTED WALLS.

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