LEHIGH VALLEY HARDWOOD FLOORING

Colleen and her team were magnificent. From the initial quote to the final install everything went better than I dreamed. I had my whole first floor converted to hickory hardwood and it really transformed the look of my home. Next will be my stairwell and Lehigh Valley hardwood has my business!

If honesty, reliability, and consideration are at all important factors when deciding to hire a contractor then I hope you learn from my mistake, heed my advice and search elsewhere. A very poor experience from the beginning. Lehigh Valley Hardwood has kept almost $500 of my deposit and all I have to show for it is 80 square feet of unfinished floor boards which they refuse to take back. That’s $6.02 per square foot, over twice the market rate for this material. I offered to deliver the oak material myself as well as provide them a $100 restocking fee. Nope. When I mentioned to Bernadette that I could get the finished product at Home Depot or Lowe’s for less than half that price she said, “but you didn’t.” Nice, right? Water intrusion from a failed chimney cap had caused damage to an area roughly 6’ x 6’ in front of the fireplace in my rental property. A proper job would require replacement of about 80 square feet of boards then sand and refinish the entire floor. I contracted with Lehigh Valley Hardwood shortly before Covid hit. I wish I hadn’t. The project had rough beginnings and never smoothed out. My tenant, Nancy, is a 68-year-old nurse working the graveyard shift in pediatric care. Her sleep schedule is during the day. One of my priorities was to minimize any imposition to Nancy’s schedule. As such, all appointments had to be coordinated with her. I made this very clear to Colleen from the onset. An appointment was made for the estimator to come out and agreed upon by all three parties. Well, two of us thought it had been agreed upon. When the third party failed to show at the appointed hour, I called. Colleen said, “…oh, well I said it would be Wednesday or Thursday when we spoke last…” or words to that effect. At the time, I took this in the context that Colleen was not looking at her calendar at the moment but yes, the appointment is either Wednesday or Thursday, or whatever day it happened to be. The appointment had been carefully arranged between Nancy, Colleen and I at an earlier time. Both Nancy and I understood when the appointment was scheduled so it wasn’t a case of singular misunderstanding on my part or Nancy’s part. Nonetheless, it seems Colleen took it upon herself to grant a two-day window in which to assign work to her estimator without consulting either myself or my tenant. No apologies for the inconvenience or acceptance of any culpability offered. Who does that? Regret began to set in. Now it’s time for installation of the 80 square feet of unfinished oak floor boards. The installer arrives, takes photos of the coffee table and small area rug that happen to overlap part of the area in need of repair and then leaves. Per my contract, all furniture must be removed from the work area. No call to me. No attempt to rectify the situation. No effort to slide the small items out of the way and do the work. No request for assistance in a task that any able-bodied man could have accomplished on his own in under two minutes. Just takes photos and leaves. Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into with these folks? This was the second event that interrupted Nancy’s life and we have nothing to show for it. To avoid any further inconvenience to my tenant, I made the decision to delay any further work until Nancy had moved out, tentatively scheduled for this summer some time. Covid hits shortly thereafter. Lehigh Valley Hardwood closes its doors. Nancy decides to postpone her departure indefinitely. The moisture has dissipated in the damaged area and Nancy is fine with it the way it is. I contact Lehigh Valley Hardwood both by email and phone to cancel the project and request a refund of my $1800 deposit. I get the stiff-arm citing Covid and “no one in the office” as the reason. My experience is that it is very easy to issue a check remotely. All my checks to pay bills are issued by my bank. I can do it using my phone, among other methods. It takes less than two minutes and can be accomplished anywhere. After three months delay, I finally receive two paper checks in the mail. No statement is included explaining charges but I’m short over $600. I call about it and am told that they “were just looking at that” and would issue another check as well as send the statement of charges as requested. Why were there two individual checks in the first place? Why were they “still looking at it” after they’d already issued not one but two checks? Seems to me that they already must have looked at it quite thoroughly, thoroughly enough to double, now triple, the paperwork. Or, perhaps when proper accounting of the charges was requested by me, they realized their “theft” might appear a bit too blatant once it was put down on paper. I receive the third check and a paper statement of charges a week after the first two checks. I’m still short $481. I contacted Colleen again and attempted to reach a reasonable settlement regarding the remaining funds. Per their statement, these 80 square feet of unfinished floor boards accounts for all of my remaining deposit. I offer to return the material to them as well as a restocking fee of $100. Colleen tells me in an email, “sorry the materials at this point are non-returnable.” I asked why and she replies, “The amount of time that has lapsed.” Whose doors were closed for three months? So closed in fact that they could not even write a check. So, exactly how and to whom was I supposed to return the materials? Moreover, why does the amount of time that has passed have any bearing whatsoever on the oak floor boards? We’re not talking about a head of lettuce here. Clearly there is something they are not comfortable addressing. A back and forth ensues via email where it is revealed by Colleen that what they are really attempting to do is recoup labor costs for delivery of the boards and the time lost on the failed installation attempt. Of course, there is no thought given for how their previous ineptitude and lack of consideration regarding Nancy’s schedule had impacted her. Never mind that. And why all the deception? Why the ruse? If lost man-hours were billable why not put that in the statement? Why not just tell me that in the first place? No, instead they try and hide their chicanery as materials cost and then refuse to accept return of these materials, suggesting that these oak floor boards are somehow perishable and of diminished quality after three months sitting in my tenant’s home. If their product is indeed unworthy after three months, I would suggest that the flooring business is not their calling. Either that or the supplier from which they obtained the materials is woefully inadequate. I’ve attempted to accurately convey to the potential customer both the events that have transpired as well as the character of those within the organization with which I’ve regretfully gotten myself involved. If honesty, reliability, and consideration are at all important factors when deciding to hire a contractor then I hope you learn from my mistake, heed my advice and search elsewhere.

The job went very well. Scheduling was responsive to the needs of the kitchen remodeling job. They were flexible and worked well with the kitchen contractors. Price was very good. The end result is beautiful. Tight joints, well matched entrances. Nice job. Will use again.

It was wonderful! I already plan to use them again. They do real good work and are reasonable priced.

Yes, I would use them again but I would be a little more demanding on them. I would competitively bid more rigorously, and if they weren’t low priced or distinguished themselves I wouldn’t feel compelled to use them. There is nothing that says don’t use them. I don’t feel like I got the best price for the quality. It was good quality.

This company is excellent in every aspect. We had a wonderful customer service experience and consultation prior to selecting them as our contractor and they far outdid other flooring competitors in pricing fairness, quality of product/craftsmanship, professionalism, and communication. Our job included a 1928 full home install including new wood vents, a re-finished staircase. and differing wood types and stains in different rooms of the home. The end result is immaculate! The floors are the most noticed and complimented part of our home and completely increased the value of our property. We would recommend Lehigh Valley Hardwood Flooring to anyone looking to re-finish or install hardwood. From start to finish their management, scheduling, contractors, and overall service and quality was top notch and unbeatable!

This company is excellent in every aspect. We had a wonderful customer service experience and consultation prior to selecting them as our contractor and they far outdid other flooring competitors in pricing fairness, quality of product/craftsmanship, professionalism, and communication. Our job included a 1928 full home install including new wood vents, a re-finished staircase. and differing wood types and stains in different rooms of the home. The end result is immaculate! The floors are the most noticed and complimented part of our home and completely increased the value of our property. We would recommend Lehigh Valley Hardwood Flooring to anyone looking to re-finish or install hardwood. From start to finish their management, scheduling, contractors, and overall service and quality was top notch and unbeatable!

matched color and sheen of adjacent existing floor perfectly.

Great! They were very friendly and considerate of the rest of our house and the animals.

They did a very nice job.

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