Essis & Sons Carpet
About us
Essis and Sons carry all types of flooring materials. We are a family owned business serving central PA for 70 years and stand behind our products and installations. Presently we have six regional stores to service the consumers.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Area rugs. Carpet, ceramic tile, hardwood, laminate, stone & marble flooring., vinyl
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 68% | ||
| 26% | ||
| 5% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 0% |
We moved into our house 5 years ago, and the previous owners had the cheapest builder?s grade carpet installed. There was also ugly carpet installed in the dining room. We decided to have it replaced with a better grade carpet in the living room and laminate floor in the dining room and entry way. We initially contacted a company who had a catchy jingle on their commercials, and they failed terribly. I then realized that I should have kept my business local, so I hopped in my car and drove to Essis on the Carlisle Pike. Steve, the salesman was very helpful and we set up a day to have him come over and measure. We looked over several flooring choices and settled on a nice carpet and laminate. Steve mentioned that if I do the removal of the old flooring myself, it would save about $800. He even said I could use their dumpsters for my old flooring. I removed the carpet and parquet flooring easily and waited for the installers. The carpet was installed about a week and a half before the laminate. The install went smooth and quick, and I was very happy with it. When the installers came to do the laminate, the arrived promptly at 8:30 and immediately began working. They were done by 1:00, but had to come back because they didn?t have a transition for the entry way into the dining room. They returned right away and fixed it. All in all, I?m glad I used Essis and Sons flooring.
tile in Philadelphia.
Essis sent a salesman/estimator to measure the space. I explained that the kitchen and bath would be gutted; where we wanted the tile and discussed the transitions to the dining room, family room, basement and living room. I expected Essis to do the
entire flooring; not just the tile. The estimator understood what I wanted.
I closed the deal with the owner, Joe Essis, at his store after getting the estimate via email. I put $2,000 down and received a receipt listing the tile name and sizes being installed. Make sure you get everything in writing. I should have discussed and gotten in writing how the four transitions would be completed and that all doors would be trimmed and re-installed. See below for other
issues that came up.
The kitchen remodeler gutted the entire kitchen and bath so Essis and Sons had totally open space to lay the tile. Essis showed up on time with 5 guys to lay the tile. Everyone was polite and professional. Each knew what they were supposed to do and got to work right away. They worked together as a team. I was very impressed with their team work and constant work effort These guys never took a break. The lead tile guy explained he would not recommend laying the large tile on a diagonal because my floor was so uneven. He explained and showed me exactly why there was a problem. So I agreed to lay the tile in a straight pattern. The situation was perfectly understandable and the tile guy did a great job explaining and demonstrating the pros and cons of laying it diagonally.
The wonder board/cement underlayment was laid down quickly followed by some grouting to level out certain areas of the floor and then the tile went down. They worked quickly and accurately laying the tile. Perfectly straight lines; even cuts; properly laid tiles. Flat out….an excellent tile laying job. All/most of the tile was laid on day one and two guys returned on the second day to grout all the tile in place.
Unfortunately, there were details that should not have been ignored and became an annoyance. Eventually, I negotiated a solution for each of these with the owner; but it just should not have come to that.
-- They cut the tile (and possibly mixed the thinset) in my garage. A thin film of ceramic dust covered everything in my garage…tools, bikes, tailgating stuff, floor, everything! I am still vacuuming and wiping up dust months later. Joe Essis apologized and said all cutting should have been done outside; never in the garage.
-- Three of the four transition points were never completed. The one area meeting our dining room floor was completed perfectly
with the tile butting up to the hardwood. Just a perfect match. But the other three transitions were left incomplete. The tile guy said he cannot use tile on either of the steps or the tile would crack and/or break over time. The transition to the carpet in our living room also required a wood transition piece. Eventually, the owner agreed to send out a carpenter to install hardwood
transitions. The carpenter did a beautiful job. It was just two months AFTER the ceramic tile was laid.
-- 5 doors were removed by the tile laying guys. They left without installing any of them. I was able to install three of them on my own. But I just should not have to finish their work. The other two doors needed to be trimmed to fit. I had to pay the carpenter $50 to trim the two doors. Again, this should be the responsibility of the floor installer. You don’t install new ceramic tile and then leave five doors off the hinges with two requiring cuts for the customer to deal with. That is not how you finish a job.
-- Five floor registers were removed to install the tile but none of the registers were replaced by the tile guys. Again, finish your job. I was able to re-install three of the vents. But two of them required removing thinset and cutting tile so that the floor registers would fit. The carpenter sent by Essis and Sons fixed the problem. But again, the tile guys should have done it before they left.
-- The carpet on the bottom stair was removed by the tile guys to lay the tile next to the step. But they failed to re-install the carpet. They were not “trained” to re-install what they removed according to them. I was told they would advise the scheduler at the store to send a carpet guy out to replace the stair tread. The loose carpet was a safety hazard. Eventually, it was repaired by the carpenter sent by Joe Essis. But two months later? Very disappointed
I cannot NOT recommend Essis and Sons. The tile guys did an incredible tile job. They worked together like a well oiled team. They were polite, friendly and knowledgeable. The carpenter was equally professional and polite, and did quality work. I may hire him in the future for carpentry jobs because of the quality of his work and the fact that I just liked him.
But the little things and the delay just leave a bad taste in my mouth. Essis provided high quality work and at a very reasonable price. Just be sure you get all the details down in writing so you know what work will and will not be done and when. I just assumed a company in business as long as they have been would take care of the details. The owner should be commended for meeting with me and working out a resolution to the issues. But Joe Essis needs to make sure his salesmen/estimators do a better job of explaining what will and will not be done; and make sure the work orders are more detailed so the customer is not surprised by what is not going to be completed. The key is communication between the customer and the company.
They were neat, careful and I was very pleased. Well worth the money.
Licensing
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