MR SANDLESS OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA

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The project lasted 5 days which matched the the original plan.  Cory & Nate were the main crew members that worked on our floors and they were just awesome to work with!  Very professional, very courtious.  They did a fantastic job on the floors... our 40+ yr old hardwoods look like new and match perfectly to the new floors in the kitchen.  Overall they were great to work with and were reasonably priced.  Would definitley use again.

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Mr. Sandless was great!  We were looking for a contractor to refinish our floors and do a professional complete job.  The salesperson was very explicit and detail oriented in providing his quote.  It included itemized pricing  we could include for the work (i.e. crown molding, thresholds, carpet removal, and furniture removal).  The other vendors we solicited were not as detailed and it was unclear as to what their service provided other than the basic floor refinish.  The price was right in line with other vendors and cheaper with some of the itemized options included.  On the day of the appointment, the crew showed up early and ready to go.   They covered to protect our flat screen TV and put plastic barriers for the adjoining kitchen. The guys took their time to meticulously sand the floors and properly prepare them for the staining and topping coats.  During the whole sanding and topping process, they continuously vacuumed the spaces to minimize the residual sanding dust that was not sucked up by the machines.  They showed my wife and I several stain selections once the floor was stripped.  The final product came out great.  We thought there would be a big difference between the areas the work was done and our existing bedroom floors.  But you can't really see a difference.  Perfect!

We had a few different bids to resand and stain our hardwood floors. We chose Mr Sandless and were very impressed with their Customer service. The floors turn out nicely. There was a small miscommunication issue in that the top of stairs were forgotten, but they came out the next day and finished the work. Overall, the floors themselves look amazing. The molding installation had a few gaps,but Nate was fantastic and fixed the areas that were of concerned. All that is left for me to do is chalk the molding and paint it, and the project will be completed.
Everyone we spoke and dealt with were very professional and willing to answer any of our questions. There was a small surface scratch and Nate showed me how to repair it and apply the sealant on it. So if the in the future it happens again, I

They were wonderful! I thought their work and professionalism were excellent. They moved all of the furniture, and cleaned up their work areas meticulously. I can now see my face in floors, and I was really pleased with the final cost.

The crew arrived on time, did good work, and clean up after themselves thoroughly. Overall, I was happy with the experience.

Working with them was a nice experience. We were very happy with Mr. Sandless.

Fantastic - I originally wanted a different date and they told me that they had a job that may go into that date so they didn't want to promise and then have to reschedule which I really appreciated - they seem to have a good handle on scheduling and don't over commit themselves (so rare right?).  This is actually the second job we did with them.  They did our dining room in July and living room this month.

It was an absolute disaster.  Jim and his crew showed up on time but straight away said they weren't prepared to remove the staples and nailstrips; that would cost extra.  He also said the thresholds would cost more and that there was too much water damage to use the sandless technique.  We would have to sand the whole floor down.  There were about five water stains on all the floors, one of which (between the kitchen and dining room) was pretty bad, but the rest seemed manageable.  To clarify, my father-in-law let Jim and his crew in because I was work, but I spoke to Jim later that day.

I agreed that all of these stains would need sanding but they covered maybe 5% of the total floorspace but he said the whole floor would need sanding and refinishing.  I presume that this was because you couldn't match colors or finish between the sanded and sandless areas.  I could accept this, except this wasn't what I was told during the initial quote.  To make matters worse, when I was clarifying why we couldn't use the sandless technique for the undamaged parts of the floor Jim told me "Well, how did you expect those water stains to disappear - magic?"  He was clearly being a smart-a** and I thought that was uncalled-for.  As the customer, I feel I have the right to ask questions when I'm paying thousands of dollars, but he obviously felt otherwise.

Jim gave me a quote to sand and finish all the floors, remove the nailstrips and staples, fill the holes and install quarterround molding and thresholds.  It came to $2,100.  I thought this was reasonable except he told me he couldn't do the work for another three weeks.  This meant I would have to move in and then take all my furniture out again for him to do the work. 

He apologized for the misunderstanding but he wouldn't adjust his schedule to minimize inconvenience to me.  He didn't offer any kind of discount to ameliorate me or smooth things over.  He was completely inflexible: here's the price and here's when I can do it, take it or leave it.  This inflexibility and his sarcastic comment earlier made this an easy decision for me.  I paid him $200 for removing the nailstrips and staples and was done with him.  My father-in-law noted the times Jim and his crew worked on the floor and it was right at an hour. 

 I moved into my house several days after Mr. Sandless screwed this job up.  Because of this company's incompetence, I had to move my furniture into storage so that the floors would be clear for the next contractor to actually do the work.  Every time I moved a piece of furniture knowing I would have to move it again, I got more and more angry at Mr. Sandless.

Clearly all these problems came down to a lack of communication between David, who provides the estimates, and Jim who actually does the work.  I accept my share of responsibility for not ensuring the estimate/contract didn't cover everything David and I discussed, but then again, that hasn't been a problem with the other six contractors I've worked with.  I'm even willing to accept that I may have been mistaken on some of the work quoted, but I clearly remember David said it would be better for his guys to remove any nails and staples and that they would fill the resulting holes.  I also know he said they could transition between the sandless technique and traditional sanding the same day; that's the whole reason I chose Mr. Sandless over their competitors.

All-in-all this was a very disappointing experience and the first time a firm with a good rating on Angie's List has let me down.   It's a shame because I liked the idea of the sandless method.  Even after the initial confusion, I would've still been willing to hire them to do the work but the manner in which Jim dealt with the situation was unprofessional and ultimately cost him the business.  I'll never work with them again.

Update:  Having read the response below, I felt I had to update this review.  As I stated above, what transpired between Mr. Sandless and me regarding my floors was clearly a result of a lack of communication within their firm, and I accept that these things happen.  What I don't accept, however, and what has caused me to re-appraise their professionalism, is when someone calls me a liar to move the responsibility away from themselves.  I spoke to Jim the day of the job and discussed the job.  He was still frustrated from what had happened and was defensive and sarcastic when he spoke to me.  I distinctly remember him saying to me "Well, how did you expect those water stains to disappear - magic?"  because I had to bite my tongue in order to maintain my composure.  For him to say to David that he never said anything like this is a bold-face lie and further evidence of why you should not have anything to do with this company.  I'm glad I got out before they ever actually did any work.  I dread to think what would happen if I had a complaint about something they did.

I was preparing this house for a rental property and did not want to pay out the amount of money wanted for actually sanding and sealing so this seemed like the perfect answer.  Although I was kind of leary of trying a new solution to the problem.  This house was built in 1955 and had always had rugs covering the floors so nothing had ever been done to the floors except the original builders sealant.

Called Mr. Sandless and got an appointment right away.  Mr. Russ Ferrer came out and explained the process, took measurements, and showed me how the cleaner worked.  He explained that depending on what had made the spot in the first place would determine what the end result of the cleaner would be. And not all spots would come out completely, some would turn a grayish color but would lighten up after being sealed. Namely pet urine.  They also give you a choice of 3 finiches (Gloss, Satin, or Semi-Gloss)  Russ thought the Satin would be the best choice for me and that was what I went with.  He did provide me with an estimate before he left. Ok, at this time I am still a little leary!!  Is this too good to be true!!

On scheduled day crew arrived ( Cory, Nate and Bryan) at 8:30 as scheduled.  Crew chief was Cory, who came in and proceeded to look around at the layout of house.  I want to also add that this house was completely empty during this process so there was no furniture or throw rugs or other items to be moved which made the process go much faster. The first thing they did was to bring in a commercial vacuum and vacuumed the whole area that was to be serviced.  Next they brought in their buckets and mops that contained the cleaning solution.  They also cleaned by hand the perimeter around the baseboards, into the corners and around any door frames.  After this was done they were ready to do the sealing. At this time I left the house as it would take another 3 hours or so to complete the sealing process as each stage needed to dry between 45 minutes to an hour.  They were to call me to come back when they had finished sealing.  A few hours later I was called to come back to see the final results. When I arrived the last coat was still a little tacky so they didn't want me to step on it.  We waited about 10 more minutes, then took off our shoes and took a tour of the finished product.  WOW!! What a transformation. It was beautiful.  Job well done.  As I inspected everything at that time it all looked OK. Some of the spots still showed but not to the extent they did before (and I was warned that that might happen).  But I think that just added some character to this 56 year old house!!

When I went back a couple days later and looked more closely there was an area at one of the door jambs that had not gotten covered by the sealing.  In front of the bathroom door there was a spot when the light reflected on it that just didn't look right and there were 2 places where the sealant had splattered on the freshly painted wall!!  I called the company and they apologized and said they would send someone out to look at it.  They came that afternoon.  The splatter on the wall did not wash off, so I just painted over it and that took care of that problem.  Bryan proceeded to put another coat of sealant on the area in front of the bathroom door (about  3 ft x 3 ft). I asked him if it was going to blend in with the rest as it dried and he said yes.  So upon going back again in two days I noticed that area had not blended in with the rest when it dried and you could see where that area transitioned into the next. Did not look good at all.  Called the company again.  They came back again and recoated the entire house with 2 more coats of sealant and it looks fantastic!!!

They have a 5 year warranty against peeling, cracking, chipping or yellowing. They also give you a container of their cleaning product and tell you to use a microfibre mop for wet cleaning once or twice a year.

This company does a fantastic job from beginning to end.  And as you can see from all my comments they are very much oriented to customer satisfaction.  I would definitely recommend them to my friends.  

Just a funny note. On the day that Bryan came back to do the last 2 coats, was the same day that we had the earthquake!!  When he called me that he was finished and I got back to the house, got out of the car and he said "did you feel that earthquake" I thought he was joking until I saw the look on his face and then realized that was the reason that my car was shaking and I had been sitting still in a parking lot!!  

They were very professional and did everything he could to ensure the entire house wasn’t dusty.  I liked his services and will use the same in future.

A neighbor recommended them and she was very pleased. Only took a day to finish.

Two guys came on time, one came later and did work but was gone by 4:30. They gave clear instruction on floor care before Ross left.

Russ Ferrer was exceptional. He made sure the job was done to our satisfaction. He would call and inform me of the status and recommend of something extra was needed to make sure the job was done well. He was trusting and responsible.

Second time I've used this company. Would happily use them a third time.

Came on time, very pleasant and performed service as described. Pleased with results.

It was a two day job that required the company to move all the furniture out of each room before cleaning and applying the "refinish". It was not possible for me to be in the rooms or see the intermediate steps taken as one or more areas were always drying. At the end, the floors looked nice and much better than before (although there did appear to be a difference in level of shine between the two floor levels). Within a few days, I noticed that previous problem areas resurfaced and that many footprints from my 3 cats showed and remained. I wrote to the company and told them the floors looked just as bad as before. Two representatives came out. They applied some cleaner to some areas, with no luck. They asked me if a sealant had been put down to prevent previous floor problems from resurfacing, and I told them I did not know. They said, if cleaning the floor more often did not make it better in a month they would apply one more coat to the upper floor which did not shine as well as the lower floor. (It is noted here that the company says to use their cleaner only about 4 times a year - thus reapplication several times over one month seemed extreme to me. I did try cleaning several times with limited success). Even before they left, they said that applying one more coat would not help and I would still have the same problems. IN SUMMARY. I would suggest that others considering Mr. Sandless be sure that a sealant is put down and that all four applications of the "refinish" product are applied. Still, you may expect problems similar to mine and a floor that requires much more cleaning than expected which in of itself reduces some of the shine and gives the "refinished" floor a shorter life before requiring new "refinishing".

The work was performed ahead of schedule, but the workmanship (how the new wood "fit" into the floor and the stain chosen) was awful. Large seams between old and new wood, and the new wood was stained a very different color than the original wood. We knew an exact match would not be possible, but this wasn't even CLOSE! When we complained, they supposedly came back and redid the rooms (we were not there - the house is vacant). I only saw floors after the second attempt, and they were still unacceptable - the repair just screamed "the floor was screwed up HERE!" Three more calls to the company went unreturned. I'm hiring another company to fix the floors properly. Too bad, the agent, Dave I think his name was, seemed like a nice, professional guy, but they don't live up to their promises based on my experience.