I went to Floor & Decor in Manassas, VA. Because I wanted to redo my entire home flooring.
I am resident that has no experience in flooring installation, so I was relaying on their "expertise" to get the right material. So, I visited few times the store because wanted to get different perspectives from different people at Floor & Decor since I am not a floor expert. After talking to them, I asked them to order some Cap-A-Thread. Floor & Decor told me that there were no Cap-A-Thread that worked with my floor and that they recommended ordering some other product. I told them that I wanted to make sure that it was close to the color of the floor I was choosing and that it would not shorten the threads because I had been in houses that the threads had been shorten and people had fallen down the steps. I showed them pictures of the stairs from many angles, and told them that I was not going to replace the rails or spindles from the stair. They said that the product I was going to order would work. Since I believed them, I ordered the product and then ordered the flooring.
When I got the stair threads, they would not work for my stairs. The manager said to cut the nose of my stair threads and mount the thread that they provided which had a nose. The installers said that that would not be a good idea because people put the most force on the nose and that would break and be dangerous. Also, since I was installing to the spindles, part of the thread would not have a nose. Customer Service from Floor & Decor said that he would send an installer to check and never heard back from him. I kept calling him for weeks and no answer.
In the meantime, I started doing my own research talking to Cap-A-Thread, Home Depot and Lowes. There were several colors from Cap-A-Thread that would have been close enough to the floor material I ordered. Cap-A-Thread recommends in their website not to cut thread noses and mentioned that they have two type of nose caps to fit different width of noses. After talking to several installers, they said that they usually do not like Floor & Decor because the people that work there do not have the expertise in installation, so they leave people hanging with products that do not work for them. Looking at the reviews in this site, it seems that that is the case.
The product is beautiful. However, after going to other places like Lowes and Home Depot, I would have gotten it from them as well and both of them had price match and they said that I could return anything that I did not need. If you want a dependable place that is there for you with right customer service, I recommend not using Floor & Decor. If you still want to do business from Floor & Decor, I recommend going with an installer to make sure you choose the right parts. Do not trust Floor & Decor recommendations.
Below, I am including pictures of the thread that they sent, the pictures of the stairs I showed them before I ordered the threads, the Cap-A-Thread that I was originally requesting and colors that would have been close match to my floor.
Tip for consumers:
Pictures may not show how it will really look after installed
Orders may take really long time to be completed (beyond timeframe provided)
Personnel working in this place may not have installation expertise
Many installers do not like to work with Floor & Decor
Many customers have had bad experience with Floor & Decor. Search for reviews and complains to see them. read more