I have minor complaints, but at the end of the day he handled a large project for us in a timely…read moremanner. He and his crew were kind and accommodating. His team handled (1) laying radiant heat coils, (2) applying self-leveling compound both to solve leveling issues and to secure the radiant heat, (3) floating Rigid Core Vinyl Planks, (4) adding new baseboards, (5) running new circuits for each heated area, and (6) drywall repair. I'm grateful for their renovation efforts.
Before I go into minor quibbles, I'll reiterate that the job was done and I'm happy with it. I can't wait to use his team for future projects once the funds are replenished.
This review is only to inform his great crew on ways to improve minor details. They range from "Aesthetic" to "Technical" critiques.
(1) Layout (Aesthetic). The lengths of starting planks were staggered in a clear 2-step pattern. It reduces the "natural" look of things; See the attached image to
(2) Polish (Aesthetic). Shims for baseboards weren't cleaned off with utility knives or anything so there's lots of little spots with wood poking out from behind the baseboard. I know these 70 year old walls were probably a challenge to baseboard, so it's all good. There were also several spots on the walls and doors that got damaged during the installation. It's no biggy though, since we just moved in and the basement was very "DIY" from the previous owner and poorly done anyway.
(3) Patterns (Aesthetic). Normally when boards are laid out from several boxes, you mix and match from the boxes so you get more variety of patterns. In the implementation in my home, there are several areas where identical boards are right next to one another so it looks less "natural"
(4) "Playing it Safe" (Technical). All technical guidelines of the radiant heating system we used warned of testing the current and functionality before laying down compound over it since there's no turning back once that's been done. This test wasn't done - it ended up fine, and everything worked, but had any of the product been found to be faulty the final day of installation when they plugged it all in, there'd be some major problems. Section 2.4 of the following manual: https://hw.menardc.com/main/items/media/EASYH001/Install_Instruct/DFTInstructions.pdf
I should note that maybe there was a miscommunication and these tests were actually done, but from conversations I think they weren't.
(5) Plank Minimum Widths (Technical). Typically planks have minimum widths they are permitted to be for stability. To plan for these minimums, you often place planks from the center of the room in both directions to find out where the widths are too short and you compensate by shifting things left or right. There are locations in the installation where these minimums were exceeded, but they were covered by the baseboards so it's probably fine.
(5) Leveling Compound (Aesthetic). There ended up being some spots where it's off-level enough that I get some significant flex to the boards as I walk over them. It makes me a bit nervous that they'll pop in years to come, but it should be fine. I should note that there ended up being way more leveling compound required than initially expected, so I understand that there are some variations just because how much needed to be laid.
But enough of the negatives, let's chat about what went right:
(1) During this difficult time, they were able to come out and get me ready to work from home in less than a week.
(2) They were appreciative of the situation, especially with my wife's hospital profession, and took necessary precautions to insulate their work area from the rest of the house.
(3) They were flexible to meet some requests of mine during the work, such as repairing drywall, installing thresholds, and making sure the planks were oriented in a certain direction.
(4) They were willing to work even though the area was littered with furniture and boxes from our recent move in. They handled all of my grandmother's furniture with care, and made sure it was all safe as they worked.
(5) They were friendly, kind, and responsive at all times. Victor's the classic contractor / handyman who's seen it all.
(6) They rolled with the punches as the unexpected arose: baseboards, self-leveling compound, and square footage all didn't match original expectations and they were able to quickly pivot and make sure everything was done on time.
(7) They alerted me of problems right when they happened. My sump pump failed and they were the first to let me know! We managed to resolve the problem before any damage was done. In other words, they were vigilant and attentive to my home as they worked.
(8) Their invoices were reasonable, and their financing was generous.
