Pros:
1) His guys do a very fine job, especially with the seam of the carpet. We had them install both carpet and engineered wood floor. We used both relatively high end and mid end carpet with high density. I cannot tel where the seams are with the carpet installation, and everything looks smooth and even.
2) His price was competitive, and his installation cost was reasonable.
Cons:
1) He is hard to get hold of. Also, his communication may at times seem abrupt. It is best to either call him or text him (if he chooses that option) instead of e-mailing him.
2) It was hard to understand the schedule (when the installation may happen.) It may have been because it was the end of the calender year, but we were anxious to know when the flooring can be installed. It can depend on when the material will be delivered to his warehouse.
3) More precise instruction of what and by when we need to do to prepare for the installation would have been more helpful. We learnt, almost a day or two days before the actual installation day when it happens, and what we needed to clear from the floor from, so we needed to work at night to pack and shift things around in the house.
Some thoughts:
We had a surprise discovery of asbestos from our old flooring, and we needed to resolve some issues as a result of it. We needed to do some clearing phone meeting with him to fill the gap to understand what they could have done to prepare the floor with minimal disruption to asbestos and what they could not have avoided during the process. We sent an email with questions and some requests, and he seemed to have reacted rather a little emotionally, as if we questioned his professionalism (or at least he may have taken in in such a way.) In our phone conversations after we sent an email, he sounded frustrated to have to spend his time for this matter, and said to us repeatedly that he is very busy and am not sure how the change of the schedule for the installation can be accommodated. He sounded inpatient to spend time to discuss with our matter due to lack of time. (And to be fair, I need to note that the phone conversation was outside his business hour.) I did not say to him though that my partner also works many hours, but curving his time to try to reach to him to get some questions answered. After all, we are all busy, in this 21st century.... Still, it would have been probably nicer if the tone of the conversation was different.
Summary:
With Gabe, when communicating, be clear, be precise, and be straight Though he may sound abrupt, his crews DO a good job. I would rather have an installation crew who do a good job, than other companies which have good lip talks but with awful installation teams. If you have questions, just be direct and in less vague ways, just ask him, then he will answer in the same manner. They DO a good job, and I am happy with the result, which is very important. read more