April 29, 2023
To: Dave Marzelak, DM Hardwood Floor Design…read more
Re: 853 N Ogden, Unit 3 Floor Restoration Project
Dave,
I never do this when I'm unhappy with a contractor, I usually just move on. However, you're so
full of yourself that I feel the need to set the record straight with you. Please bear with me
while I indulge in some righteous feedback.
You claim the subject floor was an "ugly mess" of built-up varnish and it was extremely difficult
to sand. You saw the floor ahead of time and you knew what you were dealing with. I didn't
tell you how to price the job so don't complain to me that you "ate shit" on it. You even
admitted that your crew should have used a different machine for the first pass.
You claim you gave me the kitchen floor for "free". Again, you're the one who offered that you
had reclaimed wood that could be used and you offered the material for free, with labor at
$500. That's $5/sqft....competitive, but not free. And, to add to the insult, there are so many
bad cross-cuts and gaps on this floor that it looks like a high school shop student laid it.
Next, let's talk about the 20" x 8" floor repair. For $500 I rightfully expected to have four new
slats weaved into the existing floor, as a pro would do. Instead, it was done with sloppy cross
cuts between two joists. Adding to the insult is that two of the slats had massive knots midspan
that cracked in half as soon as I stepped on them. I had to remove these and install two
new ones myself, which took me all of 30 minutes. You grossly over charged me, and you
should be ashamed at the poor job on this repair.
Your quote included filling all floor gaps, which you saw would be significant. Mid-job you tell
me that the floor is too bouncy and it wasn't a good idea. I've refinished many wood floors in
100 year-old homes and always used an epoxy sealer mixed with some saw dust to fill gaps.
Never had a problem. You never offered a credit for not applying a filler.
Your quote included painting the stair risers. When you saw how much repair was needed you
refused. You never offered a credit for not painting the risers.
Your quote included staining the floors. Instead, you simply put on a sealer and 3 coats of
poly. You never offered a credit for not staining.
Your quote included 4 coats of poly. You never offered a credit for one less coat.
The quality of work was so poor overall that I'm shocked to hear your claims of being the best
floor guy in Denver. Maybe at one time when you did the work yourself, but this crew you sent,
who by the way said they were just a subcontractor, were whining sissies. Restoring wood
floors is hard dirty work....they whined about how many staples were left in the kitchen floor.
Fine, but it only took an hour to clean that up. My Prop Mgr was there. It didn't take "3 men a
whole day" as you said. That's ridiculous.
There's at least 10 areas where you can see that they didn't get adequate coverage of the
sealer...swipe marks, shadows, areas not covered at all. Again, sloppy and no attention to
detail.
You insisted that I have the unit painted before you did the floors, which I agreed to. What a
massive mistake on my part! My painter had to come back and spend an entire day painting
the risers that you were supposed to do, plus patch/touch up dozens of locations where
equipment hit the trim, sealer was splashed on newly painted walls, and smudge marks from
your crews dirty hands were all over the walls. My painter would have protected the floors if
you went first; you took no care to protect the new paint job.
Lastly, you're a terrible businessman. You're crude, passive aggressive, big-headed, and you
don't listen. You disrespected my Property Manager by not listening to her and dismissing
every single issue she brought up to you on site. You changed the scope of work at your convenience without consulting the owner and without providing appropriate credits. You acted like I was speaking a foreign
language when I asked you for a COI and W9, the latter which I never received. Every time I
brought up the items you were failing to provide (stain, 4-coats poly, filler) you complained how
hard the job was, using words like "ugly mess", "got my ass kicked", "I'm pissed". (I pulled
those gems right from our text strings.) You act as if I'm the one responsible for your inability to
bid a difficult job.
I have three more units that need floors restored at this property. DM Hardwood will not be
invited to bid.
Regards,
Mike N
Co-Founder and Head of Operations
MHAH, LLC
