Choosing a flooring contractor to come and install your brand-new floors can seem a bit daunting – especially as you want the person installing your floors to be trustworthy, reliable, and competent.
With plenty of tradies and businesses in the sea, there is so much room for error when it comes to choosing your perfect match. Here are some tips on how to find someone who will be able to bring your vision to life.
Conducting your research
The most important thing you can do when it comes to choosing someone to install your flooring is to conduct your own research. Educate yourself on the process and types of flooring there are available to you and what is considered as a quality standard. Natural Wood Floors Founder, Daniel Bechaz says ‘don’t just accept that the glue the tradesmen are using is the best or the materials they’re using is the best. Find out what they’re using and don’t settle for cheaper, lesser quality materials. The cheapest quote isn’t always the best option.’ When discussing pricing, Daniel also mentions that ‘if a quote seems too good to be true, it probably is. Cheaper quotes probably mean the materials being used aren’t of a high standard, or the tradesmen used aren’t being paid as much as they should – you get what you pay for in this industry. Ask questions, educate yourself and make sure you’re getting a quality product.’
Australasian Timber Flooring Association
Something you can look for when it comes to finding someone to install your floors is whether that business is a member of the Australasian Timber Flooring Association (ATFA). This association is a governing body that is there to help guide flooring businesses, by providing advice and guidelines for businesses and tradies. They are also there to assist the consumer with their flooring purchase to make sure that their investment is protected. While not every flooring business needs to be a member of this association, it certainly is something to look out for and ask around about when conducting your research into flooring specialists. The ATFA also provides advice to the consumer if something were to go wrong with the flooring installation.
Traits of a trusted professional
There are a few traits to keep an eye out for when it comes to choosing a flooring contractor. While it is a very personal choice, there are a few things that you should always look for:
Personal rapport – First thing’s first, you must find someone with who you can form a good personal rapport. Never underestimate the value of someone who is friendly, open, and honest and you know you can trust. This person is someone you’re going to have in your home, so make sure you feel comfortable around this person being in your space.
Skillset and knowledge – This is probably one of the most important ones – finding someone with the right skill set and knowledge for what you need to be done. It might sound like a no-brainer, but pretty much anyone can be an ‘expert’ at installing flooring after watching a couple of YouTube videos, right?! Do your research to find out what makes for a good, trusted flooring installer and investigate the qualifications held by that company and person. How much experience have they had? What qualifications do they possess? How long have they been in the industry? These are all things to keep in mind. Daniel says, ‘the knowledge and time a business spends with a potential client is something to appreciate.’ Having someone willing to talk through the product and process is generally a sign of an experienced worker.
Reputation/Reviews – Reviews left by existing clients are something that will give you a good indicator of the type of person and worker they are. Take a look at Google reviews, Facebook reviews or even just Google the company name and then reviews to see what pops up. You’ll get an idea pretty quickly about whether they can be trusted or not – take note too of how they respond to negative reviews. Are they defensive? Hostile? Aggressive? Or do they defuse the situation and offer a solution?
What to look out for
When it comes to finding the best person to install your new floor, there are some things you need to keep in mind to ensure you’ve found someone trustworthy and reliable. Some things to be cautious of when looking for a new flooring contractor include:
Negative company reviews – The first major red flag when looking for a tradie is negative reviews about their company. One negative review isn’t always cause for concern, however, if there are multiple poor reviews online about the company, and their response is either non-existent or in denial/abrupt, that’s when alarm bells should begin to sound.
Unreliable/untrustworthy – Secondly, if you’ve started looking around and have called someone out to your house for a quote and they either turn up extremely late or not at all with a last-minute excuse as to why it might be time to consider whether this person is right for the job. Like with anything, you want someone who is punctual and can be trusted to turn up on time – especially if you’ve needed to take the day off work to be there when they arrive.
Bad attitude – Having a bad attitude is always a reason for concern. When a tradie turns up with a negative attitude or is constantly rude, that is a perfectly good reason for you to choose to not go with them. You want to hire someone you feel will fit into your home well – not someone you feel you’ll be walking on eggshells around.
Finding someone to install flooring into your home can turn into a lengthy process if you’re unsure what to look for. However, if you’re well equipped with knowledge of exactly what you’re after in your floor design, you will be able to ask all the right questions to ensure you’re finding the best, most trustworthy flooring contractor for your situation. For advice on installing your new wood floors, get in touch with us today.
