Submitted by sendy88 t3_xum4e8 in ColumbiaMD
Anyone ever use Lowe’s installation service for flooring they buy there? This would be vinyl plank in a basement replacing carpet. Quote is to include demo, install, trim. Anyone have experience either way? Any other local contractors you would use instead?
At least get a comparison with a local shop. Vertical Connection has a nice shop and are based in Columbia. Check back with me in a few weeks and I'll tell you how they did. I can't comment on price since the flooring is a large part of putting in a large built in, and the contractor outsourced to them.
I second the recommendation to visit Vertical Connection. They are a second generation family owned local business with a great reputation. They did our hardwood floors and we’ve been pleased with the quality of the product and the installation.
We went to them for custom shades and while they were very nice and had a good selection, their prices weren't competitive. They quoted us almost $5000 (probably to the tune of $25k for the whole house) on two bedroom windows. We ended up spending about that on the entire house (not 2 windows but 11 windows) with custom blinds and wood valiances with all the features we wanted elsewhere.
I don't know if they operate the same way with their floors, they made it very hard to shop local with the prices they quoted us. It made me sad we couldn't go to a locally owned place, but the markup was just too, too high. I did think their shop was very nice, they were so helpful and if their quality was half as good as their bedside manner then that may be worth the cost for some.
I am potentially hiring Lowe’s to do our wood flooring as well. Have heard good things and 0% financing is why we will likely chose them over a smaller independent company.
They've done my carpet before and as much as it pains me to do so, I'd recommend them. I honestly hate Lowe's - especially the one here (some of my worst customer services experiences in Columbia have been at that Lowes). I had Home Depot do it last time... and honestly, I liked the Lowe's contractors better. I thought they did a cleaner job on the install, and the Home Depot people had to come back because they didn't being enough carpet. I've had Home Depot's contractors do plenty of good work for me in the past though.
It's all pretty dependent on who it is that they are contracting with - but I've found that no matter what type of work I am having them do, both of them tend to hire very capable contractors who operate very professionally at a reasonable cost. Can you find better? Absolutely, but I find them to be an "easy button." I wouldn't necessarily hire them to do a big remodel or anything major project - I'd go find someone independent.
Both Lowes and Home Depot contract to different independent contractors from various companies in the area though... it's hard to review because one person is likely working with a different crew/company than another.
Thanks, this is insightful. I had a feeling they pick off a list of contractors but wasn’t sure. If figure sort of the same with one stop shop ease, but was having second thoughts on if it’s the best call. It’s simple flooring and trim, so hoping that makes it better vs. drywall and a remodel like you mention.
Yeah, I personally wouldn't hesitate to use them for a job like that... unless maybe you had some complex tiling pattern you were going for and wanted to be confident that it was going to come out right (I'd want to see prior work in that case). But simple flooring & trim, I wouldn't hesitate.
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Don't. My mom had three times where they were sent out for a completely different job than what we were having and every time they came with the wrong tools. I'm not sure who she ended up going with as this was a few years ago but don't go through Lowes for labor
RevRagnarok t1_iqwana4 wrote
The problem is that any answer you get may be outdated or just wrong. They sub out to one (or more) other companies to do the actual work, and I assume it's under NDA until they show up at your door.