Stair Star

I have been working with Stair Star for years and they have been great. They are always on time and very reliable and proffecienal the back up there work 100% and always eager. Gus & Sebastian are very knowlegable and are very easy going and proffecianal. I will continue work with this company and will recommend it to everyone if you want the latest styles and top of the line manufacturing

We gave Stair Star the deposit promptly. When they came into to install the stairs they had screwed up the measurements. When they returned, we werent home and our contractor let them in to complete the job. The worker then asked the contractor for payment - who told them we werent home, but his experience was we always paid the trades promptly (which we do). The person from Stair Star then threatened my contractor that he was going to take a saw and break the stairs they just installed !!!!

I am writing this review that nobody will have such a bad experience with this company.
Owner of the company “Stair Stars” Gus came to write the contract and Sebastian came for measurements and I gave a deposit $1600, everything looked very promising and very friendly. Few weeks later for the installation Marcello came with maybe 5 guys, removed the old staircase and they were installing the new. I saw that something is not correct, and I had a contractor in my house doing renovation of the basement and I asked him to take a look, so he was asking questions about certain details and then Marcello got very angry and nasty and even wanted to stop installing the stairs that nobody should look at his job until he finishes. Stairs were covered with plastic so many details even I didn’t see. I was hesitating to pay them $1295 at the installation. When they left I looked closer and I was not satisfied with their work at all, next day I called the office and few days later Sebastian came and I asked him to make the stringers same width and the depth and according the O.B.C. and other finishes at top and middle landing, they even cut the support for the mid landing. Sebastian agreed that second stringer is huge and he said he will be comfortable with 5” deep intrusion cut on both stringers and I agreed (he should have reviewed 5” intrusion cut and the sizes of the stringers with structural engineer if he was not certain about the cut, and he did not mentioned the wavier that time), now one stringer is deeper than the other and different width (as you see it on the picture), I have never seen staircase with 5 risers with two different stringers on one run, both were always same. Few days later they brought new stringers but I was told that before the installation I have to sign the wavier that they won’t be responsible for the changes of stairs, because according to them stairs follow the standards. I did not sign. I called couple of times Gus on his cell phone (first time when I called he answered right away), now no answer at all. I called the office every day, got some kind of excuses, finally Rocio answered my call, she said that changes are not negotiable and if I want to have some changes done I have to sign the waiver that I am going to be responsible for the safety, I asked her to come over and see the staircase, she came with Sebastian and I told them make the stairs look nice and safe and stringers same size, stairs ready for finishes, but we did not got to any conclusion on friendly way. Even I asked Rocio if she would be happy in her house with this kind of stairs, no answer, and I asked for references, but she said why I am going to bother her customers, so she refused. So now on left side stringer is 2” wide and intrusion cut is 3”, on right side is 2.5”wide and intrusion cut is 9” and at the bottom stairs stringers are 1+” wide it should be 1.5” wide because they are not supported and I want to use this space for drawers from the first time as I have mentioned to Sebastian. Stairs are only nailed to landings (should have bolts) and even the left stringer from top landing to middle landing is not fasten to the landing at the bottom and the wall. Nails are visible, and these stairs look much worse than my 60 years old stairs. This staircase should be ready for the finishes, but it is not, they look ugly, unfinished. I don’t think this company should be proud of their work. Please see the pictures. I would never ever recommend this company to anybody.

This is my experience with Stair Star.
I have been re-doing all my upstairs flooring in laminate hardwood myself but was looking for someone who could do my stairs for me as I figured that would be too dificult for an amateur. My wife and I are both retired seniors in our 70's.
I first contacted Stair Star inc for an estimate as I was looking to change my stairs from a carpeted finish to hardwood.
After calling to request a quote, Gus came over, measured everything out and I explained to him all of my requests which included matching the finish on the stairs to the same height of the laminate that I was installing myself upstairs and explained that "my laminate" had a height of 12mm. "No problem" was his response.
The next day I received an email from the office with the price. I accepted the quote.
In our contract we agreed to do my stairs in hardwood to match the height of the laminate that I was installing myself, put a nose coping along the outsides and reinstall my existing railing.
A few days later, Gus came back to re-measure everything out and I then handed him a 40% deposit as per the contract. After this, Gus was never to be seen again during the installation process.
A week later, 2 workers came by and finished the job in just one day. Although I saw a few minor details that I wasn't thrilled about, to my untrained eye, I figured the job was satisfactory and paid the final balance on the contract.
This is where my problems and suffering begins.
When the job was done, I had planned to continue installing my laminate from where the top of the stairs ended. To my surprise, when I put the laminate up against the coping that stair star installed, I realized that they had not paid any attention to what was requested and the coping was 5/16 higher (thicker) than my laminate. This would be a HUGE safety factor for my wife and I (both in our 70's).
I tried to see if there was a fix on my part but couldn't figure it out as I am no expert in this field, so my wife called Stair Stars office and was very rudely told that there are 2 different copings, one for hardwood and one to match laminate and that they had installed the correct one (which they obviously did not).
After that conversation, I tried calling Gus several times on his cellphone but to no avail. After trying to get ahold of Gus for several days, I was finally able to get ahold of him one afternoon and I explained the main problem and also that we had found several other defects including cracked wood, uneven surfaces on their finish ect..His response to me was that the following day, he had an estimate to do in my neighbourhood and after that he would swing by my place and have a look at the issues.
The following day I waited from 10am until it was night time and Gus neither showed up at my house or even bothered to call me back. At this point is when I began feeling very frustrated and ripped off by this company. I thought I may have to call another carpenter or stairs expert and pay them to fix Stair star's mistakes. I decided not to bother calling Gus or the office anymore.
A few days later, my oldest son explained to me that since I had paid in full, their responsibility would be to correct any mistakes in workmanship. My son asked me for Stair Star's phone number and called them. He did not get an answer and left various messages about the issue on a voice mail but never received a callback or reply.
After waiting 3 days for a response, my son called the office again and finally got someone named ROCIO on the line. My son explained that his parents are both seniors and that because of the height difference on the coping could very easily cause one of them to fall and get injured. Rocio's response shocked us all : "If they fall, that's not our problem". My son explained to them that neither my wife nor I have yet to fall, but that if one of us does fall, that Stair star could be in for big legal problems. After persistent insisting by my son with Rocio, she agreed to send out a crew to have a look "only as a courtesy" visit and nothing else.
The next day Rocio called our house and said that we should stay home as someone would be coming by to have a look at the height difference at the top of my stairs and the other defects that we were not too happy about.
The next day, Gus showed up and took a sample of my laminate and explained that in 2 days someone would come by and cut part of the coping to match the height of my laminate ONLY where we walk down the first step. This coping goes beyond just the landing for my step as it runs about another 6 feet into a wall along my hallway.
2 days later they sent someone over to cut the coping ONLY when we walk down but the other 6 ft run was reinstalled heigher than my laminate!!
Now I have installed my laminate and it really does not look nice because of the poor finish and workmanship from Stair Star's team. I decided not to keep calling as I am just tired of this poor service and rude responses towards seniors from this so called company and decided I've had enough of them.
After all these issues, we never received a call back from the office or company to see if we were satisfied with the end result of the job that we paid for in full. I beleive this company does not care about their customers or reputation as long as they get paid in full.
I would not recomend this company to anyone as I had a very frustrating month long experience and I hope this review helps others avoid the problems that we had to deal with.

While the quality of the actual stairs that were supplied are fine, this companies performance in all other areas left something to be desired.

- Were very late in arriving onsite to take measurements, and when I finally called they apologized in that Gus had been caught in a traffic nightmare. I have no issue with the fact that traffic caused an issue, rather the point was: where is the communication?

- On the day of the agreed installation, no one showed up. I called, left a message and the call was never returned. Ever!

- The next day I called and confirmed a new installation date, and again they were late. It was only when I called did they provide an update and an alternative time.

- Upon arrival for the installation, Marcelo pointed out that there were a number of structural deficiencies with the framing, joists and headers around the existing stairwell - much appreciated!

- After the removal of the old stairs and the installation of the new stairs the deficient structure shifted significantly and may have rendered the situation unsafe. Yes, Marcelo put in a few screws to after the fact to hold it together, however should remedial action not have been taken before the removal of the stairs was initiated? I think so.

- The crew finished up and departed without any sort of review of the situation. The attached pictures is how things were left.

- I reviewed the situation with Rocio the next day and was told that the installation was "well done" and "done properly" Since this is a home and not a construction site, I had expected a finished installation, rather than one that required a final visit by a carpenter completely nail in the top riser and to install a nosing.

Yes, it's a 110 year old house that is not square, and that was not constructed to today's standards - it's not going to be be perfect. Nonetheless, all other high quality trades I have used so far have adapted, discussed, and worked around these types of issues - with a lot of communications - so that the end result was always complete, and a significant improvement over what the situation was before they started - including limitations dictated by the issues surrounding an older house.

in summary: The quality of the stairs themselves are good. Very poor communication and ability to adjust/ adapt to non-standard situations.

Best price in town, took under an hour to remove and replace new stairs with solid oak wood all around except risers. Gus went out the way to even provide few extra wood steps and 2 nose piece. Will use again.

I have nothing bad to say for them, they are polite and very helpful. gus extremly helpful,and if i could sum stair star up with one word it would be extraordinary.The workers that came to my house to install the stairs were courteous and friendly.My stair were superb. I would Defenatly recommend stair star to anyone who needs stairs.

The technician who came to our home to take an estimate was really kind and helpfull, he worked together with us to make the best design for our stairs and the most afordable price.
I'm very satisfied with their work and the excellent results that we obtain from Stair Star.I highly recommend Stair Star.Definitely,will be using then for our future projects.

Oh, where to begin.

At first, when Gus and Daniel came for an estimate, I was quite impressed with their professionalism and knowledge. They gave a quote that was in line with expectations and other quotes I had received, so I decided to go with them.

However, the day of, it was not Gus and Daniel who came to do work on my stairs. Okay, fine, I can live with that. But to be honest, I went with Stair Star because I liked Gus and Daniel, I judged them as the workmen I would want in my house, and not the two randoms.

Although I was told that all wood would be precut, and I did not have to do anything to prep my house (aside from removing carpet from the stairs), the two randoms start bringing in huge power tools and setting them up in my main room (which is basically my entire first floor). Off I run to grab all my tarps and bed sheets so I can cover every inch of my main floor, so saw dust doesn't ruin my couch, dining room set, TV, computer, window dressings, aquarium, etc. I should also mention that my main floor had brand new hard work flooring which I made very clear I did not want scratched or gouged. Seems like common sense to me.

Let me be clear on this: I have a large covered porch not 5 feet away from where they set up the power tools. They could have done all the work there, outside, but they did not want to. They could have also used the work shop I have in the basement.

The two randoms were fine throughout the day. Very polite. My issues are with their worksmanship.

End of the day, I have an entire main floor completely covered in sawdust. I mean COMPLETELY. Floor, walls, furniture, windows, everything. They did a very quick job sweeping - and dumped it all in my garden! I would have preferred they left it all for me to clean (which I had to do anyways), instead of dumping sawdust all over my front garden. Several weeks later, and that sawdust is still there - it is surprisingly difficult to remove. They also left a large pile of wood on my front porch. Perhaps I shouldn't have assumed, but I did believe they should have at least cleaned that up after themselves.

Here is a summary of why their worksmanship was so poor:

- They sanded the stairs against the grain. Any beginner DIY'er knows to never sand against the grain.
- They used cheap veneer for the stringers - it was already broken in many places by them.
- On that cheap veneer, they used an absurd amount of glue, which seeped through and now the stain won't stick. So I have splotchy stain on the sides of my stairs. And where they did not smooth out the glue, I have large bumps under the veneer.
- Stairs are not level, tilting downward. Makes it fun to not slip off the step sometimes.
- They used cheap putty to fill in the huge gaps left where the steps meet the wall. This also does not take stain to match the wood, and is coming off in chunks.
- All this I could live with, however, they gouged my brand new hard wood floor in at least 9 places I have found so far and placed innumerable scratches. I know these are all from them, as they are in exactly the spots they had put the large sawing machines, and there were no gouges in that area before. I am pretty anal about my floor, so I have to admit I kinda memorized where the (very few) scratches were beforehand.

I do a lot of work myself in my house, and the stairs were the one thing I felt I needed professionals to do. However, after this, I am confident I could have done just as good a job for a lot cheaper, and without completely ruining my brand new hardwood floor in the process.

After I had gone over all this, I called Daniel listing my concerns. Of course, I have yet to hear back from him. So, to sum it up, I feel completely ripped off, and now my brand new hardwood floor looks old and ruined. My brand new stairs also look about 10 years old.