Yousef from UFDC Inc. came prepared to our home and after taking measurements and doing calculations in his head, he was able to give us a really good firm price to fix our floor in the living and dining rooms of our home. It was fantastic that he had the ability to give us a figure within ten minutes after arriving; this was one of the best features of hiring this company.
Our old floor was original, dating back to the 1950's, it was pale and awfully squeeky.
We selected ash wood as replacement and were told it could be put on top of the existing hardwood floor, after it was screwed down in several areas to prevent squeeking. That was the plan until the workman arrived to do the installation.
Sam came and told us there was nothing you can do to prevent squeeking and that it would continue to squeek, so now our only remedy was to remove the old floor, and that was something I did not want, fearing the dust, dirt and delay. But Sam could still do the work alone and now we had to pay an additional $1,000. So, our initial really good price of $2,800 was now inflated to $3,800.
We were initially impressed with Sam because he was careful and knowledgeable and started at once. He removed the old flooring without much dust and began installation of the new floor. This was a two day job not including the baseboards.
Upon completion, the new ash wood floor looked amazing and it still does. The choice of wood is fabulous and gives our rooms a whole sleek, modern new look.
Now about those baseboards... the old ones were removed by Sam as we decided to replace them and this is when we ran into problems. We did not have any new baseboards at the time and it would take a few weeks before we would get them. So we arranged another appointment with Sam to return and install them, and there was an additional fee of $150.
The new baseboards had been painted white in the meantime, plus we had an independent painter finishing painting our living room on the exact same day that Sam returned to do this installation.
Sam was instantly angry as soon as he saw the painter, and he got on his cell phone and spoke in an irritated fashion in a foreign language. Then he said he did not know how he was supposed to get all this work done on time today because he had another appointment at 3 pm. It was not my problem that he double booked himself; and I truly felt he had sufficient time, he had four hours to cut and install my baseboards and would have plenty of time to get to his next assignment is what I thought. And considering the weather was nice and sunny outside, I offered him to use his saw on the deck. This comment was met with irritation again and this time Sam raised his voice at me telling me it was impossible to do his work outside and that he would be setting his saw up inside, in the living room once the painter got out of his way.
The painter then asked Sam to wait thirty minutes to allow the last painted wall to dry. Sam paced back and forth and within ten minutes after arriving he began to assemble his equipment. My biggest concern at that point was for him to wait the thirty minutes in total so the saw dust would not blow over and stick to the surface of my newly painted wall.
Sam did as he pleased and continued to set up his equipment. Then he asked "who cracked the floor here?" Now that my husband was home, we told Sam the crack was made when he installed the floor because we inspected it ourselves and not only did we find that crack we found a half dozen more. Sam told us to leave them alone and wait until the summer time, when we could apply a compound to hide them.
Sam got on with his job and before I knew it, he was gone. My husband was not pleased at all with the condition the baseboards and in one area the baseboard was not put on flush with the wall, instead it was 3/4" sticking out and was crooked, plus you could see the nail.
I, too, inspected the work and then I learned that Sam was gone in under two hours.
It seemed evident to both of us that Sam took his anger out on installation of the baseboards. Such as: instead of joining the baseboards at the end of the wall, he made cuts and attached the boards in the middle of the wall (room) and this looks horrible. In fact, it looks like a child did this work. So when you look at the baseboards the first thing you see are cuts all over the place and all of them are in the middle of the room, and he also did these cuts on the quarter rounds and attached them in the middle of the room.
If you happen to like quality work like we do, then we can attest that this is not quality work. It is work done by an individual who was angry and irritated and someone who obviously has no respect and dedication to his employer. In fact this work is so poor and substandard and there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to have cuts in the middle of the room, considering there is over forty feet of unused baseboard.
After considering what Sam did my spouse and I telephoned him the same day and there was no response. All of us had previously enjoyed text messages, and this became our second way of trying to reach him, and still he ignored us, and we even included particulars on our voice mail messages. In total we had placed six calls to him; two on the date of installation and the others within the week following the job, and Sam never ever called us back to remedy his mistakes. He simply ignored us and in terms of us reaching Yousef for an explanation, he also never returned our calls.
Based on the foregoing I would never hire this company; and it's a shame I have to write this because Yousef was really good, he accommodated us well in the beginning as best he could, but they both fell down when it mattered the most at the end of this work.
If I can attach a photo of the baseboards, I will get it uploaded. Thank you.