Anyone ever use Empire/Nat'l Floors/etc.??

[SkippyNXC]

Just wondering if anyone here has ever used one of those "next day in home" kinda flooring places?

We were gonna go w/home depot but i was less than thrilled w/the subcontractor they use so i'm likely going elsewhere... plus i want my floors done ASAP b/c one of the rooms we need done is the nursery...

so if you've used one of those companies... who'd ya use? what was your experience... good, bad, or indifferent?

Thanks!

[gwenshack]

My neighbor used Empire for carpet and she was happy with what she received. It looks good to me. I've contemplated using them myself. If you do, let me know how it goes, okay? :)

[SkippyNXC]

My neighbor used Empire for carpet and she was happy with what she received. It looks good to me. I've contemplated using them myself. If you do, let me know how it goes, okay? :)

Will do!;)

[firespirit]

We used Empire. For our dining room and living room (I think I put pictures up in my home renevations thread). Totally happy with it. I even noticed something I didn't like on one of stairs a few days after they left and they came back and fixed it.

[SkippyNXC]

We used Empire. For our dining room and living room (I think I put pictures up in my home renevations thread). Totally happy with it. I even noticed something I didn't like on one of stairs a few days after they left and they came back and fixed it.

oh good... i made an appt for an estimate for tuesday online... i find it hard to believe that i just say when and where and boom! someone shows up BUT i guess we'll see... the site said someone will be out from 5-7 on tuesday... if it's that easy tho it'll make DH and I happy

[firespirit]

oh good... i made an appt for an estimate for tuesday online... i find it hard to believe that i just say when and where and boom! someone shows up BUT i guess we'll see... the site said someone will be out from 5-7 on tuesday... if it's that easy tho it'll make DH and I happy

So the first appointment they will have you go through samples and pick what you want. It might be a little sales pitchy depending on who you get, but we were not talked into anything we didn't want.

The name of the carpet we went with is "I feel good" and it's supposed to be smell resistant. So far cat spit up has come up with just water and scrubbing.

[WBandMe]

We used Empire last year (and my mom always has, too) and we were, and are, very happy. They really did a great job, and we have one bedroom left to recarpet and we plan to call Empire again.

[SkippyNXC]

UGH i just typed something out and went to correct a typo w/backspace and i lost everything :(

Let's try again...

SO today is install day. At 7am I got a phone call saying... "bad news, your order is in NY still and we're not able to install it today..." so after explaining that this was unacceptable b/c i'm a million years pregnant and not likely to remain this way much longer, they managed to find a different hardwood that looks the same just isn't the clearance stuff... so i'm waiting for them to get approval from someone to load it on the truck and head up to install it. They don't have the stair pieces but i said well that can get done tomorrow or later but the rooms NEED to get done...

so :crossfingers: that this goes smoothly today!

[hleef]

good luck! hope it works out for ya!

[SkippyNXC]

Just to update... they ended up coming out today and they're starting... originally i was told by the sales guy to expect them around 10, they got here around 12:30, got to work close to 1... they said they can definitely get all the carpet out, do the prep work, and finish the nursery today... the other bedrooms and hallway will be done tomorrow...

i gotta say everyone i've talked to has been really nice and helpful and have gone above and beyond to get this started today, as planned, so i can't say anything bad about the ppl... but they still have no idea if my stairs will be here tomorrow or if they'll be doing that at a later date. IDK whose fault it is but obviously someone at Empire had to drop the ball since my ENTIRE ORDER is still in NY...

We had to pay the full cost for them to start, but if the stairs aren't in tomorrow, i plan on asking for a partial refund for the inconvenience.

[SkippyNXC]

Well, we're on Day 2... and they're here on-time and just got straight to work... and they brought an extra guy today to help them move a lil quicker.... they won't finish the stairs today, he'll have to come back monday to finish (he said he could come back tomorrow and do it so looks like no refund on that front b/c our contract gives them up to 3 days to finish) but that's no big deal to me b/c we don't have to like do any prep work for the stairs, we can (or DH can) move all the stuff back upstairs after today.

One thing i learned tho, is even tho it's May... it's best to do this stuff during warm months b/c they have to keep the door open b/c they're bringing stuff in and out and cutting the planks to size... weeellll it's like 50 degrees outside! brrrr! so i'm staying in my jammies for the most part today and hiding under my blankie!

The one room that's totally done looks GREAT tho! even DH was impressed (which is hard to do!)

[SkippyNXC]

Here's the finished product:

http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/SkippyNXC/0511011911a.jpg

http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/SkippyNXC/0511011911.jpg

couldn't take pics of the other rooms b/c it was too dark

[SkippyNXC]

here's a before of the nursery:

http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/SkippyNXC/0508011016.jpg

[NOTKT]

Looks awesome, Nichole! :D

[f77g4]

Looks great Nicole.

So were they able to give you the non-clearance stuff at the clearance price or did you have to pay more?

[SkippyNXC]

nope we got the non-clearance at clearance b/c it was their mistake :)

[f77g4]

Even better!!! That's awesome!

At least they seem to have good customer service.

[SkippyNXC]

So just a final update... we had the stairs done last monday and after they left we found a bunch of flaws in the installation and finished product. Things that were major but too small for someone to notice when doing a quick walk-thru w/the installer, ya know?

DH was PISSED that i missed these things so he's been dealing w/empire and they sent some manager-esque person out today to do a walk-thru w/DH and he pointed out all the things he's noticed.

He's gonna review the problems w/the company and whatnot and they're gonna eventually send out a new crew to fix the problem. I say eventually b/c i said I think i'd want them to wait until Alex gets here so we don't have them coming out when i could potentially going into labor...