Hardwood flooring is a very competitive industry. There are many business out there that are trying to get your business. Some hardwood floor companies are better than others. It's difficult for the consumer to know why one company is better than another. The only metric most consumers have to gauge one business over another is price. We'd like to at least present an argument for why asking for price per square foot may not be the best way to differentiate one company from another. 

Consumers need to use some kind of metric to gauge whether or not one company is better than another. The problem is that many of our customers aren't exactly familiar with hardwood flooring techniques. That's perfectly understandable. It is our job as hardwood flooring professionals to educate our clients about what is going on with their floors. Educated consumers are always the easiest to communicate with. Good communication is necessary if we're going to do good work. 

Price per square foot is what many consumers latch on to when they first start price shopping for hardwood floor installation and refinishing. It's unfortunate because at that point, it becomes very difficult to explain to a potential client why there's more to a floor than the price you pay for it. We can't even begin to tell you how many floors we have rescued over the years after a "cheaper" company came in and ruined them. That's not to say that this is always the way that it's going to be. Just because it's cheaper doesn't mean it's going to be worse, but there are some corners that need to be cut if a hardwood floor company is going to be way lower on price than another. 

The truth is that most hardwood floor companies get their supplies from a lot of the same places. Reusing old supplies is one of the largest culprits when it comes to offering lower prices. Reused sandpaper is always going to be worse than fresh sandpaper. Used sandpaper is going to directly affect the quality of your floors. This is only one example of where a corner can be cut.

Reviews really do matter. So many of our customers talk about our glowing Yelp reviews. We take those reviews very seriously. A customer review is a compliment that lasts for years. It is a shining example of past work. Customers will often look at those reviews and see that real people had experiences with us and they will use that as the justification to go with a company that has made so many people happy. Price is still a factor, but we can begin to have a conversation about the quality of the work that is going to be done. This often leads to some of the best experiences for us. A customer that is willing to communicate and work with us to get the job done truly is a gift. A review on top of that healthy communication is just icing on the cake.