Managing Your Relationship with a Professional Installer

The relationship between you and the professional installer chosen begins when you both analyze the expectations for the process. Lots of pre-planning and open communication with your installer is necessary in order to complete a home renovation that you’ll be proud of. 

Before your installer starts working, they should document site conditions and share new challenges with you. Keep in mind that a professional wood flooring installer will confirm the condition, relative humidity, and moisture content of the floor before starting the project.

Set up daily updates and communicate with your contractor continuously to find out if they’re advancing according to the plan. Expert installers will always review their team’s work with you. It’s a great idea to rate your contractor’s work on review sites like TopInstallers.com to help others find a similar experience.

If you come over any problems with your installation, you should be able to resolve most issues in the following 3 steps:

1.      Work with your installer in order to determine the cause of the problem

General causes may be: site preparation missteps, installation errors, product defects, accessory defects, environmental challenges, product acclimatization issues, inappropriate product for installation conditions, and excessive wear under normal use.

2.      Contact those involved with the installation

First, work through potential causes of problems with your installer.

You also have to contact the product retailer / distributor / manufacturer and share the details of your problems. Remember to keep your description on point. Include quality images is also a good idea; this way they can see exactly what you’re seeings. Most businesses have policies and departments which handle these issues.

3.      Bring in a third party inspector

A third party inspector from a nationally recognized association can also help by confirming the source of the problem. The homeowner needs to pay for the inspection and then seek reimbursement from the installer or product retailer.

Litigation

Keep in mind that you have the right to consult a lawyer if you believe that:

• The installation issue was caused by negligence or gross misrepresentation
• The installation issue directly caused significant damage elsewhere in your home
• There was personal injury involved in your claims
• You don’t think you will be able to reach a negotiated agreement on your own