Carpet to Go

Worked with Laura in the Bellevue store. She was knowledgeable about the products, laid out the pros and cons of porcelain versus ceramic. She was very good at identifying colors that would work with my room and ones that wouldn't. So, on the design front - high marks.



Because this is the family room initially I wanted to have underfloor heating installed. But Laura had very little if any info about what would be involved, no idea on cost, etc. She basically gave me the name of an electrician to call. Huh? Am I the first person to ask for radiant heat?



The product came in several sizes. So, I ordered a box of 10x20 and 10x10 so I could layout the actual tiles and see what they looked like. Laura ordered the 10x20 and 20x20 instead. Anyway, the 20x20 box came in damaged with tiles broken. In the meantime, I worked out a pattern using just the 10x20 tiles. So, ordered those but not the installation. Laura charged me for installation of the backer board and for some other materials. She found the backer board error - but I had to go through the invoice several times and nudge her about the additional $200+ refund.



When I started checking around found the quote for the installation was very high. And what was interesting the installation quote didn't include the thinset - which is of course necessary duh, or any tile cleaner (more on this later). I did my homework and found an experienced and highly recommended tile installation contractor who had worked on 10,000 square foot multi-million dollar homes. His quote was substantially less than the quote provided by Laura.



Numerous issues with the tile. When he stopped by CTG to pick up the materials they weren't on a pallet - something he told me all other companies he has worked with utilize. So, he had to hand carry every box to the trailer. Waste of his time.

Then many of the 10x20 were 9 5/8th x 20 and 9 7/8ths x 20. So, my contractor is having to search through the tile boxes trying to find 10x20 that were correctly cut. Then use the incorrect pieces for the sides. Huge time consumer since the pattern had straight lines - the tiles needed to be the same size.



Then there was the grout. So the grout CTG sold me sunk. The contractor followed verbatim the instructions from the manufacturer. Anyway, he ended up having to let the first one sit, come back and do a second grouting. This process took 8 hours - something that he said would normally have take 1 1/2-2 hours. But the best part - the grout left a terrible haze on my very expensive porcelain tile. It looked horrible.



So the contractors (2 guys) are cleaning and cleaning -hand buffing. They didn't want to use any machines for fear grout pieces would scratch the tiles. Wasn't working - still a haze. So I called Laura. She told me she could order cleaner the next day and it would be there in a couple days. So, I'm supposed to have my house in disarray for another 3 days waiting for cleaner - I don't think so. I asked her to speak with the contractor and come up with a solution. Instead she just tells the contractor he is ruining the floor - what? He was trying to clean it. And how about trying to find a solution instead of just arguing.



She made some disparaging comments about my contractor and I suggested that if she thought it was so easy to clean off the haze that she send two people out the next day (or she could come herself) and clean it. Her response - "this is not my problem." Well it is your problem - because you sold me defective grout. My contractor told me he has never had this kind of problem with any other grout.



And according to Laura - all contractors know to have the grout haze cleaner. Ok - then why wasn't it on the original quote that included the installation if its part of the normal process?



So I have a $5,000 floor that looks like crap.



Avoid this business!