Source
r/Flooring•
Alpha_Tech

Why is finding a flooring place so hard?? Also - anyone happy with the Curupay floor with LL?

I really like a wood floor that Lumber Liquidators carries - but lots of people here say stay far away from them.

spent over an hour trying to find smaller places - none have any websites, or the ones that do, the contact forms or email addresses don't work, etc etc. I feel like I got zapped back to 2002 the way some of these sites were.

I just want to preview the selection before I drive 45 minutes out to see the one corner of your store that would matter to me. Please for the love of all things holy - join the post 2020 world and have some photos, perhaps pricing available.

LL might suck monkey balls - but at least the put their crap right up front.

/rant

Posted Jul 4, 2022, 10:48 PM UTC

127
country_dinosaur97•

Well the problem is same as any many flooring installers either only work commercial work or there isn't enough I'm the area. The trades suffering because there's not many young people to replace the old ones. I'm 25 and in this field I've only ever met like 2 or 3 people my age in my area that actually does it instead of jut being a helper. I'm going on 10 years doing this stuff here soon and it's a constant struggle. I've seen 3 or 4 shops close in the past years not enough people or the ownership retiring

2
tdawg027•

I get what you’re saying. If you are actually looking elsewhere, LL is just the distributor. You can take any of their lines, look up the manufacturer and find other distributors in your area. Can also just buy the materials from them and find your own installer.

Problem with flooring is the margins are small on distribution and most product lines appear and disappear so quick. So mom and pop places that aren’t tech savvy are unable or willing to update their websites accordingly.

1
BGOG83•

LL is definitely not a distributor in any way. They are a retailer who imports and has products manufactured for them. Yes, some of their products can be found from the same manufacturers out in the wild, but not very many of them.

1
Alpha_TechOP•

yeah - I don't doubt you - I see it, as someone that knows nothing of the trade/industry.

It sucks - because then people like LL or SmartCarpet, or Empire end up winning. while the little guys lose out.

1
Huntingandotherstuff•

Where are you located?

1
Alpha_TechOP•

East coast - Central NJ

1
Huntingandotherstuff•

I’m on Long Island - just recently bought vinyl flooring for instal. What helped me is finding a contractor I trusted to make a tesomendation on where to go and find it. Ended up finding flooring avail on lumber liquidators but had a local dealer match the price.

1
KingRadical619•

Thank you for this post, as a young flooring contractor it is hard to compete with big box stores when it comes to product inventory. Since we usually relay on distributors inventory fluctuates alot whereas somewhere like LL, Homedepot etc seem to have endless amount of stuff. Pricing of commercial spaces are really high right now so alot of us rely on going to your home to show you samples, give advice, and for the most part give free estimates. I always ask myself where I can better my business and im glad people like you speak out so we know how to better our small businesses ! Wish you the best of luck on your flooring journey

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Alpha_TechOP•

Thank you! and Wish you the best of luck on your contractor journey!

Seriously though - the "call for pricing" thing is BS - stick a date on the price if the prices are too wild, or if you don't have time to update. But people that work crazy hours sometimes need to narrow down the choices or vendor before making a trip or scheduling something.

Something my one of my bosses used to say - 'don't make it hard for people to give you money'.

If I already made it to your website, you got the "foot in the door" now keep me there.

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el_caballero•

The flooring dealers websites are typically pretty useless. In the flooring industry you need to use the manufacturers websites for products. Big manufacturers will have a dealer locator on their site to help you find someplace local for purchase and installation

1
djdonte•

I did my first floor in some LVP from LL I like it. I found it to be a better quality than most of what floor and decor carried.

1
Alpha_TechOP•

Thanks - i'm sure reviews are generally skewed negatively with this type of stuff - so I'm just trying to sort out how skewed it is, i guess.

1
Spuncptgy•

Installing floors is extremely difficult, the pay is not great and there is no young help.

Instead of a big box, go to a local mom and pop store that want your business!!

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Alpha_TechOP•

yeah - a mom and pop is what i'm trying to find - but they make it so hard to get info - without actually going into a showroom or scheduling an in-home showing. I just want to get some ball park numbers before I do that. Flooring places are far apart enough where it's a 45+minute drive jut to go see that they are the priciest, or have schedules booked out 4 months past what I need, etc.

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Steewiee•

Let me know what your think about www.icorkfloor.com (for USA) and www.cancork.com (for Canada). They are pretty helpful to me. I just installed their Swiss Real Wood Flooring called "Forest".

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Alpha_TechOP•

Thank you! will look into this.

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BGOG83•

OP where do you live? There are tons of great companies out there but it all depends on where you live?

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Alpha_TechOP•

I'm in Central NJ...

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BGOG83•

The biggest distributors on your are are Belknap White and JJ Haynes. Belknap owns JJ, so some of the product lines will be very similar. Use their dealer locators to see who has the products closest to you.

From a retailer perspective I’d go check out the closest floor and decor.

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Alpha_TechOP•

Thanks - these are names that I haven't even heard of.

Friend of mine installed Lauzon - which he said he loves... but i saw really bad reviews on Houzz.

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BGOG83•

It’s expensive and Canadian, so they are very proud of their flooring.

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