Custom Carpet Center in Buffalo, New York: Customer Review Part 2 (Before and After)

After the floor was finished, I noticed a bubble near the bathroom entrance. I asked the installer, " What's going on with that lump over there?" He said most new floors just need time to settle and it should go away. Give it two weeks or so, he said. I gave it more time than that just to be sure and nothing changed.

Looking at the large bubble for several weeks was disappointing. Also, being right near the bathroom entrance, I had to step over it every trip to the bathroom and out. I called the salesman around 3 or 4 weeks later. He scheduled an appointment and said someone will be by next week. They showed up to repair the floor and the one guy was surprised at what he saw. He said, "I can't believe the other installers left the floor like that." This is not an easy problem to fix he told me. The bathroom floor would need to be ripped up and could be damaged. I told him I don't think I would like that. One of the guys said putting something heavy on it for a few days might fix the bubble.

He said maybe putting some heavy books on it will work, if not then call back. After another few days of stepping over books to use the bathroom, I called the salesman and said this was ridiculous. The floor did not get any better. The large bubble turned into two medium size bubbles. He scheduled another appointment for them to repair the floor. The next appointment was in another week. The workers were a no show.

I was so aggravated that I called the salesman and left him a message. Then I called for the manager at the company's other location. The secretary returned my call and said the manager will be out to fix the floor next week. After another week, the manager inspected the bubble. He told me he had to slice the floor down the seam right where the bathroom door closes. He informed me that if he couldn't spread the bubble out, then he will have to separate the two rooms and use a metal strip. I told him that I didn't order a metal strip and that's not what I want to do. I told him that I ordered and paid for one full sheet of vinyl for the kitchen and bathroom.

The manager insisted that is what he will have to use if he can't fix the problem. I said that's not what I want to use to fix it. The manager sliced the floor down the seam and spent about an hour on it trying to smooth it out. He asked me how it looked like he was finished. I looked at it and said you can still see it. The bubble was smaller, but not repaired. He said he would have to order special seam sealer and glue and it will take a week or two for it to come in. In the meantime, he put blue masking tape over the slice he made in the floor and told me not to step on it. So, for another week or so I had to step over this area and wait for the company to call me when the parts came in.

The secretary called me and said the parts were in. She scheduled another appointment with me in about 4 or 5 days. The manager came by again and brought seam sealer. He asked to use my hair dryer and tried heating up the area to possibly shrink the remaining bubbles. There were two smaller bubbles instead of one large one. It looked like it was getting better though. The manager said he would have to come back again and asked if he could leave the seam sealer for next time. The secretary made another appointment with me. Another week or so goes by and the manager returns with the special glue and asks me for the seam sealer.

He removed the blue tape and applied the glue under the bubbles. Then tried smoothing the area out for about an hour. Then he sealed up the slice in the floor with the seam sealer. He said he was all done and I was surprised to see the bubbles were gone. I told him that it looked much better. The glue under the floor left some imperfections though. It would have been nice to have the area as smooth as the rest of the floor. The pictures are of the floor bubble when it was installed and when the area was fixed.