Please Read the Items Below Regarding Your Project

FAQ's and Customer Responsibilities

Please read the items below regarding your project:

Hours & Scheduling

We schedule all phases of our projects with open windows of times. Our start times for the first day are generally between 8-10am. Return trips will be scheduled in a 12-hour time block. It is highly recommended to allow us a way to enter your home at any time of day to minimize your wait time. The jobs that are the least stressful for our clients are the ones where we either have a key or a lockbox code. We may need to arrive late or work up to 10 pm at times. Please advise if there is a preference for working hours. The times shown on the calendar are a best-guess estimate with no guarantees. Service businesses in Connecticut and New York have to deal with traffic and other factors. Please allow an additional three to five days of work in case of additional touch up work on boards, unforeseen subfloor or concrete repairs are needed, dust removal, poly issues, or if additional coats are needed. Saturdays and Sundays are up to the foreman and not included in our time estimates unless a conversation was given before the job commences. Please understand we are a group of craftsmen and project managers that may need additional time to both start and finish projects to meet our high standards and our customer's wishes. Our regular business hours are Mon-Fri 7AM-5PM.

We will always recommend to work on projects without constant supervision by the homeowner due to frustrations that can mount during the project. Plus it will possibly slow and cause unnecessary stress on the crews. We will always verify the scope of work on the signed estimate is followed and will consult with the homeowner if any changes are made.

Other Trades

Plumbers are needed to re-install any water lines, sinks, toilets, and/or gas stoves. A painting company is needed for all perimeter area moldings, risers, balusters, newels, and posts. An electrician may be needed if there are any problems with your electrical systems. Contractors that are needed, for any reason, may require additional costs and are not a responsibility of The Hardwood Guys. Please prepare for paint touch-up repair on both stairs, door jambs, walls, and baseboards. This is common after the work is completed to make everything perfect. Especially during an install or removal of existing floors, please expect wall and baseboard filling, sanding, painting, and touchups. You may possibly need new door trim if heights change. We don't provide these services.

Site Conditions

Please maintain your home's temperature between 65-75 degrees and humidity levels between 40-50% at all times both above and below our installation. Some homes will show cupping or have issues with the finishes if they are exposed to moisture below or above the floors. We are not responsible for these issues after 7 days of installation and/or if the site conditions are not followed properly. Please verify your basement has the same readings as the floor above. We are not responsible for flooring issues if humidity and temperature isn't properly regulated.

New hardwood needs time to acclimate to your home's actual humidity and temperature before installation, and moving it in too early or too late can cause gapping or cupping later on. Please keep the HVAC system running normally in the days before and after the job, in every season — a home that is closed up and unconditioned, even in the off-season, is one of the most common causes of the moisture problems described above. Direct, sustained sunlight through large windows can also fade or unevenly darken a finish over time; area rugs and window treatments in sun-heavy rooms will help protect your investment.

Dust & Plastic

We use a vacuum system that retains a lot of the dust but it's not 100%. We do use blowers at the perimeters before the last coat but expect some dusting after completion. If dust is a major concern, it's best to remove all items from countertops and/or shelves before we arrive to make cleanup easier. Unless it's stated on the quote, please plastic all built-ins and cabinets plus in adjacent rooms that may have furniture or anywhere dust accumulation is a concern. Please expect dusting after we're finished in all areas and change out your HVAC filters a few days after we're finished. We are not responsible for this service or duct cleaning if it's needed, especially if other trades are in the home.

Subfloors, Repairs & Squeaks

Subfloors may need additional leveling and/or prep to meet the manufacturer's guidelines. These items are not included unless specifically stated in the estimate. If at the time of installation it is determined that your substrate or subfloor needs to be leveled, replaced, or repaired, additional charges will be required. No warranty is given for any repairs or squeaks that may remain after the installation. It is normal in homes of any age to have unlevel subfloors; due to the cost of leveling, most of our clients should not expect completely level floors after installation. Please know these additional repairs will change the time needed to complete the project.

Repairs, buff and screen jobs, and squeak fixes are open-contract work and may require additional charges if more materials or labor are needed once we start on the project. All proposals are best-guess estimates but at times, more charges will be necessary. For example, if more repairs are present on the floor to meet our customer's expectations, we may need more materials or labor to remedy them. Please be aware that these factors are not under our control and we can't be responsible for repairs or squeaks that still show after we finish your project. Please be onsite as much as possible if you have these flooring issues and the final product is a major concern. No warranty is given over uneven subfloors or any squeaks that remain after the installation. Squeaks tied to subfloor issues need to be remedied by a licensed carpenter or framer. Again, no warranty can be given for existing squeaks or movement for any reason.

Floor Grades

Under grading rules, there are four levels of flooring: Clear, Select, No. 1 Common, and No. 2 Common/Mill Grade. If you require a floor with hardly any rustic qualities, please choose a Clear or Select grade. No. 1 grade hardwood will have a few holes and rustic features that remain after sanding and finishing. If knots, wormy areas, pinholes, fissure cracks, and/or any rustic features are not acceptable, please don't accept or choose a No. 2 or character grade hardwood. No warranty is given for No. 2 or similar floors regarding filler work or cracks or holes that will remain after the refinishing process. Any changes in product, color, filler work, or requests for refinishing will be an additional charge.

Grade is a description of how much natural character is present in the wood, not a measure of quality or durability — a No. 1 or character-grade floor is just as structurally sound as a Clear grade floor, it simply shows more of the tree in its knots, mineral streaks, and color variation. If you are unsure which grade is right for your home, ask to see a physical sample of that specific grade before you commit, rather than relying on a photo — grade names are not applied identically across every mill or supplier.

Furniture

Please remove all furniture including appliances with flooring underneath. Take lots of care when moving these items. Scratches and gouges have occurred on our projects during the moving process and at times, required a full refinishing to remedy. All breakables, valuables, and sentimental items should be removed and placed in a safe or away from the home. We once had a customer misplace a valuable item and it was a stressful scene until the client realized it had fallen behind her dresser on the floor. It's just best to have all breakables and valuables away and in a safe area. Any appliances left in the vicinity of our work are subject to damage; unless you are being charged for furniture moving, we hold no responsibility for any damage, marks, or cleaning costs. Gas stoves, sinks, toilets, dryers, and washing machines are to be installed and reconnected by others. We also hold no responsibility for appliance reconnections or plumbing needed or water damage that may occur. Please contact a licensed plumber, as we don't reconnect these items. Please remove all breakable and small items from rooms to be installed. If moving of furniture requires additional time, there may be an additional charge. Any furniture or appliances (fridge, etc.) left in the vicinity of the installation is subject to damage and we are not responsible for damage or breakage. Finishing under appliances left in our work areas can be completed but with no warranty. Door cutting, caulking, door trim repair, high moldings, custom trim/moldings, trim and door repair, wall marks, appliance damage, cabinetry repair, plumbing, electrical, painting, and sheetrock repair, if needed, are to be done by others.

Site Finished Floors

Please be aware that the floors will not look complete until we're nearing the final coat of polyurethane. Sanding and buffing will abrade the surface and particles will appear and show a white residue. This is normal. The staining process, especially with dark or gray floors, may seem cloudy, dull, and show stain runs. This is normal. Wood is a product of nature and up to 5% of boards may not accept stain evenly and may show runs. The final coat will show your sheen of choice and the finished product. If any hand scraping, joint cleaning, joint scraping, epoxy fill, major wood filler work, or any repairs are requested, there will be an additional charge. Holes, light areas, lighter boards, small cracks, and gaps between boards are normal and we cannot fill in every space between existing or new boards. Any major filler work will be an additional charge. All natural hardwood will show marks, holes, wormy areas, and knots. All site-finished products will have natural fissure cracks, grain raise, some wave effect in certain light, and holes present after the final coat has been applied. Site-finished filler products cannot fix each of these items and should not be expected to be perfect. Please expect to touch up paint on baseboards, shoe molding, and stairs. Painters should be called before we start the project so there are no delays to a completed project. Only pre-finished products can provide boards without holes and fissure cracks. Rails and posts will show a slight difference in color from the floors; this is normal and should be expected, since we use different equipment on rails and posts and can't provide an absolute match. If No. 1 grade or lower is chosen, please expect gaps, lifted edges, dark and light boards, small cracks, and knots to remain after installation. Filler may or may not be the same color as the wood. This is normal and to be expected. Any boards that are requested to be remedied or replaced will result in additional charges. Please choose factory finished floors if a piano finish is desired. Wide planks will have gaps, and we don't apply wood filler in large gaps, as when it dries it turns to "kitty litter" and the filler looks like small crumbles.

Sanding Existing Pre-Finished Floors

Sanding down prefinished floors requires a large amount of additional effort. We have to use lower grit belts to get the floors down to raw wood. These types of floors in some cases have up to 8 coats of finish and aluminum oxide from when they were finished at the factory. They may also be a mix of oak species and have grade differences. Please expect bevels and, in some cases, a difference in color where boards meet. If the depth of the bevel is pronounced, it will remain and may show the original finish where boards meet. This is normal. We do our best to make sure these floors return to a "new" look, but some characteristics of the original milling may remain. There may also be light-colored boards present when staining a factory-finished floor with darker colors, since manufacturers often use denser boards from the crotches of trees for these products. This is normal and shouldn't be a worrying factor. It's extremely difficult to get a prefinished floor looking exactly like a site-finished floor.

Rails and Posts

We offer a service where we only darken the existing rails by adding a stain and poly mix to work with the existing stain to make them darker to match the floors. Unless specifically stated, we don't fully sand down rails and posts. Any rail work will produce a product that is not exactly like the floors, no matter which method is used. This will produce a finished result slightly different from floors that were machine-sanded flat. We don't promise that we can completely remove the color from the original finishing process — that can only be done with newly installed products that have never been finished. Please expect some roughness near the posts and areas people wouldn't normally touch; this should be expected and not a concern. Our goal is to get the stain and finish to closely resemble the flooring. We can typically smooth out the areas someone would touch, but the undersides and posts will have some roughness. If this is a concern, please contact a local stair company for new products. Additional costs may be incurred if a client requests additional work or time to smooth out these other areas, or to fix areas chipped during the moving of furniture.

If stair risers, stringers, newels, balusters, baseboards, shoe molding, or quarter round are installed in or near our stain work, please expect stain, marks, and discoloration on these items. There will be visible stain on risers, spindles, newels, posts, and balusters. They need to be caulked, sanded, and/or filled and then painted by a professional painter to look perfect — we don't provide that service. Completely sanding existing rails, posts, and treads is very difficult; we can only provide staining of these items if you're choosing a darker color, and the finished rails will appear different from the floors — similar, but not an exact match. There is no current method to sand rails and posts the same way we sand the floors. Any requested changes will result in additional charges. No trim, stair parts, grilles, or misc. items are included unless specifically stated in our estimates. In some cases new spindles are needed; these may need to be completed by others, especially if the existing balusters are custom. Any sanding done around balusters/spindles will be rough to the touch compared to the main areas completed by our sanding equipment.

Materials and Stain Colors

Please review and double check all purchased materials, stains, and/or polyurethane types or sheens. After installation, we cannot remove, refinish, and/or reinstall any floors. Site-finished floors are a natural product and are not culled the same way as a factory-finished floor. Please be on site during the installation to review board selection or if stain colors are a concern. If you have a concern with colors, stains, holes, and/or the natural character of the wood, please choose a factory-finished floor and be onsite during installation to review all boards. Stock and custom mixed colors, especially grays, may look different once the entire room has been stained, and again once poly has been applied. Lighting can also have a large effect on the look of your floors — the stain could look different in different areas of your home depending on lighting, the mix chosen, and aging. There may be some lines and/or tool markings on the wood; this is normal and can't be changed after finish coats have been applied. Once applied, colors cannot be changed, and the full price of the job may be charged if a customer doesn't like their chosen color after the fact. Please visit daily to check on color if it's important to you. Custom mixes may incur additional charges if any additional work is needed because the customer doesn't accept the chosen color, material type, or poly type. If color and sheen are very important to you, please choose a pre-finished product to make sure your final look is achieved. We include up to 4 sample colors and one hour of "sample work" in our estimates.

Custom mixes of stain, especially any gray tones, may require a signature and/or a change of price. Gray colors in particular can change appearance depending on lighting, shade, and the artificial light in the home. Darker or gray colors requested on light wood species such as maple or hickory may result in an additional cost. We don't recommend mixing stains, as lighting may affect the final result.

Color Matching — What We Can and Cannot Guarantee

We cannot guarantee a 100% color match. Wood is a natural material, and the same stain behaves differently on red oak than on white oak, on new wood than on old, and on a floor that has been sanded before. Where we are matching to something rather than applying a color you have chosen from our own samples, the result is an approximation, and a visible difference should be expected.

The only exception is an exact, named manufacturer color. If you can give us the specific product — for example a stain by name from a major manufacturer — we can order and apply that exact stain. That is the one case where we will commit to matching a color, and even then the final appearance still depends on your species of wood, its age, and its grain.

Matching a sample board or any pre-finished material can never be guaranteed 100%. This includes sample boards, existing pre-finished flooring, furniture, cabinets, trim, and photographs. Pre-finished products are colored in a factory using processes that can't be reproduced on site. We'll get as close as the material allows and show you a sample first, but an exact match to a pre-finished sample is not something we will promise.

Any request to change the color after stain has been applied is charged at the same rate as the original full sanding. This isn't a penalty — changing a floor's color means sanding the entire floor back to raw wood a second time, using the same machines, abrasives, crew time, and dust containment as the first pass. It also removes further thickness from your floor, which is finite and can't be replaced.

This is why we insist on an approved on-site sample before staining. We apply test areas on your actual floor, in your actual light, and the color you approve is the color we apply. Color chips, phone photos, and showroom samples are not a reliable guide to how a stain will look in your home.

An approved sample still doesn't guarantee a perfect match at the end of the job. A sample is a small test area applied on one day; your floor is a much larger area applied on another day, from new cans of stain, and the floor as a whole can take the color slightly differently than the sample did. Close, but not necessarily 100%, is the expectation to hold.

Lighting will also affect how dark floors and other dark or brown tones read in a room. Whether it's large windows, wall shadows, or artificial lighting, your floors may seem to change color or show a different look depending on your angle of view and the time of day. Adjacent rooms or repairs that are not refinished at the same time as the main project will also look different from the newly sanded floor — there will typically be some difference in sheen and color, even if only a short time separates the two jobs. We can't promise a perfect match between separately finished areas.

Light Colors & Natural Finishes

Natural or light stain colors over any oak, regardless of type and grade, will show every character mark and difference between new and old floors. We can't redo a floor without additional payment if the color isn't accepted by the client after it has been chosen. Please understand that a "clear" or natural finish is just that: all grade differences, age marks, character marks, mineral streaks, old nail holes, and gaps will show. Any request to change the floor after the fact may require full payment.

Water-Based Finishes

If a waterborne finish is chosen, please expect faster dry times. These finishes can dry in under 2 hours, and we can often apply multiple coats in a day. We may use a base coat of sealer and then complete with finish coats — this is normal and follows the manufacturer's directions. You may be able to walk on your floors within a few hours. Please expect water-based finishes to cost more, as they are more expensive and technically demanding to apply than traditional oil finishes. Please understand that with these finishes, a small percentage of the installation may show beads or small lines of dried polyurethane. A small percentage is acceptable and should be expected — no site-finished application can be perfect. Please choose a factory-finished product if you're especially concerned about the final look of a hand-applied site finish. Curing times differ by product; please check the manufacturer's datasheet for exact curing times.

Hardwax Finishes

If a hardwax finish is chosen, please expect more ongoing maintenance. You'll get the look of a modern, matte European finish, but you'll need to follow the manufacturer's instructions to maintain and keep your new floors looking their best for years to come. We offer no warranty on hardwax floors that collect dirt or show stains from organic or inorganic liquids. Remove any spills as quickly as possible — if liquid is allowed to sit on the floor for any length of time, it could penetrate the oil. These types of repairs will require additional charges if we are asked to remedy them.

Rare Issues

We do need to use the 240 and 110 power outlets on all projects. If there is any electrical work or reconnecting of lines needed after our project, you may need an electrician or appliance repair company to visit — this is a rare occurrence, and we don't reimburse for faulty electrical boxes, breakers, or short circuits. Ceiling and sheetrock repair may be needed if the home was built with loose screws or smaller beams; small pops or wall nicks are not common, but small repairs may be needed. These items are not included in our work and are to be repaired by others. Any trim, moldings, stair issues, new spindles, base shoe, or misc. items near the work areas may have unique issues and require an outside contractor to repair. These items are not included in our price and are to be addressed by others.

After Completion & Painting

Do not use blue tape if you're having painters touch up baseboards, stairs, and quarter round after our work — the hardwood may seem cured, but it's best not to use blue tape on floors for long periods of time. Do expect some stain, especially darker colors, to show up on door trim, stair tread perimeters, baseboards, and quarter round. The staining process requires us to apply stain with rags and it will mark these perimeters. A painter with a fine brush is needed to paint these adjacent areas — we clean these areas as we go, but touch-up paint should be expected to make your trim look perfect again. Risers and stringers will need a painter to use filler, sandpaper, and possibly primer and paint to make these areas perfect. This is normal and is to be provided by a professional painter; we do not provide these services.

Rugs and Existing Carpet

Rugs should only be placed on floors after 6 weeks with oil-based finishes and 21 days with waterborne finishes. Curing is still occurring even after your floors seem finished. If there is carpet in the work area that becomes damaged or in need of repair, we offer a modest contribution toward a cleaning company's visit, or toward the cost of replacement, if staining gets on your carpet — the amount is set out in your signed estimate. Please protect these areas with sticky protective film before we arrive. Accidents may happen and full replacement shouldn't be expected.

Plumbing, Electrical & Misc. Trades

Plumbing, painting, electrical, or any misc. work that needs to be completed by other contractors, for any reason whatsoever, is to be remedied by others at no charge to The Hardwood Guys. We do not reconnect plumbing lines needed for fridges, sinks, gas lines, or toilets, and we can't be held responsible for any plumbing, electrical, or misc. issue that needs to be remedied by another trade. If there are issues regarding any non-flooring item, please contact a licensed and insured contractor. All problems with power boxes or outlets must be fixed by an electrician. It's best to have an expert complete these items — someone licensed and insured — so you have the assurance that a professional has remedied the issue and the protection you need if a future problem occurs.

Maintenance

How should you prolong the life of your new floors? The best piece of advice we can give is to take your shoes off while inside — it's amazing what a big impact this can have, especially with heeled shoes or cleats. It's also important to use felt pads underneath furniture (especially chairs) and entry mats at the doorways and any exterior entry points, so grit and moisture are caught before they reach the floor.

Clean with a well-wrung, barely damp mop or a manufacturer-approved hardwood cleaner — never a steam mop, and never an ammonia-based or oil-soap cleaner, both of which can dull or damage a factory or site-applied finish over time. Sweep or vacuum with a hard-floor attachment (not a beater-bar head) regularly to keep grit from scratching the surface underfoot. Keep pet nails trimmed, use furniture coasters under anything with wheels or metal feet, and avoid letting standing water sit on the floor for any length of time. See our Cleaning & Maintenance page for more on how to keep your floors looking their best.

Dogs & Furniture

Be very careful with large dogs — we've had many instances of floors being scratched after we've finished a homeowner's refinishing project. We use great products, but any large dog with nails can scratch a surface. Please make sure your dog's nails are clipped and trimmed. Mats are also great for lessening the transfer of outside debris into your home, and waterproof mats help avoid water spillage, which could severely damage your hardwood floors. Your floors will need over 30 days to fully cure — be very careful when you move your furniture back into your rooms, as scratches can occur easily if you're not careful.

Moving Issues

Please use insured movers so they can take care of issues if they occur. We get weekly calls about gouging and scratching of floors during the moving back in of furniture — the same goes for plumbers, to protect against future water damage. Reputable moving and plumbing companies carry general liability insurance and can pay for damaged floors caused by furniture moving or water leakage. See our Cleaning & Maintenance page for more information.

Incorrect Expectations

A Table Top Finish — Each piece of wood sands differently depending on the grain and milling, making a completely flat, "piano" finish virtually impossible on a site-finished floor. Factory finished floors are the closest to this expectation. It's understood that a small percentage of any finished floor may show an installation blemish, knot, or similar issue.

Dust Particle-Free Finish — It is not possible to achieve a "clean room" environment, and some dust and carpet fibers can be expected to fall onto the freshly finished floor before it fully dries. Minor imperfections in the finish will generally disappear within the first 60-90 days of living on the floor.

A Monochromatic Floor — Wood as a natural product varies from piece to piece. It's milled from a tree and will have grain and color variation consistent with the grade and species selected. Furniture is typically made from a handful of pieces of wood, while a hardwood floor is made up of hundreds to thousands of pieces — natural character is expected.

A Floor That Will Not Scratch or Dent — Hardwood flooring can be dented by something as common as a high-heeled shoe, a pet's claws, or a dropped object. Different species of hardwood have different densities and will show damage more or less than others.

A Floor Without Cracks or Gaps Between the Boards — Although your new floor may start tight with no cracks between boards, as a natural product it will contract and expand with seasonal changes in moisture, and gaps or fissure cracks can appear over time.

A Perfect Finish — This is impossible for us to achieve. Any site-finished floor will have some fissure cracks, open knots, particles, bubbles, gaps, minor peeling, poly lines, or similar issues across a small percentage of the floor. The final result will be a beautiful floor that is unique and within industry standards.

Down the Road — As time goes by, you'll see scratches and blemishes; this is normal wear and tear. If this is a concern, keep the area a sock-only environment and use only recommended cleaning products. A quick buff and coat every few years is often a better solution than a full refinish — it only takes an hour or two and puts down a fresh top coat to remove surface scratches and residue buildup. If you notice cupping or board movement, check your home's humidity and temperature; these issues are normally caused by a crawl space, wet mopping, or conditions outside the recommended zones. You have a one-year workmanship warranty — please call us within that time if you have any concerns.

Curing Times and Off-Gassing

There is a waiting period before you can clean or introduce liquids after the last coat of polyurethane has been applied. Please read the data sheet for your chosen finish for exact times. Water-based finishes may need up to 14 days to cure before cleaning and introducing liquids to your floors; oil-based polyurethane may need up to 45 days. Dry time allows furniture to be moved back in, but full curing takes longer and depends on the finish you choose. The curing and drying process can produce fissure cracks, holes, gaps, and minor cupping in any hardwood, of any grade — this is normal and shouldn't be alarming, and small gaps or holes can be filled with wood filler and matched with a stain pen.

How long do we wait before we walk on the floors? You may normally walk on your floors in socks before we arrive each day. Depending on the type of poly used, there's a wait of 4-24 hours of drying before you can walk on the floors — ask us on site, since drying time depends on the poly used and the humidity of your home and the current season. Pets have a much stronger sense of smell than we do and may need extra days before re-entry if you choose an oil-based finish. Choose a waterborne finish if you want quicker cure times with less off-gassing.

How long should we be out of the home, or can we stay? We generally recommend staying out of the home while stain, sealer, and/or oil-based polyurethane is being applied, since there is off-gassing for several days after the last application of oil — normally 2-14 days, with full cure taking up to 6 weeks. Water-based products are close to odorless and you may be able to remain in the home throughout, depending on your tolerance. Waterborne finishes dry in 2-6 hours and normally cure within 7-21 days. Some jobs use a combination of an oil-based stain and a water-based poly, in which case expect some off-gassing during the staining step. Ask for a water-based finish if you need to be in the home each day and return quickly after the final coat.

To speed the dissipation of finish fumes, increase ventilation by opening windows and using box fans — one to bring air in and another to push air out. Ceiling fans alone are not effective, since they only circulate air already in the room. Raising the room temperature, especially when it's below 50°F outside, also helps fumes clear faster and helps the finish cure. Change your air filters after the work is done, since they can retain odors, and remove or clean fabrics such as upholstery, drapery, and pillows that can absorb odor.

Problems with Workmanship or Material Issues

In rare cases, there will be issues with workmanship. We state on our estimates that additional days may be needed to fix any workmanship issues, and we reserve the right to fix any issue, including a complete re-installation or refinish, in a reasonable and timely manner. Work should be performed with no expectation of a discount unless one is offered by your project manager. If work cannot be completed in a timely manner due to the homeowner's time constraints or difficulty coordinating with the client, all monies owed for work completed will still be due, with no additional funds or penalties. Final payment is due within 24 hours, or on receipt.

Once a product or finish has been applied or installed, any requested changes may incur additional expense — please do your own research on grades and expectations before choosing your hardwood or manufactured flooring. We are not liable for lost revenue, hotel expenses, or moving expenses for any reason. Upon signature, the customer agrees to the one-year workmanship warranty described in this document. We will refer to the National Wood Flooring Association if a concern or conflict over workmanship arises, and we reserve the right to fix any workmanship issue ourselves.

If repairs are done by another contractor, the cost must be approved in writing by a project manager at The Hardwood Guys before that work begins. Do not expect payment for work by another contractor, cleaning company, or other vendor if it wasn't approved in advance.

Coat Jobs (Buff & Coat)

Repair, screen, and coat jobs (buff and coat) may be recommended in some cases. We cannot guarantee that these services will completely resolve a flooring issue, and they are provided without a warranty. If a repair or buff-and-coat service doesn't fully remedy the issue, we can apply a portion of what was paid toward a full replacement instead.

We're here to help — please call or email if you have questions. We reserve the right to fix any problem that arises on our projects and will make every reasonable effort to correct issues if they occur.

Notice of Audio and Video Recording

You and your home may be subject to audio and video recording while our crew is onsite. These recordings may be used for purposes including security, quality control, training, and promotional use on social media and other platforms.

By allowing us into your home, you acknowledge and consent to audio and video recording as a condition of our crew's entry onto the property, and you understand that recordings may be used in the contexts described above, or to help resolve a dispute if one arises. This is standard practice for a crew working inside client homes, and it protects both you and us — it gives us an accurate record of the site conditions we found, the work performed, and the condition we left behind. If you do not wish to be recorded, please tell your project manager before work begins so we can discuss options.

Cancelations

Cancellations made within 7 days of the scheduled date will incur a late termination fee. The fee is 10% of the labor cost, with a stated minimum, plus a separate minimum fee for any materials already picked up and/or delivered — 10% of the material cost or a flat minimum, whichever is greater — to cover restocking and delivery; both minimums are set out in your signed estimate. This charge is in addition to labor fees. If payment has already been made and the job is canceled, all postage, signature-confirmation, and payment-processing fees will be deducted from the amount refunded. Any fee charged by our distributor for a cancelation is separate and will be added to the above.

Discounts apply only to the base estimate and cannot be combined with other discounts or optional upgrades. Cash and check payments are eligible for discounts unless otherwise noted on your estimate.

Payment is expected upon receipt. If you pay by credit card or through financing, there may be an additional fee unless stated otherwise. Verbal agreements must be confirmed in writing before the job begins. If payment is not received within 14 days, all discounts are void and any merchant fees will be added to the balance. If payment extends beyond 21 days, we will involve our attorney, and after 30 days, administration and legal costs will be added to your balance, along with a monthly interest charge; on day 30 we may also place a lien on the property, with associated fees added to the total. Disputes related to an estimate or invoice will be resolved through arbitration in our chosen jurisdiction, and the client is responsible for additional legal fees if these terms are not followed.

In the event of conditions beyond our control — severe weather, supply chain disruption, or a similar disaster — we will do our best to complete your job and will ask to reschedule once we're able to safely resume. If a deposit or payment has been made, we may need additional time to issue a refund in a situation like this.

By allowing our crew into your home, you release and agree to hold The Hardwood Guys harmless from claims, damages, costs, and expenses arising from unintentional exposure to illness in connection with services received from us, on behalf of yourself, your heirs, and any personal representatives.

Honest reviews are welcome once the job is complete and within the warranty period. After final payment has been made, or after a repair or discount has been offered to resolve a concern, the details of that resolution are considered confidential, and the customer agrees not to share or publish information about it except with their own attorney if needed. If asked about a resolved matter, the customer may say it has been resolved, without providing further detail.

Please read each line item so our responsibilities are understood. Once the project has started, it is understood that these terms have been read and accepted.

SMS/Text Messaging Terms

By opting in to receive text messages from The Hardwood Guys via our website contact form, phone, or in person, you agree to the following:

The Hardwood Guys may send you SMS/text messages about your flooring project, including appointment reminders, estimate follow-ups, project status updates, and job completion notifications.
Message frequency varies based on your project activity.
Message and data rates may apply. Check with your carrier for details.
You may opt out at any time by replying STOP to any message you receive from us.
Reply HELP for support, or call (203) 290-1510.
Text messaging is not required to use our services — you can always reach us by phone at (203) 290-1510.
We will not share your phone number with third parties for marketing purposes.
Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
By providing your phone number and consenting on our contact form, you expressly agree to receive text messages from The Hardwood Guys at that number.

For questions about our text program, call (203) 290-1510.

Terms of Service