Reading Time: 4 minutes

A client of about 3 years ago had a simple request. She wanted to have her master bathroom floor replaced. We had done lots of work in the home that had burned badly in a fire.

Joe she said, “Remember when you told me that I should replace my bathroom linoleum floor with tile while we were doing all sorts of work in the home? I am ready now.” Perfect, I visited and took a piece of her tile with me. “I remember getting it on a store off of Cloverdale Road,” she said.

No problem, or so I thought

This was the tile store part of town, I figured someone would recognize it. I had a piece and all it said was “Made in Spain” on the back.

After the fifth store, and getting advice from each one, I felt like I was on a Snipe hunt, or looking for the left-handed smoke shifter in scouts again, except I had one in my hand!

What does a person have to do? I guess Spain isn’t that far away. An old Three Dog Night song started bouncing around in my head.

Then it dawned on me, as I was headed back to the office discouraged and out of time.

What should have take me a few minutes on the computer was taking hours in real life. I’ll bet this happens to folks all the time.

How on earth can I fix this problem for good?

This does not happen to Levco anymore. Our DOW (Description of work) is so detailed now that it would have taken a few moments to look up exactly what the tile was and where it came from, but we did not have that system back then.

That is when I made a last ditch effort. I called my go-to store that most of my flooring materials have come from in the past 5 years.

Answers at last, without airline tickets

“I remember her!” Shelly said, “Let me see, that was Granada 12″ x 12″ and it is currently out of production, let me check if we have any left, nope, sorry, bring it over and let me see if I can find something comparable.”

This same scenario could be applied to paint colors or any other material for that matter.

The take home message

1. We create an extremely detailed “Description of Work” document.
2. We keep great records, so you can go back years later and determine you selections and their sources.
   
3. We photo document our projects on a regular basis.
4. We stick with a few trusted suppliers who will have our back when something like this happens.

Does your remodeling contractor think in these terms?

Big box stores were making noise about this in an effort to become more like contractors but the truth is that most contractors do not keep good records. I do not believe that a big box store gives a hoot about you or your selections; they just have a database that is not corrupt at the moment.

Vive la différence!

 

We know that part of being a professional remodeling company is creating an environment where an encore remodeling project is normal part of the performance.

At Levco we not only aspire to “Do it right the first time”, we also understand that we are being called back to many or our clients homes to remodel again.

This is why we concentrate on creating a clear, concise, documentation trail with you early in the remodeling process. We also document changes that happen along the way.

Besides getting great results the first time, it makes it possible, and easy for us to get you quickly accessible information when you need it again.

Bonus Round Questions?

1. Who has had similar frustrations yet managed to solve this problem?
2. Who has come up with a cool way to make sure this never happens to them?

Your comments are welcome. To ask questions or get more information about remodeling, click here to email me directly, or call 208-947-7261

If you or someone you know is considering remodeling or just wants to speak to a trustworthy remodeling contractor please contact me, you’ll be glad you did.

Disclaimer: Some of these images came from the WEB. If they are yours, and you object to them being used, please claim them and I will gladly remove and replace them at once.