Description of Work

Tricolor Installed 5″ Engineered Hardwood Planks throughout 2nd floor of a townhouse (3 bedrooms/closets and hallway; about 750 Square Feet) and staircase/landing. Tricolor also removed and disposed of existing carpet.

Listen to What Our Customer Says about this Project

I recently bought a townhouse that was carpeted throughout the 2nd floor (3 bedrooms and closets) and staircase. I wanted a completely “carpet-less” house, so I decided to replace the carpet with hardwood.

Because I moved to Tampa from out of state, I knew no one who could recommend a flooring installer. So I looked to Angie’s List instead. Upon reading reviews, I selected 3 installers to provide me with estimates. Two of the installers had the most and highest recommendations on Angie’s List.

My third selection, Tricolor, had no reviews on Angie’s List, but I was impressed with Tricolor’s website and some YouTube videos posted by Tricolor’s owner, Ian Martin. Perhaps it’s because Ian’s Irish with a very thick Irish accent that I inherently trusted him (being of Irish ancestry and having traveling to Ireland, I’m fond of the Irish people).

The first installer told me that he was booked for the next two months. I needed the job done sooner before my belongings arrived, so I eliminated the first installer (as a side note, the first installer and his wife (receptionist) seemed very pleasant, and I’m fairly confident they do good work).

The second installer was nice and professional, but I felt that he dictated to me what color and species of wood I should select. My townhouse has preexisting natural red oak on the first floor, so the installer insisted that I match the second floor and staircase with red oak. Personally, I feel natural red oak is “blah” and I had my heart set on a darker wood for the staircase and second floor, so I was turned off.

When I called for a quote with Tricolor, I said that I was interested in a darker hardwood. So I was pleased when Ian from Tricolor brought darker wood samples with him for the estimate. Unlike the second installer, Ian agreed that I could go with a darker wood on the staircase and 2nd floor and leave the first floor natural red oak.

Ian also provided me with a quote on replacing the first floor’s red oak (it wasn’t within my budget at the moment, so I passed, but I will definitely consider hiring Ian to replace it a few years down the road). I elected to go with Novara Birch Angus 5″ (hand-scraped), which fit within my budget)

I was still living out of state when Ian did the installation, so I felt I took a big gamble hiring a stranger for such a big project without the ability to check up on his work each day (my Realtor did check in on the installation a couple times).

The gamble paid off. I’m very pleased with the installation and the wood looks great. I especially like the work Ian did on the staircase and landing (dark wood with white risers). The staircase and landing amounted to about 30% of the total cost, but it was worth it.

I’m also impressed with the installation of the hardwood in the tiniest corners of the closets. I didn’t expect that much attention to detail. Ian cleaned up very well after the installation. In short, I would highly recommend Tricolor.