For those homeowners who don’t know what http://www.servicemagic.com is, it’s a site where as a homeowner you can detail what type of contractor you are looking, give details about your job, and then contractors (who pay money to http://www.servicemagic.com) call you to service your need. Essentially, http://www.servicemagic.com is a lead service…they collect leads from homeowners and then sell the lead over and over again to any contractor who will pay for it. Each contractor must prove his company is insured, but that’s not that hard.

Here’s why Voyageur Flooring has stopped working with http://www.servicemagic.com. We have nothing against anyone at ServiceMagic, but feel like sharing why we left will ultimately benefit you (the consumer)!

1. As a homeowner, you have a need within your home that you are willing to pay someone to solve. You don’t need 10 companies to solve it - just one. ServiceMagic.com sells your lead until they are blue in the face often times resulting in a “mad dash” to your doorstep.

2. The best companies don’t always win - which means as a homeowner you don’t win. Companies that don’t spend money on advertising or other traditional business practices can simply be a member of ServiceMagic and call it a day. It’s not a sustainable business model but it can work for awhile. In the meantime, the loser is the homeowner. 

3. Because “the lead” is sold more than once, twice, three times, etc., this eventually will result in a degradation of the services provided. For example, if company A knows they need to bid the work REALLY low to get the job, because they are bidding against 6 other companies, what do you suppose will give way in this scenario? The answer is something that hurts the most important part of the equation - the homeowner that has a need! You see, company A is going to bid it really low to get “the work” and then will skimp on the supplies (using poor quality materials) which pads his already slim profits.

As a homeowner, you have a lot of research tools at your disposal via the web. We encourage you to utilize those tools (ie: look for letters of reference, reviews, etc.) and make an informed decision about your contractor (on your terms). Don’t fall for the low price leader - when it comes to hiring a contractor, you get what you pay for.

Thanks,

VF

Every now and again our satisfied customers take a few minutes to send us a quick note and thank us for our work. We really appreciate these notes and publish them so that prospective customers can be assured that Voyageur Flooring is legit! We’ve posted the most recent note to our website: here is the link (http://www.voyageurflooring.com/documents/MinnesotaHardwoodFlooringTestimonial.pdf).

Special thanks to this Richfield, Minnesota customer! We appreciate the feedback!

All the best,

VF

Voyageur Flooring realizes that we aren’t the only home maintanence service that you’ll need. That’s why we are in the process of building a “recommended providers” section on our website. Whether it’s tree trimmers, painters, remodelers, etc., we hope to be a resource for you. Stay tuned as we add more and more to this section on our website.

If you need hardwood flooring services and you live in Minnesota, please give us a call - we’d be happy to help. We do FREE ESTIMATES in the evenings and on weekends, ya know, when you’re home!

Thanks!

Take a look at the wear patterns in the before picture. This is fairly common in older homes especially found in St. Paul and Minneapolis Minnesota. We can help though - as the picture might suggest.

Get a free estimate - we provide them in the evenings and weekends (ya know, when you’re not working).

http://www.VoyageurFlooring.com

A great example of a hardwood floor refinish and stain. If you are a Minnesota (minneapolis or st. paul) homeowner and are thinking refinishing your floors, call Voyageur Flooring today, we CAN HELP!

Here is a link to more pictures and our free estimate page. Keep in mind we do estimates in the weekends and evenings when you’re home and its most convenient. Unlike the “big guys” in our market, we try to be flexible and meet you at convenient times (ya know, when you’re not working).

http://www.VoyageurFlooring.com

lots of times Voyageur Flooring receives questions like: when do you know you need a hardwood floor refinish? can i just get by with a buff and coat? here are a few pictures that help answer that question - if your floor looks anything like this, you need a hardwood floor refinish or at least a buff and coat!

Check out the new before and after photos posted to the Voyageur Flooring website.

If you are a Minneapolis/St. Paul homeowner looking for hardwood flooring services, request a free estimate today.

Thanks!

At Voyageur Flooring we are often asked if its possible to lighten the look of hardwood floors. We also are asked if its possible to darken the look of hardwood floors; the answer to both questions is yes but this post will show pictures of a hardwood floor that was lightened.

Before

 After

You can see in the first picture that the hardwood floor is much darker. We were able to refinish these hardwood floors and lighten the feel significantly. The old, dark stain actually drew out the grain patterns in the wood quite well. Some people, such as this homeowner, don’t like grain patterns or don’t want them to be over powering. In this case were able to minimize how prominent the grain patterns looked.

If you have questions about your hardwood floor or would like a free estimate, please contact Voyageur Flooring today!

Before

After

This was a smaller project for Voyageur Flooring but it turned out great. Smaller rooms like this usual only take a day (or less) to sand. The next day Voyageur Flooring would come back and apply the final coats of water based finish.

Voyageur Flooring has been very busy of late but still have a few openings for February - if you’d like a free estimate on hardwood flooring services (refinishing, sanding, installation or repair), click here.

VF Blogger

I love this blog. I started this blog so I must.

The last few months things have been very busy here at Voyageur Flooring. That’s a good thing because it means more and more people are finding out about Voyageur Flooring. We’re growing and we thank our customers! As we get busy publishing fresh content on our blog somtimes suffers. We will be publishing a lot of new pictures and stories in the coming days and weeks. Our hope is for this information to somehow help you make good decisions about your hardwood floors and the care that should be applied.

Thanks for the hiatus. It’s now over!

Voyageur Flooring Blogger guy!