Laminate Floors/Supplier/Installer?
 

Before anyone suggests I "search" this subject let me assure you I have. However, this is a constantly changing field and I want to take advantage of recent experiences.
As I see it I have these choices:
1.Purchase from "Big Box" and use their installer.
2.Purchase from "Big Box" and contract my own installer.
3.Purchase and have installed by a flooring retailer/installer.
(Do it myself is not an option)
I am leaning towards #3 so I am looking for a reliable retailer/installer. Any advice or thoughts on the matter will be greatly appreciated.

Laminate Installer
 

I just finished this project last week. Bought my material directly from Home Depot and used an installer recommended on this site, Zach Istre. His business name is KLJ Flooring Services out of Leesburg. Zach's price was about $500 less than than the Home Depot quoted. He and his crew of 2 arrived promptly, worked their butts off and were finished and out of here in about 9 hours. 640 sq ft of laminate. Looks gorgeous. No complaints during or after. He is meticulous and I recommend him without hesitation. 352-303-3859. As well, he picked up the laminate for me at Home Depot and they brought it with them. Took away the old carpet and pad when they left. I did not shop at any of the flooring stores so can't offer a comparison on his pricing versus what they charge. Worth a call to get a quote.

I am also looking for someone to install tile floors Does anyone have a recommendation

Distinctive Flooring was great to work with and we shopped all around. The job was done well and installers are their employees They are across from Brownwood by Sparr
4521-B Monaco Wah
Wildwood, FL. 34785

Marty & Kim Cornelius (352-259-0322) did tile and laminate in our house. Great job and very well priced.

I had Distinctive Flooring install laminate over my tile floor - they did an absolute fabulous job. It's beautiful.

My husband installed laminate flooring in the bedrooms that we purchased from Lowes - compared to what we have in the living area, it's night and day. Not in terms of installation but in terms of quality of product.

Floors
 

We used East Coast and were very pleased with the product and install. They also had the best price on the flooring we chose. They only use their own installers who were neat precise and friendly. Be sure to have your molding pulled then put back on. Some installers will suggest half round but it will not look good.

Village Flooring in Fruitland Park did our luxury vinyl tile over existing (cracked) ceramic tile, and we liked their work so well that we had them do the laminate in our den then the carpet in two bedrooms. Highly recommend them. We considered your various options and got many quotes. In the end we decided we wanted the "all in one" option in cases there were any issues.

Quarter-round
 

Up here in Ohio this summer, we just had carpet and vinyl pulled up and replaced with laminate and quarter-round trim added to molding. I think it looks great.

I will have to pay attention in friends' homes back in The Villages to see what they have had done as we will likely eventually do this in our villa once the carpet and vinyl need replaced.

We were lucky to have an upgrade on our carpet when we bought the villa and it still cleans up very nicely after 7-8 years (but only used about 8 months/yr).

EAST COAST is the best hands down! We had our whole villa, 1700 sq feet done with hardwood. The floors are beautiful! Their installers are the ones who do all the work, they are the best. Reliable, clean, professional, great job! Just a thought, when we had our floors done, we had the molding removed, the floor installed and the molding was put back. The floors look like they were installed when the house was built. Our other choice was to have quarter round molding attached to the floor, IMHO this does not look good or finished. Good luck, call EAST COAST FLOORING, you will be pleased with them!

Final decision has been made. We shopped a number of laminate floor retailers and found they were much the same as to price and service (all good). We selected FloorMasters simply because they had the product we wanted.

We also tried "big box" and found by the time they got done nickle and dime-ing (sp?) they were at least 20% higher than the others.

Thanks for all of your input.

Job completed today. Started this AM at 9:10. Finished before 3:00 PM. Very satisfied with all aspects of their work. Eddie and his crew will get my next job.

I recently used east coast for laminate. Great job by tony and his team. The floors came out beautiful. Work started on schedule and clean up was perfect.