With degrees in engineering, finance, and business, Josh Tackel and Paul Dobrynin came into the flooring industry in a somewhat unconventional way. Where many flooring professionals are coming into the industry through a family business or with a great desire to work with their hands, Tackel and Dobrynin were motivated by something else.
Seeing the difficulties many homeowners were facing while navigating home improvement, Tackel and Dobrynin felt drawn to the flooring industry and wanted to figure out a way to create the best possible experience for customers, so they started their company, FlooredAtHome, in 2014.
“We love taking on hard projects, challenging ourselves, and striving to deliver the best possible floors to our customers,” says Tackel. “More importantly though, we strive for our customers’ happiness. We could create, by all technical measures, the best possible floor, but if we haven’t made our customers happy, then we haven’t succeeded.”
FLOOR FOCUS
When FlooredAtHome was initially contacted for this particular job, the customer was looking to have the floors refinished. The customer had just purchased a new home, which had a 2 1/4″ straight oak floor throughout, and was unhappy with a squeaking noise in the first- and second-floor hallways.
“It was an old pine subfloor and we didn’t feel there was enough we could do from the top, so we suggested reinstalling the necessary areas to fix the problem,” adds Tackel. “Our customer was completely onboard. After suggesting an accent area, the customer did a bit of research on Pinterest and found a layout they loved.”
Using 2 1/4″ and 3 1/4″ red oak, FlooredAtHome nailed and glued down the tricky floor. “The layout of the space was challenging,” shares Tackel. “While the design is very symmetrical, the entrance/hallway did not play by the same rules. The width of the hallway, for example, was not exactly half of the larger space, yet the squares needed to be centered to both.”
“It took a bit of finesse to determine the rules we absolutely couldn’t break for the layout and then to work backward to figure out what was possible,” adds Tackel. “Like my daddy always says, ‘Measure 1,000 times and then cut once.’”
The floor was stained with Dark Walnut from DuraSeal and finished with Loba-Wakol 2K Supra.
FLOOR FEEDBACK
“The best part of our job is getting referrals,” shares Tackel. “Knowing that our customers love their floors, seeing what we are able to accomplish for them, and having the FlooredAtHome name and reputation grow…it is very rewarding.”
This customer was among the many who were thrilled with the results.
“Having been in constant contact with the customer throughout the project, we knew how happy they were with how everything was coming together,” says Tackel. “What was great was when we were going over the maintenance requirements afterward, and they emphasized that they would do whatever they needed so they could protect their new floors forever.”
“This job was incredibly fun, challenging, and rewarding with absolutely fantastic customers. We couldn’t have been happier to work with them, and we hope they will enjoy their floors for a lifetime,” says Tackel.