Contractor's attention to detail delights Phoenix homeowners

From the time she moved into her Phoenix home two years ago, Dale Turner had wanted to warm up its look by replacing large sections of carpet and tile with hardwood floors. After months of careful searching, she eventually found an engineered rosewood floor that met her style and design needs.

When it came to choosing a flooring installer, Dale and her husband, Bob, were no less demanding. While quality craftsmanship was a must, so was a personal connection with a contractor. With that in mind, they used ServiceMagic as a resource to find Tom Barth, owner of TBAR Construction of Phoenix.

"We had two contractors bid on the job," Dale said. "We went with Tom not just because he was hardworking and had excellent ratings, but because he had Midwestern roots similar to ours. That helped us feel more of a kinship with him."

Still, Dale chose to break her flooring project into two parts, just to make sure her instincts about Tom were correct. The first phase involved removing old tile in most of the home's lower level and replacing it with the rosewood flooring. To her delight, Tom did not disappoint.

"Tom provided a lot of insight and counsel regarding our desired floor design and trim," Dale said. "His work crews were very precise in how they approached the job, and the overall quality of their work was excellent."

The second phase, Tom said, involved a more intricate task: creating a custom border around carpeted areas in the formal living and dining rooms. "That was a challenge because we had to create a three-board outline around those areas, and align it with a diagonal pattern we laid for the rest of the floor," he said. "But it worked out well."

Customer care

In the end, the Turners had the floor of their dreams. And Tom handled the messier aspects of the project with great care.

"Tom and his crew went out of their way to make sure no decorative touches were damaged, and that everything was put back exactly in place when their work was done," Dale said. "He even brought in a professional house cleaner to take care of the dust. I couldn't have asked for more."

That high level of customer care reflects Tom's belief that remodeling should be a rewarding — not a taxing — experience.

"Even if someone invites you into their house to make something better, it's still an intrusion," Tom said. "I try to make it not just less intrusive, but actually fun, whenever I can."