Flooring is one of the bigger investments you’ll make in your home, and it’s one of the areas where the contractor you choose matters as much as the product you pick. The same white oak hardwood can be a showpiece or a disaster depending on who installs it and how.
After 30 years working in Arnold and across Anne Arundel County, we’ve heard plenty of stories from homeowners who had bad experiences before finding us. This guide is designed to help you avoid those situations entirely.
Start With Licensing and Insurance — Non-Negotiable
In Maryland, anyone doing home improvement work for compensation must hold a Maryland Home Improvement Contractor (MHIC) license. This is a state requirement, not a suggestion. Hiring an unlicensed contractor means you have limited recourse if something goes wrong — and things do go wrong.
Always ask:
- What is your MHIC license number?
- Do you carry general liability insurance?
- Do you carry workers’ compensation for your crew?
You can verify MHIC licenses on the Maryland Department of Labor’s website. Any reputable contractor will provide this information without hesitation. If someone hedges, changes the subject, or gets defensive when you ask – walk away.
Chappy’s Flooring is fully licensed and insured in Maryland. Our MHIC number is on our website and we’ll provide it on any estimate.
Local vs. National: Why It Matters More Than You Think
Arnold and Anne Arundel County have no shortage of national flooring chains: Empire Today, Luna, big-box store installation programs, and similar operations. These aren’t necessarily bad, but they come with trade-offs worth understanding.
National/franchise contractors:
- Often use subcontracted installers who may change from project to project
- Frequently upsell on products with high margins rather than recommending what’s best for your situation
- Customer service complaints are harder to resolve because there’s a call center, not a local owner
Local, owner-operated contractors:
- The person who estimates the job is often the person who oversees the installation
- Reputation is local and personal — bad work gets talked about in the neighborhood
- Easier to get back in touch if there’s an issue after installation
- More likely to have long-standing relationships with crew members who know what they’re doing
We’re not saying local automatically means better. A local contractor with no reviews, no license, and no references can be just as problematic as a national chain. But all else being equal, local ownership is a meaningful advantage.
What to Look for in Reviews
Google reviews tell you a lot — but you have to read them the right way.
Look for:
- Volume and recency: A company with 50 reviews spread over 10 years is very different from one with 50 reviews from the last 24 months
- Specificity: Generic “great work!” reviews are less meaningful than detailed descriptions of the job, the installer’s name, and the specific outcome
- Owner responses: How does the company respond to negative reviews? A measured, professional response that addresses the complaint is a good sign. Defensiveness or blame-shifting is a red flag.
- Pattern of complaints: A single bad review among 50 good ones is normal. Three reviews all mentioning the same issue (damaged baseboards, poor cleanup, no-shows) is a pattern.
Chappy’s Flooring has over 50 five-star reviews on Google from Arnold, Severna Park, Crownsville, and surrounding communities. We’re proud of that record — and we earned it one job at a time.
Questions to Ask Before You Hire
Here’s the list we’d give a friend who was vetting flooring contractors:
About licensing and insurance:
- What is your MHIC license number?
- Are your installers employees or subcontractors?
- Do you carry liability and workers’ comp?
About the job itself: 4. Will you do a moisture test before installation? 5. How long will you acclimate the hardwood on-site before installing? 6. What does your subfloor preparation process look like? 7. What happens if you discover a subfloor problem after work begins?
About the estimate: 8. Is this a fixed price or subject to change? 9. What’s included — removal of old floor, disposal, base molding reinstallation? 10. What is your payment schedule? (Red flag: full payment required upfront)
About follow-up: 11. Do you offer a warranty on labor? 12. How do I reach you if there’s an issue after the project is complete?
Any reputable contractor should answer all of these comfortably. Vague answers on moisture testing or acclimation are particularly telling — these are the steps that separate quality installation from a floor that fails in 18 months.
Red Flags to Watch For
These are the situations that should make you pause:
During the estimate:
- Refuses to provide MHIC number or proof of insurance
- Gives a quote over the phone without seeing the space
- Won’t put the estimate in writing
- Pressures you to sign the same day with a “today only” discount
- Asks for full payment upfront
On the job:
- Installs hardwood within 24 hours of delivery (no acclimation)
- Skips subfloor inspection
- Crew doesn’t speak with anyone in charge or has no clear point of contact
- Leaves the job site without cleanup or protection of finished areas
After the job:
- Won’t respond to calls or emails about follow-up issues
- Denies that problems are their responsibility
We’ve heard all of these stories from homeowners who came to us for a second opinion or a fix. The most common theme: they chose the cheapest quote without asking the right questions.
Why Chappy’s Flooring Has Served Arnold for Over 30 Years
Chappy’s Flooring was founded by our father right here in Anne Arundel County, and we’ve been part of this community ever since. We’re not a franchise. We don’t use revolving subcontractors. The people who install your floor are the same people who’ve been doing this work for years under our name.
Our reputation is our business. When we finish a job on your street in Arnold, we want your neighbors asking who did it. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to on every project.
Call (410) 417-8556 or schedule your free estimate at chappysflooring.com.
MHIC Licensed. Fully Insured. Anne Arundel County’s trusted flooring contractor since day one.
