As citizens of Cy-Fair tear out Sheetrock and remove portions of homes waterlogged by Hurricane Harvey, many houses will need to have flooring replaced. Owners of local Cy-Fair business Flaherty’s Flooring said they are hoping to work with the community, putting people before the profits.
Flaherty’s—which offers flooring from carpet to hardwood and backsplash, as well as installation services—launched in the Lakewood community
40 years ago before expanding to Cy-Fair in 1992.
Owner Patrick Flaherty said over time his business has increased the number of services offered.
“The natural progression is very rewarding if it’s done with integrity,” he said. “We started out with me and my wife and one other person in a little bitty store. Our whole goal was to service the community, whether it was the outreach we were doing or giving them good service and a good price.”
Flaherty said his staff has been booked for flooring jobs since recovery for Harvey began. He said the demand is greater than anything he has seen since starting his business.
“We just got inundated with customers,” Flaherty said. “They’re our neighbors; they’re our friends. We have family members [who] have been affected. It’s just everybody.”
Flaherty said his company’s goal is to service the community in its time of need by providing deals, keeping pricing fair and give breathing room to flood victims without flood insurance.
“We’re keeping all of our prices the same, we’re giving discounts to flood victims and we got approved for 48 months of financing for flood victims,” he said. “This typically costs a lot of money … so usually you have to jack your prices up to cover that.”
Flaherty said he has visited many homeowners since the flood personally—more than 60 in two weeks—and their attitudes have been surprising. He said he admires the volunteer and church groups.
“It’s amazing the disposition that these people have,” he said. “Of course they’re disappointed that they’re flooded, but they’re in good spirits. The neighbors are helping neighbors, and the church groups are out full force.”
Although it may take months to completely restore every client’s house, Flaherty said he is happy to help.
“Right now, what we’re doing is a lot of preliminary work,” he said. “Our guys know that people have to get their lives back. We’re working double shifts and later into the evening and later into the weekend to help people, too. You can do things really, really fast but floors aren’t one of those things. Floors are one of those things that you just can’t rush. It’s a whole lot of work to take it up and redo it.”
