B & C Flooring Company Profile

rowing up, Bill Kirk, owner of B & C Flooring in Marin County, wanted to be a Spanish teacher. He studied Spanish for 14 years to that end. He also wanted to be a professional baseball player, but, hey, who didn't?

Instead of teaching Spanish however, Bill's life took a different turn when a friend gave him a houseboat in Sausalito. "I got into that for a long time," he said. "It needed a lot of work and I learned as I went; I learned to work with my hands."

Hands-On, Real-Life Experience
During this time he met other boat enthusiasts and began working as a fisherman, catching salmon in the summer and herring in the winter, and working as a boat carpenter, a job that takes considerable skill. Eventually he took those carpentry skills and began doing side jobs installing hardwood floors for a local contractor in homes around Sausalito, Mill Valley and Tiburon. "It was easier than working on boats," he said, laughing. "The floors stayed still and you had a lot more room to work."

As it turned out, without Bill's knowledge, the contractor he was working with had a few problems with the Internal Revenue Service, and when they showed up one day, his contractor friend left town suddenly. "I inherited all of his clients," said Bill. He applied for and received his contractor's license and started his own company, B & C Flooring.

Personalized Service
"B & C means Boats and Castles," said Bill. "I wanted people to know I could do the gamut from smaller jobs to large, high-end projects." His vision when starting B & C Flooring was one of personalized service. "I had seen other companies where the salesman was the owner, but the workers and installers didn't communicate well with the customers," said Bill Kirk. "I am always there on my projects. I treat my clients' homes as if they were my own home. My crew and I are clean and careful. We know that our customers are living there, that it's not a construction site."

Expertise in All Aspects of Hardwood Flooring
There are a lot of variables to consider when planning a hardwood floor. Over the years Bill Kirk has become the consummate expert on the subject. He is familiar with how different woods react over time in different environments and how well they wear in different areas of the home. He frequently leaves samples of different woods with different finishes outside in the winter, or in the back of his truck, just to observe them and see how they react to weather and rough handling. He is familiar with the various types of finishes and knows which are the most stable and which work best with different types of wood, and which resist moisture the best.

"Marin is a wet area," said Bill. "The key is addressing the problems before they happen, thinking it out ahead of time. You need to consider wetness and moisture as well as your preference in woods."

Water Damage Remediation
That expertise in woods and what moisture does to them enables Bill and his crew to help remediate fire and water damage as well. B & C Flooring can dry, disinfect, address mold issues and save cabinets, walls and floors after a flood or other water damage. In addition, they are experts in custom tile and stone work, including marble, granite and slate, along with carpet, linoleum, and laminates. If it goes on the floor, Bill Kirk and his crew can help.

Sub-Floor Leveling
"I'm a hands-on guy," he said. "I don't hire cheap helpers, only guys I've worked with before that that I trust. If your home is old and out of plumb, we can sand out the wood to hide small imperfections in the levelness of the house. If it's really bad, we can do sub-floor leveling, which is a heck of a lot cheaper than jacking the house up. We work hard to save our customers money and bring them a good product that will work for the long term."

Bill Kirk is passionate when he speaks of B & C Flooring and what he does for his customers. His love of the work and the products he works with, and the fact that he's changing peoples' lives by changing their environment brings him great satisfaction.

"We're actually physically altering the universe on a small scale," he said, with a note of wonder in his voice. "We have a passion for customer satisfaction. When we're done, not only is our client's new floor a jewel, but so is their smile."


                                                                            ---Jim Brumm
                                                                                Staff Writer
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