Biography

Owner: Steve Bavone

Management Degree:                Post College '84                         

Years in Business:                      27 years

Year Started:                              April, 1983

Where:                                       Waterbury, Ct. '83-'94 ,

                                                   West Palm Beach, FL. '94-present

Contacts:                                    561-582-0024 office

                                                   561-248-5911 cell

                                                sbavone@woodfloorman.com

Motto:                                       "We do the little bit extra that makes the big difference."

Mission Statement:  

               I want to give the best possible product at a sensible price.  We use the best products we can offer.  We take our time on every job and try to do only one job at a time.  "You can't please everyone all the time but you have to try."  We only want quality people working here and will do all we can to ensure this.  Background checks and drug tests are a must for all of our employees.  Satisfying our most critical customers is our standard.                                                                                                                                  We always try to also keep a nice  clean job sight and appearance.  Clean up is a must, especially when we are working in an existing home. It is very important to keep the jobsight neat and clean.

Custom Floors:

                In 1983 I started this business from scratch.  I stored my equipment in my Grandperant's garage and used my old Pontiac to transport it  from job to job.  I was working with a partner back then and learned the basics from him. I did  a lot of trial and error.  In 1984 I bought a new truck and rented some warehouse  from my Dad who gave me a lot of business advise.  I worked in Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts. My main area was Waterbury, Connecticut.  I had up to 8 people working with me back in '86 and '87.  There was a realestate boom going on and the contractors and realestate agent were a large part of my business. They would say, "Just get it done".  We went "great guns" until 1989 when the bottom fell out of the market.  I went back to basics.  I kept my best two guys and limped on from there.  The Northeast never recovered fully from that until after I left.

Bavone’s Wood Floors:

                The year was 1994.  I had decided to move to Florida a couple of years earlier. It was right after the bust that I figured I would do something different. So I packed up my Trailer and headed to Florida.  I was not sure wood floors would be an option in such a hot humid climate. Little did I know that this area was just dying to get someone who knew about wood floors. It seemed that everyone was from the Northeast and they all wanted wood floors just like they had "up North".   My first couple of years were very tough.  I didn't realize that when I came to Florida that people were very weary of new people in business.  They were skeptical but once they knew you and trusted you they held you dear. My first good Job was for St. Josephs School in Boynton Beach.  I was very happy to get it and that was the start of good things to come.  Over the years I have met some wonderful people.  I have stayed small, working alone for the first 5 years.  In 2001 I reunited with my cousin Jim and worked with him until 2004.  Jim worked with me in Connecticut  for 5 or 6 years.  When I left Ct. he left the business until I called him and asked him to come to Florida.  Unfortunately Jim's Dad got ill and passed on and Jim decided to go back to Ct. and stay with his mom.  After Jim left I decided to work alone.  With the good Lord willing we will have another 25years. 

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