New Coverings

New Coverings is a Winthrop flooring contractor run by Ed Coglin, trading since 1987 — 39 years — and doing essentially everything underfoot: hardwood installation and sanding, laminate and Pergo, luxury vinyl plank, sheet vinyl and linoleum, tile, carpet, and commercial wood floors. The long record is unusually consistent about two things. The first is Ed himself: reviewers going back to 2015 describe him as straightforward, quick to return calls, and inclined to talk customers out of spending more rather than into it. A January 2024 customer wrote that Ed was patient through multiple iterations of the plan, never tried to oversell, actively looked for ways to save money, and let him buy the flooring himself rather than through the company — something other vendors had refused. A May 2022 reviewer said she had tried other installers who never returned calls or emails at all. The second is the crew and the finish. A September 2024 customer had a winding back staircase carpeted in an 1873 Victorian — tricky pie-wedge treads — and called the result clean and tightly fit, adding that he always finds something to complain about. A July 2025 landlord facing a deadline had carpets pulled and three rooms sanded and given three coats of poly inside a week. A January 2020 customer had a kitchen done in vinyl planking; a December 2019 one specifically noted the crew took their time and cut no corners. Named installers — Leo, Carlos and Joe — recur. Prices customers quote run from about $1,375 to $2,775. What to press on is durability and what happens when something goes wrong later. In a December 2022 review a homeowner described vinyl planking installed over removed kitchen tile that developed around half a dozen gaps between plank ends within a year; crews attended twice only after prompting, a third visit brought no replacement planks and instead caulked the gaps in a "close" colour, and that caulk has since darkened and crumbled. A 2019 customer rated the job three stars, saying there were a few problems and that Ed "could use more professional help", though the finished job looked good. How the company answered those two is worth knowing before you hire. Its public reply to the 2022 complaint disputed that the customer was ever a customer at all, and its reply to the 2019 one blamed the reviewer's temperament and raised the crew's language. Two negative reviews, two replies arguing with the complainant rather than the complaint. A separate note on quoting: one 2022 customer found the phone ballpark came in well below the actual quote after the site visit. A credible, long-established choice for floor sanding, vinyl plank and carpet on the North Shore, with a genuinely deep and mostly warm track record. Before signing, get the warranty and the remedy for post-installation gapping in writing — including whether planks get replaced or caulked — and note that while the BBB rates the business A+, it is explicitly not BBB accredited.