Biography
Owner: Steve Bavone
Years in Business: 25 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
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 never asked how much only when can you 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. Josheps 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 again until the end of 2007 I hired a local celebrity of sorts, Steve Bottomley, from Park Avenue Grill. Steve has been working hard to learn the floor business and has been with me for over a year. Steve still works for PA a couple of nights a week. He has been with them for 12 years and with this economic downturn it has been a good thing for everyone. With the good Lord willing we will have another 25years.