Colwell Floors.

The state lists Alton Colwell as a principal since 2004, the year the current Washington registration took effect. Before that, the same work ran under the earlier Colwell Floor Installation name from the early 1990s. Alongside residential jobs, the record shows a public-works filing in 2005 for Grant County Public Hospital District #1, where Colwell Floors worked as a subcontractor. The business travels roughly 25 miles from Spokane, which covers the city and the nearby communities on the Washington side. Colwell Floors suits a homeowner replacing flooring or putting in new countertops who wants the person quoting the job to be the person doing it. A crew this size fits a kitchen, a few rooms or a whole-house floor in a single home. A large commercial build-out, or a renovation running several trades on a tight schedule, is a different kind of job and calls for a bigger outfit. Spokane's housing runs from early-1900s homes on the South Hill and in neighborhoods like Browne's Addition to newer subdivisions out toward Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake and Mead. In older houses, pulling up carpet or vinyl often turns up original hardwood, uneven subfloors or layers of old flooring, and it's worth asking how the installer will handle what's underneath before choosing a material. Newer homes tend to have flatter, more uniform subfloors that take tile, laminate or engineered wood readily. With countertops, older kitchens may need cabinet work before a heavy stone top goes on.