A family floor trade since the 1930s

Flooring has been the Levy family's trade since the 1930s. Gerry Levy grew up around it in Boston and started working floors in the 1960s alongside his father. Then came a full career in the U.S. Navy — and when it ended, a move across the country to Lacey, Washington.

Civilian life started at Great Floors, managing installations. But the calls that kept coming weren't for new floors — they were for fixing the ones people already had. Demand for good repair work, and not much patience for watching it done badly, pushed Gerry to earn his Washington contractor's license in December 2000 and take jobs under his own name. By 2007, Ace Flooring Repair was officially up and running.

Why repair-only

Most flooring businesses sell floors; repair is the side job. Gerry flipped that on purpose. His own listing says it plainly: "Ace Carpet specializes in small flooring repairs on carpet, vinyl, tile and laminate floors." It means the advice is clean: nobody at Ace earns anything by talking you into a new floor. His reviews back it up, right down to the customer he steered to the better deal — a whole-room redo for $75 more than the patches she called about.

The next generation

Gerry worked solo for 25 years. Now in his mid-seventies, he's brought his grandson — early twenties, a couple of years of roofing behind him — into the business, teaching him the trade the way his own father taught him. "I wanted to give him something long-term," he told the EDC. "I'm teaching him everything I know." The plan: stay hands-on through age 80, and hand over a name that means something.

Around Thurston County

• Member of Olympia Master Builders — his listing is in their flooring directory.
• Featured in the Thurston EDC Business Spotlight, May 2025 — the article this page's story comes from.
• Answered a call from Rebuilding Together — the nonprofit repairing homes at no cost for low-income, disabled, veteran and senior neighbors: "With one phone call, Gerry was on the job."
• Retired Navy — and, one 2013 reviewer noted with delight, a singer too.