Homegirl Renovation Management + Design

Tammy did an excellent job designing and acting as the contractor for our kitchen renovation. We have a small, older home and there were a few surprises along the way - but Tammy managed to keep her part of the project on time and within our established budget. Tammy has a great eye for design and colour - beautiful selection of finishes - and went out of her way to ensure we were happy with all of the details. She "runs a tight ship" - we had painters, plumbers and electricians working late and on holidays to ensure the job was done in time for the arrival of our first child (4 days post-project wrap up!). She has a great crew of workers and they clearly respect her.

I've have been in a house that HomeGirl has flipped. I couldn't believe the horrible workmanship.
Your first impression is, " very nice, pretty " but when you look closer you realize it's all smoke and mirrors. I realize the house was a flip, but if this is any indication how this company works, stay away from them.
Some examples; none of the floors were levelled before installing a new laminate floor. As I was walking around the floor made a big cracking sound. That part of the laminate was not even touching the sub floor! It was like a bubble. I found this in many spots throughout the main floor. My advice to the new owners is not to serve soup to your family or your guests!
The grouting of the kitchen backsplash is completely cracking, and was never sealed. The dry wall work is beyond bad. My opinion is the work done in this house is the work of hacks.
My advice is stay away from this company.

Just to let you know, HOMEGIRL Renovation Management & Design, I do know a little bit about construction,and your company falls short.
You are extremely defensive, and yet you failed to address the biggest issue I had........Why wouldn't a home renovation company LEVEL floors before installing a FLOATING floor system????????

P.S. the tiles that I saw were NOT sealed. By the way care, to explain the 1/8 inch gap where the kitchen countertop was joined and filled with silicone? Quite a unique technique. I Can honestly say I've never seen it done before. I stick to what I said before, stay away.

Process started off smoothly with budget a little more than we wanted to spend (especially since we got ikea cabinets) but was willing to pay the money to get the job done right. Initially Tammy was great, very reponsive to all of our questions and concerns. 2 days into demo started getting worried about budget as we were over on almost every line item. I know that we picked some higher end stuff so I went along with it. Then we started getting bumped up on trades. Electriction was close to double the quote, plumber 3x the quote (she forgot we needed a gas line for a gas stove, and carpenter crew was 50% more). Like I said I knew that things can get over budget so I still did not complain, but the issues started when we saw the quality of work and the lack of professionalism from Tammy.

Everything we mentioned that we wanted to get fixed Tammy answered with "the house was old" or "the carpenter is not a tile guy, and he is not a trim guy, or he is not a hardwood guy", but the try very hard and have alot of heart. I know that everyone worked hard but I am not paying people to work hard, I am paying people to get the job done right.

They tried to fixed the stuff (flooring, wallpaper, drywall, etc) but most ended up in the same state as the carpenter obiously can't drywall either (gashes and uneven almost everywhere)

To top things off Tammy decided that she did not want to have anything to do with the project after we asked to have things fixed so she did not talk to me or come to the house for the last 2 weeks of the job. She had her husband finish things up (who is a very nice man) but we were then left shopping for lights, tiles, kitchen finishes and other things(so we ended up doing her job and still paying her for it)

All in all we ended up getting close to what we wanted but feel somewhat ripped off given the amount of work we had to do and the quality of the finished product. For the money we spent after the fact we would definately go with a more established company next time who knows what it's doing and does not run away as soon as people start questioning.

I think that Tammy leaves much to be desired in terms of project management and overall knowledge of basic construction. It seemed like she viewed the job as a quick flip that she can do on a part-time basis.

As you can see by Tammy's response this is what I had to deal with through the entire process. It's funny also how she mentioned throughout her response that she "paid" for a bunch of things. I sure you Tammy did not pay for anything at the end as I reimbursed her for everything.

Anyways, nice to see that someone else spoke us as well and hopefully no one else gets burned by homegirl again. BTW, if anyone want her to stop working on your job as soon as you see the poor quality simply start asking questions and she will be out of sight in no time. Huge waste of time and money.

I’ve seen Tammy manage two of her most recent gut renovations projects in the Leslieville area. They were both old run down homes in need of serious repair. Tammy has a real talent with regards to the overall design and colour coordination. She does not get intimidated by the magnitude of the project and remains composed when those troublesome unforeseen renovation problems arise. She is capable of managing multiple tradesmen and keeps the project on time. I would highly recommend Tammy to manage your renovation project.

We bought Homegirl's first renovated home in Leslieville; it was the first home out of many that I fell in love with.
The detail, esthetic and flow of each room is well planned and executed. Tammy is very gifted regarding overall design and clean esthetic. I feel so lucky to have found this gem of a house. Highly recommended for beautiful, modern design.

Homegirl renovated and sold the ~100-year-old house we live in. The colours and finishes of the house are now fresh and stylishly modern, yet simple enough to accommodate our eclectic tastes. Out of the ~100 houses we looked at, the house that Homegirl renovated was the only one that we really liked aesthetically, and we always get compliments on it when we have guests. If you're looking for great, modern design, Homegirl can get the job done.

Ours was a project that had gone astray. The contractor lacked direction and as a result we were headed for an over budget and over projected timeline situation. Tammy from Homegirl came in, took over, added some well thought out and creative design ideas, got things back on track and saved us from a really bad situation. I can't thank her enough and would highly recommend her service to anyone who doesn't have the time,knowledge or vision to properly oversee a reno project themsleves. Homegirl is the best!

When we saw the photos of the renovated house online, my partner and I initially thought it was too good to be true. But when we went in and actually saw the place, we were shocked- it was better than the photos!

At the time we were a bit iffy about moving, we had a nice condo that was a bit small, but we were comfortable in. But seeing how great the Homegirl house looked, we couldn't really pass it up!

Everyone that comes into the house is impressed by how modern and cool it is. I've lived in a few Toronto houses, and it seems like a lot of them have a very similar layout. The way Homegirl has designed the house though, is totally different than any other Toronto house I've seen- it's open and spacious, and it feels like the layout has been completely updated. People have commented on how the space seems larger than other similar houses.

I love a lot of the cool little features, like the bowl sink in the basement bathroom, the large windows in the sun room add-on, the built in wine rack, and the huge amount of storage space in the kitchen (my favourite room in the house!).

My partner and I love the house and we've never been happier!

We had been planning to reno our almost 100+ home for years. Everything about renovating was daunting until we saw the sign for Homegirl in the 'hood in front a beautifully renovated house. Within a week she created a visionary kitchen design and had contractors in to determine if the plan was possible. She accompanied me on many shopping trips after that, skillfully guiding me through the many decisions from kitchen cupboards to paint colours to appliances. She patiently helped source environmentally friendly products such as flooring and countertops. She brought in excellent contractors and we completely renovated an open concept first floor including kitchen, front and back foyer, and a 3rd floor. During the renovation, she was a calming presence always with a big smile. The renovation finished exactly on time, for which our large family was extremely grateful for and completely due to Homegirl's competent management of the project. I would highly reccomend her for her knowledge of the renovation process, her contacts with contractors, her impeccable sense of design and for bring fun to a stressful endeavor.

I had been living in construction forever, until Tammy the HOMEgirl helped me manage the inner construction worker in me (politely told me to take a step back and relax) and finished my lifelong project. Her kitchen design and innovative use of Ikea's Kitchens easily saved me $40,000 and I got the same Italian Design Dream kitchen without the ass-busting price!!! Amazing...and it all started with a coffee with Tammy at Starbucks! I'm actually going to have time to sail this summer !