P & P General Contractors Inc.

Natanael and Rafael saved us - there really is no better way of saying this. Our kitchen needed a full gut job. Typical post-war double brick house that had an updated kitchen, but nothing had been done behind the walls, so it all had to come down.

We did our homework and hired a designer. Really needed a smart layout to maximize space in our cramped kitchen/entrance area. We went through several drafts and finally settled on a design we liked. Got several quotes from contractors (including Natanael), but went with the designer's contractor because of convenience first and foremost.

Big mistake. We should have gone with our gut feel and chosen Natanael instead. His quote was by far the most detailed and professional while still being competitive on price. The contractor we chose turned out to be a disaster. They ripped out the kitchen and did the framing, but it was all wrong. Plumbing was not moved away from exterior wall, an exterior corner was boxed in so no insulation would get in there, a heating vent was just left open under the floor and the list goes on. We had talked about these things beforehand, but still they were done wrong. When confronted with the issues, the contractor had all kinds of excuses and claimed that some of the problems couldn't be fixed. To top it off he started quoting ridiculous prices for extras. For example, he wanted $2500 for removing the ceiling and putting new drywall. When pushed he suddenly dropped the price to $1500. He wanted to use retrofit potlights instead of new build ones. We realized that this would just turn into a nightmare if we kept going, so we let him go. Best decision we ever made.

Still, a little unnerving. Late winter, no kitchen, no living room (used as staging area), dining area set up as makeshift kitchen, cooking in a toaster oven and on BBQ when weather allowed. Not a good situation with two little kids.

We called Natanael and he came to take a look. We knew we were in a vulnerable situation and a less honest man could easily have taken advantage. Natanael looked everything over and very quickly gave us a revised quote. He could have someone there within a week and the price was reasonable. It was a no-brainer.

Rafael and his crew showed up in less than a week and started work immediately. They ripped everything out and started over. We told them what needed to be done, but they knew already. They could see all the mistakes and they fixed everything. It was just a massive relief for us.

Throughout the rest of the project it was a real pleasure working with them. Communication was fantastic. Rafael would have a chat with me in the morning to go through what he was planning to do. Then he would be there when I came home from work to show me everything they had done. If he had to leave earlier or if any issues would come up he would call me. Just thoroughly professional through and through. Many contractors out there should learn from how these guys work.

No project is flawless though, but the true test of a contractor is how they fix their mistakes. They were really good with the structural work, but some of the finishing was not 100% to our satisfaction. We discussed it, they fixed it. Simple as that. One row of upper cabinets were a little misaligned. They took them all down and reinstalled them. Some of the tiles for the back splash were uneven. They redid them. One cabinet door had the handle installed in the wrong corner. They ordered a new door and fixed it. Rafael even came over one weekend recently, a few months after the reno was done, to do some extra caulking, reinforce a toekick, and do some touchups on some of the grout. Clearly this is a company that prides itself on customer satisfaction.

We have several other projects in the pipeline and there's no doubt that we will be calling on Natanael and Rafael again. May they live long and prosper!