True North Underpinning

Daniel, Stavros and the team at True North Underpinning worked on our house in East York to underpin our basement. Right from the beginning of scope discussions to estimate to execution was flawless and precise. The team was clear with their communications and setting expectations right along the full journey. The job was finished quicker than we had hoped expected and done within budget. Amazing crew that was very mindful and took care every step of the way.

Highly recommended, especially in the east York area where the soil can be tricky (sandy) to work on.

I can't say enough good things about Daniel, Stavros and the rest of the crew. They were so easy to work with and always kept me in the loop about what was going on and answered all my questions.
From the top on down, everyone was incredibly nice and polite and a pleasure to have around.

I honestly don't know why you would look elsewhere if you need to have underpinning done.
We had a semi with an unfinished basement. The stairs to the basement are narrow, and the basement itself was only 6'5' high (and lower in other places). We also had a crawl space under an extension to our house. We wanted to underpin it all and have a walkout so we could move normal-sized appliances and furniture in. We previously had a terrible experience with waterproofers that had dug under our foundation and caused structural damage, so I was very concerned about getting it right.
Daniel was awesome from the start. The work and the costs were all set out clearly. No surprises. The cost was roughly in line with other quotes, and without the crawlspace and walkout, it would have dropped considerably. Concerns were addressed promptly and fairly, which is key. Josh, Keith and the rest of the team were clearly experienced, and easy to get along with. Given the walkout and the crawlspace, this was a lengthy job, but they kept at it virtually every day. The few external trades that needed to come in were scheduled efficiently to keep things moving.
If you want your underpinning professionally done, this is where you go. They earn the 10-star review.

I couldn't be happier with True North Underpinning. We had a different underpinning company with our other house 5 years ago so I can do a direct comparison. Danial impressed us right from the start when he came to give us an estimate. He really knows this business and is up front and honest about potential challenges and how he will go about dealing with them. For us it was a high water table with very sandy soil. The team he assigned us were so pleasant to work with, always polite, positive and hard working. . I wasn't living in the house at the time but would go there everyday and always found them on task, welcoming and willing to explain whatever they were doing. We decided to go with radiant in-floor heating with polished concrete. We have to wait 28 days before it is polished but it already looks great. Their portion of the walkout has been done beautifully. If you are looking for an underpinner, I couldn't recommend True North Underpinning any higher. I take every opportunity to tell friends and neighbours about how happy I am with them and if I needed underpinning on any future houses, they would be the only ones I would call.

We hired True North after hearing about others in the neighbourhood having a positive experience with them. Dan is very knowledgeable and responsive. The crew were here every day and the project went fairly quickly considering the amount of work done.

Our basement basically fluctuated in height - anywhere from just over 6 feet to 6'6. With the underpinning it's now 8 feet. We also had two steel beams replaced, our utility room made considerably smaller, heated floors added, water meter moved, lead line to the house replaced, and sump pump and sewage ejector added.

We used Dan's team at True North to underpin our midtown Toronto basement (roughly 600sf). They had done our next door neighbour's house several years back and have worked quite a bit with my contractor who is finishing the basement. We went down to a full finished height of 8' (from 6'2") and replaced our old steel beam. We had two very large bulky support posts which were replaced with a smaller one given the stronger beam that was installed. Included in our work was radiant heating, a sump pump and a sewage ejector. Our cold storage room was not dug out but they did waterproof it and break up / pour a new floor.

From the initial consultation/estimate stage to the final walkthrough, all the staff at True North were phenomenal. Dan was very patient to answer my many questions and help me understand all facets of the project. All the guys on the crew were excellent with Fernando leading the charge on our job. Very hard-working, friendly and polite. They showed up on time each day. I got accustomed to hearing the side door open each morning as I was preparing breakfast. The project manager, John, was quick to respond to anything that needed follow up.

The project stayed very close to the estimated cost. The additional costs were reasonable and were related to some unplanned work like moving my water meter to a new location and replacing the lead pipe coming into the house. Also, there were some increases in the cost of the steel beam from the time of the quote in November to the start of the job in July. They started the work at the expected time AND finished on the time.

We were dreading the work because my wife and I both work from home and we thought the jackhammering would be unbearable. Surprisingly we got accustomed to the noise pretty quickly and thanks to technology, the microphone on my computer didn't pick up that noise so it wasn't an issue for virtual meetings.

At the end of each day, the crew cleaned up the basement (put all their tools away) and made the driveway as clean as possible (within reason). I lost track but I think we likely filled ~8 large bins with dirt. They took care to make sure the bin was well positioned so we could still have access to our walkway while not encroaching on my neighbour's side of the driveway.

The crew takes pride in their work and completing a quality job was important to them. When they laid down the rigid insulation, I went downstairs with a 6' level and couldn't find a single spot on the floor which wasn't perfectly level.

Overall we were extremely happy with Dan's team at True North Underpinning. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a truly professional, reputable and trustworthy company with excellent staff.

Pretty straightforward review - Daniel did an extremely thorough quote, walked us through the job details, their teams started on time as expected, they were clear about what we could expect and when, they left as tidy a workplace as can be expected, and we are extremely pleased with the final product. Daniel's team was fantastically responsive and very good to work with. On top of that, Daniel recommended a basement finisher whose work was equally solid.

Many thanks Daniel and team! We would highly recommend them to anybody.

We went with True North because of a solid recommendation from our general contractor, a great rapport with Daniel and because others in our neighbourhood used them with success.

Daniel talked through what would happen in detail, was clear about what he would be responsible for and what he expected from me (e.g. HVAC engineer for radiant floor layout). His estimate was clear, detailed and he gave options (e.g. replacing lead water pipe, upgrading to 1" water service or window wells) and recommendations.

He handled the structural engineer and plumber and ensured the city inspections were timely. The crew was friendly, polite, tidy and hard-working. The job itself was completed on time and Daniel spent time to follow up with me after to ensure I was satisfied (and I certainly was!).

Underpinning is messy, unglamorous work. But I cannot emphasize how pleasant this experience was from start to finish. Daniel and True North are a class act.

We hired Daniel and team at True North based on others in our neighborhood who were very happy with their work, strong reviews like this and just good old gut feeling. Daniel was friendly, knowledgeable, engaged and patient. He answered questions, was quick to reply to emails, got the work done on budget and AHEAD OF SCHEDULE!! If only we were that on top the rest of our renos!

But like others have said it was the crew who made the job! They were friendly, efficient, experts at what they did and made it all seem effortless...which it absolutely was not. Digging out a basement is no small feat! They worked from 7am until they got the job done. They were on time everyday. And i know because I work
from home.
The only bad thing I can say is that I kinda got the post-reno blues after they were finished! I missed the excitemet of seeing the progress each day and especially missed hearing their music and the chatter everyday!

I would without hesitation recommend Daniel and his team at TrueNorth!!

We hired Daniel after interviewing several underpinners. His quote was neither the lowest nor the highest. He pays his workers a living wage, and we appreciated that and understood this reflected in his quote.

Daniel was always professional, warm, engaged, and connected. He helped us assemble our entire team: designer, engineer, and general contractor were all Daniel's recommendations and they worked collaboratively to save us time and money. Daniel and his foreman kept us informed every step of the way. We lived in our home during the excavation process and never feared for our safety. We were confident that Daniel would deliver a pleasant space and we were right. If we had it to do over, we would hire True North again.