Landscape Design and contractor supervision
I was referred to bSq by a reputable source. Their designs were creative. The project was very large. The timelines for drawings and their callbacks were delayed. But what was the kicker for us was the disregard for the Toronto permit process which landed us in hot water, despite our asking on a number of occasions. Alex clearly knew that these permits might be needed, as he helped us draft a letter to the authorities after the fact. His excuse? - he did not think that we would go through with the project because of the cost, so when we said yes, he was not prepared. All this after 7 months of back and forth. I would not recommend this company for this and other reasons that I have not listed here.
Addendum: after posting this review, we now know that there is a neighbour who has lodged over 60 complaints against people in our area.Our municipal councillor is involved and considers this harassment. However we were told by 3 municipal departments that regardless of the work, we required prior permits for tree 'injury' and TRCA approval. My suggestion for anyone using this company is that you get your permits in order so that your reno goes smoothly.
Lastly, the retaining wall renovation was always on the drawings and discussions. It was not added in at the last moment as is noted below.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $5,000.00
- Company Response
There are two sides to this story Janet and I wish you had considered ours. You made no mention of all the work we did surveying your challenging site (3 separate trips on our part) and prioritizing your build so you could get competitive bids in order to build 1st thing this Spring. We went way overtime time dealing with your site and getting your project underway and it was a significant loss for us.
Janet, I am sorry that you had such difficulties with permits.
What you did not mention in your review was that the actual scope of work that required the permits was not added until the very end of the design and planning process and that it was the repair of an existing retaining wall. At this point you had also prioritized getting costs for the expanded scope of work which is what I did for you resulting in 3 bids and the lowest bid/successful contractor that was tens of thousands of dollars less than your contractor.Whether or not you had to have these permits is still a grey area as you were replacing an existing set of retaining walls and again you did add this scope to the project at the last moment.
Your suggestion that I clearly knew these permits were needed is false and I actually offered to help you draft whatever letters you needed and to prepare whatever drawings you needed to resolve the issue immediately and at no additional cost.I found out from this contractor on site that every official that could be possibly contacted from the City, the TRCA and the Ministry of Environment was contacted and requested to visit your site as soon as construction started for any and every reason possible. This is completely abnormal which suggests to us that you have a neighbour in the area who clearly does not like you and/or your project and did their best to make things difficult.
For example, the Ministry Official who was asked to look for "endangered species in peril" on your site admitted that he could not understand why he was even sent in the 1st place but someone had called and demanded it.
In the end I am just really sorry that you are unhappy with our services and that you faced these issues during construction.
I wish you would have worked with us to resolve them.
We would have done this as fast as possible and at no cost just to prioritize your needs.
I hope that everything has been resolved for you and you can enjoy your property as much as it is possible to do so.