Penguin Basements

The results of our basement renovation far exceeded our expectations. The whole project took less than 1 month. The process from start to finish was seamless, from our first contact with the office staff (thank you, Stephanie, Matthew, David, Rodrigo and Guy!) to the last construction day. We were very pleased with the high quality of the materials used for the renovation. I am especially excited about my new gym area! That is something I have always wanted.
We would like to extend a huge thank you to Felipe, Josh and their remarkable teams, including Joni and his team and the cleaning company as well as the bin delivery driver. We also want to extend our deepest thanks to all the workers. Their work ethic was exceptional. Respectful, kind, helpful. From the demolition (and framing, flooring, lighting, painting, plumbing) to the final day of clean-up, it was a great experience. During my working career, I dealt with many contracting companies and Penguin Basement was by far the most professional. The BuilderTrend app was a great way to stay in touch. Our emails were always answered promptly. We would not hesitate to contact the company again if we have any other renovation projects in the future. Highly recommended!
Thank you to all of you. You should be very proud of your work!

Penguin completed a FIY (finish it yourself) basement renovation for us and we could not be more pleased with the work! Penguin did a complete demolition and rebuild of our basement and were incredibly efficient and effective.

This company has a streamlined system for basement renovations but also provides real quality work by a very talented team. The project manager, Rodrigo, provided exceptional service; he was always kind and communicative. He worked closely with us as we had some of our own trades involved in the project and he made sure everything went smoothly. All of the gentlemen on site were helpful and did amazing work! A special thank you to Bruno as he really took the time to explain things to us and listen to our wants.

I would say to look no further for a basement contractor because Penguin is the whole package!

Great experience. Very professional. This company moves like a well-oiled machine. Completion was ahead of schedule. Communication was great. Materials that were installed were high quality. Special shout-outs to Stephanie, Bruno, and Joshua! Great job guys. Highly recommend.

We did a Finish It Yourself basement reno. We were happy with the whole project. From our initial consultation with Matt to our final call with Stephanie and Guy, everyone was great!
Thank you, Penguin Basements

Thorough research should be done before hiring Penguin. Be aware that they are taking on so much business that they cant keep up with, so we had trades in our home who had never worked with Penguin before. In addition to inexperienced trades, no one from management ever came to our home to review the work done by the trades. Trades would show up unannounced and do work without any information given to the homeowners. Penguin employees and management were rude to us anytime we questioned the work done in our home. After the final work was done, we realized how many mistakes were covered up by more mistakes. Our wheelchair accessible bathroom was the most important part of this job, and it is absolutely awful. When Ive followed up about things done not according to drawings, or very poor quality work, Im left with silence.
Do not hire this company.

We recently finished our basement with Penguin and could not be happier with the result! We first hired Penguin to finish a basement 5 years ago for another property and we were so impressed with them that we hired them again to finish the basement in our new home. The quality of material and workmanship cannot be understated, but its the people at Penguin that make this company so great. They finished this project in less than 3 weeks!! From start to finish they made the process so easy; Stephanie and Rodrigo helped us personalize the design of our space, Bruno and his team framed it to perfection, Victor helped us make informed decisions about the electrical specs, Sunny worked tirelessly to tape and mud and keep the project on schedule, Fabio built us beautiful built-in shelves, and Josh was there to make sure that the job met all of our specifications. We also worked closely with Roberto, and he scheduled regular touch-points to make
sure we were satisfied with the ongoing work. At the end of the job they brought in cleaners to prepare the space for our family to enjoy! The schedule and correspondence was conveniently done through an app, and at the end they followed-up to make sure we were happy.

We want to thank each and every member of their team for all their hard work and dedication, they demonstrated a great deal of respect for our home and our family. We would not hesitate to recommend Penguin to all our family and friends! Thank you all!!

When we decided to get our basement finished, we looked at a few different companies, but after a call with Guy we were sure Penguin was the right company for us.

With a very straightforward process, we were able to get a general design mapped out in our initial call with Matt. Further modifications were done with Jordan, after measurements were taken, allowing things to really take shape. Stephanie really helped us with the design, giving us the right flooring and paint options to give us the fresh, modern look we wanted. Plumbing and electrical work was done to a very high standard. Inspections were passed without issue.

The part of the process which really stood out for us was the framing and drywall. Filipe and Eyal worked incredibly hard to finish that part of the process in record time and to a very high standard. Filipe was instrumental in ensuring the final layout really maximized the use of the space, especially with what could have been an awkward entryway.

A special thanks to Josh who came in near the end to take care of the few outstanding issues so we could have our basement in time for Christmas. Our kids were extremely happy about that!

Thanks to Penguin we have the basement we wanted - a beautiful, bright and modern space which perfectly suits our needs.

We are very happy with the services provided by Penguin Basement. Our project was completed on time and within the budget. The contractors were very proficient and knowledgeable about their respective fields. They took care while moving building materials and supplies and made sure that they did not damage existing structures, stairs or walls in the house. The contractors were friendly, easy going and made sure they seek approval before making any costly modifications . Overall we are satisfied and would be happy to recommend to our friends.

We decided to have our basement renovation done by Penguin for three reasons:
1. Turnkey project - from design to permitting to completion.
2. Compressed timeline. Start to finish in ~ 3 weeks.
3. Competitive pricing.

The design stage was collaborative and well executed.
We visited the showroom and picked out finishes with Stephanie. She offered some good suggestions for us to consider in making our choices.

Construction started at the end of November 2022 and finished in December prior to Christmas. Around 3 1/2 weeks from start to finish. Penguin has a very structured approach to the build process and it is effective. We have done renovations with other companies in the past and the schedule constantly elongated. Penguin did what they said they would do.

Penguin uses a portal, Builder Trend, to have a central information source for the project. Everything from schedule to changes to billing is on the platform and is easily accessible.

The construction crews were great. The workmanship was excellent and we are very happy with the end result. Special callout to Jon the finishing supervisor. He did a good job with the final project elements and is a great communicator.

As an opportunity for improvement Penguin could do a better job in communicating schedule changes. We had a couple of instances where crews did not show up the day they were scheduled. An email or a phone call the day before would be appropriate in terms of managing customer expectations.

We had a project closing meeting with Penguin that covered warranty information and customer feedback. Guy, the CEO, attended and was genuinely interested in our experience and comments.

All in all we are very happy with our renovation and would recommend Penguin to anyone.

The design (both architectural and design) were good. We were presented with options and got what we wanted.

Framing and drywall was good with great workers. There were some project management/scheduling issues as well as some issues with taping, painting and finishing touches.

The project supervisors were great and fixed most issues.

Many of the project management issues we faced have now been fixed as the company adapts to the Ottawa market.