Distinctive Interlocking

Its been 3 years since my backyard patio and front yard walkway was done (April 2019). I've been reaching out to Ryan the last few years (each season). After the first year stones started moving, dropping and sealant cracking. So far this company doesn't honour the warranty offered at time of booking and based on reviews from others the last few years since, it's clear I'm not alone. In the last few years it is very difficult to get someone else to come do the repairs to an existing Patio, for them its too small a job and most companies who have tried to squeeze me in the last few years have simply run out of time in the season because they are busy and this is not a priority for them. I've not reached out to Ryan this season (tired of the lack of response from previous) wondering if anyone has had success yet? For new potential clients, here is what my hardscape looks like after 3 full seasons. I've not touched the original work, so for new customers don't waste your time and money. Find a referral from someone you know, check the work in person years later. Ask about warranty and have them prove they honour it!

The installation was ok, but then they completely disappeared. I have some issues with my Interlocking and asked them to come and fix it under warranty, and after 1.5 years, I had no response.

I wouldn’t recommend them, as you would be left alone after they Complete the work.

PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW! I had Ryan and crew build me some gorgeous stairs with interlock and flagstone as well as a lovely walkway last fall. They really did look amazing. However, there was some shifting and a lot of loosening of the stairs this spring. I have been trying get him to come and fix them for over 4 months and have all the calls and texts to prove it. He has said numerous times that he would be by next weekend... Well I stayed home several times this summer when I could have been at the cottage waiting for him and each time he was a no-show. Now he and Tim (his brother) won't even return my calls or texts, this after he asked for pictures so he would know what to bring. I provided the pics and said 'lime screening, glue, and some concrete' are all that's required, along with a crew, of course. Now the inevitable has happened, which I have proof that I warned him about. My almost 80 year old father stepped onto one of the loose stairs and it flipped. He fell pretty hard. No fall is a good fall when dealing with the elderly. I advised the company of this (can show proof of text and pics) and I get zero response. My stairs are completely unsafe and are a huge liability. I told them that they were dangerous and loose as far back as June of this year. It is now November. If anyone gets hurt, there will be a lawsuit and Distinctive Interlocking will be held accountable.
Just an update 12/11/20: After advising that they would be out 3 weeks ago on the weekend to fix the stairs, another no show with no with no call/text or any other form of communication. I have now had a different contractor come out and finish the job at my own expense. These guys are just not worthy of your business or your hard earned money and really can't be trusted at all. I am so upset that I was sold on this job by them.

We had Ryan come and tear up our existing front walk and porch.

He talked a good game and had the cheapest price so we went with him and have regretted that decision ever since. After giving him our deposit he started ghosting us. I would repeatedly call and text him and every so often he would just say "oh next week brother, I'll be there Monday" etc and he would never show. We thought he was taking off with our deposit.

Eventually he did start the job, several months late and overall the work went fine. They encountered some issues with the porch and handled them with satisfaction. Ryan left me some of the filler sand and told me to expect a bit of shifting and if it gets to a point where I'm not happy to call him and he will come out right away and make it right.

Well that's when the problems began with the steps. After the winter there was some pretty good shifting on the steps and then come summer the top had caved in. I contacted Ryan and he said he would come ASAP and fix it. Well that never happened and after nearly 3 months of ignored calls and texts I had to fix it myself.

What I found did not make me happy. He installed the top step by backfilling with limestone and then placing the brick ontop. The steps were shifting and moving everytime someone walked on them because they were held down with a little bit of glue. How do I know this? Well because I found the containers of PL Premium mixed in with the limestone along with garbage bags and other garbage.

When we hired Ryan he was recommended to us by HomeStars and looking at his reviews since then it looks like they are all negative. We hired a company to come and replace the eaves, while the steps were falling apart, and the guy asked who did my interlock? When I told him Distinctive Interlock did the work he said " Ryan? I hate to say it but you're going to have nothing but problems with this brick"

I'm very disastisfied with the entire experience and would NOT recommend Ryan or Distinctive Interlock to anyone. I hate that we spent so much money on something that I feel is going to fall apart at any moment.

The driveway looked great...for a minute. I had some concerns as they did cut some corners and rush the job. I did question why proper edging wasn't used along the outer edges of the driveway and walkway. The response was "we have never had an issue in our 7 years and if there is any problem we will fix it".

It took only a month before evidence of this started to show.. Ryan can talk a good game and is very responsive before you pay him. Afterwards is another story.

As I mentioned, no edging was installed, the yard and grass was not properly graded nor was the driveway for that matter. They skimped on base material and rushed the job so the base was not properly prepared and the polymer sand was not properly installed. The entire installation was recorded on my security cameras so it is clear that some steps were skipped as outlined on the Unilock website. I would expect a 'certified unilock installer" to abide by the basic principles. This was taken directly from unilock website:

"All projects, regardless of their use, need to be restrained. If pavers are not restrained they will slowly “creep” into the softer surrounding materials and large gaps between the pavers will appear around the perimeter of the area. Most jobs have some edge restraint already there, such as the foundation wall or the sill of the garage, but all other areas need edge restraint. Use an invisible edge system that is spiked into the base materials. These easy to use edge restraints can also help you fine-tune your design because they are flexible."

As a result, not even a couple months later the pavers were shifting/creeping and the polymer sand breaking away. (it was barely 1/4" into the spaces). I contacted him many times, he said he would drop off sand, at that point I was willing to fix it myself. It never happened. Fast forward 1 year almost to the day later, the bottom half of the driveway is a disaster and extremely embarrassing. He was claiming to pop over to repair but he has ghosted me and has stopped responding. Based on your latest reviews I'm not holding my breath. I will hire someone else to fix and will be seeking legal/financial reparations.

I've pulled up a few pavers to level them out as they were so wobbly I was afraid they would crack, and you see one has already. Less than 1 year after installation.

This company is a total disaster, Ryan has promised for 2 years to fix his mess and never shows up we have sinking stones everywhere and have to hire a professional he is NOT worthy of anything do not trust him he will no doubt have to change his company name as is reviews are getting worse very year and he will take your money rush the job so he get on to his next victim , he likes to brag about how good he is and is a smooth taker makes you feel like he really cares, so watch out people , we live in Brampton and have been told by other interlock contractors he is getting a bad name within Ryan you will eventually be black balled from business the word is out , butterfly

Asked this company to repair concrete stairs and put a retaining wall. Some stairs became loose within a week. Called Ryan, their main guy, he said he would come back and fix. He never showed up. After many attempts over more than a year, even during off season to give him a chance to fix it, he still promises to show up on a specific date and doesn't. We have children and elderly parents and loose steps are unsafe. These guys are keen on getting paid immediately but they will never stand by their work once paid.

Constantly mislead me when he would do the job (constantly late when he did arrive). He messed up on my stairs and when he did come to fix it, he used a different type of stone that had rust on it. He said he would fix it but after multiple text messages and phone calls, he has never showed up.

In addition, when I went to get railings put onto the stairs they were not able to properly install them as some of the stones were not properly glued down. Causing me to incur additional expenses. He even mis-measured the entire job and demanded me to pay more for his employee’s mistake.

Overall terrible experience and wouldn't recommend him to anyone.

We selected this company based on the HomeStars reviews which is something we do not take lightly. The initial contact, proposal and booking seemed to go fairly smoothly, although not without constant follow up.... understandable based on the busyness of the season. Our project was squeezed in between other jobs which we appreciated. The patio extension from far away looks great. Although I feel we paid quite a bit because it was a "rush" job. Since completion of the job at the very beginning of June, we have had pretty much no response from the crew. A couple of weeks after the completion of the job, the edges of the patio began to come apart, and we have some sinking in a few areas. We had been assured that if we needed touch ups, we would have no problem getting them done. WRONG. It's been 5 months. Nothing. So now we have found someone new to fix the shoddy workmanship in the spring. I now know not to believe everything I read in these reviews nor should I take anyone's word. So disappointed.

Ryan was very prompt with his initial quote, responses and promises and also started the work on time (end of Aug). However a week later we were advised that the stone was delayed and this pushed the project. Ryan and his team did not show up and I was advised that they had started another job as there was no stone. Everyday promises continued. Finally the stone arrived a week later and the team was active to get the work done. The work was done well but I found that they rushed the ending and filled the polymeric sand knowing that it was going to rain the same day. It actually started raining as they were doing it but still continued. Hence, the sand on the driveway did not set and started to wash off. Ryan did come back and washed the driveway and re-sanded it but it did not hold. He advised me that it was a problem with the sand and that he had contacted someone from the company where he had purchased the sand and that they were sending someone to check the problem but till date no one has showed up.
We also realised that there is a drainage problem in our backyard and though Ryan spotted it, he did not suggest us putting a weeping tile but recommended we contact the city as it was the neighbours problem. Turns out it is our problem and I am still waiting for Ryan to get this work done.
Anyways, despite all the text, phone calls and efforts to reach Ryan, I am still waiting for him to fix the driveway sand and backyard step and drain problem. Ryan and his team are good with their work and committed only till they get paid. But their after sales or honouring the warranty is not something they care about or value. I have tried to reach him via text and calls and he will not reply nor pick up his phone. Even though he replied on the website stating that it will be fixed in 2 weeks, we are at the end of summer and Ryan hasn't showed up. If you decide to use their services, hold some money for at least a few months to make sure that any problems are fixed. Ryan I hope you will keep to your commitment and get the job completed.