Avoid this company - hired for basement water infiltration
I hired GTA Restoration due to water infiltration through the baseboards of a Toronto home in April of 2023. I paid personally for the service.
I would NOT choose this company again for the following reasons:
1. the representative at the call centre set expectations that did not pan out - they indicated the crew would come to the house, clean up the problem, diagnose the problem, and offer next steps all on the same day. In reality, it was a 4-day affair with a vague diagnosis of "probable waterproofing issue". The first day involved setting up fans and dehumidifiers with no thought at addressing the underlying problem. It was frustrating to me that they blew around the existing water on the floor - I had to suggest to them they get a vacuum and start removing the water instead of just blowing it around. I found this odd and of course, they charged for this additional service.
2. No clear diagnosis or source of the water infiltration was ever made. I also found it challenging that a company that provides a diagnosis (i.e. waterproofing issue) suggests a fix that they, themselves provide at great cost. Their "diagnosis" involved technicians pointing an infrared gun at the baseboards and saying "they are wet" with subsequent deployment of high power fans and dehumidifiers. I knew the baseboards were wet. The project manager later came with a moisture meter that, again, confirmed wet baseboards.
3. There was a nearly $3000 error on the invoice that I detected; to their credit they corrected this and offered a 5% courtesy discount. This is the source of the "1 star" satisfaction.
4. The project manager was not reachable for several days even though I had their verbal assurance that I could "call anytime" if I had questions or concerns.
5. The advice and perspectives the two technicians offered differed widely from that of the project manager. The call centre representative was clearly not in sync with the rest of the team as I often received conflicting information about simple things like "what time is the team coming tomorrow?"
6. The call centre representative was polite, courteous, reasonably easy to reach though they were often out of sync with what was happening - I often asked about "next steps" and an estimate of further repairs to which they often had no answer due to the absent project manager.
All in all, this service ranks high on Google reviews with an incredible number of 5 star ratings. To future consumers, I would be very mindful in reading the multiple five star reviews and verifying that these are, in fact, actual customers. My experience was certainly not a five star experience.
I would not choose this company again. Too many people involved (i.e. technicians and a difficult-to-reach project manager) and neither the technicians, call centre representative, or the project manager ever seemed to be on the same page. Invoicing is not meticulous. My impression is that they dry everything and suggest a solution (that they will charge you a lot for) without accurately identifying the problem.
Fundamentally, I could not trust this company or the expertise of their employees.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $7,000.00