Grace in Toronto

I originally called Top Hat because my chimney damper was stuck, and they came to clean the chimney. They originally told me that it would cost $75 fix the damper + $155 to clean the chimney. Everyone else just said they would clean the chimney, and so when I asked Top Hat just for a chimney clean, they agreed. When the technician did come, he had to play around with the damper and ended up charging me the $75 again anyway....fine... What bothered me was that he pointed out all these extra things I needed to get done. Later on, another technician, Mike, called to quote on these extra items. He was extremely rude - when I told him I didn't need one of the items, he insisted I did. I told him I had consulted a building inspector as well as a fire & code consultant who told him I didn't need those things, to which he rudely exclaimed, "Well they're WRONG!" Then, when I asked him to quote me for a chimney cap, he said it would be $350-$450. Two other quotes I got were for $175, half the price! One other company even said they had cleaned the chimney for the previous owner and said it wasn't necessary to have a chimney cap since my chimney was so tall. I definitely did not appreciate all the up-selling and the rudeness. I would not recommend using them.

Dima Plumbing was great to work with. You do have to call them (email doesn't really work), but he responds right away with quotes. I called on a Friday afternoon and he offered to come first thing on Monday. He texted me when he was on his way, and he was very gracious with his visit. The scope of work wasn't as large as we had originally thought, so he didn't want to charge us. But we gave him other work instead, and paid what was originally agreed upon. Dima's professionalism and expertise were great and we'd highly recommend them!

I debated whether to write this review since Cathi and Jacqueline were so friendly and organized, but I didn't want anyone else to experience what I did. When I first contacted them, I was very impressed with Jacqueline and Isabelle. They were both so friendly and patient to work with, and their thorough questions made me realize that they really knew what they were doing. They were also very organized. However, I was rather disappointed with the actual cleaning work. At first I thought it was just because I was stressed with my renovations not being complete. 1) First of all, she said she didn’t have a shop-vac. I was surprised since when I first got a quote from NMC, they mentioned that a post-renovation clean is $5 more per hour, because they need to come with a shop-vac. I offered her the use of mine and she said she didn’t know how to use it. I thought I had misunderstood Jacqueline, but upon reviewing the NMC website, that is the case. I've addressed this with NMC, and they acknowledge that she should have had one, but they won't acknowledge that I paid $5 more per hour for something I did not receive. 2) The cleaners also did not even enter the bedroom closets. Perhaps I should have been more clear when I told her to clean the rooms, but given NMC's website says they clean "all surfaces", I thought it would have been done. 3) I admit that I should have checked more thoroughly when I did a final walk through with her, but she did not dust the bedrooms at all. The radiators were COVERED in drywall dust, as was the floor underneath it. I also noticed the cable (see attached photo) was not dusted either. She basically just mopped the floor of my bedrooms. (So 6 hours to mop 3 small bedrooms and 2 small bathrooms). 4) Bathroom floor stain - there was a large stain on the floor that I had been hoping she would remove. When I saw it was still there, she mentioned she had not been able to get it off, and that I needed Goo Gone. I believed her, until I was able to scrub it all off within 5 minutes. Most of it was dirt. (See attached photo of the stain before I got it off). So I’m sure you can understand how disappointed I am. I paid good money so that I wouldn’t have to clean the house myself before moving in, and I assumed it would be done well. Instead, I had to spend an afternoon dusting and vacuuming. I told NMC, and their first response was that they only offer free re-dos within 24 hours, but I was outside that window (she cleaned on Wednesday, I came back Friday and discovered it). They later offered it as an exception, but at that point, I had already cleaned everything myself. Renovations and moving are stressful enough as it is. So if you're looking for a post-renovation cleaner, I wouldn't recommend them, because you won't be getting your money's worth and you'll have to clean again yourself. I thought NMC would be really great, and I don't want anyone else to go through this.