MichaelW

Doug has become a bit of a family friend in addition to being "just" a contractor - we have used his services on several occasions in the past, the largest being several bathroom renovations over the years. Recently our washing machine drain hose came loose and caused a flooded main floor laundry room with water cascading down to the finished basement. It was not the largest job, but I did not hesitate to call on Doug to see if he could fit in a repair. He came over in a couple of days, scoped it all out, gave us a quote that was reasonable, and a few days later began the repair. Because the ceiling was the old-fashioned "popcorn" ceiling, Doug had to go above and beyond to protect all of my furnishings etc from the inevitable mess that was going to be caused by scraping the old ceiling off in the affected area, and fixing it, and finishing it and eventually respraying a new textured section to match the existing . He did all of this and more, and in only 3 calendar days. The ceiling looks as good as new, the mess was contained, and Doug took care of all of it - I literally did not have to lift a finger. I would not hesitate to call on Doug at any time for a reno or a repair. I trust him completely and that counts for everything in my view. And he is a really nice guy to boot!

I have used Dodd's before and I will use them again as I need to. Service personnel are knowledgeable, courteous and punctual. And they know what they are doing. No complaints.

I should not be using this review space to denigrate another company as much as to praise A&A, but I must do so in order to give context to the review. Two years ago we had our front steps re-done in Banas concrete slabs by a company called Image Enhanced and the job they did was positively awful. After one year, mortar cracks appeared and some stone treads popped off. They repaired a couple of steps but after a second year, more treads had popped off and side slabs had fallen off and the whole job needed to be repaired. That's where A&A came in. I learned of A&A right here on Homestars and and from my first interactions with Greg I knew I was dealing with a very different kind of company. One where the people not only knew what they were talking about, but ones who cared about the quality of work they were going to leave behind. When I met Mike and his wife April I was even more impressed. Mike was a perfectionist in all the right ways. Mike and April were friendly, personable, easy to like and get along with, but most importantly Mike just inspired me with confidence that I never had working with the previous company. And no wonder - he pointed out all of the things that had been done poorly (most of which were visible to the eye anyway) but also technically why he felt the previous job had gone so wrong. He explained what he was going to do differently and why, and why I would be the beneficiary of a superior project. Unfortunately, as he pried up old steps he found more wrong than had met the eye initially and so we agreed with Greg to increase the scope of the job. In the end we agreed to an almost complete redo of the shoddy work of the previous company. But the end result is like night and day. It pains me that I have had to pay twice to get what I should have gotten in the first place, but in many ways it pains me more that I did not learn of, and use, A&A in the first place. I am confident that the project would have been done right the first time and I am confident that in the unlikely case that any repairs are needed in the future that Andy and Greg and A&A will stand behind their warranty rather than hide behind some technicalities the way my previous contractor did. I would use A&A again without hesitation, and recommend them heartily. Special thanks to Mike for persisting through wet and cold weather and for making sure that no corners were cut. The man is a craftsman who takes great pride in his workmanship, and I say that in the most appreciative way and with kudos and respect.

I noticed earlier today that the suction on our central vac was not what it was supposed to be. I called VacWorks to arrange an in-home appraisal to see it it was the central unit (an almost 30 year old Beam) or maybe a hose or some other issue. I did not expect an appointment for perhaps a week or so. Lorne told me he could come over the same afternoon, and indeed he did. We discussed the issues, he showed me where and what the problem was and we decided on a replacement unit. He even suggested that we might be able to have the new one installed the SAME day. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. We have gone from an outdated under-performing vac to a brand new one installed and functioning in a matter of hours from first contact - not days or weeks but hours. It was not any sort of emergency of course but I so appreciated the service and the diligence. Lorne also took our power head back to the shop, replaced belts and did maintenance on it, and they replaced the electrical cords in the garage and included a number of disposable bags ALL as part of the same service at no extra cost. We have used VacWorks before for repairs and parts etc but this is the first wholesale system we have needed. I could not be happier with the service and with the attitudes of both men we dealt with today. I recommend VacWorks unreservedly!

I don't often write reviews, but I was so impressed with Aquatech and the work they did for me last week that I feel compelled to recommend them with my highest possible enthusiasm. Our basement problems started a few weeks ago when there was a major winter thaw followed by many days of rain that resulted in a significant portion of our finished basement being literally flooded through the foundation wall. In a bit of a panic I searched for reputable companies that could at least help me to stop the flow of water until the spring when I imagined we would have wait for the opportunity to fix the problem properly. I found Aquatech right here on HomeStars and was very impressed with the other reviews and ratings that they were given. I had never used them before (in fact I had never heard of them before), but when the lowest rating out of over 300 reviews is a 9/10, and most were 10/10, they must be doing something right. I even searched the Internet and the Better Business Bureau and tried in vain to find at least one negative review of these guys but could not! So I decided to give them a call. Andrew was able to come over within a few days. The minute we started to discuss possible solutions, I knew that I was dealing with someone who not only knew his business but who valued his company’s reputation and his customers. I’m a pretty good judge of character and I took an immediate liking to him based on his knowledge but also his approach which was decidedly NOT hard sell. We went over several options both for internal remediation but also for doing things externally. He gave me very reasonable quotes for both options; we decided to go for the exterior waterproofing. What was astounding to me is that he told me that the whole job (about 11 feet of excavation at the back of the house and about 18 or 19 feet along the side of the house) could be done in TWO DAYS. About a year or two ago we had some waterproofing done at the front of our house and while the situations were not comparable, that job dragged on for weeks. I could not believe that Aquatech could actually do the job in only two days, especially since they would have to dig the excavation trenches by hand. Plus, even though we were in the beginning of February, Andrew thought that he could probably free up a team to be able to do our job sometime within the following two weeks. When I first called Aquatech, never did I think that a) we could get this all done in the winter, b) get it done within a week or two of calling them and c) that the whole thing would only take two days to complete. Based on all of that and based on a competitive price we said go ahead. True to his word Andrew called me at the beginning of the following week and said that he had a crew available and they could start the next day if we were able to accommodate. I was delighted and agreed enthusiastically. At 9 AM the next day Slava and Bob arrived ready to work. The weather forecast had been for a fairly nice day but in fact it was fairly snowy and I felt really sorry for the guys and wondered if perhaps they would need to postpone. But no, they dug right in (literally!) and went to work. Indeed they finished the whole job by about 3 o’clock the following afternoon. Of course, it is too early to know if all the leaking has been 100% eradicated, but I watched what they did and I was very impressed at the multiple layers of aquablock and mesh and vapour barrier and dimple board that were applied. They put in all new weepers, new vertical weepers in two window wells, and even corrected some of the grade problems we had, so now water should run away from the house instead of towards the house. I could not be more impressed overall. Andrew clearly has confidence in his crews and his company because he didn’t even ask for a deposit, but only collected full payment after the job was completed and I was 100% satisfied. This kind of customer service and customer appreciation is not so common these days. I want to thank Andrew, and especially Slava and Bob who worked through some poor weather conditions but really delivered the goods in the end. I hope I never have any waterproofing needs again, but if I do I will not hesitate for one second to call Aquatech again. I recommend them to anyone else in the strongest possible terms.

My daughter, who lives in Newmarket found and used Taylor and New Elegance for some jobs they needed done to get their house in shape for a real estate listing (They sold the house in short order so that is some measure of success right there!) . She was very happy with Taylor's work and so that prompted me to contact him about a number of jobs I had around the house that had been nagging me, but were a bit out of my comfort/experience zone. This ranged from some outside carpentry work to replace rotting frames/columns around my door, re-sanding my interlocking front porch all the way to some masonry repairs in the basement and the removal and replacement of some old carpeting that had gotten wet and was no doubt mouldy. Taylor came over very soon after first contact to examine the jobs and gave a prompt, fair and detailed estimate later that day. We agreed and he was here the very next day. I thought it would be a 2-day job at least but he did it all in one day. He was very courteous and polite, very respectful of my needs and did not try to oversell anything, in my view. When he was unsure about the solution for the masonry problem he went and asked a more experienced colleague for advice and I respect that a lot in anyone. In the end I was pleased with the work and his attitude and his service. I would definitely work with Taylor again as the need arises.