JM in Toronto

After removing 20 year old carpet strips, I realized I needed to call the professionals to renovate my staircase. Faddy was lightning-quick in responding to my request on Homestars, visiting, explaining the process, answering questions and providing a detailed estimate. Michelle did a fabulous job of day-to-day communications on specs and scheduling. The team transformed my stairs to match existing laminate flooring and took special care to protect and maintain the woodgrain risers and stringers. The job was finished on schedule and budget with minimal disruption. This was a small job for them, but it received 100% professional care and attention. I would give these professionals 12/10 if Homestars had that rating. They will be back later this summer to lay down a new vinyl tile bathroom floor. I am already thinking about basement floor and stairs fixes next year, and will not hesitate to work with The Brothers.

I recently had a water leak in the basement ceiling, as well as some minor damage in an upstairs bedroom ceiling due to a roof leak years ago. PatchBoyz had done a ceiling repair for my neighbour so I checked out their excellent references on Homestars. The work was scheduled quickly. Vitor did an amazing job: on time, quick and efficient, professional and friendly, patching, mudding and priming the two areas. Kybor's excellent project management added to my peace of mind about PatchBoyz.

Enercare installed a new high-efficiencey furnace for me in February, 2016. It has had three issues in the past two years. Immediately following the install, I had a substantial water leak in the furnace room. The tech who investigated didn't correlate the leak with the install. He insisted that I replace the rental water tank (it was not the problem) and otherwise suggested that there was a water leak in my home's foundation (there wasn't). He said there was nothing more he could do and left. I asked for a second opinion and John, the installation manager, came out and found the problem right away - a water hose inside the high efficiency furnace that hadn't been connected correctly. I had been mopping the floor for days before the situation was resolved. On the plus side, I needed a new air conditioner that summer, and Enercare was able to send out the same knowledgeable senior manager to install it, which I appreciated. December, 2016 (10 months after install), the furnace blower failed and the computer board was also replaced. I was out of heat for three days until the parts were available. No answers as to why these parts failed so soon. Fast forward to Christmas Eve day, December, 2017. The thermostat indicated that the furnace was not achieving the set temperature. It was short cycling. This took four days to solve, with three techs involved. The first tech ran a few computer tests and concluded that a new gas valve needed to be ordered. I didn't feel confident about his diagnosis, so asked for a second opinion. Two days later, a second tech ran computer and manual tests and concluded that the issue was not the gas valve. He ordered a new computer board. He was kind enough to arrange for delivery of two space heaters as an interim solution, as parts needed to be ordered after Boxing Day. Early on day four, a third tech arrived with both parts. Joel did a thorough investigation and advised that the new parts were not required. He correctly noted that there was a problem with a wire on the thermostat (one of the first things you check, although when I suggested it to the first tech, I was brushed aside). He did a quick trim and installed a new thermostat. I get that diagnosis can be difficult with the complexity of modern furnaces, but I feel as though the issue could have been fixed on day 1 with Joel's "Occam Razor" analysis, eliminating multiple tech visits, holiday delays for unneeded parts, and salvaging Christmas. Luckily, I was on the radar of the regional service manager who was working during the holiday period, who was monitoring the situation to ensure that the requested parts were ordered and finally, that I had heat. The house has been toasty since Joel's visit. I give him 10 out of 10 for his persistence, analytical skills, "can do" attitude and getting this fixed. Thank you also to John, the regional manager, for his proactive concern. And to the other John, the knowledgeable install manager who had quickly diagnosed the water leak and deserves 10/10. Unfortunately, I can't assign a 10/10 overall to Enercare, given days of dealing with water, lack of heat, and scheduling multiple tech visits that did not solve the problem. I don't have a warm feeling that it will not fail again in the coming year. Warranty is nice but 4 days of deep freeze is not.

Just before Christmas 2017 (and the big freeze), my neighbour wondered if a squirrel was doing damage to my mansard roof. Wildlife is abundant in Bloor West Village, and Gates had installed protective mesh on my roof and wall vents some years ago (referred to me by Toronto Wildlife Centre). I follow them on Facebook and see what black and red squirrels can get up to. This time, it looked as though a black squirrel had created an opening at the vulnerable junction of the electrical stack and my mansard roof. I could hear it scrambling above my front bay window where it seemed to have a cozy nest. Before engaging my roofing company (Roofworks), I called Gates to make sure we could get the squirrel out, especially before breeding season and to avoid water damage. Nick responded right away (in the depths of the cold freeze and the holiday season!) and installed a mesh cage around the stack, with a one-way door, baited with peanut butter, to encourage the squirrel to exit. The following week, Nick checked back and verified that the squirrel appeared to have left the building. As we are now into a rainy period and the repair has been done, peace of mind is priceless, especially knowing that no animal was harmed in the process. Although the neighbours tell me that one little squirrel is very annoyed right now. Both of my experiences with Gates have been great - friendly, knowledgeable, timely and effective - and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone wishing to co-exist peacefully with the wildlife in their neighbourhood.

Jason and his team completed reshingling of a portion of my 30-year-old mansard roof, replaced old eavestrough piping, and most recently repaired damage due to wildlife around the electrical stack. I had seen Roofworks trucks frequently in Bloor West Village, so I checked them out on Homestars. Shingles were starting to come loose around the dormer windows in my mansard roof. Jason responded quickly to provide an estimate for reshingling in winter 2016 and, since we were not doing the work until spring, he kindly installed protective plastic over the damaged areas in the meantime. The reshingling job went quickly and cleanup was neat. Shortly after, his team replaced aging eavestrough downspout piping. Because of the layout, the logistics were a bit challenging, but the job was done quickly and effectively. Great that Roofworks also provides this one-stop shopping! This winter, I noticed some damage near the electrical stack where a squirrel had created an opening. I let Jason know that AAA Gates Wildlife Control (an excellent humane company) that we would be putting up a one-way mesh door to allow the squirrel to exit. I was concerned about timing, as this was in the depths of the December 2017 deep freeze which was to be followed by a period of rain and snow. Once the squirrel was out, Jason sent his team over to repair this tricky area, reinforce it with metal and reinstall the mesh screen provided by Gates. One very unhappy squirrel hopefully has an alternate nest as the spring breeding season approaches! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Roofworks. Jason is personable, has kept me informed at every step, and his team have responded quickly with high quality work that I can trust.

White Shark does a lot of work in this neighbourhood and I had used their services before. I was pleased that they could fit an eavestrough cleaning into their busy schedule before a freeze might occur. David, Kevin and Chevy showed up on time and completed the job very quickly. They packed up the bags of leaves neatly and left them at the curb for me. This was a small job, and the price was reasonable for the peace of mind over the winter season. White Shark also does windows, painting and odd jobs. I won't hesitate to call them in the future.

I was delighted to find Lee Dawson's company to repair the 30 year old fence in my back yard. Four new posts were all that was required to renew it and extend its life. Other companies were encouraging me to replace the entire fence with a new one. Lee was able to fit the repairs into his schedule very quickly. He and his capable team arrived promptly and did the repairs with surgical precision, working in a yard with mature trees and shrubs. The repairs were finished in a few hours, with minimal disruption, complete cleanup, and positive reactions from my neighbours. Speed was important to me with two dogs who needed a safe yard. Lee is a really personable "can do" guy. With repairs that I am planning for the spring for my back deck, I know he will make it almost as good as new. It would be great if more companies were like this.