Mark B.

I hired H & K Stucco to paint the stucco and wood beams on the front of my Tudor style house (2nd level only). Overall I was very pleased with many aspects of the work, although they chose not to pressure wash the stucco prior to painting or use primer, as is standard. When I agreed on the price ($4,000), I was under the impression that it would take approximately 3-4 days to complete the job. I was upset when I could see that the crew was finishing the job after just 1.5 days (around 25 hours total for both men). Assuming paint and materials were $200, the price they charged was equivalent to $150/hour! $40-50 per hour is probably fair and leaves room for overhead and a decent profit. H & K reduced the price by $200 when I complained, but I'm still not happy. Be very careful about the price if you hire this company and be sure to understand how long a job should take, if price is important to you.

Mersey gave my furnace its first tune-up in 4 years. Emmanuel noticed that the furnace was running on one stage only, and adjusted it so it was in two-stage mode. A great job overall. Recommended.

I hired Brothers Plumbing to repair the main shut off in the house. This job requires the city of Toronto to come and turn the water off outside of the house. For $90, the city will turn the water off and wait up to 30-45 minutes to turn it back on (once the repair is finished), otherwise they charge $90 x 2. Jimmy, the plumber, was unable to complete the repair in 30-45 minutes. The copper pipe in the area of the main shut off valve was 5/8", which apparently is very unusual (1/2" or 3/4" is the norm). Jimmy didn't have a 5/8" pipe on the truck and had to go buy one. The city worker, Frank, was angry at Jimmy because he felt Jimmy wasn't upfront that the repair would take more than 30-45 minutes. Even if he had had the pipe, he would have needed more than 30-45 minutes. Eventually Jimmy completed the job, after Frank had left. Jimmy had a great attitude, answered my messages promptly and is a hard worker but, as Frank noted, appeared to be fresh out of plumbing school (not that there's anything wrong with that). I would hire Brothers again but I get frustrated when companies come to do a job and don't have the necessary materials. I doubt I'm the only house in Toronto with 5/8" pipe. After some negotiation, I got Brothers to reduce the bill by $90 since they weren't able to complete the repair in the allotted 30-45 minutes, resulting in an extra $90 charge from the city. Overall Brothers prices are bit on the high side - $475 to repair the main shut off vs what I understand to be a typical Toronto price of $350-450, so it doesn't hurt to negotiate on price - I was able to get a price of $550 for both jobs I had done (second job was a new bathroom plastic sink drain). Next time, I would likely ask for a more experienced plumber to make a somewhat difficult job go more smoothly.

Soroush built a clean-looking, modern fence, including a gate, at the side of our house to enclose the backyard. The fence blends in nicely with the existing fence and looks great from the street/sidewalk. We appreciate that he worked late the second day to get it finished, and cleaned up all the scrap material when he was done. I need to add some soil to the area to moderate the slope and reduce the gap between the ground and the bottom of the gate. All in all a great job!

Extremely pleased with the new 450 square foot patio that Underhill's built in our backyard! They did a very thorough job, fixing the cement along the foundation of the house, excavating the area under the old patio and bringing in new gravel for the base of the new patio. I do recommend to anyone doing a patio to have a design, even a basic one on paper before starting the project. A bonus of getting a landscape company such as Underhill's to do a patio is that they put in sod around the patio when it was finished. They also put grass seed on the boulevard where the patio stones had been sitting for a day or two. Very dependable and trustworthy company.

I wasn't fully satisfied with the experience that I had with the company, mostly due to a range of communication issues. When I called the company initially, the person who took my information and scheduled the service call didn't speak English very well, and had never heard of my brand of oven (Bertazzoni). The technician was excellent and told me that the part, a new baking element, was not in stock and would arrive the next week. Almost two weeks later, I received a series of five vague text messages (see photo attached to review) explaining that there was a delay with the part. Confused, I called the company and was told the part would arrive in three weeks. When I asked to speak with someone in management, miraculously the story changed and I was told the part would arrive the following week. Finally, the part was installed three weeks after the initial visit to my home by the technician. I thought the price for the repair was a bit high - $390 for a $49 part that took 10 minutes to install.

During the winter our house experienced some issues with ice dams - thick ridges of ice that built up along the eaves, causing water to back up and pour into the attic and family room. I arranged a meeting at the house with Shay to have a look at the roof and attic, and learned that the house needed better ventilation and insulation, among other things. We had a second meeting where Shay presented two proposals to fix the ice damming. I liked that he gave two options for fixing the roof: one "good" and one "better". Each proposal featured new plywood, shingles, ventilation and insulation, however the second proposal included spray foam insulation instead of blown-in insulation. I also liked that the quote he provided was very detailed and professional (another quote I received was handwritten), and included proper specifications. For example the quote specified that all the work would we done according to the criteria of the National Roofers Association. The price I was quoted was competitive with another quote that I received. Everything was well organized on the day the work began, with the delivery of the materials and the arrival of the insulation timed perfectly. When unexpected events occurred, I was happy how Integrity worked with me to figure out a solution. Shay was unable to track down a "ridge vent" that we had included in the contract so we agreed to install a "maxi vent" instead and for me this was an acceptable solution. Also he included some aluminum work above the patio doors at no additional cost. After the work was completed, Shay dropped by to inspect the work and confirm that it was done to my satisfaction. We noted a minor concern (some unsightly wood showing at the corner of the roof) so Shawn came by the next day to cap the wood with aluminum to give it a more finished look. Integrity Roofers is a great company all around, from the admin staff to the work crew to the owner. I would definitely hire the company again if more work is needed on the roof.

I had Torwin do some work for me two years ago when I had two six-foot sliding patio doors replaced at my house in North York. Since that time, some of the windows began leaking and/or falling apart, so I decided to give Torwin a call since I was pleased with their earlier work on the patio doors. Once again Tony in sales was good to work with. He invited me to take a look at the product at the showroom. He was happy to answer all my questions about the windows and made changes to my price quote quickly whenever I changed my mind on some aspect of the windows. He did a walk-through with me after the job was done to make sure everything was done right. Torwin was able to accomodate my request to have the windows installed before I went on vacation in mid-December. The crew worked quickly yet carefully and didn't make more of a mess (inside and outside) than necessary. It was great that they worked on the weekend so I didn't have to miss work the following week. My only concern with the overall experience was that the installer who took the detailed measurements, who had decades of experience, wasn't the person who did the installation. He and I had talked about some of the potential issues and specific things I wanted done, so it would have have nice to have him do the installation. In the end this was a minor detail and I am very satisfied with Torwin's work. They are a professional company doing high quality work. I would recommend Torwin and would not hesitate to hire them again. The windows look fantastic, including the 3.5 inch trim.

I hired Remodel to remove and dispose of the drywall and insulation in our 1,100 square foot basement. Chris and his team found time to do the work even though he was already booked for the month. They arrived on time, carefully put up plastic in the doorways and put a fan in the window to contain the dust. The job was done quickly yet carefully, the crew was polite and I was very impressed with the quality of the work. They did an extra task that was not in our contract for no charge. Would definitely hire Remodel again for my next project. They even took care of a bees nest on the edge of the driveway, and washed all the footprints off the driveway when they left.

Optimum Renovations did a number of successful projects at our house in 2015. Projects included restoration work that had to be done after a major HVAC project. Work that Tony and his crew did included new drywall and paint in the garage, framing of bulkheads, drywall repair and modifications to the kitchen needed for the installation of a new gas range. Optimum's pricing is fair and competitive, Tony is always pleasant to deal with, and the workmanship is top-notch. Another benefit of working with Optimum is their ability to do a range a projects from small to large. We won't hesitate to have Optimum do more work on the house in years to come.

Our basement filled with water this past Wednesday. At first we didn't know whether it was a burst pipe or a sewer backing up. After calling a few other companies, we chose A Marco because they were able to send someone right away. The plumber, Phil, seemed a bit sour from the start. Maybe this was just his personality or he was having a bad day, but you would have thought it was his basement that was full of water. He wore his workboots into 6 inches of water - which turned out to be sewer water - and walked back and forth on the hallway hardwood floor without any dropcloths. He decided it was best to snake the house's main drain with 100 feet of coil. This didn't solve the problem so he suggested getting another 100 feet or so, but he didn't have that much on his truck and would have to charge $350 more for travel time to get the extra 100 feet of coil. I didn't think anything of it until I met with my insurance adjuster the next day. She said $400-500, not $1,200, would be a typical price for this kind of work. Also, she asked: why didn't he (Phil) have the second roll of coil in his truck? And, looking back on it, was the 2nd 100 feet really needed? In the end, my gut tells me I was overcharged for the work, and this is the reason I would not use A Marco again. I called the company and explained my concerns to Brad but he was unable to resolve my concerns in any way. $1,200 for 4 hours of work by one individual (virtually all labour) seems out of line.

In June 2014 we bought a house with electric baseboard heat with the intention of converting it to a natural gas, forced air system. Also the house had an electric hot water tank and only a ductless air conditioning unit installed on the second floor. After getting mechanical drawings done that showed the size and routing of all the ductwork throughout the house we began meeting with contractors. Over the span of several months we met or talked to about 25 companies. We disqualified most of the 25 for various reasons: bad attitude, better suited to larger or commercial jobs, price too low, price too high, etc. One company’s price was $55,000 plus HST! Some companies decided not to provide a price quote after visiting the house because they deemed the job too difficult due to the relatively small space in the attic. We were not doing a total gut renovation of the house so that too added to the difficulty of the job given all the new ductwork that was required. We found Dave White Heating late in the process but are glad that we did. Lou Aretusi returned my initial phone call promptly. A few weeks later, when we were ready to begin the job, we arranged a meeting with Lou at the house. One thing we noticed was that, compared to the many other HVAC contractors that visited the house, Lou actually took measurements to see how the house compared to the mechanical drawings. Being a difficult job, he wanted to make sure if it was possible for the ductwork to be installed according to the plan before committing to the work. He suggested a few tweaks to the plans that would help to keep the project in our budget and still give the desired results. After two more visits to the house to check all the various details, which we welcomed and viewed as a positive sign, we received a quote. We were able to work with Lou to land on a price that was acceptable to all and a start date in the not too distant future. The crew of 3 arrived on time the first day and started work. Considering the difficulty, the project went smoothly from start to finish. Communication was excellent, with Lou letting us know a week ahead of time which days he would be working the following week. This approach worked out well as it allowed my wife and I to coordinate our schedules with our employer. Lou communicated with the mechanical designer as needed, coordinated with the company that spray foamed the new ductwork in the garage and attic, as well as the carpenter that framed the ductwork in the garage. Lou also provided a reference for a plumbing company – in order to move some water pipes on the basement out of the way of the ductwork – that turned out to be dependable and competitively priced. We now have a brand new forced air heating and cooling system, including air conditioner and furnace, along with the new gas lines that Lou installed to the barbecue and stove. Dave White Heating and Lou were a pleasure to deal with. We were always able to reach Lou whenever necessary, asked him many questions and the project was completed on time, even though he was in the process of moving into a new home at the same time. If you are doing a project in your home that involves ductwork/sheetmetal I highly recommend Dave White Heating.

Carson Dunlop was referred to me by my real estate agent. The company communicates well and prepared a comprehensive report in a timely manner. After moving into the house, however, we found that the company missed a number of issues. The home inspection failed to point out that the roots of a large spruce tree were causing cracks in the driveway. The report also missed the fact that two patio doors were leaking air badly, and that the garage door wasn't able to lock or close properly. Worst of all, they didn't spot a split, badly installed non-freeze hydrant in the garage, along with other plumbing issues that cost about $1,200 to repair. Carson Dunlop may say that they didn't see the broken hydrant because the garage was obstructed with boxes but for me that is not good enough. They did offer to refund the $500 fee, and after I was persistent and sent a couple of follow up emails, they finally sent me a cheque a few weeks later. I believe there are better home inspectors out there. I would not use this company again.

After getting quotes from three other companies, all of which were not satisfactory, I decided to get Torwin to install two six-foot patio sliding doors. The overall process was smooth. At my request Torwin put a rush on the order - the doors were installed in less than a week! Tony in sales was easy to work with, answered all my questions and provided a detailed written quote. Torwin has a good team, including their office co-ordinator, installation manager and installers. The installation was scheduled for a Monday, but on Friday I got a call and told that it would be moved a day later, as another project took longer than expected. Jeff did a great job installing the doors with no damage to the trim or the floor. There was good attention to detail. Jeff caulked the door, used spray foam insulation and clean the glass after they were done. I was able to pay with a credit card, which is always appreciated because of the 1% cash back. The price I was quoted/paid was competitive and offered good value. I would use Torwin again and recommend the company to family/friends.

I arranged to have Chris and his crew take down the drywall ceiling and insulation in my basement so that I could go ahead with an HVAC project. The crew arrived on time, did very careful prep work and treated the house with respect. They set up a fan in the basement that blew most of the drywall dust outside and put up plastic at the entrance to the basement to control the dust - there is no door or doorway to the basement (open concept) so this was not a simple task. Communication was excellent throughout the short project. The clean up after the ceiling was taken down was thorough. The price I was quoted/paid was competitive and offered good value for the money. Chris even put some oversize garbage that I had from another project in his trailer and took it to the dump! I would use Remodel Construction again and recommend the company to family/friends.

I moved into a new house about a month ago and discovered some plumbing issues that needed to be looked after. I needed a back check valve in the basement drain, laundry tub faucet, and garage tap and had two minor leaks in the en-suite bathroom. I was impressed with the quality of materials and fittings that were used. Jeff showed up on time, answered all my questions, had all the necessary parts in his van and has 30 years of experience. The work is priced according to the job, not by the hour.