Trevor - Roncescvalles

We highly recommend Paul Morra Projects Inc. Our experience with Paul has been excellent and we look forward to working with him in the future. ______________________________________________________ Background We own a 100 year old home that needed a lot of work. We had previously had the entire house rewired which resulted in a significant amount of damage to the plaster throughout the entire house. After taking possession of the house and having a closer look at the kitchen we realized that it was in terrible shape and ripped out the cabinets right away. This left us using a second kitchen in the basement for an extended period of time. Our principal bathroom had a nice old look to it but the mechanics of it were poor with the plumbing leaking through to the dining room ceiling below and very worn fixtures. We had been working off and on for a long period with architects and while we had grand plans involving a back addition what we really needed was for someone to fix all of the existing problems so that we could start to unpack and really start living in our house. ______________________________________________________ Scope of work • Full kitchen renovation • Bathroom - gut, reclaim adjoining closets, full renovation • Major plaster repairs throughout the house • Remove and replace the majority of ceilings • Paint the entire house • Insulate • Fireplace mantle and surround • Some structural repairs ______________________________________________________ The search Armed with our list of projects we contacted six contractors, four of whom we found on homestars and had promising reviews and high ratings. Each of the six contractors came to our home to review the work and develop a quote. Paul immediately stood out with his quick understanding of the scope of our work. Paul also stood out as his quote arrived within a few days and was very thorough. Paul quoted both on our major addition project as well as an a la carte price for each of the kitchen, bathroom, plaster repairs and painting. His quote identified the price for each section of our work and described in good detail what the work would entail, the materials to be used and the quality of the finish. This was generally not the experience we had with the other contractors. Paul was very accommodating in providing numerous revisions to his quote as we went through budget and made some changes to the scope of work. ______________________________________________________ The three key reasons I would recommend Paul to my friends are: • Excellent communication skills • Paul gets the job done • Amazing crew Excellent communication skills We communicated a lot by email, often by phone and occasionally in person. I never had to wait long for a response from Paul with emails coming at most any time of day or night. I would like to stress the importance of having a contractor who will return your calls or emails quickly. It makes such a difference in your decision making process and comfort level. Paul’s communications are clear and informative. Getting the job done If Paul said that something was going to be done on a certain day, it was. I never had to chase Paul to find out why something was not done. It may seem like a simple thing but after interacting with a number of other contractors and trades over the years meeting someone who stands by what he says is rare. Paul always made us feel confident that our house would turn into a home and that he would get it done. Crew Paul’s crew is superb. His foreman Joe is a truly amazing individual and is an asset to any jobsite. It is rare to meet someone so effective yet so relaxed. We never saw or heard Joe or any of the crew complain, especially after we decided to change something they had just done. The crew was always polite to us, they kept the jobsite clean, and were always willing to take the time to go over progress with us. As we were living in the basement throughout the renovations they were very respectful of our space. Their pace of work was fantastic. After coming home from work it was a lot of fun to walk through the house and see how much had changed since I left for work in the morning. Joe took it upon himself to do some additional work for us that was not part of the original scope of work and really left us impressed with how much they care that our home is the best home that it can be for us. Paul’s trades were also very good and special kudos to his master plasterer, Everton, a very skilled craftsman as well as a charmer. Other Strengths Design Paul comes from a design background (OCAD) which is a strong plus as he is able to provide focused advice both on the practicality and the aesthetics of options that we were considering, whether it be layout or materials. Paul has a very strong sense of colour and his feedback and guidance were critical in editing our choices of paint colours for the house. Paul provided a number of drawings for our kitchen and bathroom millwork and our kitchen sink. He was very tireless in redoing them a number of times after the numerous changes we requested. Flexibility A lot of our decisions went through numerous design versions and while we made a strong effort to know and adhere to Paul’s deadlines we often left decisions to the last minute and Paul was always gracious in accepting our changes. We are a pretty demanding couple, who had been waiting a long time to truly enjoy our house and therefore it was imperative that everything be perfect. Paul was very accommodating when we changed decisions mid stream but he was also firm in letting us know his opinions on those changes. Through this collaboration we were able to come to much better decisions. Approach Paul has a very nice, professional, can do approach to his work. Knowing that we were by no means the only clients he was working with at the same time we were amazed at how much time and effort he was willing to devote to us. Paul and his crew want the job to be done right and will take it upon themselves to ensure that the work is excellent. Paul is tireless and seems to be working from early morning to late at night every day. Whenever requested Paul made himself available for site meetings which were very effective at finalizing decisions. Pricing We found Paul’s pricing to be very fair. ______________________________________________________ Conclusion We are very happy with Paul and the wonderful work he and his crew did for us on our house. He has transformed a weary old house into a great home and we are forever grateful to Paul for this. Once again I would strongly recommend Paul Morra Projects Inc to anyone.