Reviews

10/10

We needed to change paint for for the whole house from its original builder paint (think cheap contractor paint), asked for a quote from multiple companies, Brock were very fast to answer and the only ones to actually measure what they were quoting (everyone else was eye balling it), price wasn't the cheapest but you never go cheap for a professional job. Crew showed up the following week, took very good care of our home by protecting everything around their work, finished the job in 3 days, very clean and professionally done. I have an eye for detail and called them the next day for some minor and barely visible areas, they sent someone back to fix everything to my full satisfaction, no questions asked. Thanks Gisella and Elias (and crew) for taking good care of our home, we truly appreciated it!!

Approximate cost of services:
$5,000.00
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Company Response

Thank you Mo it was such a pleasure working with you we are happy you liked it.
Thank you
Gisella

6/10

Dec 29 2017 update: The team wrapped up my project as described below and fixed all issues I managed to find to my satisfaction, after completion I had to call for two additional issues: 1) shower enclosure leaking water due to improper seal, 2) wrong handle design installed in bathroom door not matching rest of the basement. HOWEVER, two days ago (Dec 27 2017), we arrived back home after a vacation and found that our basement's temperature has dropped to 10°C, the same temperature as our cold room, it turns out one of the main air vents isn't blowing any hot air at all, vent grid was open but seem to be an issue on how the HVAC was connected. I'm trying to contact the company for two days now and no luck as I need this fixed ASAP, irony is that my basement was better heated before they finished it as the builder had installed proper HVAC during construction... I'm very disappointed with work that keeps turning up surprises of things done poorly (Whether it's a shower leaking, wrong handle, HVAC not properly connected, etc...), I thought that was the whole point of hiring Penguin in the first place!!! Original review: I have these guys finishing up my basement as we speak, we are now entering the 7th week of a project initially planned for 4-5 weeks, without any clear communication on delays or the reason behind pushing out dates...beyond my own frustrations with their lack of communication here are a few facts about some of the things I had to experience through my project (still unfinished): -Signed my contract back in April 12 with a start date of early June, they called me mid-June to ask for a early July, I had to call the day before planned start to realize they had forgotten my start date and scrambled through making last minute shifts to start me on July 4th -Material Delivery went well -Framing went well (I thought), they were asking questions along the way which was good -When the boarding started, the drywall guys couldn't install their boards as the framing was off and unfinished...work had to stop -Electrician came for his part, did his job and followed my instructions for pot lights positioning, framing guys came back and misaligned everything (pot lights were 3-4 inches off and not forming one line) - HVAC guy connected the return to the air supply, and still not fixed, funny thing is that HVAC guy is actually arguing someone changed his install - I noticed trades were coming in and off without any quality control, I emailed them asking who does QC they replied stating that my site manager was on vacay...through the period though no one controlled boarding, mudding/taping, first paint or flooring, etc... - There were also a number of imperfections, all called out during the substantial visit, I'm not mentioning any of them here as I consider all to be "normal" and they were good saying they'll be fixing all We did the substantial visit on Aug 3rd, and I had left town for business for one week, came back on Aug 12 and found that no work was done for a whole week, no heads-up of delays or issues communicated to me... I understand projects have challenges, but I need a better communication and transparency to the timelines along with a better follow up on the issues I keep calling out, I plan to post another review once the project is complete and will share how things ended up being closed. September 7th update: After posting this review, the Penguin team reached out another supervisor (Eric) followed up to review and fix all raised issues highlighted above and beyond. The team also started being more diligence on sharing ETA's and giving the heads-up should anything be delayed. It did take the team another 2 weeks to wrap everything up which took my total project time to two months but ultimately wrapped everything up to my full satisfaction. Thanks

Approximate cost of services:
$47,000.00
What could this company do to improve their services?
Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
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Company Response

Mo,

Here at Penguin Basements, we are listening. We appreciate your review and you are not the first to comment on the communication issue. We have had rapid growth in the past year and indeed, managing communication has been an issue. This is a critical process to us and we are taking these comments seriously.

We are implementing new training and communication protocols, that will be rolled out as soon as possible, in an​ effort to better address these problems.

We value our clients and their feedback, and we are dedicated to being the best Basement Build company in the GTA.

Sincerely,

Penguin Basements

10/10

Simply the best, Wayne was top notch from quote to install, very knowledgeable and very professional. During the work Wayne was also very meticulous perfecting every detail which really showed up in the final result. Already looking forward to my next job for him to do...

Approximate cost of services:
$2,400.00
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Company Response

Thanks Mo. I hope you get some time to enjoy the big screen. Will see you again soon!