Ian in Toronto

Called to advise when they would arrive and showed up within minutes of the estimated time. They got to work and worked quickly. They did a great job with some tough stains.

Well it started with a leaky tap, which led us to want to replace the sink with an under mount, which required a new countertop, which prompted us to start changing colours and a cabinet. After contacting several contractors, Granite Transformations was the only one that seemed capable of taking on the whole job and the only one willing to work on our downtown condo (at an additional fee). Rob came for the sales pitch and a quote. We ended up agreeing to go with them, with a little push from a limited time discount being offered. GT would provide new doors throughout the kitchen, in two different colours, as well as a countertop with a waterfall feature and the accompanying sink and tap. Initial time estimate was a 3 day install for the cupboards and 2 days for the countertop. The day before each install we got calls saying they would only need 2 days and 1 day respectively. In the end they took the full 3 for cupboards and 2 for the counter. Given we were prepared for that anyway, it wasn't a huge inconvenience. The initial cupboard installed seemed good at first but seemed to speed up and cut corners in the afternoon to beat traffic... We asked for a different installed for the final day of finishing work and fixes to some of the shortcuts with the first installer. The countertop was installed by Edgar, a spunky guy who has a lot of energy and a passion for countertops. He did a great job getting the countertop in. As for the quality of the products; the paint finish on the cabinets is delicate. Mostly superficial marks that you don't see unless you're looking for them. The countertop is interesting as it is only 1/4" thick. That's because these guys typically install over existing counters. For the undermount sink, instead of using clamps under the counter, the 5/8" plywood that serves as the structure/base of the counter holds it up. The sink won't detach from the counter, ever. Kind of nice. I would prefer a thicker counter overall, but it looks great and they were able to install without a seam in the middle of a peninsula, which was something everyone else said was impossible. Guess it is possible!

We attended the (since closed) Yorkville showroom for Flor several times and were always greeted by energetic and enthusiastic salespeople/designers. The variety of colours, patterns, textures, pile... and so on, make flooring fun and flexible. After coming up with designs we received our boxes of pre-cut carpet squares within 4 weeks, normally faster. Assembly is fairly easy and the adhesive dots are really strong. Our rugs have always caught a lot of people's eyes and have led to lots of compliments. The only problem with any of our rugs was the runner, which had a different fabric backing on it. This required different dots, but we didn't get those. On a later visit to the showroom we explained that a couple spots weren't sticking well and the designer knew immediately what was wrong and gave us the proper dots we needed. It's been clear sailing since! Great product and great service. Disappointed the showroom closed, but the website is kind of fun too.

Got Marla's number from a friend when we were in a rush to get a bulk head built out to accommodate the depth of new cupboards in our kitchen. After sending out requests to several contractors, Marla was indeed the fastest to respond and thus got the job. Less than a week later Demetri arrives at our door with nothing more than "it's a drywall patch" as information about the project. He comes in, roughly measures and then disappears for 2.5 hours. Given that we're in the centre of downtown Toronto, I didn't expect him back from Home Depot immediately, but 2.5 hours and we were convinced he'd just left. When he got back, Demetri was very quick to put the framing in place and begin to hang the drywall. I occasionally poked my head in to offer a hand and check the work. He said he does this all the time and no need to help. I did notice a couple of strange spots, but assumed (foolishly) that he would fix them up. The vertical piece of drywall extended below the framing, instead of taking a few minutes to run a knife along the framing to square up the drywall, he simply cut the piece for the bottom side of the bulkhead and started screwing leaving the drywall wavy and cracked. He then attached the cornerbead which was 3/8-1/2' below the bottom of the bulkhead. No tape was used for inside corners and the cornerbead itself sat 1/8"+ above the face of the drywall. There are currently globs of compound all over the drywall and some horrific attempts at feathering. I'm no drywall superstar, but using a 6" knife to feather something that you've cruelly built up 3/8" isn't going to turn out very good at all. While we agreed for a one day turn around, we expected that at the very least we would be left with something that required a simple sanding and perhaps another skim coat before priming. Sadly, we paid before I had really inspected the work to find astonishingly poor workmanship and a clear lack of interest in quality. I quickly removed the cornerbead later in a desperate attempt to fix the work. We now have another contractor coming in to sand away the ridiculous amount of compound and re-install the cornerbead and actually feather the compound at a fraction of the cost. Daily Rate $450 labour (this was for 5 hours, 10am-3pm, keeping in mind the guy who came left for 2.5 hours of that period) Paid for materials as well. After all was said and done, Demetri doesn't seem to have ever drywalled anything before, and then Marla followed up the next day, after being paid via eTransfer, saying she'd like to come by to be paid... Especially outrageous given we told her how poor the work was. Perhaps we just got unlucky and got the one guy they employ who isn't very good at drywalling or just lacks attention to detail, but that can't happen. Perhaps if we had checked HomeStars and noticed no reviews despite the company being on Facebook for a while, we wouldn't have committed so quickly, if at all... Prompt responses to inquiries but not a very professional company. Highly not recommended.