House Calls Renovation Advisors

we have a 1930s 2 storey home which we'd like to change to open concept on the main floor and expand the kitchen, and expand the family bathroom on the second floor. we also are considering expanding the livable space thru a small addition, attic conversion or garage conversion. however, we did not have a good idea of whether the options we had in mind were physically feasible at what financial and practical costs. Jay Charendoff did an amazing job of making the effort to understand our 'must have's'and our wish list items and then, giving initial written feedback, taking on board additional input from us and proposing solutions with estimates and practical considerations for project execution. Jay also put us in touch with a highly reputable contractor on a no-committment basis for us to further explore some of the construction detail to get a written scope of work and quote.
Jay's hourly fee is very reasonable at $75/hour. He gave us his fee estimate and he stuck with it. Jay helped us take certain ideas off the table, and in fact gave us solutions we hadn't thought of. We're probably a couple of years away from any renovation, but now have a specific project that we're saving for and realistic expectations of what we can and cannot do with our house.

We had a major renovation in 1998 that included a lot of external brickwork in the rear of the house. Many bricks had since begun to crumble.
We called Jay Charendoff to suggest how we ought to deal with the problem.
Jay visited with us three times in the course of his assessment and recommendation and completion review. Initially, he looked at all the problem locations, then studied our architectural drawings to determine the structure behind the bricks. He identified the cause of the problem (water seeping into the bricks that were uncapped).
He provided a referral to a masonry company, and discussed the problem with the company on our behalf. Then he oversaw that the work took place correctly and to our satisfaction.
The representatives of the company he referred us to (Reach Restoration) were courteous, reliable and professional.

We live in a beautiful, historic old home in the north end of Toronto. Our home was built around 1936 and just like every homeowner, we constantly maintain our level of exterior and interior maintenance to ensure that all systems are functioning properly.

Early this Spring, we noticed that our basement walls and certain portions of the wood basement floor were suddenly very wet. Even worse, mould had developed on the moist surfaces of the painted concrete block.

We called in three “wet basement” companies to take a look and give us their opinions and quotes. All said the same thing: we needed new waterproofing and new weeping tile. The cost to excavate the exterior adjacent to the foundation walls and supply and install new waterproofing and tile ranged from about $25,000 to $35,000. Apart from the extreme price, this approach would also have destroyed a large portion of this year’s flower-filled garden.

In searching for a better solution, we contacted House Calls Renovation Advisors to assess the situation. Jay came by and after looking carefully at the basement and the exterior, came to the conclusion that there was a much less expensive and much less invasive approach that should be attempted before going to the extreme measure of excavation.

Jay carefully considered the options, and then designed a surface drainage solution that accommodated all the storm and rainwater runoff in the area. His approach has been to examine and understand all the inter-related contributing factors, and then over a period of two months, properly deal with each one of them appropriately. This saved us from jumping into the one-shot waterproofing “fix” at a big price. His work has saved us literally thousands of dollars, as his approach has cost 80% less than the original quotes.

As you know, this has been a summer of almost constant rain, with rainfall in record volumes across most of Southern Ontario. Despite the wet weather, with Jay’s help, our basement has gone from being very damp and mouldy all the time, to relatively dry most of the time. Occasionally on very hot and humid Summer days, we experience slight dampness, but we understand this is due to condensation, rather than water leakage.

We are very happy to have had House Calls working with us on this problem and would highly recommend using Jay’s services when problems arise.

My husband and I had been working very closely with our contractor on our home renovation that consisted of 90 year old home. Neither of us had even embarked on a project of this size and needed the advice of an outside source to evaluate our construction contract. This is where Jay was extremely helpful.

After submitting our construction contract to Jay, he analyzed every item on my contract that would be a concern or issue. He also pointed out other important issues that I should include in the contract such as revision of payment schedule and insurance coverage. His report was compiled within three days and was eight pages long! We were able to use the suggestions that Jay gave us an d incorporate them into our contract. Overall, I believe that his advice made my contract stronger (from a client perspective) and reduced my risks. I think that my new contract also demonstrated to my contractor that I was an educated client that expected a high level of work and fairness.

We had severe water pentration due to ice damming this winter, likely due to several contributing factors. I have had many professionals opine on solutions to this problem, but Jay approached it from ground-up and practical point of view. He knows his stuff!!!

My wife and I had hired a contractor to draw up plans and give us quotes for demolitioning our garage and rebuilding a new garage. We also wanted to renovate the exterior of our house with new stone facing, siding and construction of a new covered front porch. After finding out about the HomeStars site we were quite discouraged when the reviews for our contractor were scored very low. This being the first time Pam & I have ever planned a major reno we knew we needed some professional guidance and advice to help us thru the process. We found the House Calls Renovation Advisors reviews in the HomeStars site to be very positive and called and spoke to Jay.
From the first time Pam and I spoke to Jay we knew it was the best thing we had done concerning the reno. We told Jay of our plans and he helped advising us with the best options. When the proposed contract was presented to us Jay was instrumental in helping us make sure we got the best deal and that our concerns with cost, time frame, product quality & payment schedule were all properly addressed. Jay was even able to help get us a six thousand dollar reduction in the final price.
If it wasn't for Jay's advice & knowledge I know we would not have been able to ensure that the contractor did not take advantage of our naivety with construction & renovation issues.

My husband and I recently extensively renovated our home. This was our first renovation, and despite our best efforts, we feel we’ve been abused by our contractor. Throughout the process, I remember mentioning how great it would be if a “project consultant” existed to provide guidance and support: we were clueless and at the mercy of our contractor. Our reno was over 80% complete, however unexpected invoices for "extras" were flowing in, and a huge list of deficiencies was being ignored by our contractor who was also threatening us with inappropriate actions. Quite honestly, we were scared! Toward the end, we realized that we desperately needed help, as our project was out of control. We found Jay on the HomeStars site and called immediately. He explained the information we needed to gather to gain an objective analysis of the project. He clearly explained our rights as homeowners, and educated us on how an honest renovation should flow with respect to documentation, specifically contracts, invoices and permits. Jay has thoroughly guided and supported us through a very difficult situation, which is any homeowner’s nightmare. He has saved us money by collaboratively crafting documentation and correspondence that would cost thousands in the hands of a lawyer. Jay has provided a fair and objective perspective through in-home site visits and thorough analysis of all documentation. I recommend House Calls to anyone uncertain about the renovation process and costs.

I've been managing apartment buildings in Toronto for over 20 years but when I recently took over the management of a brand new apartment building, I thought that I was going to tear my hair out! Nothing worked the way it was supposed to and the contactors were being completely uncooperative. Jay was of invaluable assistance in getting the contractors to cooperate and in getting the building up and running the way it should.

Last year, we embarked on a major home renovation. Even though we checked references, the homeowners giving the references could only really tell us about the final appearance of the work and not anything about the quality of the structural work...the stuff that really counts!

Much like when we go to an auto repair shop where we have no idea whether the mechanic is providing us with quality advice or service, we had no expert knoweledge of home renovations and whether or not our chosen contractor was providing what was best for us. We felt that having an independent expert to validate the contractor's work would be invaluable.

Jim verified the work every step of the way and provided us with suggested changes that will likely save us thousands of dollars in the long run. Jim made suggestions for improving the waterproofing of the foundation, verified the structure of the underpinning, pointed out where vapour barriers could be improved and dozens of other quality checks.

As Jim did not have a vested interest in the contracting work itself, we were confident that we were receiving the best advice possible.

We would not hesitate to recommend Jim and in fact, would encourage anyone considering a renovation to seek this important second sober opinion.

Two years ago, I consulted Jay about a problem we where having with our upstairs bathroom. We had just re-tiled one wall about four months earlier, however some new tiles were loose and others were falling off the wall, and we didn't know why. We had paid the contractor, and were unclear how to
proceed. Jay suggested we remove the tiles and drywall. Upon a detailed inspection, we discovered that there was no insulation or vapour barrier on this outside wall. As a result, condensation was occurring in the cold space behind the drywall. We had a new contractor install the correct wall
system and new tiles, and the problem has not recurred. This was an incredibly helpful conversation that saved us time, effort and aggravation! I plan to consult with Jay again should we run into any further problems with our house.