Canada Home And Commercial Improvements Inc

We hired Canada Home and Commercial Improvements in 2006 because an addition off of the kitchen leaked. We decided to renovate the entire kitchen also because it needed it badly. We were quite happy with this experience - loved the kitchen, timing was only 1 week later than estimated and only a couple of very minor complaints which were quickly resolved. We decided then to contract with them to do our 3rd floor addition as well.

The first issue was that within one month of completing the kitchen -it still leaked in exactly the same places - not surprising given the age of the house and the difficulty of assessing exactly where water comes in (jumping to the end of the kitchen story, after changing contractors and chasing the leak for a couple of years, we had to completely rebuild the addition; it would appear, although we cannot be certain, CHCI saw the damage and covered it up again. When I asked them what they found when they gutted the kitchen I was told 'you don't want to know'.).

We were extremely happy with the first set of subcontractors for the 3rd floor. The team was polite, friendly, efficient and competant and all stages passed inspection. Then this crew started to quit one by one and (quit and/or fired) and the nightmare began. Workers would not show up, or would show up and do what we considered to be an inadequate job. They were apparently not paying subcontractors and we got a call from a former subcontractor advising us that they were going to file a lein against our house - at which time we decided to retain a lawyer. We finally paid them to get rid of them, even though we were not happy with the work and knew we would need to hire someone else to re-do what we just could not live with. We had thought it would be limited to fixing holes in the wall that had been filled with cardboard and dap, baseboards that had been attached with dap, walls that had started to crack and a beautiful oak railing that had been stained without sanding and was dull and rough to the point where I would get splinters. We have spent 2 years and thousands of dollars in repair and re-do.

If there will be a class action law suit we would be quite interested in discussing being a part of it.

I would not recommend this company.

I hired these guys three years ago to reno my upstairs - make my bedroom bigger, reno an existing bathroom and add an ensuite. Also to refinish my hardwood. They took a good month longer to do the job than promised. Didn't always show up, worked odd hours, etc. I arranged to be out of the house for the two weeks they promised it would take, but when I came back they weren't even half done, and I had to live in construction for five more weeks. They did things wrong and didn't do things they said they'd do - one example - in my shower they were to put two shower heads, but didn't, and by the time I discovered it, it was all tiled up. They tiled in the motor for my jacuzzi tub so if it ever quits, I'll have to break into tile to get it. They put up drywall in my bathroom that wasn't waterproofed. They forgot my backsplash. Every towel rack, shelf and toilet paper holder they installed fell down within six months, because they didn't put them in studs. My bathroom faucet was put in wrong and had to be replaced because of the damage this caused it. The list goes on. In fact, I am still discovering things they did wrong. Just today an electrician told me the electrical work they'd done was not up to code. A floor person told me they should never have refinished my hardwood because it had already been sanded enough - I had to have it replaced the following year because of broken boards and nails coming up and splinters. All the plumbing they did is a mess.Additionally, when the project was underway they refused to listen to me - I had to fight them to get the bathroom vanity I wanted installed - they told me there wasn't room for it. I insisted and after weeks they finally did it, and guess what? It fit! With room to spare! So apparently they also don't know how to use a tape measure. Here's the capper - when the work was finally done, weeks too late, and with many things undone or done wrong - they told me I owed them an extra $3800 on top of what I'd given them. I had already paid them over and above the amount agreed upon and specified in the contract (because I was stupid back then), but I finally dug my heels in, told them to present me with receipts for whatever it was they claimed I owed. That made them go away, finally. But I am left with this crappy reno that I am still discovering all the problems with. And as an added bit of revoltingness - I am a single mother, and the owner/project manager, Ken, hit on me. Not just once. Everytime he was there. Gross! And bad work! Avoid at all costs. And Kelli, I would be happy to be part of a class action suit. I still have all my paperwork.

Signed contract and paid deposit for ensuite renovation to begin Sept 2009. Cheque was cashed immediately. After repeated attempts to contact them failed, I began to get concerned. Tried calling the company today (Aug 26th) and the phone's have been disconnected. Came across Ken new phone number by accident and he asked me how I got the number, no apologies or anything. He then handed the phone over to his lawyer. Funny how his lawyer happened to be sitting next to him. Please contact me if you are interested in pursuing a class action suit.

We hired this 'contractor' to do our renovation and it was a terrible result. Do yourself a favour, find another contractor. My family was terribly inconvenienced and my house suffered. Next time I will move than risk going through another renovation like this.

We used CANADA HOME AND COMMERCIAL IMPROVEMENTS INC. for our second storey addition, and they have DELAYED, and now completely ABANDONED THE PROJECT, as well as NOT COMPLETING WORK FOR WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN PAID ALREADY. DO NOT MAKE THE SAME EXPENSIVE MISTAKE THAT WE MADE!!! KEN [ed - last name removed], the owner/spokesperson of the company, was in charge of the project.
Things started off well initially, but the framing fell behind schedule, and to make up they worked at all hours and even on Christmas day in spite of our requests not to work beyond regulated times. This strained relations with our neighbors, and then, upon receiving payment, no work was done for about a month, delaying the project immensely.
On return, they did the bare minimum to get to the next payment draw, which was completion of plumbing, and skipped basic/absolutely essential items like roof shingle installation, which led to the roof leaking during rain and causing water damage to the existing structure. Despite asking us to choose doors /windows from a catalogue, they were never ordered in spite of knowing that windows take 6-8 weeks for delivery. The same applied to the kitchen. We were 4 months into the project with no roof, no windows/kitchen ordered & the project was supposed to wrap up in a month. They even tried to start electrical rough in with a leaky roof, as completion of electrical would be the next payment milestone. We stood our ground at this point, and asked them to complete the roof, weather-proofing, etc. They became aggressive and told us they’re shutting down the site, due to client “negativity” if you can believe this. All our attempts to resolve the situation & proceed with the project were met with threats & intimidation from their apparent legal team. They even made up reasons to imply that we had breached the contract. Our project was left hanging with not even a single phone call returned. We have overpaid CHCI thousands of dollars for work not done. We were also informed by one of the subcontractors who worked on our project that he has not been paid and is considering putting a lien on our house. The only positive item was that the framing and plumbing done by their sub-contractors passed city inspection.
We later found out that we were not alone & other clients of theirs had similar experiences. The Better Business Bureau & some of the other Ontario governing bodies list some of the complaints filed against them.