On The Level Renovations

November 10, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

I have known Mike Bell for 15 years. During this time, Mike was hired to complete many major and minor changes to our home. I was converting my present home into a Bed and Breakfast. Mike worked on framing, plumbing, electrical and finishing the project. That spring he built a deck and fence for me.

I have been very satisfied with Mike’s work. I found him to be dependable and his work has been excellent. He has many accomplished skills in all areas of construction and never takes the easier way or short cuts to complete work. Every task has been completed to the best of his ability.

I have been impressed with his integrity, honesty and his creativity. He has often gone beyond “the call of duty” to complete work that excelled past what was required. He sets high standards for the completed project. Mike has problem solved some difficult situations in many of our construction projects and we have grown to depend on his excellent judgment.

Mike also brings a sense of humor to work. Along with his sense of duty and excellent craftsmanship, he is fun to work with.

Years later I purchased a condo, to which Mike made major renovations for me. Again I was pleased with the quality of the work done. He helped create a gas fireplace. Mike was able to work with my ideas and put them into reality.

I would not hesitate to recommend Mike Bell to any job.

Sincerely,
Debra DeClercq

I hired Mike to undertake a small kitchen renovation in my older residential home a few years ago now. Mike is a well-rounded tradesperson and did several different jobs for us at the time, but I realized afterwards that I would have rather had a more meticulous contractor that paid more attention to details. Although he was very friendly and had several good ideas for how to make updates to our kitchen, much of the workmanship in the end lacked the fine finishes I was hoping for. In the end, we spent a lot of money on a job that at times was less than satisfactory. Complaining after the fact wouldn't have mattered, as some mistakes were ones that could not be fixed retroactively. Tiles mudded onto our wall were embedded unevenly (the surface is not flat), were not level (irony not intended!), and a few were left cracked as he did not have the proper tools to cut them carefully. The tiles were not fully cleaned and to this day we cannot remove the excessive mudding compound. Installing a simple light above our kitchen sink was done improperly: he drilled large holes to guide the plug through our heritage cabinets when he could have temporarily removed the plug at the end of the wire and drilled much smaller holes. When drilling holes to guide the wires he occasionally hit a few hidden nails (embedded in the wood) and had to re-drill additional holes in new places. So, the inside of our cabinets have multiple unsightly drill marks. Fortunately, we do not see these very often. Anyways, this may all seem like complaining but it is not intended as such. I am now in the market for new renovations and will be considering a different company.

We had 3 contractors visit our house to review the work we were asking for and Mike seemed the most professional and personable. We needed a new range hood installed over a new gas stove and to this day, it leaks condensation every time we turn it on on a cold day. We even went into the attic ourselves to wrap/insulate the ductwork to prevent the dripping but it was the way Mike installed it that is the problem. Not to mention he nearly burned our house down when he was first working on it. I had driven off to get coffee for all the workers at the house because we were also getting plumbing work done at the same time and when I got back, there was a burnt tarp on the front step (also left burn marks on the flagstone which is still visible) and the existing glass top cookstove was cracked and had burnt tarp stuck to it. Apparently Mike didn't realize the stove was on when he laid the tarp overtop! Also, the new vent system was very heavy and he didn't have anyone to help him so he propped the unit on a series of boxes to get it up high enough but in doing so, he bent the vent covers which you can still see. We found that he seemed unhappy to be doing the work although we certainly didn't push him. He took full breaks and even left early. He sent me to the store to get supplies and ended up keeping pieces that were extra. He kept talking about getting out of the business and how it was too hard on his body. He complained about the heat in the attic and basically complained about everything. I just kept trying to sound encouraging so that he wouldn't leave us stranded mid job. In the end, we paid him $600/day for 5 days and he wasn't worth it. he didn't compensate for the wrecked cooktop which we were planning to sell and he certainly didn't work hard enough to get $600/day. While he may be good for simple plumbing jobs or other small (easy) jobs, he did not live up to his reputation and now we are forced to fix the stove venting problem which he created. Extremely disappointed.

I had initially called Mike for an estimate to do one bathroom, and after reviewing several estimates, decided that Mike's was the most reasonable. After he had finished the work, I was very satisfied with the end result and had him return to do the other two bathrooms in my home. I had my own ideas about what I wanted done, and Mike made suggestions that were helpful and constructive. I definitely appreciated that I could go shopping at stores of my choosing for the main components (e.g. vanity, vanity top, tiles, toilet, etc.) and Mike would bring in the rest (e.g. drywall, piping, etc). I found it handy to be able to take advantage of sales or deals that a given store would offer. Mike did the majority of the work himself, with extra help when needed. He was always professional, courteous, and paid attention to the “little things”, including tidying at the end to the day to keep the dust to a minimum. Instead of three bathrooms that look dated and in rough shape, I now have three bathrooms that are wonderful showpieces! I will be looking to using On the Level Renovations again when considering future work.

Mike came into a home that had an awful main bathroom with peeling linoleum and rot in the sub floor. All the fixtures were from the 70's and the tile in the tub was cracking and leaking. He gave me a reasonable quote and worked with me on deciding what I wanted in the room. He completed it in awesome time and my bathroom is amazing! We were so happy with his work that we also asked him to come and finish our half basement. he put in a beautiful laundry room to die for and another 2 peice bath. I was weary about T-Bar ceiling but what he picked is gorgeous! With 30 years experience I feel like I don't have to make very many decisions whcih is so helpful! He was able to get us great deals on materials with NO mark up. N ow we have a great Den to sit and watch TV in and I don't have to run from my laundry room! 20/10 If I could rate it higher.

I called Mike From "On the Level Renovations" to hire him for our bathroom reno. He came, saw the disaster, and gave us a realistic quote. His workmanship is as good as any showhouse we have ever seen. And his knowledge!! OMG! Now we LOVE out bathroom!! Best room in the house! Thanks again Mike and "On the Level Renovations"!!

We only use Mike at On the Level Renovations for any thing that we need done on our home. He is great to have in our home trustworthy and all his work is A1. He has over 30 year experience in the field and it shows in his impeccable craftsmanship. He got us a much better price on all the materials we needed than what we could have got and saved us a ton of money. He even brought in extra help when we were on a dead line. The service that this Family business has provided us is a million times better then the big reno company that we used previously so we will forever stay loyal customers of On the Level Renovation

We recently had Mike renovate our upstairs main bath – believe it or not, it was the original bathroom from 1978 when the house was built. Tiny, tiny, tiny – but putting heads together with Mike we were able to take advantage of a walk-in storage closet next to the bathroom – doubled the size instantly. Right from advice on what could be done, to help in picking tile, the bathtub and vanity and paint – Mike was awesome. The best part? He is not one of those “I’ll be back next week to work on the next part of the renovation” --- Mike was here start to finish on weekdays until our bathroom was totally finished. It was appreciated, too, that he kept the renovation area clean and tidy – that way dust didn’t get all over the house! We would utilize Mike again for future renovations in our home.

Ardrossan, Alberta