Braga Excavation & Concrete Inc.

We hired Tony and his guys for an excavation job on our 130 year-old Cabbagetown townhouse (turning a crawlspace into an 8-foot basement), and we couldn't have been happier with our selection.

First of all, we talked to a lot of people (probably at least a dozen) before we started the job, and Tony was not only one of the most reasonably priced but definitely the one that most impressed us right from the start with his knowledge and ability. This was not an easy job...the existing foundations in the house were a mixture of crumbling brick and some sort of strange 1800s-era cement mixture (with all sort of odds and ends of bricks and other pottery bits stuck into it), and a large part of it wasn't visible before the start of the project. We also had a number of difficult site conditions (very limited parking, space outside to work, or room for a bin), and he took it all in stride.

Tony and his men were there every day working (and this was in the middle of the summer, digging things out manually since there was no room for construction equipment on site), and they never complained and never slowed down. Although we had moved out for the construction, we spoke with our neighbours and they all mentioned how hard working Tony and his guys were as well as how considerate (as an example, they had a huge concrete truck come down our narrow alleyway for the underpinning part of the job, and they had no problem moving it all the way back out whenever someone wanted to get through).

Perhaps the best compliment is that Tony finished the work on time (literally to the day), on budget, and with the highest possible quality. He even threw in a couple of extras that we hadn't expected (metal grates for the top of the window wells, for example) for free.

If I had a similar job in the future I would use Tony again in a second and I have no hesitation recommending him to anyone.

P.S. One thing I do suggest is not to expect Tony to respond to emails with any immediacy. I generally prefer to communicate by email, which was a bit frustrating at first since Tony would take days or weeks to respond when I was originally looking for contractors. Once I figured out that Tony was much more easily contacted by phone, however, things went a lot more smoothly (he almost always answers his cell phone, so he's actually really easy to contact this way).