Penguin Basements

I'm not sure where to start as this project was pretty much a disaster once I signed on the dotted line. The sales process was very robust, pricing was in line with other companies, and there are areas that they delivered on, but I didn't expect to have to be the quality control.

My opinion is to stop reading this review now, and simply don't select this company for your project. If you need more information here it is. A long list of areas of opportunity for improvement:
-This company is based out of Toronto and the GTA. That could have been part of the issue as every group of people that entered complained about the commute to KW.
-Their selections office required a reasonable 1+hr commute, I knew that, however that was my first sign that I should have walked away. It was not a well maintained office, floors scratched, needing a fresh coat of paint and some items for selection were damaged.
-They showed up without an appointment for the chaulk lines, no-one was home so they left after 10 min, I called back after 20 but they were on the highway back home. Then the same thing for insulation, luckily someone was home this time given the commute :)
-The waste bin they put on my driveway damaged the driveway with 3 or 4 gouges into the pavement and scared the concrete sidewalk.
-They ran two blankets of insulation around the basement, leaving a 3 or 4 inch gap in space between the upper and lower application. Their fix was stuffing insulation into the gap and tuck taping it which just came off in pieces a day later.
-Electricians were good guys and did a decent job. However, not sure who put the pot light brackets in but they were not aligned or centred. I fixed them overnight but missed the one in the hallway near the stairs. They drywalled the next day and cut the hole for the potlight. They ended up having to remove the drywall, adjust the electrical slightly and re-drywall.
-The plumber was good as well but would have forgotten or missed roughing in the wet bar (poor plans) had I not been present and because they are on a timeline it would have been drywalled over before I figured it out. Not sure what they would have done had I not noticed while they were doing the work.
-Trying to stay on schedule they were laying the flooring while the drywall was being finished which is not the best approach if you don't want dust trapped under the floor.
-Because the stairway at the top narrows 3 inches half way down they installed a straight railing with a 3 inch block screwed into the wall, protruding from the wall, to screw the top of the railing into.
-Within 2-3 months there were 3 areas where the floor was peeling, we hadn't even really used it yet as we were still furnishing it. They did respond and come in and replace those floor boards, however they had to be cut out and glued to the concrete.
-The bathroom was very poorly done. It looks worse than the one we took out. The drywall is sloppy and paint on the walls and baseboards is poor. Yes it's a very small space but it shouldn't look worse that what I took out. They gave me a $500 credit to support me getting fixing it myself or hiring someone else - decent gesture but I would have rather had it done right and not have 2 extra meetings with the regional manager to get there.

Those are most of the issues along with several other minor inconveniences. The worst part was having to monitor their work regularly, which I felt I had to do because from the chaulk lines on there were issues. Had things for a week gone smoothly I probably would have backed off but there was a problem at every turn. Not an enjoyable process which I'm reminded of regularly when using the washroom or simply going down the stairs as I'll be replacing the railing given it's very cheaply made and looks that way. In some areas the paint will need some work also, seems if it's leaned on marks are left that don't just wipe down.

There are some good people there, but, the quality and general quality of work and responsiveness needs a lot of work. Look elsewhere for your home renovation project.