Wellcore Corporation

Wellcore managed the project from design until turn key handover. From beginning to the end Alex and his team were Professional, customer focussed and concerned that we stay within my budget. The work and finishes were of a great quality.
Have recommended to others and am currently doing another project with

We constructed our new home with Wellcore a few years back, now that the family is growing we're looking to build again a little further out. When we were deciding to build our first home with them there were a lot of considerations that went into trying to find the right builder we could trust and felt comfortable with after hearing a ton of horror stories from people around. We went into the design stages having no clue what we wanted or needed. Working with Nat is amazing. She helped guide us through the drawings and the permitting process. She got the project approved and they started the demolition right away. Welcore had us pick out our finishes and managed to keep us more or less on budget. The budget they provided us was insanely detailed and made it easy to follow along. As any build goes there were some hiccups along the way, nothing that wasn't managed or corrected. We made some compromises on some hvac bulkheads that I wasn't too crazy about but after living in the home I cant even remember what my issue was with them in the first place. Im glad we went with some kitchen upgrades, they really made a difference in the long run. The team overall was great, the contractors as well as the trades were always friendly and clean, the house has no issues since we moved in so as far as construction goes it went as well as it could be. Over all we are very satisficed with how the home turned out, so satisficed we want to do it again with them.

We purchased our Wellcore home 8-9 years ago. Since then the day we moved in we've had extensive problems. What's triggered our review now, is the fact that we've discovered yet another major issue with the home. Here is a shortlist of issues discovered and when the problem arose.

PLUMBING - Year 1, 3, 6
Improperly installed plumbing has led to 3 broken pipes and 2 floods. Water distribution throughout the home is a nightmare. Despite 5 baths, we can only use one sink at a time or all temperatures are off.

ROOF - Year 4, 7
Built with insufficient ventilation and air flow. This leads to ice and water buildup both outside and inside. As a result, we've had flood damage from ice damming. The improperly sealed vents and windows also contributed to the ice damming damage.

Insufficient airflow meant accumulation of moisture that led to mold in the attic. (Year 7)

Insufficient insulation. (Year 1)

HVAC - Year 1
Air Conditioning unit wasn't sized properly to the house. Failed in its first year.

VENTILATION - Year 1
Discovered unconnected vents and air returns throughout the home. Walls were opened to complete connections.

ELECTRICAL - Year 1
This is special. We found 5 hot outlets. 3 improperly installed switches. 1 live wire in the wall. 3 light switches on the main floor controlled outlets in the basement. Those outlets were connected to CAT5 cables used to power lights on the main floor. The kitchen and living room lighting failed within a few weeks due to overload. All rooms had to be rewired from upstairs through to the basement.

FOUNDATION - Year 1, 2
Discovered a hidden room in the basement! Fancy that. The room wasn't underpinned properly. As result, the back-end of the home shifted and caused extensive damage to the floors above, including cracking of bathroom shower tiles and the all glass shower enclosure.

COLD ROOM - Year 1
Did not meet city code.

FRONT MAIN STAIRS - Year 3
The 9-foot wide, 9-step walkway to the house started to crumble in our second year. Steps started collapsing by the third year. They have since been fully rebuilt.

FRONT ENTRANCE - Year 3
An epoxy was placed over the main step and stairs, masking many issues we'd later discover. Underneath that epoxy coating was a crumbing cement step.

Improper main doors. For large double-doors, such as the ones installed, its key to use doors with a 3-point locking mechanism for added rigidity. Our door warped quickly from one season to another, leading to a very costly door replacement.

FRONT HOUSE FACADE - Year 3
The fake cement brick installed in the house facade was for starters improperly installed. It didn't align properly with the stairs. Additionally, we started to discolour and crumble as well.

GLASS SHOWER ENCLOSURE - Year 4
It was built with a 3-inch sliver of glass holding a massive glass door. There was clearing no structural or safety considerations in building it. And while it was fine for a while, it was the shifting of the back of the house that caused the entire shower structure to jam and collapse.

WIRING - Year 1
No ethernet wire, nor cable was run throughout the home.

DECK - Year 6
Footings were not to code and we were forced to rebuild the deck.

There are many more items we could list. I'll assume that Wellcore didn't do the finishing work, and I'll spare everyone those details. However, on just structural and safety issues, we've spent well over $300,000 in repairs to date.

In May 2020 We hired WellCore to renovate a 2.5 storey house and add an extension at the back.
We chose WellCore based on the very clear and transparent budgeting information that they provided. Their quote was competitive and they had excellent client references.
During the demolition phase, there were a number of surprises, due to the age of the house, but Vince and Alex were able to solve these problems as they came up. Both Alex and Nat had very good design ideas and helped us a lot in making decisions. Anna provided a project chart to make sure we choose everything in time for the construction. She also connected us with suppliers and provided choices for each phase of the project.
Eugene and the construction team were excellent. Even though the cost of materials went up during the pandemic, WellCore was able to stick to the original estimate pretty well. Overall we were quite pleased with how the project turned out.

We hired Wellcore to complete a ground floor extension and interior renovations on a new-to-us house. We did not have a positive experience and I would not recommend them.
Their engineer completed drawings for us that we used for permits. She did not measure our house properly and even reversed two of the rooms. This incorrect measurement led to our kitchen being extended into the garage and a corner in the wall on the roof that should be straight. This corner traps water and snow which has led to the shingles coming off in this spot. Something we will have to fix.
Overall, their structural work seems alright but that is not something we would know unless the house falls apart. The majority of our issues we had were with their finishing details. We have made repairs to many of the issues we found but some, we just cannot fix without significant cost. I’ve included a few specific examples but there are more.
My first example is with the exterior. We chose stucco for the exterior extension and have noticed that where the stucco meets the roof, bare wood from the roof is exposed. This didn’t get fixed by Wellcore.
Another example is in the main floor of our house where we have an open concept kitchen/eating area. The flooring here is ceramic tile. They put in tile with very narrow spaces in between which they filled with grout – except under all of the kitchen counters. Not sure why this area was skipped. No tile there is grouted and the spaces are just empty. The grout they did install on the floor came out. We insisted this get fixed as it is very unsightly. They had a guy scrape it out. In doing so, he chipped several tiles from the tool he used and left a lot of scrape marke. They regrouted but the issue of the grout coming out happened again. So now we have missing grout and several very damaged tiles. The project manager would not fix this.
Another example is that they forgot to cut out the old roof where the extension exists which led to no attic insulation being put in for the new area. When we brought this issue up – as we opened a light and saw no insulation, noticed this area freezing in winter, and we had massive icicles along our eavestrough, we were met with strong arguments and basically told we didn’t know what we were talking about. It took a while and lots of arguing with the project manager but Wellcore eventually fixed this. In fixing it, we noticed that they covered the soffits and the ballasts for attic air circulation. We have been told that this will be an issue in the future but Wellcore won’t fix it.
They did not connect a bathroom fan to the pipe that connects it to the roof vent. This caused severe moisture to build up in the attic which we noticed with water leaking from interior light fixtures. Wellcore fixed it but it’s these things that cause us to be concerned with their overall work.
They did not do our exterior landscaping as their cost was ridiculous for grading and grass. We cleaned up ourselves and found a lot of rubbish dumped in the yard. Saw blades, lots of screws, plastic cigarette butts, bricks – we find more each spring. We have two small kids so this – especially the sharp things- was pretty upsetting to deal with seeing how we paid for their “clean-up”. The project manager made a small adjustment in the cost for this so at least they acknowledged their short fall.
They also kept driving heavy trucks over our front lawn. We are on septic and our weeping tiles extend out the front. We told the project manager several times to let his workers know but the driving continued. Finally we had to put up a large sign which the workers followed when we were on site.
Our list of issues continues but they aren’t minor things. They forgot to install a floor vent in the kitchen, the bench in our ensuite shower, the overhead showerhead. They eventually fixed these things after they were pointed out but it’s not my job to point these things out. That is what the project manager was paid to do. They also put in a large window we had told them prior to the construction that we no longer wanted. They could not fix this. We feel as though the negligence of the project manager is responsible for many of these things.
On that topic, the project manager was very difficult to deal with. When we were on site with him, we noticed most of the time he was on his cell phone and not paying attention to us and our discussions. I think this is where many project issues stemmed from. He did not pay attention to the job site or customer conversations. There was a lot of dialogue back and forth with him where he was unprofessional but it is hearsay so I won’t include it.
Wellcore’s costs didn’t seem too bad when our project started. In hindsight we should have done many of the tasks ourselves as – in making repairs to their work and starting other projects, we have found better and much more economical workers. I also found their billing was off. We went through the detailed bill and found we were charged for several things that we didn’t receive. Once these were pointed out, the billing was adjusted accordingly.
Overall, we would not recommend Wellcore to anyone. Their work is mediocre, their project manager is unprofessional and unengaged, and they are overpriced for the end result. Our relationship with them ended a little while ago now, but as issues from their work keep coming up.

CHOOSE THIS COMPANY IF YOU WANT AN ORGANIZED AND STRESS FREE HOME RENOVATION. FROM THE INITIAL MEETING TO THE COMPLETION DATE, WELLCORE CORPORATION OFFERED EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE. THEY WERE PROFESSIONAL PLUS THEY WERE ON TIME AND ON BUDGET.

Wellcore built our 2 storey home which completed in 2019. From the beginning Alex gave details on budget and possibilities and is very experienced. We met with a few other builders beforehand, but Alex was most realistic and upfront with details and materials costs and understood our requirements. Even though the project went over time from bad weather, Alex addressed any concerns we had and was responsive to give us options to resolve any issues. And is very mindful of the budget and offering options that save costs. Alex's team returned to fix remaining minor issues. Any concerns we had after we moved back, Alex dropped by to check. Looking back, we know we made the right decision to hire Wellcore. We fully trust Alex and Wellcore and would recommend and choose Wellcore again.

We hired Wellcore to turn our old tiny bungalow into our dream home. Alex and his team helped us through the entire process from start to finish. We kept only 3 walls of the existing house and ended up with a 2 story home and an addition at the back. We are so thrilled with the results and love our new home. Wellcore completed the work on time and on budget. We had weather issues that delayed the project in the beginning but the team at Wellcore was able to make up the lost time and complete the project on schedule.
They were good at communicating with us through-out the process and Alex was always available for any questions we had.
Designing and renovating a complete home can cause stress and hardship on a family. Wellcore made the entire process very smooth. Even when there were some issues, Alex always had options for us and provided solutions.
Our house had many challenges during the renovation. The house is located very close to our neighbours houses and Wellcore was respectful of our neighbours and tried to minimize the impact on them during the construction.

I would highly recommend Wellcore for your renovations. They provided a detailed budget, so we were able to see what the money was being spent on and that there were no hidden costs. Alex and his team at Wellcore stayed on budget and on schedule.

I couldn’t be happier with professionalism and resourcefulness of Alex and his team! Our house turned out to have a great flow with lots of air and light, thanks to lots of useful advice from Alex’s architect including a proposal to add carved out ceilings in upstairs bedrooms. All finishes look stunning and very well done. Due to peculiar positioning of the house permits weren’t easy to obtain and drawings required a lot of work – Alex’s team followed through on the entire process end-to-end and I didn’t have to worry about anything. For the same reason (house location) construction was challenging, but again, Wellcore made it all work beautifully. Thank you so much for all your dedication and making the seemingly impossible achievement to happen!

Wellcore, designed and built a large side and second floor addition, more than doubling the livable square footage. It was a large challenging project requiring excavation, tree removals and numerous surprises along the way. Some limited delays along the way, mostly unavoidable. Wellcore provided end to end service allowing us the right level of involvement. End result was incredible and could pass as a new house built at 50% more per square foot.