Aico Construction Inc

I had two floods right after each other in Jun 2016. The first was to my upstairs bathroom,the second to my basement. Restoration Calgary did a great job, especially in the basement. The project managers involved (Reg, then Fernando) were wonderful to deal with and professional in every way. However, the deductible, which the insurance company waived in 2016 Dec, was not returned (theoretically due to varied and sundry communications issues). Due to the great tradesmanship I decided to use (now known as) Aico for a reno of the previously flooded bathroom, with the previous deductible as the downpayment. Once again, the subcontractor was great, and the job was completed Oct 2017. This time, although I paid in full, the subcontractor and project manager were not paid, and the former has put a lien on my house (as per Alberrta law, which here punishes the innocent). Owner Chris C and controller Robert C do not return calls or emails to any anyone involved

First got a quote from Joseph in August 2017. He did not even come in to do proper measurements after signing the contract. Sent half the supplies he was suppose to. Found another sub contractor to do the job which always showed up on weekends and after hours. They even turned on a compressor at 11 at night when I was away! Very irresponsible! did not even finish the job. Paid 50% at the beginning and now they want the other half even though they didn't even finish the job after 4 months! Joseph pretty much ignored my calls and texts after getting the first 50%. AVOID AT ALL COST!!

Great company to work with, im very happy with AICO construction, the workers where tidy and well mannered and the work was finished on time. The whole project ran very smothly, I would recommend AICO construction to anyone.

Benjamin was quick to respond to the request, reliable in organizing the job and participated in building the deck. The quality or work was excellent, including custom made benches. Would recommend him to anyone.

We hired AICO to fix some damage in our kitchen that was caused by a fridge leak. AICO was able to provide us with a timely quote and start the project within our requested timeline. Upon starting the repair, mold damage was found underneath the fridge area that we weren’t sure was going to be there or not. AICO worked quickly to remove and remediate the mold damage to make the area safe for my family and I.

Next came the repair to the flooring and drywall. After the initial completion of the repair we asked that it be redone as there were soft spots in the flooring and part of the drywall bulged out. It took 3 attempts to repair the floor and we were still left with a lose floor board and a significant gap between the flooring and trim. We've since hired another contractor to fix these issues. On top of this there was a piece of kitchen cabinet trim that needed to be replaced. It took significantly longer than we were told for the piece to be ordered and replaced and there is some noticable damage to the trim that we will need to fix.

Overall we were not satisfied with the workmanship or the end result of the project.

I would like to thank AICO again for the hard work you and your team have put into the successful completion of our residential home. Your strong attention to keeping and improving the schedule is the major reason for the timeliness of completion. You have brought a great deal of experience that has been invaluable in a project of this size and is a key reason for its success. I am extremely proud of the finished product and have enjoyed working with you to get it built.

My fridge water line broke causing water to wreck half my cupboards and my hardwood floor. ACO came in saved the bedroom downstairs from getting as much water damage is upstairs did. Their workers we're great and pleasant to deal with the project manager was there every step of the way to help me I caught all the products that I needed I would definitely use them again

I bought my home with and unfinished basement with plans to turn this space into a large rec area with a wet bar and full bathroom. AICO was great with making this a reality, I'm really happy with the end result and they guys were great

The front foyer had been added to original construction when we purchased the house and the flooring tiles were cracked as a result of an uneven base. AICO completely removed the severl layers of underlay, installed a new base and then lay new tiles for the total area. The new tile floor is beautiful and solid. An added advantage is that the front door now opens into the foyer without problems earlier experienced. Friendly, professional and on budget.

Purchased house in February. We discovered an acute on chronic water damage issue (from a window caulking failure+\-vinyl decking failure) that caused significant water damage around two windows that also damaged exterior OSB below window frames and rotted rim board/ledger board segments below the two windows. Work entailed to remove vinyl decking, affected deck plywood, remove stucco to expose the rotted OSB, remove 6-8 inches of stucco above entire deck surface to prep for new vinyl, remove & replace rotted OSB, remove and properly seal two affected windows over the deck, remove & replace two segments of rim board/ledger board, and cut/sister-in joists under deck. This repair was not covered by insurance.

We interviewed 4 companies for this job and also read many reviews before hiring. AICO was the last company we interviewed and was also the successful bid for this project. They were chosen not because they were the cheapest (they were in fact initially higher than some of our early quotes) but because of good first impressions, mostly positive social media reviews and a project manager/owner that offered a lot of empathy and reassurance. The owner also made a point of driving out and introducing himself and to assess the job requirements. Unfortunately, a few days prior to the reconstruction phase we got caught up in an internal company issue where the project manager assigned to our repair took employment with another company. This subsequently caused significant delays to our repair and resulted in a lot of stress in sorting the issues out. A summary of positive and negatives include:

Pros
- had an excellent first impression as project manager and company manager visited homeowner and were present at the same time as the insurance adjuster to help make a case for insurance coverage (which unfortunately did not pan out). However their effort to plead on my behalf impressed.
- Availability to start repairs was very fast (until internal issues arose that delayed the project)
- the company manager was easy to reach and was attentive to customer concerns and provide solutions/negotiate. I was especially impressed when the manager arranged a conference call on a Friday evening at 9pm before a long weekend to discuss issues that arose with a subcontractor . Another positive experience was that the 50% deposit was able to be negotiated. After we felt uncomfortable with a 50% deposit, they were able to compromise with a 20% deposit and 80% on completion.
- accountability: When discrepancies were noted in billing or accidental damages occurred in the home - the company owner took responsibility of the problem and took reasonable steps to resolve the issues
- company manager did a visit on completion to pick up the final payment but also came in to check repair. He did take steps to resolve a substandard repaired baseboard that did not meet homeowner quality expectations.
- Company used treated wood to replace ledger board and rim board
- Company consulted a structural engineer (of homeowners choice) prior to any rim board repair. This was an extra expense that the homeowner took on but their caution with structural integrity left a positive impression.

Cons
- Company is not a BBB member
- The job to repair affected areas of the first window was quoted for the "job". To repair affected areas of the second window (which was discovered later) the manager gave us two options: pay for the job or pay hourly. I was advised hourly was less confusing and likely the cheaper of the two options. In retrospect the hourly billing became confusing and some discrepancies did arise. However, the company was very responsive to when the discrepancies were brought up and charges were amended (it was a lot of extra work for us to figure out billing).
- Prepayment: During reconstruction phase, 50% down payment was requested before any work was done. However owner was able to negotiate 20% prepayment for us when we didn't feel comfortable with the first request.

In summary, the company did complete and deliver on the repair work. The owner was very responsive to our concerns until job completion. Due to unforeseen issues, the job wound up being quite stressful and it did not go smoothly as we had anticipated. On a positive note, the owner of the company was pleasant/flexible to work with through the entire experience. Felt that the company could improve on some major issues such as having way more quality control audits (more frequent manager drop-in or have quality control personnel to drop by and scrutinize work: no job is too small in my opinion for this step). Audits would also ensure workers are placing proper protection to flooring and containing construction debris. Better measures need to be taken to affix tarps better to exterior stucco areas under construction. Hourly billing option was stressful . Another recommendation for improvement is to reevaluate asking for 50% deposits unless there is a prepaid contractor license. We felt paying 50% prior to any work commencement was atypical.