dhc in Calgary

Last summer I had a pocket gopher invade my backyard. Most people have never seen a pocket gopher but have probably seen the results of their activity. These are the critters that leave those mounds of dirt in the green spaces that are all over the city. I tried to get rid of the pest on my own by sticking a garden hose down the hole and just drowning it out (they typically won't surface). Well, all I got was a big water bill. So I called Abell Pest Control and scheduled an appointment. I'm not a fan of using poison since I have a huge backyard garden (which is organic). But the service guy assured me he would minimize the amount of chemicals he would have to apply. There was only one patch of chives that I had to sacrifice because the gopher had dug right by them. AFter two applications (a few weeks apart) there was no new activitiy (mounds of dirt) and my garden was left relatively intact. I recommend Abell and would hire them again.

Mom’s house was going on 30 years old and the eavestrough gutters had never been thoroughly cleaned. Oh sure, every few summers we’d aim a garden hose at a few reachable gutters and hoped for the best, but even then we could never touch the second storey levels. So when some of the eavestroughs on the windy southwest corner started to sag (the nails had gradually lost their moorings after being battered by 30 years of Chinooks), we decided it was time kill several birds with one stone: get a professional to review, repair, and flush all the gutters, top to bottom. Somehow the Gutter Doctor anticipated our need; late that summer we got a flyer in the mail and that piqued our interest. We called them up and a few days later a fellow came out and spent the whole day cleaning and reinforcing the entire eavestrough system. He even found a couple of abandoned robin’s nests hidden high up out of sight and removed them (apparently they were causing a mess on the roofs). Besides being a friendly guy, we appreciated that he didn’t ask to use mom’s washroom but instead went out for lunch and bathroom breaks elsewhere (mom lives on her own and isn’t too keen on strangers in her house when she’s by herself). It was $550 well spent – we figure we’re good for another 30 years!

As part of a large renovation project, I had a 25’x6’ room set aside as a spacious “his ‘n hers” walk-in closet. I briefly considered installing the shelving and rods myself, but decided to splurge on a professional installation. I got 2 competing quotes from another company and Calgary Custom Closets. The Calgary group came in with a lower bid and a nifty arrangement for the long space that appealed to my desire for symmetry, practicality, and efficiency of design. After signing the contract, it took over a month for them to finally arrive and install it. Turns out, my larger reno project was delayed too, so it wasn’t much of a problem that the closet was a little slow in getting done. But once the CCC installer arrived with the closet system, it was all done in an afternoon – amazing! The same fellow who designed the system was the one who installed it, so once he arrived, he got right down to work – no questions or issues arose.

When I purchased my house the previous owner had 3 dogs, and it was quite evident from the fur, scratch and bite marks left throughout the house! I made an appointment with Sears to clean to see if they could clean out the air ducts and inspect before moving in. The guy who came to inspect was friendly and took me around the house showing me what was going to be done and gave me an appraisal of how clean/dirty my ducts were. He also gave me some good advice on how to maintain my furnace, etc. The cleaners came the following week and were just as nice but didn't seem quite as knowledgeable. They got everything done in a couple of hours and were very thorough. In one case too thorough. They ended up taking the new and high-end (basket-type) furnace filter and exchanging it for a low-end one. I don't think they realized that it was a new filter and just changed it out just to change it out. But overall, I would hire them again. I'd just watch them a bit more carefully.

The lights and fan in my bathroom weren't working so called CEE. The repairman was friendly and polite. Took off his shoes without being asked (that's appreciated by some). Took a bit of detective work to figure out what the issue was. He traced it back to a defective GFIs in my main bathroom. He replaced the GFI and we were back in busines. Very friendly and worked quickly to solve the problem (since we were charged on an hourly basis on top of a service visit fee). Would hire again.

We got a couple of estimates to have our driveway redone because the old concrete was either cracked or disintegrating. Big Daddy was slightly cheaper than the rest but they were also the most friendly. Took the time to address all of our questions and issues, whether they were working outside or when we phoned them. Got the job done on schedule cleaned everything up after they completed the job. Would definitely recommend them, and would hire them again.