Germaine Engell in Calgary

I bet you didn't know there was a store specifically designated to garage doors. Well, guess what?! There is. It's called Overhead Door and it's located in the SE just off Blackfoot Trail (actually pretty simple to find). After buying a universal garage door remote when mine broke, I was sad to find out that I wasted money on something that didn't work. I didn't want to spend another $100 trying to find something that would successfully open and close my garage door, so I started browsing the internet. The first thing I did was find out the make and model of my garage door opener, then went about trying to find a new remote. After that, everything just fell into place. I easily found out what company sold them (Overhead Door) and that there was one in Calgary. After a bit of drive to the SE, we were quickly helped by a garage door salesman. I've got to say, he wasn't the happiest person I've ever experienced and, in fact, seemed quite rude. He was upset when we didn't have our old remote with us (who keeps something that's broken?) and snootily called to find out what we needed. Sure enough, he had it in the drawer the whole time, and if he'd just asked us what it looked like we could have saved him an unpleasant phone call. Grumpy dude aside, we were in and out in 15 minutes with a brand new garage door remote. And you know what? We got it working in about 2 minutes! I was seriously shocked at how easy it was to replace... especially after we went through all that trouble with the first universal one. If only I knew about Overhead Door sooner!

We recently completed our kitchen renovation by having Icon supply and install granite counter tops. From the initial contact through the installation the experience was positive. We had one small issue which prompted a service call and this was handled quickly and professionally. We subsequently ordered a back splash which was miss measured and Icon promptly decided to re make the piece. We haven't received the new piece yet but hope to see it soon. New piece was shipped and is now installed and looks fabulous. Ask for Natalia.

i had artistic take out a deck and place a stone patio in my backyard, before winter hit and it is just beautiful. the owner and the crew were great guys, worked so hard, the work was done on schedule, they cleaned up after themselves. i would not hesitate to recommend their services to anyone! Thanks artistic for transforming my yard! i'll be calling them next year to do the front!

Just recently, I came home to discover that my basement was flooded and that one of the water pipes in my home had burst. I called around to several plumbers and the Clearview was the first company that was able to have an emergency crew at my home within 2 hours. These guys did a great job, they came in and accessed the situation and provided my with a guaranteed fixed price estimate of what it would cost to fix the situation. Their plumbers were very friendly and professional, they explained the situation and provided me with different options. They were very neat and tidy in that they had drop clothes that they laid out around the work area and they wore shoe covers to prevent tracking of dirt through the home. Unfortunately, it was an emergency situation and I didn't have enough time to get several quotes and compare their prices to other companies. After the fact, I did research on the internet at other reviews, and discovered that they are higher priced. As well, I was talking to my parents that had replaced their Hot Water Tank a few months earlier, and the price they paid was about 40% cheaper than what I paid to get my Hot Water Tank replaced. I guess this is one of the ways that they can afford to offer fixed price guarantees on their estimates. Overall, I would definitely recommend Clearview Plumbing to handle any plumbing situation that you may have. They may be a little more expensive that some of the other companies out there, but you will feel much better knowing that you have someone fixing your problem that knows what they are doing.

Buhran is a shop I just happened upon the other day while near 17th avenue. How about wooden doors from the 18th century from France, or an original authentic wooden Buddha from an actual temple that is well over 100 years old. I was actually contemplating buying one on EBay so imagine the joy to find one here in Calgary, it saves me shipping and not knowing if I am actually buying an authentic ceremonial piece. At Buhran the shop is filled with furniture, and carpets and architectural details coming directly from the small villages of Asia and Europe. I was delighted in actually an amazing wooden pillow book from Japan that was over 150 years old. Buhran also carries modern copies of original items for less money.

Recently hired this company for a job drywalling and doing a knock-down ceiling texturing in our basement. The young owner, Mo, was really an easy guy to work with, was able to meet with us quickly, and gave an accurate quote. Pricing is probably about middle of the road, but Mo works fast and does quality work. His taping and mudding is very good and he takes efforts to ensure there isn't drywall dust everywhere throughout the house (to the extent possible) when sanding between mud coats. We also put in some french doors between two rooms and he brought in a high quality framer to do that small job for us and the doors look great. The knock down texturing on the ceiling is very nice and even across the room. Mo was very open about giving recommendations on what to do for painting (we did the painting ourselves though I believe he does that too), for doing any future repairs if necessary. He also offered to come back to fix any things with the drywall if during the painting and floor laying we were going to do ourselve there were any major repairs needed. I recommend this company to anyone who is looking to have a high quality drywall job done.

I wasn't very happy with this company. Here is my experience with them: They quoted a rate of $49 for travel and said they charge by the job, not the hour, but couldn't give a price on the phone, then charged a whopping $289 in addition, just to replace a very small section of Poly B piping above the water heater. Plus GST for a total of $355.00 for this small job which took about a half hour to complete. The young repair man hauls out this huge price list in a big binder and points to one line item which is supposed to be the closest match to determine the price which had nothing to do with the time to repair, and of course I can't see the rest of the price list so I'm just supposed to believe him. Since I was out of hot water for 3 days preceding I was in a bit of a jam otherwise I'd have sent him packing but they had me in a corner The young guy that came put on some socks to protect the floors but then stood in water and tracked that all over the house. Quoted me over $450 to replace the small water shut off valve, I was astonished! The work was just OK, but it wasn't spectacular. I don't recommend this company, at all!

We had an interesting experience with Ram Cleaning Service in Calgary last week. We were preparing a house for sale and were working hard ourselves at it... and we chose to hire Ram because we assumed it was better to deal with one company for multiple services and get professional cleaners even if it cost more. We were on a timeline. Their blind cleaning was the best part and seemed reasonably priced, but my husband got different information on the phone than I did. They only pick up and deliver the blinds on certain days and it takes them at least 4 working days to clean them. We had to drop them off in order to get them back in time for the first showing. They were pretty clean (repairs cost more and take 7 days more) except the guy delivering the blinds seemed perturbed that he was to install them and seemed to have thought he was just dropping them off. The fellow that cleaned the windows did a good job on the glass but left the frames with dirty corners and marks along the sides. I pointed it out on several and he want back and cleaned them but in the end I had to go around and catch his other misses. I thought maybe women just clean better (sexist?) The estimate on the phone was $60-80 for 23 window panes & a sliding door but the bill was $110. Although I told them I'd like the frames cleaned, they didn't include what they call tracks in the quote. He returned another day to clean the glass of the fireplace and it cost an additional $86. He did a great job of this. We didn't price this elsewhere. The window cleaner btw was the supervisor. The carpet cleaner had a time with his hoses freezing up and I think he rushed his job not getting the stairs and a few stains as clean as we would have liked. The cost was $162. about double the quote from another firm. The maids were interesting. Our order was for 2 maids for 2 hours @ $190/hour and we could ask them to stay longer if needed. Instead of 2, 3 maids arrived. 2 mature ladies and one that appeared to be early 20's, I'll call her Sh. The older ladies definitely 'carried' Sh. She was barely pushing a rag around the surfaces although I said she would need to scrub to get the kitchen clean. I pointed out a few areas that she cleaned that were NOT satisfactory including the stove where she had clearly not even wiped the cleaner off. She kept saying it didn't come off but I'd wipe it off in front of her. The other ladies were great. One cleaned the hard water residue off a glass shower door and it looked like new! She was great! We assumed Sh was somebody's daughter as one of the older ladies finished upstairs and stepped into the kitchen to 'help' get through the work. We had them stay longer to finish. Sh was also on the phone 3 times calling head office for 5-10 minutes each, supposedly to check pricing. We were estimated a finish time of 5:00 but they finished at 4:50. Someone at the office told her to charge us till 5, meaning we were overcharged 10 mins x 3 maids = 30 minutes! We called as soon as they left and they said ok, we'll do an adjustment. Great. We also told them we were very happy with 2 maids but Sh was useless. My husband asked to speak to a supervisor and of course he didn't call back. The next morning preparing for the photographer, we saw again how poor a job Sh did. Opening the oven and cupboards and none of the kick plates etc had even been touched. Almost the entire kitchen had to be redone. We called again and again the office staff blew us off. I finally said, unless we get satisfaction we will revoke all of the payments from our credit card. Finally a woman called back and my husband explained the situation. When he told her he had to stop the young maid from putting the stove elements into a sink full of water, she started to get it, but we were stunned to learn that this person was experienced and with the company for some time. I'd have fired her on the spot. So she agreed to send touch up people. Another carpet cleaner came and did get the carpet much cleaner... great. But guess who the cleaners were that they sent back??? Right. Sh with another young one I'll call S, who was a supervisor. We weren't impressed. As we showed her the deficiencies, S noted several things that 'would cost extra' and 'they don't do' but I was not letting up. She called the office and apparently was told to do it anyway. They were there for 2 hours and S did a great job. Sh was better but clearly S made the difference. In the end it set us back a day and caused a lot of frustration and tact, but we were satisfied and they do guarantee 100% satisfaction. Too bad it was a struggle to get there. If you are hard-nosed and bolder with the cleaners than we were you might do ok to hire Ram, but if not, I'd stay away. You can find much cheaper help for most of it, and not have to threaten them to get the job done that they committed to.