James in East york

I hired Three Little Pigs to repair some mortar that had been damaged on the exterior brick wall of my house by a leaking downspout. Over time, water from the leak caused the original mortar to erode away in multiple places, leaving significant gaps and cracking. Given the damage extended all the way up the wall, stopping only about 5 feet from the soffit, David advised that he would need scaffolding for the job. His crew dropped off the scaffolding and started work only a couple days later. Armando was the lead on the project and did an excellent job. His attention to detail was very high and he was thorough in grinding out the problematic mortar and replacing it. The replacement mortar blends in nicely with the rest of the brick wall now and it is barely noticeable that any repairs were done at all. While 3LP was on site, I had them revisit a job they did for me in summer 2020, which was to replace the flagstone on my front steps. In the two years since their original work, we started to see some crumbling with the mortar joints where the treads meet the risers. When I mentioned this to David, he stood by his work and told me he would have it addressed. He directed Armando to grind out all the original mortar joints from that 2020 job and replace them. As he did on the brick wall repair, Armando took great care on this front step tuck pointing as well. The repaired flagstone mortar work looks excellent - visually consistent and with a tougher blend of mortar that looks like it will stand the test of time. David fully stood behind his teams work and addressed my concerns comprehensively and with the same professionalism as he and his crew brought to the original job. Im very happy with the work 3LP has done for me.

My 8 year old front steps, first installed by our builder, needed to be replaced. The original design was flawed with the bottom three steps made of stacked blocks and the other five part of the poured concrete foundation. The bottom three steps shifted every year in the frost, dislodging the hand rail and causing the coping and risers to become loose and mortar to crack. I hired Three Little Pigs after speaking to a couple of contractors about the job. My aim was to replace the bottom three steps with permanent concrete ones that tied into the existing steps then to resurface all the steps with new Banas stone coping. I also needed some tuckpointing of the original brick and parging to tie the new steps into the original. The team from 3LP were thorough and thoughtful in their quote. David asked all the right questions and took time to understand exactly what I was looking for. The team got started right away and were highly professional throughout. We had a couple of delays due to COVID disruption in June / July and when I expressed concern, David always answered my calls, took responsibility and got things back on track. While the job took longer than I had originally expected, I am very pleased with 3LP’s work. My stairs look way better than new and are solid, evenly spaced and a massive improvement over the original. The team cleaned up the job site and left everything in great condition. Very happy with my decision to go with 3LP and pleased that when I am able to welcome guests into my home after social distancing is over, they will be able to enter via safe and solid front steps.

When our home was built 7 years ago, the bathtub in our kids' bathroom was installed incorrectly. Over time, the surrounding drywall had been exposed to water and had become damaged. We decided to have the tub removed and reinstalled, and the bathtub surround re-tiled with marble tile. At the same time, we decided to replace the shower fixture as well as the faucets in the two bathroom sinks. After exploring a couple of referrals from friends, we decided instead to post the job via Homestars' online form. Peter from Aquata Bath was the first contractor to reply - the very next day. From that first contact, Peter was highly responsive and well organized. He came over to evaluate the project scope in person and provided a detailed quote. We sent him a list of follow-up questions which he addressed clearly and in writing. His quote was reasonable and he made an effort to cost out anything that wasn't part of the main project so we would know exactly what the final bill would be. In our initial meeting, Peter took the time to review past jobs he had done like ours and to offer ideas on how best to tackle certain elements of the job. For example, we wanted a recessed shower niche and he gave us ideas of where to install it and how to make it functional. He advised us on the quantities of the tile we would need and connected us to his preferred suppliers in Toronto. Peter started the job exactly when he said he would and finished on time as well. Before he started, he made a significant effort to protect our hardwood floors from damage by covering them with protective paper and foam materials. He also sealed in the worksite with a zipper door and used a special air cleaning filter which kept drywall dust to a minimum. Before he left, Peter cleaned up and left everything as he had found it. We had no drywall dust mess, no damage to any of the surrounding walls or floors - just a significantly improved bathroom. He did what he said he would do, when he said he would do it. When we realized that one of the faucets he installed had a kinked cold water supply line, he apologized and followed-up to deal with the deficiency promptly. We were very pleased with the quality of Peter's work, but particularly with his professionalism, organization and follow-through. Thanks Peter for a job well done! Thanks

I recently hired Finer Edge to refinish my solid mahogany front door. Although the door was only 4 years old, it was suffering from fading and exposure to the elements and there were places where the original finish had worn off leaving the wood underneath exposed. My primary point of contact at Finer Edge (Ben) was responsive and got the job scheduled before the fall weather turned for the worse. The painter (Glen) did an meticulous job removing the old urethane and stain and applying a new coat of stain and urethane. He was a perfectionist (a good thing!) – deciding for example, to spread the urethane process over three days rather than two in order to ensure each coat had maximum drying time and resulting in a very smooth finish. The final result is a door that literally looks better than it did when it was brand new. I was so pleased with the job Finer Edge did that I subsequently hired them to paint a large bay window. Their work was excellent on that project too.

I contacted Jeff about two antique maple chairs that had been in my father's family for years but were collecting dust in the garage. They had long since lost their cane seats and the finish and joints were in a terrible state. Jeff helped me pick out a stain from a variety of samples and even tested a couple of options on some scrap maple to ensure that the colour would come out exactly as I had envisioned. He went through his quote in detail in advance, including advising me on anything extra beyond the basic refinishing (regluing and upholstery, for example). I got the chairs back about three weeks later and was very impressed with the result. My father agrees and thinks the chairs probably look better than when they were brand new. I would stongly recommend Jeff and would use him again for future refinishing jobs.

I contacted Paul at the Duct Cleaning Specialists to have him clean out the ducts on my newly built house after reading some of the positive reviews his firm received on Homestars. Paul arrived early on a Saturday morning with his colleague Matt and he quickly started pulling off vent covers to get an idea of what work was required. Unfortunately, we discovered that most of the vent covers on my newly finished hardwood floors were stuck in place by floor stain and urethane and could not be easily lifted without damaging the floor. Paul informed me that the job would be pretty straightforward once the ducts could be accessed since what was in them was mostly large debris (sawdust, wood shavings). Despite the fact that it cost him an hour of his Saturday morning to come to my house, he did not charge me for the service call even though it wasn't his fault we couldn't get at the ducts. I was able to free my vent covers from the floors over the course of the next day or two and Paul kindly slotted me in for a cleaning ahead of my move-in date. He and Matt arrived punctually (again) and did a thorough job, including cleaning up after themselves as they went through the house. They were extremely professional and friendly, up front about what was and was not required and offered some helpful suggestions on how to better maintain my new HVAC system to boot. I was very happy with the job, the service and the price and was delighted with my first experience sourcing a trade through Homestars. Thanks Paul - excellent work!!