Doug Garnett in Ottawa

My renovation project with Penguin Basements involved the demolition and reconstruction of three outdated rooms downstairs in my home to serve as a self-contained apartment where I could recover from hip replacement surgery. After meeting with and receiving project cost bids from five different vendors, I chose Penguin to do my reno job even though they did not tender the lowest bid. At my first meeting with Penguin's regional sales manager Dave, he impressed me with his forthrightness, honesty and responsiveness. I also had faith in Penguin's computer-based specification and cost-estimating system and their on-line customer communication and project management system called Builder Trend. My initial faith was borne out by their very prompt response to beginning my project once I had awarded the job to Penguin. They only had six weeks in which to do the design work, demolition, framing and drywall, electrical installation and inspections, plumbing rough-ins and final finishing touches...so good project management, quick delivery of materials, work crew scheduling and client communications were key requirements to getting the project finished on time and within the agreed upon budget limitations. One overall project manager, Josh, was assigned to my project and he did an outstanding job of coordinating all aspects of the required work to be done as well as keeping up with my additional requests and changes as the project progressed. Pentagon's design specialist, Eric, helped me to finalize my selection of fixtures, flooring and colour scheme and also did a fine job of capturing my ideas for a convenience kitchen area in final blueprint form on his CAD system and then ordering the cabinetry directly from the carpentry supplier in Montresl. The electrical sub-contractors and plumbers employed by Penguin were top-notch professionals who went above and beyond to make sure that all aspects of their work met current local building codes and passed the necessary inspections. Although we faced a number of hiccups along the way, every part of the job was performed in a very responsive, pro-active and professional manner by Josh and his associates at Penguin as well as various sub-trade contractors. The job site was kept clean and safe...and a final professional crew came in twice to clean up all the inevitable dust and debris created during the construction process. I also appreciated the extra little touches that were offered to me by Penguin---like a discount on ready prepared meals delivered during the construction process, access to a delivery service for doing laundry while my utilities room and washer/dryer were inaccessible, and the warranty on all the materials, fixtures and workmanship supplied by Penguin which I received at the end of the construction work. In short, I have been very pleased with how Penguin handled my renovation project from start to completion, under a very tight deadline and with courtesy to my medical condition and special requirements. I would not hesitate to hire Penguin again for another phase of my own ongoing home renovations, or to recommend Penguin to other potential customers.