Brian

We hired James to do a major renovation of our master bathroom in August 2019. The current bathroom was small and dated, and generally inadequate for our family so we wanted to enlarge it and relocate all the plumbing fixtures. It was a total redo. We're quite happy with the end result. It's still not a very big bathroom, but the space is well utilized and the bathroom is clean, modern and functional. As for our experiences with James and his crew: - quality work - crew kept the mess to a minimum - James gave us access to his substantial discount at local suppliers - the job took about as long as expected, without any major delays - some disagreements about what constitutes extra work Although there were some tense communications near the end, looking back it's water under the bridge. The end result is good, and that's what we'll remember.

I chose Gandy to replace my storage tank with a tankless water heater. They were not the cheapest, but Rob was the most knowledgeable and realistic among the bids I got. It also helps that they're well reviewed online. The only legwork I had to do was schedule Fortis to come upgrade the gas meter during the same time that Gandy would be on site. Both Fortis and Gandy were on time, and the installation went well. It took about as long as they said it would (6-8 hours). There was no hours-long water shutoff either - the house had cold water for virtually the entire time which is nice since you can still flush toilets, wash your hands, etc. That's nice because my wife and I worked from home during this time. The work area was clean when they left. Perhaps even cleaner than when they arrived.. Their quote included parts and labor, and there turned out to be unexpected expenses which they did not charge extra for: - they replaced an defective gas regulator - the gas line for the furnace had to be re-routed to accommodate the tankless water heater Their invoice included all the right information for me to claim the $1000 rebate from Fortis. Good job Gandy!

I hired Creative Plumbing in July 2019 to relocate a kitchen faucet drain pipe. We were doing a kitchen renovation and the existing pipe was in a bad place which would have required cutting into one of our new cabinets. It needed to be moved 18 inches to the right, and the kitchen was already stripped down to the studs. There was also a tub drain that was broken but could not be removed, so I was hoping a pro would succeed where amateurs had failed. The pros: - both jobs were done properly. They succeeded where others had failed RE: removing broken tub drain. The cons: - I was overbilled, by a lot. Despite me sending them a clear image of the existing pipe, surrounding area and work needing to be done well in advance, the first plumber showed up without the required tools to do the job and had to schedule a follow-up visit. I was charged for the useless visit. - First plumber had a health issue on the day of his follow-up visit that delayed him by a few hours. I have no issue with that, because life happens. The issue is that the company sent someone else on his behalf, but he ended up mostly just waiting for the first guy to arrive. Guess who got billed for the waiting around? - The first invoice they sent me was for 8.5 hours. I called them to find out how they arrived at that number, and they had the second plumber working 4 hours when in reality he was in my house only around 2 hours. The final invoice was for 6.5 hours, but even this is grossly exaggerated for what amounts to 2 simple tasks. Keep in mind the kitchen was already stripped down to the studs and they had easy access to the drain stack. Also, I was billed for the initial visit where no work was done due to their lack of preparation. Although they did the work properly, all the overbilling left a bad taste in my mouth.

We chose VE Stone to install quartz countertops for our kitchen renovation in July 2019. The whole process from choosing the stone, on-site measurements, delivery and installation went well. They were responsive and punctual. They will be our first choice the next time we're looking for countertops!

In July 2019, we hired CMO to install engineered hardwood floors in 4 bedrooms (approx. 750 sqft in total). I pulled the old flooring, they leveled the floors and installed the new hardwood. The job was done well and on time, and I would hire them again in the future.

Tyler was available on short notice in July 2019 and did some electrical work for us at a crucial time in our kitchen renovation after a previous electrician had done sub standard work. The work he and his assistant did was very good, and I fully trust his abilities as an electrician. He charges per "task" instead of per hour, which sounds good in theory but in practice his prices per "task" are simply outrageous. We needed an electrician on short notice and he was available, so we reluctantly agreed to his prices. At the end of the day, we paid nearly $3000 for 10 hours of work, including some work done by his apprentice. $300/hr is not the going rate for electricians. He's a good electrician and we have no issue with the quality of his work, but we cannot recommend him because he's simply too expensive. I actually want to thank him for motivating me to learn about basic household wiring. I'll never quite forget the sting of paying someone $1000+ to install a dozen outlets. I can now do all the simple stuff like install/replace outlets, light fixtures, and run wires in the wall.

I hired Silverback for some rough wiring work as part of a kitchen renovation in July 2019. I think the owner is a qualified electrician, but I can't say the same about the 2 guys he sent to actually do the work. Here are some highlights of their work: 1. snapped PERMANENT chalk lines on a finished ceiling without asking permission (I was around in another part of the house). Just because it's a renovation, don't assume you can just trash someone's ceiling. I wasn't planning on repainting the ceiling, but had no choice after that. 2. cut drywall with a recipricating saw. What the hell? Look at the picture if you don't believe me! 3. convinced me that the wires from 2 adjacent underfloor heating mats couldn't be spliced together to be powered from a single wire (and single thermostat). I was skeptical and asked if he was absolutely sure, and he said yes. I was told later (too late) by a licensed electrician that he was absolutely wrong. I now have 2 thermostats in the same kitchen because of his ineptitude. 4. screwed retaining clips straight into drywall despite the fact all the studs were clearly marked in the whole garage. Those white spots on the unpainted walls are to cover drywall screws... which are screwed into the studs! Maybe your screws should also go into the studs? 5. had to borrow my ladder to get into the attic. what kind of electrician doesn't have a ladder? 6. I left other things out because this review is getting too long. To Aaron's credit, he came and personally addressed the most glaring deficiencies with the work his guys did. So at least there's that. He seems qualified, but he's not the one actually doing the work. I had originally planned for them to do finishing work after the renovation was further along, but after seeing the kind of work his guys did I didn't want them anywhere near my house. I hired another electrician to do the finishing work which was unfortunate because he had to finish a job he didn't start. He looked over the work the first guys did and couldn't believe the poor workmanship. He had to fix a few things before starting his own work, and as he was doing it he was explaining all the things the first guys did wrong. Some were minor, and some were blatant code violations. ---------------- Dec 2020: I just noticed that the owner is trying to save face by accusing me of harassing his employees. That never happened - I was polite to him and his employees and I paid him in full. I didn't interact that much with his guys anyway (I spoke with Keith a few times on day 1, and I was not there at all on day 2. There was another guy onsite which I never spoke to). He didn't pull his employees out, in fact after the 2 days of rough-in work were done he expected me to call him back to do finishing work a few weeks later. It was solely my decision to not hire them back.