Matthew in Toronto

We needed to add shades and blinds to various windows when we moved into our new house. Nadia's Window Fashions had great family-run service, fair prices, and plenty of choices. It definitely helps to know what you want or bring along a book or magazine with the sort of style you want when you go. We did this to get the type of pleats we wanted in our sheers for example. Only disappointment was that our roman blinds, while fitting the windows well, didn't really fold up properly. I suspect the fabric we used is too stiff.

Friendly owner gave us a good price for the installation of an LG ductless air conditioner to supplement our home air conditioning on the third floor (it's a finished attic space). Service was prompt and efficient. The air conditioner itself works well, although it's not too good at maintaining a certain temperature--it tends to cycle on and off. Instead, we just run it for a half hour or so when we need to cool the top floor.

These guys were fantastic--friendly, efficient, and cheaper than the other companies we checked out. They prefer to plant cedar trees (for a hedge) closer together than usual, but the cost per foot was still better than our next choice. 5 years later our hedges are still thriving.

We needed some gravel to go under a deck we were building. The amount was more than we could realistically bring back on our own from Home Depot or a garden center, so we decided to look for a company that could deliver it. Sabby was one of the few that was willing to do such a small job for a reasonable rate--the delivery cost was just $60 (in 2008).

The Appliance Guy is very friendly. He first tried to talk us through a fix on the phone, but then made a visit when that proved unsuccessful. He had to use some heavy duty equipment to clear our blockage, and the challenge seem to generally interest him--I can honestly say he appears to love his job! The price was great and we wanted to hire him again when we had another appliance problem, with our stove, but he mainly works further north in Toronto and in the suburbs, I believe.

Service guy was courteous and quick in dealing with our problem (a pregnant squirrel that had chewed through a roof vent). He covered up our vents with metal grilles and used some sort of spray that was supposed to deter the squirrel. This turned out to be inadequate, as the squirrel came back and, even though it couldn't gain access, proceeded to chew the vent (through the grill) until it was seriously damaged. That was disappointing, but the company came back and fixed the problem (with bigger grills) free of charge. They also gave us cute raccoon keychains for our kids.

Prices are high, but the storage bed is invaluable in our home (it offers a huge amount of storage space). The ability to have the headboard sized to our custom specifications was also very nice, although the final product was an inch or two higher than we requested (not a problem, but another inch and it would have been an issue). The drawers have held up well (a couple of years later, and they are still smooth and sturdy as ever) but the finish was disappointingly easy to chip. (The bed is some sort of MDF product, not solid wood.) All in all, though, this was the product we wanted and we don't have any regrets.

Alpine Roofing gave us a great price. The roofing was a decent job, but you do need to watch them--we caught them attempting to shingle over one high section of roof (an overhang over a window) without stripping it, as they had promised. Also, some extra wood was needed to fill a gap over our porch roof, and the "carpentry" work was terrible. I think they dug up a piece of old wood from a scrapyard and proceeded to hack it down to the approximate dimensions with the back of a hammer. However, when the shingles were put on top the patch wasn't noticeable. They also had a nap on our yard halfway through the job--all the roughly dozen people who were there--which greatly amused my parents.

Our old deck was sinking and in desperate need of repair. In the summer of 2008, Mike built our new dream deck. He listened to our ideas and added some useful feedback of his own. The final product was solid, secure, and much better-looking than we expected, with some beautiful finishing touches in the stairs and railing. The price was fair, and I would not hesitate to work with Mike again.