DAVID COHEN in Toronto

We recently purchased a two-bedroom condominium built in 1980 that needed a total renovation that included: designing an open concept living room/kitchen with custom cabinetry, new flooring throughout, both washrooms remodeled with custom cabinetry and tile flooring, converting a bathtub enclosure into a walk-in shower with a heightened ceiling, installation of an updated electrical panel, LED pot lights in the kitchen, both bathrooms and both bedrooms. We were novices in the reno process so we interviewed three of Homestars Top Ranked contractors specializing in design/build. Valentini Kitchens was by far the obvious choice. We saw Piero’s passion and commitment to his family owned business and were very impressed by his vision for our project. He was helpful and patient guiding us through every step of the design, planning and remodelling management process. We were especially impressed with Tony’s workmanship on the cabinetry both its construction and installation. He paid great attention to the finer details of the cabinets. A true artisan. Piero is supported by a very strong team of dedicated tradesmen who undertook all aspects of the renovation. We would like to acknowledge and thank Marty for supervising the onsite work, Andrew and Sebastian’s great job of demolition, framing, drywall and beautiful tiling, John the plumber, Joe for his detailed finishing work, Alfee and Donato’s flooring crew, and Olivia for her paint selection and finishing ideas. A special thanks to Frank who solved many electrical challenges. We are so very happy with the renovations. All due to Piero and Tony and Valentini Design’s fantastic crew. We unhesitatingly recommend them.

One half of our front yard’s brick retaining wall was threatening to collapse so we contacted several companies for rebuild quotes. All asked me to send a photo of the job and gave quotes by email, site unseen. Merlin was the only company to actually come to the property to make an estimate. Good thing too. Owner Scott Munro suggested some excellent options to just rebuilding the wall. We chose his proposal to replace the entire retaining wall with Flamborough stone and to replace the existing concrete steps with Georgian Bay natural stone steps. To our delight the entire rebuild was comparable in cost to just rebuilding half of the old wall ! Allan and his crew were very professional in undertaking the work. They were friendly and patient with our questions about the job, arrived on schedule and left the worksite neat and tidy each day. The workmanship of the wall is excellent as well as the unexpected bonus of a re-sodding of the entire front yard not just the work area. We are very satisfied with the result. Neighbours and passers-by frequently make favourable comments. We highly recommend Merlin.

Nortown did a terrific job of removing and replacing our front sidewalk and backyard patio. The job looks great. Marc was a real professional in managing the works. The crew turned up when scheduled and left the site in excellent shape. Some accidental damage was promptly repaired to better than original condition ! Highly recommended.