GrantK in Aurora

Anthony just left after, as he said, replacing every faucet in the house (after the inevitable project creep). Anthony was very prompt in getting back to me after my reaching out, and was extremely diligent during the quotation process (including when I dropped the ball on getting back to him). Unlike another plumber who wouldn't give me even a vague idea of pricing, Anthony gave me what I thought was a very reasonable and fair price. Of course we then decided to replace the powder room faucet (not on the original list) and then take the old kitchen faucet to the laundry room (on the day), but Anthony took it in stride, same as he did when I asked him about a toilet issue just as he was almost in the car. We will definitely use him again (not sure what's left, but there's always something) and would absolutely recommend.

My wife had wanted a proper bedroom set for a while, and after some research we decided to go with Anne Quinn. The process was very easy, with a visit to their showroom to choose stain and hardware once we had decided on the style. The set came well within the expected time frame, and the installation team was very flexible in dealing with our schedule. The set (bed, dresser, two side tables) looks great, and I am thinking about getting an office set from them.

Our older dog threw up on the rug, and after trying to spot treat it we decided to take it into Persian Rug Services. This wasn't our first experience (they had cleaned a wool/silk area rug that we had bought used), but they went beyond our expectations and washed the rug twice to get the stain out, and didn't charge extra. Next time we will just take the rug in right away rather than try ourselves. PS - Mo is super friendly, and clearly knows his rugs! PPS - we took ours in because we are close enough to their Finch Avenue operation, but they do have drop off locations around the GTA.

We decided to ask Wow 1 Day to quote based on their great Google and Homestars reviews. The quote was easy to set up, and Kim made us feel comfortable enough to book on the spot, plus he was able to accommodate our short timeline which was great. The real pleasure was George and his team - they arrived when promised, everything was tarped, taped and covered, and off they went. They did a great job in the bathrooms but went the extra mile with painting the brick fireplace and we are thrilled with the results! The end result looks great, they were done when promised, and we will definitely call Wow 1 Day for our next painting project. Update - we decided to call Wow for our main entry area two months after our first project considering how pleased we were with the first project, but Homestars won't allow a second review that soon. Thankfully we got George as team lead again, as he is very detailed and thorough, and in this area we really needed it as there was a bunch of prep necessary before they could start. As was the case the first time, the job looks great and we look forward to more projects with Wow!

The good - Anna in Customer Service was great to deal with, and Johan's estimate was right on the money - we did in fact need two trucks. The team worked tirelessly from very early to late (almost 12 hours all in), and were friendly and polite. The bad - Johan called me the night before to talk about the logistics of the two trucks, and having been packing and prepping I was not really in the headspace for that - if he felt I needed to be updated, I would have preferred he call with a recommendation versus working through it with me over the phone. The ugly - nothing too major, really. A few dings here and there, heavy boxes on top of boxes marked "Fragile", labelled boxes out of place, some random missing parts - pretty standard. My biggest issue was that the team carried everything on their back, but there were some storage boxes that should not have been carried that way and I found some items had fallen out. Did I find them all? Overall, a far superior experience to our last move with one of the big names, so I would definitely recommend them. PS - they seemed to enjoy the Swiss Chalet lunch as a change from pizza!

I am going to try to be as balanced as I can here, and I have made these comments to Shawn by phone. On the positive side, Shawn was great to deal with, very personable, arrived before we did and was already on the roof when we got there. The walk through was thorough overall, and the report was easy to read with lots of pictures and tips. Where things went offside was when Shawn was reluctant to open the access panel to the jacuzzi tub as he was concerned about damaging the paint. Our agent and I weren't willing to give him permission to proceed, so it was left unopened. Subsequent to moving in, and using the tub, we found water had leaked (we could see this from the ceiling immediately below). In order to attempt to assess the situation, I decided to open the access panel and found it came off with very gentle pressure. Once open, mold was easily seen and we immediately called someone to assist us. Their assessment was that the issue had been ongoing for sometime, and they could see not just mold but what appeared to be fungus. We had intended to replace the tub with a walk-in shower, which I did tell Shawn, but this forced us to have to do so much sooner than anticipated, and added approximately $1,000 of costs to remediate the issue. Ultimately my issue is the failure of imagination on Shawn's part - whether we were going to replace the tub or not is irrelevant. As my wife said, he should have suggested we seek permission from the seller or the seller's agent to open the panel rather than balk at the risk of damaging the paint. I am not the home inspector, he is, and I shouldn't be expected to know what's important to look at. I will note that these comments have the benefit of hindsight, but considering that water is one of the worst enemies of a home, I don't feel they are unreasonable.

The shingles were in dire need of replacement, and after getting several quotes we chose Coverall. The project ultimately expanded to include all of the sloped roof shingling, flat roofing, and replacing the skylight. Mark was great to work with, especially since the roofing had to be coordinated among several neighbours, but I will let them write their own reviews. Any issues were promptly dealt with, and in a cheerful way. My only issue is that it would have been ideal if Mark had been onsite the day work commenced as his team weren't familiar with all of the things that we had discussed, but it was all sorted out with a couple of calls.

We had our flat roof re-done in the summer and decided to have the fence done as part of the project as the existing fence was quite old and shabby looking. It was difficult to find companies willing to quote on the job, but Element Fence was, and we felt they really understood what we were looking for. Due to the size of the fence posts there was some custom metal work needed for the "shoes" that the posts were mounted in, and that caused a bit of delay. Ultimately the work was done before the winter weather kicked in, and it looks great and I know it's so much safer than what was there before. My only issue was that Element could have kept us better informed of their schedule - otherwise, they were great to work with.

We were getting much less water than we used to from our RO system, so I called Watermart to come have a look. They quickly determined that I needed a new tank, which I suspected. Since they were going to have to do work, I had them change the filters and make a few tweaks (extra shut off valve and some other stuff), and that was happily done. Great to deal with, and now we are back to having lots of water when we need it. Update - when I changed the filters the next time, I found that one of them still had the paper insert on it. When I mentioned it to them, they sent me a set of free filters, but I still felt I had to go to a 9.

A circuit board in the dehumidifier Clarke installed for us about four years ago (you can see my earlier review below) died in the fall of 2016, and they were easy to get out and get the unit back up and running. I wasn't planning to do a review for that, but just recently the condensate pump (I don't have a sump pump, so the dehumidifier drains into the condensate pump which pumps into the waste water line) died, so I called to set up a service call. I got a call the next day, as promised, but was pleasantly surprised to have them suggest I just go to Home Depot rather than have them come out and provide one, saving not only the cost of a service call but probably a bit on the price of the pump! It's always such a pleasure knowing that you are working with a company that isn't in it for a quick buck, but are looking out for you.

The hose for our central vacuum was in crisis - the cord was fraying, the connector knob had fallen out, it had been duct taped - it was time for a change. After a quick Homestars search, I found Vacuums Plus and called Marco, who spent far more time answering all my questions than such a minor matter deserved. Because I got such a good feeling, I asked him about replacing our existing vacuum, and once I gave him the serial number he was able to tell me how old it was (pretty old - 15+ years if I remember correctly), and after sending him a photo of where it lives he recommended a Nilfisk of about the same size. However, it is substantially more powerful, and significantly quieter! The best part was the installation - the guy he sent was a pro! He not only installed the unit, including humouring me (after he was basically done) by adding the port that is normally for the garage so that I can clean my crawlspace, he then tested all of the ports to ensure they were maintaining a good seal, and happily replaced one that was failing, and then happily replaced all of them when I saw how nice the new ports looked, running back and forth to his car each time. To top it all off, when I asked about a muffler (even though it was already quieter than before), he was out to the car again and set me up with a good quality muffler. So glad I found Vacuums Plus! Update - we found him a bit curt on the phone when we called about service, and to my wife when she brought the power head in, so I bumped my rating down to a 9. The service was done, but the after sales experience did not match the pre-sales one.

If you look back far enough, I was the first person to review Reliable 8 years ago when I replaced my AC, and I said then that when it came time to replace my furnace I would give them a call. Well, when my old furnace was red tagged on its annual cleaning last year, I did exactly that. I also called the "big guys" to compare prices, but Darryl was still a better price and I knew the service was going to be great, so it was an easy decision. On the day the guys came, they got the old one out and the new one in super quick, piping was all run flush to the wall to not only look great but be out of the way as much as possible, and set me up with a new filter to boot. After the free cleaning I was promised is over I certainly plan to get Reliable to keep maintaining my unit - why pay those other guys when I know the service I will get will be top notch!?! On that note, they just serviced the above mentioned AC, and the technician tweaked the furnace blower pressure to get a bit more cold air up to the top level, plus gave me a tip on maximizing comfort (run the fan hourly - the furnace costs so little now) - love it!

We had John install new windows at the front of the house when we moved in, but put the back windows off for later. By the time we were ready to get them done we had some damage and staining from a leak that needed repair, which would then need painting, all in a three storey open area. Under the heading of "while he is here" we threw a replacement upper deck door into the mix, and then a ceiling fan in that same three storey open area! John pulled together a crack team who triaged the whole thing over less time than I thought possible, particularly when you consider that by the time he got here we had added motorized blinds (see my separate review) so we needed additional electrical (like I said in the header - plus plus plus!). Everything looks great and he got it done in the time he promised. We have used John more than once, and he never disappoints - highly recommended.

We were having our windows replaced so we decided to replace the blinds as well. We chose Rose Sun based on their reviews and the information on their website. They went through several rounds of tweaking the quote, and once it was settled they met the timeline for delivery (including getting it mostly done while my wife was away for the day as a surprise). They did end up installing it over two days vs. one because the natural light makes things better for detail work, which I was fine with. Everyone was great to deal with, the blinds look amazing, and the skylight blind has been a huge improvement to sleeping at night.

We needed a new cover for our catch basin (the old one was rusting out). Since we already had a relationship with Art Metal from the railing we did we called them without hesitation. Not only was the price great, they got it done before my vacation and the grate looks great!

We found Nature's Air through one of those daily deal sites (like Groupon). Since it was something that we had needed, we decided to give it a try, and we were pleased. The team was on time, very thorough (I saw them popping the register covers off to vacuum). All of the equipment was wrapped so as not to damage anything.

Derek came by to do the quotation 08/30/13. I was off for the long weekend and so I walked him around the property. While we were doing the walk around he noticed some very loose shingles. He said he would nail them down when they did the eaves. Since it was supposed to rain and I didn't want to leave it (and not even knowing who to call), I asked if he could do it since he was here. He said of course, and up the ladder he went. While he was up, he asked if I wanted to do the eaves now (which worked great for me), and so that got done too. He had to disassemble the bottom of one of them, which he then re-secured top and bottom. I was very grateful to Derek that he was willing to rearrange his schedule and take care of me on the spot. Plus, he was very personable, which made the whole thing easier. I will absolutely refer these guys to my neighbours! The only reason I didn't give a 10 was they had lost my initial request for a quotation, and I had to follow up. Derek was extremely apologetic about that, even though it wasn't his fault.

Worked with David to upgrade the kitchen. We painted all the cabinetry, rearranged some things, added a granite counter top and tile backsplash and some other goodies. David was generally great to work with, and had lots of good suggestions. Sometimes his follow up is poor/takes too long, and sometimes it feels like he could have made a bit more effort. On the whole, we are happy. His pricing was great, and his granite subcontractor was very good, both to work with and pricing.

Worked with Alex through the quotation process, and he was very patient (there was a lot of back and forth). Everyone we connected with (at the shop, installation team) was very pleasant, and they did the installation on a Saturday which was great for me. The railing looks great, and will add safety and functionality. The only reason I didn't give a 10 was there was a blob of paint that when I picked at it pulled off and left an unpainted spot. I am going to go pick up some touch up paint later in the week, so it will all work out in the end.

Went through several quotes with Clarke, ultimately settling on a solution that insulated the crawlspace under the house, covered an open section with some concrete, and most importantly, added a dehumidifier piped right into the waste water. This gave me a lot more comfort storing things down there, and I might ultimately add the pump and drainage to take care of any water that might still come through the wall. Only downside was there was a bit of miscommunication between the salesman and the installer as to the scope, but it was all done as promised, so I was happy, and have already recommended them to a neighbour who used them.

It was very easy to book Max, and he worked around our schedule. He showed up on time, and not only accomplished the hard drive replacement we had contacted him for but the inevitable list of additional things we had come up with by the time. We were very happy with the service, and he was very personable while on site. Not to mention his quote was very competitive of the ones we solicited! Would definitely recommend, and would use again.

Our salesperson, Faouzi, was willing to spend lots of time talking with us about various options and was willing to share his personal experiences which helped a lot in making our choices. We were able to purchase some scratch and dent items at excellent prices and the regularly priced items also were reasonably priced. They were willing to hold our items until we were ready for delivery and when we were ready they were able to deliver when we needed it. The delivery guys were great considering the challenging layout of our home. Would highly recommend for appliances. Thank you for all your help Faouzi!

On New Years Day our fridge was not cold, but the freezer side was working. After some online searches it sounded like the defrost heater was broken, We waited until the next day but found that, like most businesses, everyone was closed since New Years Day was on a Sunday. We kept calling companies listed here on Homestars and Toronto Appliance Repair actually answered! We gave him the specs for the fridge, and he agreed it was the heater, so he said he would get the parts first thing in the next day, because the parts warehouse was closed that day like everyone else. By noon the next day our fridge was working like it should, and paying cash had added benefits! ;) He offered a lot of good advice on what to look for in the future when buying a new fridge, which I thought was a great added service! Will definitely call them again.

Our a/c was quite old, so we decided to take advantage of the OPA and EcoEnergy rebates to replace it. I solicited several quotations, all of which were at the high end of the range I noted. I had been on the verge of accepting one of them, but wanted to complete my due diligence, which is how I found Homestars. As a result, having found some very negative reviews, I started again, and found Heating Plus Heating & Air Conditioning on Homestars. Their schedule was full, so they referred me to Dave at Reliable Home Comfort. Dave very quickly came out to do the quotation, and I was immediately impressed not only with his knowledgeability but by the fact that that he recommended a smaller unit than everyone else! Having done some reading, I knew that an a/c works best if it works for longer periods of time, yet all but one company quoted on a 2.5 tonne. Dave recommended a 2 tonne (my existing was 1.5), and took the time to explain the technical rationale, only some of which I had come across. I accepted Dave's quote and we booked the date. He and his assistant came by this Saturday (11/15/08) (even though the weather was poor) and everything went perfectly. He called before they left, took all of the old equipment, and left the site clean. He took me through the work done, explained all the paperwork, completed the OPA forms, and it was done. I would absolutely recommend Dave and his team, and certainly will be calling when my furnace needs to be replaced. Thanks Dave!