Jeff Kelm from Ottawa

I had an infestation of carpenter ants this spring: a couple of dozen flying ants appeared in the front hall one day, and we'd see a few every day in the kitchen or in the front hall. We were a little concerned that we had an established colony in the house, as we'd seen ants the previous summer as well (our first in the house). I looked up DIY methods of dealing with these ants, but decided that the risk of damage from the ants if I wasn't successful wasn't worth it. As well, the symptoms I was seeing indicated that the ants were coming from a colony was in the house rather outside. I researched local pest control outfits and called a few for quotes. Dave Saunders at Paramount Pest Control stood out because of his competitive rates, his years in the business (27) and the many reviews praising his honesty, success rate, and professionalism. Dave was true to his reviews. He quickly identified the location of the colony (in the wood around a light fixture outside the front door). He treated likely satellite nest locations on the exterior of the property (an old stump, a retaining wall, the garage, etc.) as well as the interior of the house. He even sprayed a yellow jacket nest he found up in a soffit. Every step of the way, he carefully explained what he was doing and why he was doing it. He described the behaviour of these ants (how satellite colonies work, where a queen is likely to nest, etc.). He had very useful advice on how to ant-proof your home: trimming back branches of a cedar which were touching a wall, re-caulking a few points around windows and other areas (this was on my to-do list for the summer anyway, but still good to know). His work is guaranteed: he said that I would likely see a few dead or dying ants for a week or two afterwards, but none after that. If I saw any after that point, he'd return free of charge. Honestly, though, I haven't seen a single ant since. I don't write many of these reviews, but I do like to make sure that those who run gold standard businesses get the praise they deserve.

The tradesman I originally had highly recommended to me for foundation work was booked solid for months (which is, incidentally, an indicator of a high quality outfit). Since I was unsure of the seriousness of the foundation issue with which I was dealing, I couldn't wait on my original recommendation so turned to Google and the Better Business Bureau website. I found a couple of contractors with A+ ratings on BBB and had them stop by for estimates. I was left unimpressed: one was a fearmonger who attempted to sell me repairs I obviously didn't need, while the other quoted me an outrageous price for a simple reparging when there were clearly other issues to be addressed (e.g. the source of a slightly waterlogged and crumbling foundation). The positive from all of this was that my googling led me to the Home Stars website. I called Dave Marcotte Foundations based on this company's excellent reviews on Home Stars. It turned out that Dave was also extremely busy (I called in July and he was already booking for the spring) but, despite not being able to handle the work, volunteered to stop by and give me an assessment of my problem. I was impressed from the moment Dave arrived: he was straightforward in his appraisal and description of the problem without resorting to scare tactics. He walked the entire perimeter of the house, checked the basement, noted the soil conditions, etc. before providing a final diagnosis (I was impressed by the level of thoroughness). He gave two options, one less expensive, but that would require revisiting in the future and a costlier longterm solution, but there was no hard sell. Dave reassured me that the problem wasn't overly serious and could wait until the spring to address, but he happened to have a job one street over starting a couple of weeks later, and gave me the option of having his crew split time between the two sites if I wanted to start sooner. When it came time to get to work, everything was done on time, to budget, and with no mess. As the job progressed, there were a couple of additional issues uncovered (packing a crack in the wall below ground level was one), but Dave solved them at no extra charge. A special mention to Mirko for his excellent parging work and thanks for installing the new exhaust vents. I was incredibly impressed from start to finish. Highly recommended!