M. Cheers

Is there a reason I didn't give a 10 star review? No, but I think for a 10 star review, it has to be outstanding work, and to be honest, I'm not sure how one can do outstanding work on a new roof. I will say the salesman (name I forget) was polite, not pushy. He came by when we were at work, and dropped off the quote. I thin he followed up with a phone call to see if we had any questions. My father also got a quote at the same time. The scheduled date was a 'rough estimate', which I understand - weather can certainly delay other jobs, so I understand. When the day arrived, they showed up (perhaps 5-7 workers), and got the job done in a single day. They cleaned up as best as I think they could. They forgot to put a few items back in place, but that was a minor issue. Initially I'm pleased. The real test will be in 5-10 years to see if the roof still "works". It definitely looks good at the moment.

Our basement is currently unfinished. Given that the renovation is going to be fairly expensive, we thought it was best to have a designer help us with the best use of space. This company was recommended to us by our contractor of choice (who we want to finish the basement). Based on our conversations - there was no inference of a referral fee. Our main contact was Catherine, and she basically works in three steps. Meeting 1 - get some ideas of what we wanted, and then spend 2-3 hours getting measurements, noting ductwork, electrical lines and plumbing. Meeting 2 - present several ideas. In our case, she came with 7 different floor options for the basement -- a floor plan, along with some 3D renderings of walls, furniture, etc. We told her we wanted to re-use some existing furniture, so she worked those into the plans. Meeting 3 - this is yet to come for us. But based on our feedback in Meeting 2, she will present two final options with some last detail. She notes in her contract that they're not blueprints by any means. They won't indicate location of outlets - or that level of detail. But there are wall measurements, and that level of detail. So far, so good.

We had some cracked tiles in our front hallway and kitchen and decided it was time to get new flooring. We saw vinyl flooring as a good option since it won't crack, and easier to repair/replace if one has a problem. Dustin came out (twice actually), and looked it over, gave us some options, and provided us a quote. Because of our own schedule, we were looking 3-4 months down the line, and Dustin got back to us at the right time and slotted us in. Where we needed some electrical and plumbing, he brought in subcontractors (I prefer someone who knows when to bring in an expert rather than trying to muddle through and make a mistake). There were also a few areas midway through the job where he presented us options that saved us some money off the original quote. I certainly never got the feeling that he wasn't being completely fair and honest from start to finish, which is valuable in a contractor. The floor is now done and looks really nice.

We recently had a walkway, driveway and landscaping done. Of all the work done, the driveway is the one that I have the most concerns about. They were recommended by Harper's Garden Center (who we were happy with). They were terrible at responding to phone calls, and timing. When the driveway finally went in, we weren't home during the work, so I can't verify how thick the asphalt was laid. Also, when I got home afterwards, there was no barrier across the driveway to stop cars driving on it, and no sheet about what to do (I read on the internet not to drive on it for 3 days). The work they did was good - the lines were very clean, and they meshed well with the surrounding landscape. However, I am concerned how it will age. If the driveway looks good in 3 years, I would easily rate them an 8. (revisiting this review) I'm staying with the 5 star review. It was only a year after installation, we had some cracks near the edge (12 inches from the edge) with some weeds growing through. We called them about it, but never heard back.

Colin Harper did the landscaping on our neighbour's house - which is how we got to know of his company. He quoted on our walkway, driveway (which he subcontracts), and landscaping. Ultimately, we brought them in to just do the landscaping (which we used another person to design). He was patient - came out multiple times. The last visit was a joint one with our designer. He worked within our budget to come up with an implementation. It was an interesting meeting with the designer - she was the one proposing the expensive solutions, and he was the one who was explaining how much it would cost, and how that wouldn't work for us. The install guys were friendly, and did the job quickly. Hopefully it's all there and living next year.

We actually looked up this company because we saw a neighbour whose walkway we really liked. So, we called and got a quote. The salesman is the same person who does the labour - Barclay. Really nice guy, seemed quite trustworthy from the beginning. He was patient ... we must've had 3 visits from him and numerous emails before we actually got the work done. We really like the new look. As with everything, time will tell as to the quality, but so far - quite happy.

We hired Richard "The Piano Guy" to move a piano and it's matching bench for us - based on a recommendation. The move seemed to go okay, no damage, all was good. However, when we discovered that there was some family materials in the bench, we contacted the person we purchased it from - to see if she wanted the materials back ... she told us it wasn't hers. The Piano Guy had given us the wrong piano bench. Over a year later, we're still fighting to get the right bench. We get brushed off with emails, delays, etc. The latest response is that he'll give us $75 to go buy a bench we'd like and he'll remove the wrong one in our possession. The company had to do two simple things - move a piano and a bench. They failed on half of those.

Had a quick chat with Steve on the phone and then sent him a few pics of the outside of our house. He gave me a quote and a few weeks later was out to clean our gutters (the upper were too high for my own ladder). Friendly (he joked with my kids) and fast, he did a thorough job.

It was a tale of two sides. The sales guy Greg, was very helpful, informative and gave us lots of options. Not pushy, which I always like. He gave us some different models, different sales options. When we said we were going to think about it, he left it at that - which I always appreciate. Well after some thought, we decided to go with them on an Edison model. That's the good part. The delivery part was less than stellar. The same group of three guys who, in the previous week had removed our old hot tub delivered the new one. They arrived, and didn't introduce themselves (I was responsible for that). Their first two statements as they went into the backyard was: - "That fence has to come down", and - "your electrical wire is too short". er .... you were here last week, don't you think it would've been helpful to mention this back then! I'm not sure how they felt I was going to rip out a fence that was sunk in concrete, or better yet, running some longer electrical wire quickly. Luckily, our deck guys (What Wood U Like) were there to help, and came up with some workarounds. Later on, one of the guys looked at the electrical wire I had (from the previous hot tub), and was saying that we probably needed a thicker gauge - in his experience. As he was explaining it, one of the other guys in the crew said, "Don't worry about it - they know what they're doing!". It was definitely said, in a "come on, let's just drop the hot tub and leave" attitude, rather than deferring to our electrical knowledge. Ultimately the price of the hot tub and the quality will rule. But the delivery was underwhelming.

Tony and his son Brandon came out to look at our existing deck which had some rot. They were here for at least 30 minutes getting down to the ground, examining all the posts, etc. Of the three people we asked for quotes, they did the most legwork in understanding our requirements. Unlike the other companies, Tony wanted to deliver the quote personally after he wrote it up. I assumed it was so he could push his business a little. I was wrong. He explained the quote, gave us a diagram of the work and answered all our questions. Then he left it with us to decide. No hard sell at all. We did choose his company, and were very happy with the results. They didn't rush the work. Because ours was a partial rebuild, he spent extra time reinforcing what was there and in some cases, fixing what was there. They were very helpful as well as we were getting a hot tub in at the same time. I remember when the new hot tub came, the delivery guys were pretty useless. One of them simply told us we had to remove our gate to get it in. Before I could say anything, Brandon was looking at the post to see how he could do it. That wasn't even their issue to worry about, but they were just that kind of company. When the hot tub guys finally said it was just a different post that had to come out Brandon said no problem, and had it removed. Later that night, I saw that after the tub was in, he had simply replaced the post without asking. The quote they gave was firm and only one extra cost was added because of a small change from the original agreement. And trust me, given that it was a partial rebuild, if they wanted to try to bill extra - they could've easily claimed more of the existing wood needed to be replaced. But they didn't. They were true to their quote and word. I've already recommended them to my neighbor and dad. (update) ... two years later, the deck still looks good. We had one minor issue this summer that the guys came out and fixed.

We live in a house that doesn't have main ceiling lights. We wanted to install 3 overhead ceiling fans upstairs, and one main light in a playroom on the main level. We'd used these guys before, and liked them. They gave us the quote, and we hired them. They came on time, were friendly (there were 2 guys), and got the job done. We were happy, and would use them again. Two minor points: - when adding a switch upstairs, the reciprocating saw they used came through the other side, so we have a little patch work to do. He told us before doing that, that it was possible because of some issues. So, we can't blame them. - we had another switch that needed a quick rewire, so the guy said he could do that, but wouldn't charge us (it literally was a 5 minute job). When we got the invoice later, there was an extra charge for that work. We were too busy to call them, and get it removed, but didn't appreciate it.

We got two quotes, Beswick was $250 and the other company was $350. We needed a Maple tree trimmed in the back yard (the branches were looming into our neighbour's yard, and over over roof where the leaves got into the gutter). The quote was $200 and an extra $50 to take care of a front tree as well. They did what they said they would ... trees were trimmed, they cleaned up the branches they cut, and were very friendly.

We moved into a house a few years ago, and there was this one living area where the light switch controlled both an overhead light and some of the electrical outlets. It was done in such a way that made no sense. We wanted the switch to simply control the overhead light and the outlets to be always powered. The guy arrived on time (I forget his name). We explained the problem, and he said, "This could be a 10 minute job - I think they did the marettes wrong. That would be nice. I feared they'd have to run some additional wiring, etc. In the end, he was right - added a nice dimmer switch. When we mentioned that we had another electrician coming to quote on the job, he knew who it was - even called her and said he'd already done the job (they were obviously friends). $100 for 20 minutes sounds expensive, but I'm sure there was a minimum fee ...

We had used them previously for windows (6 of them to be exact), and really liked them. We had them install a new patio door this time. The result was "so-so": - the door looks very nice ... exterior colour matches our house trim - the door doesn't open very wide (an inch or two less than possible) because of the design and the size of the interior handle - the screen door comes off the track every now and then - the actual screen mesh has come loose a few times from the door (we have kids admittedly, but it should be more secure) - the exterior colour is just painted on. Where the screen door occasionally rubs against the frame, you can see it has rubbed off - we got an additional interior kick lock which broke after two weeks. Three weeks after reporting that, we're still waiting for a replacement (it's on order we're told - tell you what, I can buy one at Home Depot for $25 ...) - oh, and they forgot to take the old door frame away. It took took two calls and two weeks for them to come and pick it up (including one strange call - "are you sure they didn't take it - they only leave it if there's a reason ...")

I had installed a bathroom fan in our ensuite, and didn't want to do the venting to the roof/exterior wall myself. I called 4 other handymen and none bothered calling me back. Got a flyer from this company, and called them. They explained their pricing plan - I think it's $150/first hour, $45/ each after that. They sent a guy out a week later who did the job. It was done well ... caulked well, he used the right parts, taping was done well (I went into the attic to check). They weren't cheap, that's for sure, but they were clear about their pricing policy, and the handyman that came out didn't waste time - he was as efficient as I think he could be.

Tony came out (we're just outside Hamilton) and gave us a quote. He was much less "salesy" than the Enbridge guy who completely put me off (that's another story). In fact, he said my house needed around 80,000 but Armana only made a 90k and 70k version - to my surprise he recommended the smaller (and cheaper) model - saying in his experience will do. Anytime a sales guy goes with the lower model, I like it. Install went fine, no issues. So far, the furnace is working well. But like most things I've had done (new garage doors, new windows) - the true test is how things are in years to come.

I'm going to ignore the fact that they were 30 minutes late showing up - they got lost, which has happened to others. But they didn't start the clock running until they got there. Three guys who did the move - at the beginning of July on a hot day. It took two trips unfortunately, but it wasn't for lack of trying - they packed their van to the uptmost. They also had the best price of the three companies I called. While others were charging $30/hour 'fuel charge', they had a single flat fee, which makes sense (gas was around $1.25 at the time). I couldn't understand why other companies were charging by the hour - even if the van was just sitting idle.

I didn't shop around too much - I had seen this company in our neighbourhood (Dundas), so we got a quote from him. Seemed reasonable enough, so we got him to install our garage doors. Service was quick, install looks good. The truth will be in 5 years to see how things have held up. But so far, so good. I think it's a small company - two guys - one of which is the owner. It comes across that way as the owner genuinely seems interested in making sure you're satisfied. I'd recommend them.

I've used Cayman Windows twice so far - last year to replace a bay window, and this year to replace 4 smaller windows. Bob was the sales guy - very good - easy to talk to - no pressure at all. Knew his stuff. The installers were good, made very little mess, the windows look good. In truth, only time will tell if the windows were well done - ask me in 10 years if they were worth the money. However, at this point, I would recommend them.

I had talked to Alan and had them come out to clean some high traffic areas in our house (we have a few small kids). Came out, very personable and did a good job. Easy to recommend.