eaudesnob in Pickering

The past 2 days I had Sergio and crew reddo my flagstones and some brick work and parging - they stuck to their quoted price - did not ask for payment until the work was complete and cleaned up the work areas completely. Sergio kept me informed of when he would be coming and they did their best to avoid excess dust and mess. I would gladly employ them again. Sergio is a third generation experienced Mason and his crew are also experienced.

I left a message on machine on Sunday expecting a call back Monday. Abraham called back and volunteered to have a look Sunday. He came and very quickly nailed it down to one of 4 parts it was likely to be I had researched. He gave me the option of OEM or generic and recommended the generic as the unit is 12 years old. He came back with the part Monday morning and it worked fine after he replaced it. He only charged me for one service call and the part. He also gave me good advice re not repairing the fridge icemaker as it is also long in the tooth. I am completely satisfied that he is efficient and honest and will use him again.

I called Mark in because his expertise seemed needed as in 3 days this minor inconvenience had turned into a nightmare. He used the camera and then snake on the line and established we had stone in the pipe and a break which turned out to be at the "Y" junction. This break was in the main drain line of the house and disabled all our plumbing including all 4 washrooms. Mark gave me a detailed estimate the following day. He did the work in his first full day opening along with Matt. He said he would be here at 8:30 and he was. They cleaned up well after the job and Mark stuck to his estimate and played no tricks. I feel the price was fair and the work excellent. He gave good advice on maintenance in the future to prevent further problems. The photos are in timed order at 11:00 am 12:38 pm 3:31 pm and 4:28 pm You can see what they had to deal with in photo 2. This work was performed Dec 9th 2019. I will use Drain Relief in the future and do not hesitate to recommend their services. Also note that despite it all Mark is still smiling in photo 3. Their was no incentive to write this review other than being a satisfied and grateful customer.

I saw this company do a roof on the next street last September - I liked their work so I got a quote from Mike then - in April 2017 I decided to proceed - Mike wrote a very thorough quote covering the scope of work. He also made suggestions such as adding a second vent over the kitchen for better venting of that small roof. Also using diamondeck over the entire roof to qualify for a 20 years non prorated warranty instead of 10 years and an upgraded wind warranty to 130 mph . When I wanted Maximum vents despite his preference for ridge venting he was amicable about the change. Overall I am quite happy with the workmanship done by Dan the foreman and his 5 member crew. They all seemed to know their jobs and worked independently without needing direction. The crew was mature and experienced - not a bunch of learners. They did a good job on cleanup and respected my and my neighbors property. I would hire them again without hesitation. When they were two bundles short they were back the next morning at 8:30 am (as promised ) to finish with the missing material. This was not the cheapest quote - I had 2 for less and 1 for more. But it was the most thorough and customer friendly I think.

After my previous experience with tree work a month ago - see my previous review of Access Tree Co. I was less than enthusiastic. However I had contacted Two Guys about that job and they graciously accepted my cancellation without a problem - so I remembered their name. In last nights storm our 30 year old Douglas Fir as tall as my house blew right over to a 45 degree angle and uprooted itself. It was held back only by falling on cedar trees. Brett phoned me 1/2 hour after I emailed them and arrived an hour and a half later. We discussed the job and agreed on a price - they priced realisticly and did not play the ridiculous price games Arborist Dave had - they started work immediately and it took them about 2 hours - they cleaned up entirely and took it all away. In order to keep the price reasonable I had agreed to deal with the stump myself. I am 100% confident of their work and safety precautions and the job. I will gladly use them again in the future.

Jeff looked after my quoting on this and Brent did the service. I found them very competent and thorough. I was quoted around $275 to replace a remote key and programming and cutting of same for my 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. At first glance this looks expensive but two Hyundai dealers quoted me just over $700 for the same thing and I would have to bring the car to them. They stuck to the estimate, did the work when they said they would, and were very pleasant to deal with. I highly recommend their services over going to the dealer ( who sends it out anyway). Jeff also gave me good advice on how to proceed with this. Followup service In July I began to have problems again and the key stopped working first week of August - I informed Jeff who sent Brent back a few days later - Brent had it working in less than 10 minutes - I think he re-paired it with the receiver is the term - in any case they fixed it and showed me how to if it happened again and did not charge for the followup call - Pop-A-Lock just gained a customer for life!

I found this company on Homestars and called them for a non-partisan review of the condition of my roof. I agreed with most of their findings based on the photos they took and included with their report which came very quickly and was quite thorough. It convinced me a new roof was required. Their credentials prove they are excellently qualified for Certaineed laminated ashphalt roofing. I did not end up going with them for the roof job as I found them on the expensive side but I am quite happy having paid for their report and the job they did on it.

This company ( Arborist Dave ) was doing some work for my neighbour across the street. He came over and solicited my wife to know if we wanted our tree pruned back. ( It did need it). When I spoke to him he started at $1000 and then went down to $850. I advised him we were too far apart and left and went into the house and called a different company. Later when my neighbours work was finished he came back said he offered the job for $550 and then went down to $500. As he was already there, with his crew and all the equipment this was not a service call and no advertising cost was involved. When he kept after me I offered $400 cash for the job which he accepted. They did a good job - no complaint there - but it took 1 hour and 5 minutes from start to finish. I shall leave it to you dear readers to decide whether it was good value or not and if his pricing can be trusted.

I found Jeff's Popcorn Ceilings through a Kijiji ad - Being a relatively small job I wanted someone local - Jeff is a second generation painter and stucco man who learned from his father and started when he was still a kid - he worked for his father for 12 years and now for another 8 for himself - fortunately Jeff was doing another job a couple of blocks away. He came and quoted me on the dining room and about a half dozen small fixes that had accumulated in the past 19 years in my house through water leaks and settling. He quoted the job very readily and came 3 days later to start the work and he finished the next day. Jeff suggested quick and economical fixes for the small items. Given the quality of the work and the price I am more than satisfied. He also did a couple of extra fixes he noticed that I hadn't. Jeff worked at saving us money as opposed to padding his bill. He did not ask to be paid until the job was finished and he cleaned up afterwards. I am 100% satisfied with the job.

I emailed Brooklin Insulation for a quote to upgrade my attic insulation from R35 tp R50. Ryan came and estimated we would need another 6 1/2' inches of blown in fibreglass in my 1100 sf attic. Also to upgrade the insulation and weatherstripping on my two hatches to the attic and add more soffit venting. We scheduled it for the following Monday. Ryan and his assistant Cole came with his truck and trailer and a huge blower machine built in. He used dropclothes everywhere and explained everything about what he was going to do and how. I am very pleased with his performance and recommend his services. His quote was extremely competitive and he stuck to it. They cleaned up completely and were in and out in 4 hours. Please note that the phone number in the photo is his old one.

Last week I contacted Bruce at Imperial who gave me a quote from photos I sent to supply and install a new 96% efficient Goodman furnace to replace my 11 year old 80% frigidaire. Bruce was very helpful and answered all my questions in a straightforward manner. He and Travis the sales manager came back very quickly with a very competitive quote on Saturday. It was not the cheapest quote but it was close and the company I trusted more. They had Amir and his collegue here around 9:30 Thursday to do the install. They had to do some tight fitting due to the size difference but worked it all out, did a neat installation, cleaned up completely and checked the operation and compatibility in all modes with my existing setback thermostat. They are members of the right industry organizations and have a clean BBB record. Bruce even handled a last minute change by me fairly and cheerfully. I recommend their services and would use them again.

We have been using the 36 watt Swordfish UVC on our furnace for the past 7 years since 2009. During this time nobody in the house has got the flu or more than a mild cold. I probably pays for itself just in the saved tissues you use. And not having a sore throat all winter is great too. We do not have allergies but it as also highly effective for that. For best results the bulb should be replaced every year or so. It has a reminder light built in. You can buy this direct from the company or through Canadian Tire and other dealers. Their customer service is also excellent. Note to Homestars - the proper category for this would be air purification if you had that category - you have water purification

I found Martin on Homestars on a Friday afternoon when my secondary fridge failed after an area power blackout.. He told me up front he could not come until Monday morning. I made an appointment which he said he would be here mid morning. He showed up about 9:45 am and started working immediately - I had identified my model number to him and he brought the proper starting relay with him - so no going to get parts after the fact. He had it diagnosed, installed, and working within a half hour. He advised me there was no warranty as this could be a sign the compressor was near the end of it's service life ( the fridge is 19 years old )- but said it looked and sounded alright to him. I am very satisfied with his honesty and will gladly use his services again.

I picked this company after consulting local companies on Homestars and checking his rating here and with the BBB. Vito came to my home the day after I phoned gave me an immediate price and showed me two other houses on my 20 home street he had done in the last 3 years. He both knew the houses and could recognize his own work. He showed myself and my wife the driveways. We decided immediately as his price was competitive and gave him a small deposit on condition the driveway be finished within 6 weeks. The next morning at 8:00 am he came with his crew and took out the old ashpalt and laid some gravel and compacted. He finished in exactly one hour. Exactly six weeks later he phoned and had his crew here again yesterday afternoon. This time they were here for exactly 1 1/2 hours and did a great job. Vito and his crew are all no-nonsense professionals ( no kids - all seasoned veterans who work together like a well organized ant colony), His bobcat and compacting roller operators are particularly skilled on their machines. I have no reason not to give them a 10 as his price was good, the work was excellent, he communicated what he would be doing and when, and they showed up on time and did everything they contracted for. They also left no mess whatsoever. Below are before during and after photos taken during the process.

I had met Saku when he was subcontracting for a company doing a complete window replacement in my house. He was the lead worker doing the replacement of 17 windows including 2 bay windows in my house over 2 years. The second year I specifically requested him to do the installation as I had been very impressed by his work ethic the first year. A couple of years later I found a great deal on a high end patio door and needed it installed. I immediately thought of Saku as my first choice, and phoned him up and asked him to do the installation. We never even discussed price, as I knew he would be fair and do a first rate job which he did. I would happily use him for any window door or aluminum siding project in the future.

This was part of a general kitchen renovation supplied by Home Depot. They subcontracted the measuring manufacturing and installation of it. The fellow who came and measured knew what he was doing but different workmen came to install and they installed the countertop crooked. Eventually they had to make two new ones and reinstall. This time the fellow who did the measuring came back and installed it himself and said that the original would have fit properly it was just inexperienced installers who had a problem. This whole process from ordering to installation and then another installation took about 6 months. We were not happy with the problems but in all fairness Home Depot stood 100% behind their work and never attempted to evade responsibility or make excuses

I've dealt with Apex 3 times - twice for repairs and once to build a display case for a Spanish Armada warship. They are knowledgeable and professional. The case they built was plate glass and plate mirror with an OD of 52" x 40" X 16". The price included delivery and setup which is quite complcated on that size of case. I would have given them a 10 but when I went in to order and pay for it they changed the price upwards on me by about $100. Since I had gotten 3 quotes I knew the price was still fair and went ahead with it. They told me upfront not afterward so I do not consider it a major issue.

This was a Kijiji Deal of the Day on August 10, 2011 - a similar deal was also sold on Wagjag. We bought the deal that day and were prepared to proceed immediately. The regular price was supposedly $345 . At the time I also purchased a new replacement sink which had to wait for their work to be installed and shutoff valves for the changeover. However it took the company 2 weeks to arrange an appointment until Aug 26 and then only after I had reminded them 3 times. The person (Paul) whose name I was given was to call me back and did not. When I finally got him he said the eartliest he could do it would be Tuesday October 4th. I left a message confirming their appointment and that I would be ready on Oct 2nd. Late on Oct 3 he called me back and asked to change to Oct 5th between 8 and 9 am.after I had already removed the sink. He never showed up or returned my calls or emails after that. My bathroom sink was sitting on the floor waiting for him for 5 days. 4 emails to the company were returned as undeliverable. Late on Oct. 6th I contacted Kijiji after many attempts to contact Paul or the company. They confirmed they were looking into it and have not got back to me further yet. The company offers a five year warranty but their email is not working and you have only a phone # which is almost always answered by a fairly aprupt message. They do not have any address listed on their website (again a warning signal) - however through googling I was able to find the following. Surface Works Canada 13 Sunden Court Whitby, Ont. L1R 2M7 That name varies slightly from their website name. However the phone number is the same 416-807-4501 or 905-807-4501 There is a back story to all this involving the sale of the company but I have no way to evaluate wether it is completely true. However at this point I am willing to give Paul the benefit of the doubt. On November 23rd Paul finally came and redid the counter. He came back from the previous week to bring the finish my wife preferred. He did a good job masking and prepping the work area. It is important to note that the countertop he was refinishing while lightly used was between 15 and 25 years old. His work both improved the original finish and made it look brand new. Based on the problems and delay I originally gave them a zero rating. After the work was finished I am changing it to a 5. I am satisfied with the look and workmanship. The performance of the material will take time to evaluate. We are considering further work on other counters. If it had not been for the delays and problems I would have given them an 8 or 9. The photos were taken less than an hour after Paul finished. We still have to wait 24 hours for it to cure then recaulk around it and reinstall the sink.

I found this company by accident while researching Clopay Garage Doors from one of the big box home improvement stores. I liked their doors and options but not the stock ones carried by big box which are plain jane. John their sales manager phoned me back minutes after I called. He came and saw the job within 2 hours, discussed a wide range of options and came back on time the following day with a written quote and pricing of everything we discussed. My wife wanted wide panels, almond coloured finish, and plain full length windows and I wanted insulated for strength. John quoted all of this with no problem. It is special order but what he quoted was considerably better than the big box installed price for the exact same thing. At no time did John use high pressure or try to upsell to his most profitable doors instead of the ones we wanted. But he did make recommendations and gave good reasons for every one of them. He said the order would be ready in about 4 weeks, phoned me the week before it arrived to confirm a installation date and called me the Friday before again to remind me. He also said he would arrive between 9 and 10 am and that is what they did. They took the old doors and frames away and did not leave a mess at the jobsite. All in all we got exactly what we wanted and got them installed for less than the DIY price from the big box. And as we have low clearance a DIY would not be easy and would not have the quality of their installation. Service followup - A month after John finished he dropped around at his own inititave to check everything was OK. He noticed a slight noise on one door that was not normal - knew exactly what it was - and came back the following week with his tools and fixed it no charge. Also he thanked me for two local customers who had noticed his sign and talked to me while walking their dogs. They both bought double installations and are completly satisfied as well.

I found Rooter Way here on Homestars - called him because he had good reviews and was local - Dan answered the phone himself and I described situation - he said he would come between an hour and hour and a half and he arrived at about the hour. He immediately pinpointed the problem and brought in a large drain snake (we had already tried 3 snakes ourselves to know avail but his was a larger unit.) Some of our problem was leftover from a previous repair several years ago. Dan worked hard on it for about 2 hours and cleared the obstruction which was not easy (we would never have been able to do ourselves). After he gave us the option of a camera going down and a full drain flush which would clear the drain completely but may or may not be required in the future. My options were made clear, there was no high pressure tactics and Dan charged fairly for the 2 hours work plus travel time and specialized equipment he had to use. I also never asked the price before he started so he could have abused that trust and he did not. I saw the one negative review on this site of his but did not feel that it was reasonable to expect a plumber on the road to fax insurance certificates instantly so I ignored that. I would happily use his services again and recommend him. I feel I got good value for his services and he provided no incentive to write this review other than his good service. Bruce

Very soon after leaving the other lawncare company (see my review of that also on Homestars) I received an attractive offer to go with Hometurf Lawn Care. I did not know at that time it was no coincidence. You see what I did not know at that time is the owner of record of the first company is L. Van H*******t. And when very shortly I reported Hometurf to the BBB ( case ID 1147017) I learned that the owner of record of Hometurf is D. Van H********t (what an AMAZING coincidence!) They also operate in a very similar manner. For example they encourage you to prepay for the year by large discounts. But their are NO REFUNDS WHATSOEVER for any reason including not fulfilling their service agreement. They advertise 6 visits the first one in April. After you have paid in full on April 17th this first visit changes to a prediction of May 22. This of course allows the high school students ( they call technicians ) to finish their school year and take the one half day training course on how to get in and out of each property in less than 10 minutes and how to mix the chemicals one teaspoon to a thousand gallons or so for your lawn (which you are paying 50 to 70 dollars for per 10 minute visit.) I recommend you avoid both these companies (at least technically they are two companies but are they?) and do your own lawn. It will save you money and my lawn looks better now than it ever did with either of them. I first wrote this review in June 2010 but in March 2012 Homestars tightened up their criteria and I had to redit and resubmit. I have now been maintaining my own lawn for over 5 years and I still maintain it is both better maintained and at much less cost than using any lawncare service - in comparison to most of my neighbours lawns which I see every year,

The cost is for the total of the years not 1 year. I used their very best (ie most expensive) service for 8 or 9 years including their grub control. I still had grubs, I still had weeds, they would come at the wrong times sometimes almost 2 months apart and then give various excuses for why their products didn't work. Their technicians ( pronounced students ) would sometimes literally run around the property to finish faster (under 10 minutes guaranteed) then onto the next job. They would order you to water the lawn for two days straight for an hour to two hours ( you would be still watering at midnight). The kicker came when they explained our dead grass by saying a normal lifetime for a lawn is 20 years. When I researched this bizzare statement I found documented proof that lawns at Buckingham Palace are over 400 years old. I then kicked them out. By the way I've been doing my own lawn for the last 4 years. It costs a little more the first year. After that it's cheaper. And my lawn always looks better than it did with them. They also have very little regard for the law. I am on the Federal do not call list since day one. And I have not dealt with them for over 4 years. Despite this and my requests not to be called they call me once or twice every year in the early spring.

4 years ago all the homes in my area were 20 years old so most of the homes were having new roofs done over a 3 year period. I'm retired so I would go and look every time I saw or heard a roofer nearby. I must have studied over 20 roofing companies and how they did their work. The houses on both sides of me were done by the same company. (not this company I am reviewing). Both times they took 3 days to complete the job, left a mess on my property which I had to clean up (shingle pieces, roofing nails etc.) and they broke the peak of one neighbours garage by putting too much weight on a ladder to get the shingles up. Their workers were mostly young males late teens or early 20's. The supervisors would get them started in the morning then take off to the local strip joint from about 11am to 3pm. So the workers were unsupervised. I saw other varations with this being the worst from various other companies which did not impress me either the workers or their equipment. Then one day came Miskas doing the home of a neigbour around the corner and 4 doors up. I went and watched and WAS IMPRESSED. They had complete equipment, a special flatbed truck for throwing the old roofing material in. A equipment truck. And a crewcab pickup truck all with the name Miskas Roofing painted on the vehicles. They had a shingle lifter that sent the shingles up the ladder to the workers. Their workers were in their late 20's to mid 30's and professional roofers not students. And the supervisor (who I later found out was one of the owners Steve) spend the entire time on the roof at the top. He did no work whatsoever, but watched everything carefully to see it was done right and directing. I talked to the home owner who was quite pleased and he told me Miskas had been $500 better than other quotes as well. After my fourth time over watching I gave one of the workers a note for the supervisor with my address and phone number to give me a quote. They finished in one day. Steve came late that afternoon after they were finished and cleaning up. He quoted me including the special order shingles my wife wanted (costing 10 to 20 percent more for material than standard.) His price was comparable to others for standard shingles. How can that be? - Well they do their jobs in 1 day not 3 and they use proper efficient equipment they own not rentals. A week later they were doing my roof with the special order shingles. They finished in one day other than a small area at the back which required 1 or 2 more bundles - that got finished the following week as promised. They did not leave a mess on my property or my neighbours. The owners names are George and Steve and I would highly recommend their services.

We had Brock do our windows in two stages in 2002 and 2003 (half each year). Had the good fortune to get the same lead installer both years a Finnish gentleman named SAKU who I strongly recommend and requested him for installation the second year. He is very experienced and takes the time to do the little touches. I researched window standards, spacers and "Window Wise" before contacting Brock and had already decided "Northstar" was the make of window I wanted (because their spacer and seals gave you warm edge technology which carries on thru the entire glass.) Altogether we had 17 major windows replaced including 2 three pane bay windows. Not one of these windows has ever leaked or had a problem since. Brock was not the lowest price window supplier but the window standards were there and obviously the quality at this point is clear. A friend of mine also had Brock do his windows the next year but in their budget line rather than "Northstar". He had to replace 3 of them last winter (under warranty from Brock). New windows were provided no charge he just had to pay $50 each for labour to replace them. SAKU was not involved in this installation. I would recommend Brock and Northstar based on my experience and would use them again. - not sure about the budget line but thats a quality vs cost issue everyone faces. By the way on the one minor question I had and emailed recently Mike Nolet responded in less than one hour with detailed information.

When I wanted to change my central air conditioning 2 years ago I contacted Boris and 3 other companies. Boris gave me 100% accurate advice and steered me in exactly the right direction. He stuck 100% to the quoted price and actually did a little more than he was contracted to do. His installation was perfect, they explained the operation of new unit well, and Boris filled out and followed up on the $500 rebate I was to receive. His pricing was also excellent. When I phoned him yesterday to recommend a friends upcoming job to him he could still remember most of the details of my installation and home configuration from the top of his head. If I could award it he would get an 11 out of 10. On my recommendation he also did my friend's A/C and furnace and also did a perfect job there. When I need a new furnace I will only make one call - to Boris! You can't go wrong with Boris and Cozy World.

Because we had 8 cats we needed a non motion sensor alarm. This company advertised no false alarms. We purchased and had them install the system. They gave us a 10 year written warranty. We've had hundreds of false alarms. When a wire came loose on the back of the unit we were told the system board in the unit was "fryed" (which would not be covered under warranty and they quoted $1000 to replace the unit.) We were encouraged to claim it on our insurance. They tried to "upgrade" us to a newer unit (different manufacturer). The "upgrade" to our existing unit (which cost us $1200 by itself), had an MSRP on the manufacturers website of $89.95. We declined this kind offer and shipped the unit back to the manufacturer in the United States. They identified the problem and fixed it for a nominal handling fee. However because we had to pay for shipping both ways and brokerage fees and the (worthless) 10 year warranty was from EKO it ultimately cost us $300.00 in assorted costs. We would never deal with Richard Popyuk or EKO again. Buyer beware