Bobber in Toronto

Hired Red Robin to do spot pointing on my house. Quick response to my enquiry, and what I felt was a good session when Dave came over to give me an estimate. He pointed out that because of the ad hoc repairs over the years (our house is pretty old) and the various mortar colors already on the house, that we could do the whole thing so it would look nice (for $$$) or we could do just a functional job, where they would grind out the joints and spot repair as needed for much less ($). We went for $. Alas, the guys who showed up to do the job showed up an hour late, told me they weren't sure what they were supposed to do, disappeared for an hour after they arrived, didn't grind out any joints (as far as I could tell), colored the mortar a fairly bright peach color, which didn't really match any of the existing mortar and stuck out like a sore thumb (i.e. made it look worse than it did before), slopped mortar all over the place, trowled mortar an inch over the edge of many bricks, half filled joints, ignored spots I pointed out to them, left a haze all over the bricks, etc. In other words, they did such an amateurish job I believe I could have done much better myself. When they were finished, they disappeared quietly before I had a chance to look at their final work. Suffice it to say that I was not pleased. The best thing I could say was that their work looked more-or-less functional (except where they have missed courses I pointed out to them where the mortar had severly deteriorated), although who can say if the mortar would have lasted....? Now the good news. I sent a check thinking I'd never hear from RR again and that I'd just fix up things as best as I could. But I also complained about the work. RR sent a guy around to see what the other fellows had done and told me that he agreed their work was unacceptable. Then, over the next few weeks they sent guys to redo all the work and they did a great job, grinding out the joints, using a colour that was much better suited to the house, etc. These guys clearly took pride in their work. Mark (one of the partners) apologized in person for the original work. And all this even though they already had their money. So I'm sure they didn't make much, if anything, on the job given that they had to redo the whole thing....but I was pleased to see that they were as good as their word, and that they did a great job the second time around. In fact, they did such a good job I'm considering hiring them to redo the whole front and back of the house in the spring, and have already had Mark out for an estimate. So, yes, I'd hire them again, because I like a company that stands behind its work. So they get a 9 out of 10 for that - and it would have been a 10/10 had the first crew done as a good job the first time around.

Mark responded quickly to my enquiry, went through three different pricing options with me, and explained all the pros and cons of each option. He then sent me three estimates a day later (good, better, best), answered all my questions promptly and revised the estimates a couple of times as I asked about different options. He didn't try to pressure me into the higher priced options. I had another estimate done, and checked some prices at Home Depot, etc, and his estimates for carpet and labour were in line with those, a bit more than some, a bit less than others, but definitely competitive. Once I made my final choice, his crew showed up a week later exactly when they said they would, and did a very nice job of installing a very nice carpet in a few hours. He also followed the very next business day to see if we were satisfied with everything.

Just bought a new (old) house, and as part of a basement reno we put in a new furnace, moved the water heater, and had the ductwork reconfigured to make more headroom. This is my second new furnace with Atlas, and the experience last time was good, but this time was even better. MCCloud was great. Went above and beyond. He made several design suggestions that improved dramatically on what we thought possible, and so freed up a lot of headroom in the basement - which was our goal in moving the ductwork around. After McCloud's initial consultation, my contractor (and a good friend of mine) urged me to hire Atlas, particularly if McCloud was doing the job. After the work was complete, my contractor was no less impressed with the results, and said it's rare to see such good work. (Thanks, McCloud!) I'd have no hesitation in hiring Atals again.... As an aside, I also had electricians working at the same time, and when they saw the Atlas truck, they told me they'd seen Atlas crews work before and were impressed with their work.

Renovating a basement downtown and the front yard is surrounded by a 5' hedge (2-1/2' thick), which meant I had to get a street permit for a bin. Alas, it takes 2-3 weeks for that to happen....so I just piled all the loose construction waste in the front yard. Given the situation, I was worried about finding a company that would be willing to haul this stuff away - or what the cost would be. I called Scarborough and described my predicament, and they sent a truck around the next day. Unfortunately, there was some sort of miscommunication and Spyder, the driver, didn't expect to be loading loose waste into the bin on his truck over the hedge (he thought it would be bagged or bundled, and would require less than 1/2 hour of work). After calling the owner (and sending him pics of the waste), the owner said it was up to Spyder to decide if he wanted to load the truck or pass on the job. Spyder agreed, and helped me throw everything in the bin in the rain - took about an hour and twenty minutes. When I told Spyder I needed to have another load hauled away, he told me to mention him by name if I called back and he'd be happy to do it again. Needless to say I was impressed and very appreciative of the service, and will be calling for the next load. Over the phone estimate was spot on, as well - not to mention less than it would have cost me to rent a truck and helper to do the job myself.

El Cheapo saved my life (well, at least my back). We booked El Cheapo to move our heavy/bulky items from one house to another in the same neighborhood, hoping to handle the smaller items ourselves. Jordan, Will and Dean showed up on time and did a great job, moving our big stuff far faster than we ever expected (and at a very reasonable rate compared to any other companies who gave us a quote). The move went so well, in fact, we asked them if they would do a second load of smaller items even though we'd only booked one trip. They happily agreed, although it was the end of a very hot and long day for them. Saved me and my poor friends hours and hours of moving (not to mention my back). Would hire these guys again in a heartbeat!

During a basement renovation we discovered knob and tube wiring that ran up to the second floor. We got three estimates for the job, all roughly the same, but we hired Antonio because he promised to do no damage to our plaster ceilings (which would cost $$$ to fix) and only minor damage to the walls. He was true to his word! What holes they made in the walls they rough patched, and I finished them with only a little bit of work. The other contractors told me I'd have patch myself or hire someone to do it for me. The crew was great: they were friendly, hard-working, showed up on time and cleaned up after themselves each day. They did everything they promised, and more. Highly recommended!

After a recent attempted break-in, we thought it was time to consider a security and monitoring service. But before we signed up for anything, I wanted an unbiased assessment of what our needs might be (instead of a fear-mongering sales pitch - which I got over the phone from a couple of the larger companies). After reading the reviews on Homestars, I called Frank at WOBI. Frank spent about an hour walking around the interior and exterior of the house, pointing out potential vulnerabilities, some of which I hadn't considered. He made several suggestions to fix these problems, none of which required major work or money, and all of which he suggested I do myself. We also talked about what security and monitoring services would do for us - and, more importantly, what they wouldn't. I believe Frank gave me honest, balanced assessment. I'd agree with the review that says "he is not out to sell you anything except good advice and customer service". Highly recommended.