Fireman

Had some lights flickering and Ali did his best at solving the issue. It was not a board issue, but an electric company issue with the meter itself.

I began a project to renovate my garage, bathroom, and adjoining walk-in closet. I had a few spray insulation companies come in and the reason why I chose Great Northern Insulation was Aaron. Aaron was great to chat with, and to go over the project. He even came by a second time when I informed him of the projects expansion to include a bathroom and adjoining walk-in closet. Aaron was the only person that informed me that I would need to be out of the house for 24hrs to let the smell/toxins from the insulation spray dissipate. The biggest issue I had was with scheduling. Just before signing the documents and sending the deposit, I asked for a specific date and time. After speaking with Aaron, he suggested I call the Head Office to confirm availability. After speaking with Head Office, they confirmed they had the date and time available; therefore, I signed the documents and sent the deposit. I made arrangements to ensure that everyone was out of the house and staying elsewhere from the start of the work and for a minimum of 24hrs. However, just as we were coming to the start of the work, I got a confirmation email that was three days earlier and some random time. I had to call the scheduler and informed them that was not the time that was agreed upon and I had made arrangements for everyone to be out of the home for the necessary timelines. Scheduler was not aware of the agreed timelines, but was able to confirm the correct date and times. Sadly, that was not the last of the scheduling issues. Less than 24 hrs before work was to begin, I was sent another confirmation email and it was an afternoon time instead of the morning time that was agreed upon. No one was answering my calls and I was forced to make additional accommodations. Lo and behold, when the crew came the next day, they came earlier than the confirmation email time but still later than the agreed upon time. In friendly chit chat, I learned the crew came from an earlier job that was small and was told that they could not come to my location earlier than 11am. The scheduler had double booked my time slot and screwed up all my accommodations for the day. Sarah and James were great and empathetic. However, after they had finished and left, the spray insulation didn't expand and fill everything, which created gaps. Gaps large enough to put my finger through, which means large enough for rodents to pass through. One area, an entire joist wall was missed, which made no sense as it was facing outside, so it was a necessary section; another area, just above the garage and below the roof, there were large gaps, perfect for birds to nest in. Throughout the joists, each corner was not completed and in the middle of the garage each joists cross section was empty. Oh, and a large cardboard was left on top of my veranda ceiling to catch falling spray foam. With the aforementioned gaps, I had to contact customer service. Aaron provided me the email to reach out. BUT no one replied after a week! This whole time I am unable to put up drywall because the insulation was not completed. This was a huge delay, knocking my timeline for a new garage door to next year! (Garage Doors take 6-12 weeks to be delivered and installed. Verified by multiple garage door companies.) Nonetheless, when I contacted Head Office, they saw the email and requested more photos. When I provided additional photos, showing the missed sections and gaps, I was told the scheduler would get back to me. When the scheduler got back to me, they sent an email asking me to confirm times for Monday August 7th in the am or afternoon. When I confirmed the date, I suggested any time in the am or afternoon worked. No response back. Come Monday, I wasnt even sure if anyone would come by until I was looking out the window changing the curtains. Showed the new crew what was missed, including the big cardboard sitting on top of my veranda ceiling. They removed the cardboard and got started on the gaps. After getting started on the larger gaps, their spray gun jammed! Only one of the two chemicals was coming out, which stopped their work. Your trucks should have additional tools for such a scenario. What I give credit to GNI is their ability to make things right. They stood by their work and if it didnt come out to how it should, they ensured to come back to fix the issues at hand. Always call, as it is more direct and active. Email is too passive and indirect.

Hadi came in to clean my AC and fix my furnace. My furnace for 3 winters would reset after just 1 degree increase. Hadi sat down and recalibrated the furnace and it has not reset since. No more late nights of having to turn off and on the furnace to get it back running. Hadi was honest and thorough with his explanation on what transpired. I definitely recommend Hadi and I will be bringing him back to swap out some ducts and redo my air return.

The project originally was for 3 homes, but it ballooned to 7 homes, which was great, as Erik and Daniel spent the time to get all the questions, thoughts, and concerns out of the way to book a date that we agreed on. All our homes now have some privacy, after our 4ft, 40 year old fences were replaced with 6ft, fresh looking fences. Thank you Alpha Fence (Erik and Daniel).

Took a wall of mirrors down and discovered some black mold at the bottom. Hired GTA Mold and they were able to come in, assess, and setup a date to remove the mold and sanitize the area. Quick and efficient.

Aleks and his team did a beautiful job with excavating and remodelling my backyard and walkways. Love the interlock stones that were laid down, providing not only a recreational use but also the ability to regain and make use of some negative space. Looking forward to the second half of the project by doing my front yard. My only issue was the small area of grass in the backyard was not levelled properly and will get the occasional puddling after rainfall.

When I purchased my new house, I only realized afterwards that this house had a history of rodents. The previous owners were sloppy and the garage was full of junk, that you only got to see what was truly there until they moved out. At first I thought the rodent issue was only in the garage, so I closed any possible openings. For several months we didn't have any issues until the winter came. Noticed some interesting burrowed holes in the backyard and in the snow that led to my shed. Laid out a few traps, killed a few rats, then tore down the shed. Found a few rat nests under the shed, but no entrance into the house. It was dumbfounding, as I began to hear the rats in the walls. Tried more traps, killed a couple of more, still heard movement in the walls. Tore down my deck a year earlier than planned, as I need to locate possible entrances into the house. Couldn't find any. After killing all the rats, the mice moved in! Couldn't win and I had to bring in help. Hired Rich to inspect and lay bait stations. He pointed out that the rats were entering the house by climbing a tree and entering between the brick and siding. I never thought to look up. And the mice were entering through the loose backyard water pipe and/or the dryer vent. Rich laid down traps inside the house, while I sealed off the possible modes of entrances from the outside. Although Rich offered the 3-month package, he suggested it would not be necessary in my case, as there was no full-blown infestation; but I was not going to risk it. Providing Rich updates, he was able to come by a second time and replace the existing bait stations with fresh ones, which allowed him to provide an update on the possible numbers of mice. With less bait stations showing signs of feeding, the number of mice left over was small. It was definitely a long battle, as the mice began to dwindle in numbers and die out. I will never forget the loud crunching noises the mice made when eating from the bait stations. It sounded like it was 100x its size. Rich was great, courteous, and informative.

Update: The gutter system that was also replaced vibrates in one corner of the house when it is very windy and/or during ice rain. This was not the case with our old gutter system. Getting the team to come in and fix this issue has been quite troubling and non-existent. I have started to question their warranty stance, where the gutter system has 3 years warranty and they have chosen to avoid fixing it. The roof has a much longer warranty, but my confidence in this company to stand by their warranty has diminished. Before I hired Imperial Roofs, I had another roofer selected. Due to raining, covid surges, the project kept getting delayed. When I circled back with that roofer, they mentioned that the cost of materials had "skyrocketed", thus opening up the bidding for other roofers to entertain. That's what led me to Imperial Roofs. Michael and I discussed the vision I had for my roof, gutter system, and replacing vents with metal versus the existing plastic ones. When the quote came in, it was slightly higher than the original roofer I had, but Imperial Roofs was doing far more work, like adding an extra vent in the roof, replacing an old inactive vent with an active vent, and using better grade shingles. It was all worth it. The job was completed over a couple of days. The roofing completed in one day, the gutter system was over three days. The end result of upgrading a roof that had been degrading over 23-years was exactly how I envisioned my new roof and gutter system. The colours I chose do make the house standout more. The clean-up was not up to Imperial Roofs' standard, so they came back to clean-up the missed nails and shingles. Their follow-up is open and receptive, which is important from a company that you hire. There is no one-and-done from Imperial Roofs, as they truly care about their customers, as well as their work.

I have used Tony for multiple instances. Each instance was great, until the most recent one. When it is Tony by himself, the work is on-point; but when he brings a team of people to help him with larger jobs, the work is sub-par. Bought a new house, replaced a 36-year-old AC, 10-year-old furnace, and a built-in humidifier, as nothing worked properly and the old setup was terrible. Went from two control systems to one (1 Thermostat & 1 Humidistat to 1 Smart Thermostat that controlled both). Unfortunately, Tony and his team treated the work as a “re & re” (replace and re-install) without inspecting if the previous setup even worked. 1. The Thermostat they installed was not properly secured into the wall, not screwed into wood, nor was a drywall plug even used. This caused the Thermostat to shut off if there was heavy movement around the house (inside or outside). I had to fix this myself by disconnecting the thermostat, labeling all the wires, and secure the thermostat base into the stud. I had to free up more cable, providing a bit more slack between the thermostat and Furnace. 2. The humidifier was connected to the cold water pipe, not the hot water pipe. During the winter my house dropped to 20% humidity, and you can see how that affects your home and your health. 3. The furnace was not properly measured, so they had to lift it from the ground, which puts it closer to everything within the system. During the winter, when the furnace was on for a certain period of time, just to heat the house 2 more degrees, the furnace would overheat and shutdown. Quite frightening in the middle of the winter night. They should have replaced the supply and return ducts to compensate. 4. They wanted to run the AC pipe through a new route, which I was hesitant around, as there was already furnace and old AC piping going through one direction. Well, they put a hole in my wall and did a small investigating hole in the brick wall. They found their new route was below the deck and they abandoned the effort and followed the original route. I had to plaster the wall myself. They got a big “I told you so” from me on this one. 5. When installing the new AC coil, they removed the duct work and I saw all the rust particles and particulates. Instead of putting a new supply duct, they removed the rust particles and particulates. Yet, the duct was not in the greatest condition. After everything, and the kind of money I paid, only the AC works the way it should. For the upcoming winter, I have to monitor the furnace and only run it for 1.5 degree heating intervals to reach my desired home comfort. For the humidifier, I will be hiring someone else to connect the humidifier to the hot water pipe. My family cannot go through another 20% humidity-level winter. When the pandemic is over, I will be hiring someone else to replace the supply and return ducts to the furnace the way it should have been. Just wasn’t happy with the work that Tony and his team did, especially for the price I paid. It was lacking and it put my family in a frightening situation. Tony and I tried to figure out dates and times for him to rectify the issues, but the CoViD19 case surges and safety protocols I have in place to protect my family made it difficult for us to align.

Todd came in and dug right into the work. The home I was moving into had terrible upkeep, so I felt it needed a some duct cleaning. Lo and behold, the ducts and vents were terrible and Todd went right in and cleaned all the debris and debris from the vents, returns, dryer vent, and bathroom vent. Gone were the decades old coloured-dust.

Came in and did the job. My only concern was the coughing. Especially in today's pandemic, I was not comfortable going near the work area for a couple of days.

The work was quick and efficient. After purchasing a new home, it was necessary to note if the home was in good standing. Brent was quick and efficient and helped point out some of the changes that should be made immediately, and aspects that were very good about that home. My only feedback would be to combine the pictures with the report, as a visual of what you are reading is much easier to correlate what is going on.

Hired Nate to brick up a door in my basement. He and Jesse did an amazing job, even finding the same red coloured bricks to make the the wall look very consistent. You can’t even tell a door was ever present.

They came in, got on a ladder, and cleaned my eavestroughs. Straightforward job, quick and efficient. I’ve neglected my eavestrough for 5 years, so I was not surprised that there was a clog and weeds growing.

Job was done quickly. Other than a few reminder spots that were skipped, but cleaned, it was great. They did a great job on my main floor bathroom and stove, the dirtiest spots of the house.

For the last couple of months we were hesitant to open up our registers because we didn’t feel the air quality was good. When I started to feel dust particles fly upwards it was time to get a cleaning done. Todd came by and did a spectacular job cleaning every single register, duct, air return, central vacuum port, and furnace. Now the air quality is excellent. We can open the registers with confidence now, knowing there are no dust particles (and other objects) flying out. Definitely going to hire Todd and Ozone again.

AW Mechanical did an amazing job replacing my furnace, AC, and water heater. After experiencing a horrible city block flood, I had to gut my basement and rebuild the damage that was done. Reached out to several organizations through HomeStars and friends alike. You wouldn’t imagine how many “fast-talking” contractors are out there, charging more for lesser quality units. When I spoke to Tony, he was very knowledgeable and honest. He quoted me better quality units, with a fair and reasonable cost. I felt confident in him and his work because he didn’t focus on selling me. Thank you Tony and Fabian.

Experience a very bad flood due to heavy rain and sewer back up from the streets. Insurance companies for the area were slow to react to all the homes that were impacted. The preferred vendors kept delaying inspection and responsive action. Sadly, the more time it took to get something done, my home was going to suffer and my family would have to wait longer to get back into the house. So, I called Canada’s Restoration Services. PM Roberto came on-site, inspected the damage, and had a cleaning crew start the following day. Refered my neighbour to them and they were onsite cleaning my neighbour’s the one day after. With all the sewage and damage contents removed, my family was able to move back into the house quite fast. Four days after CRS was done (seven days after the flood), one of the insurance company’s preferred vendors called to schedule a clean-up. Three days later (ten days after the flood), the second insurance company’s preferred vendor called to schedule a clean-up. Told them both to....off. Canada’s Restoration Services was quick, fair, and handled the insurance paperwork for me.

You know, when you move into a new home, you really don't know how the previous owners took care of the pipes. In our case, we suffered from standing water in our bathroom. We tried several liquid drain cleaners for over a year, where it had temporary fixes. We had a enough pouring our money down the drain, so we reached out to Advanced Plumbing. Two gentlemen came over and snaked the drain. Interesting enough, NOTHING came back, no hair, etc. What they did was provided an education on small pipes, pipe/elbow build-up. They were able to push the build-up all out. Liquid drain cleaners only fix the first few feet, but your pipes extend farther than that and there could be build up in every elbow leading to the sewer system. It has been nearly 8 months since we invited Advanced Plumbing to our home to fix the standing water and it has been clear ever since!

It was great dealing with Alex. He is a positive individual, always welcome to your call or email. He came by and put up a great looking fence, especially with the non-standard requirements and look that we were hoping for. We wanted an extra private fence and he delivered.

The wind in my neighbour blew out my siding. Was very worried that it would cause damage to my neighbours' property. Got a reasonably priced quote from Ecplise, two weeks later and the job was done within two hours. No mess was left behind and they took the old siding that had fallen off, which I put to the side, with them. Only drawback, they were late to the job. They offered to lower the cost, but I just wanted the work over and done with.

The work was done quite well. I notice the difference in changing my old skylight for a triple-glass skylight. The draft was gone and sealed. There was the smell of construction material after the first couple of rainfalls, but that went away. The only issue I had was the timing. There were too many delays and missed opportunities. I had to chase the company down for updates on when the work would be completed. Originally told the job would be done in 2-3 weeks, but it ended up taking 8 weeks. Obviously, for the good work they do, they need to hire more people; but they should set expectations that can be met.