Mike in Stittsville

We threw a tough job at Steve, Herbie and Liam with our floors. 20 year old pine (VERY soft) floors with tons of gaps, tons of yellowing and tons of damage. They worked SO hard to get these floors looking perfect and they came out amazing! We are so pleased with the result.

Rainbow Roofing just finished my big roof and they did an outstanding job. We had a leak, and they prioritized us to get it done quickly. The guys were professional, polite and courteous. They were working from early in the morning, and worked hard! My roof needed a minor repair under the old shingles, and they did it, no questions asked. I also had a dramatic colour change which they handled, no problem. Price wise, a big roof isn't cheap... but Rainbow was the best priced for reputable companies. Some companies quoted as much as $10,000 more. Nobody likes getting their roof done, but Reid and team did a great job. They cleaned the site every day and did their best to allow us to get on with our business while they worked.

I sold my home and needed a good reliable service and inspection on my fireplace and furnace. They did just an outstanding job. My fireplace looks like new. It works like a charm. The furnace was in good condition, but the technician found a problem with the tubes immediately and fixed it. He knew the brand, the model and the issues that could come up and went through everything. He was great!

One of the springs on my garage door snapped, leaving our door disabled. I called Mike at 9pm a night and he was there at 11am the next day, and replaced the springs, lubricated the door and adjusted the garage door opener. It was quick, cost effective and well done.

Alan and team tore down my poorly built stage of a deck and completely rebuilt it. Lower, shorter and with cedar. No more rails, no more crappy stain job, no more neighbours watching our every move. Alan gave me lots of options, helped us decide what was best and most of all gave us some of our back yard back!

Having moved to Ottawa last summer, we had to choose a snow removal company somewhat blindly. We saw a lot of people using Adam Kittle, so we gave it a try. They were fantastic. They were done before we left for work, and then done again through the day. Fantastic service, well done and even in the heaviest snow fall. We were thrilled with their work.

I have Enercare come out to fix my AC which needed some new valves and such. It required three visits and a test. The sales person on the phone convinced me to sign up for the maintenance plan saying it would cover up to $500 of the repair and up to 3 visits. The guys did a good and fast job on the repair, all my issues are on the billing side. I ended up getting a bill for over $1000 for the repair PLUS the maintenance. After a dozen phone calls and explaining what was 'sold' to me they FINALLY agreed and we settled on a number... Or so I thought... A week ago (6 months later) I got an "adjustment" bill for another $300. When I called, they could tell me why and said they'd call me back in a week... Really... A week. Never again.

Call after my AC wouldn't send any cool air through... Guy comes, tells me he can't fix it, call back on Monday and then hands me a bill for $180 for 15 minutes and instructions to call back.

Sab and Joe did my home theatre & TV installation, as well as some CAT5 cabling for me on behalf of a local stereo shop. They were fantastic. They made some solid recommendations on how to do things, and even helped me move a heavy piece of furniture into my basement for the home theatre. They came with everything they needed, spent about 6 hours running cables and installing everything. They did 3 wall mounted TV's, a set of speakers and quite a bit of cabling. Fantastic work by Sab and Joe.

Rockbrune moved my home from Toronto to Ottawa recently. Rockbrune was recommended to me by another mover, who told me to speak to "Wally" at Rockbrune and ONLY Wally. Well, Wally was great. He came in and gave me an estimate, and explained everything. Very personable... until you leave your deposit. After I did my deposit, I didn't hear from Rockbrune again until I called them 4 days before the move. That's when they told me they didn't have the 43' truck I was promised. In fact, I spoke to Bill Rockbrune himself, and he was rude and crusty... not caring in the least that my truck was going to be too small. He even said to me "I've got bigger problems right now." to which I felt like saying "You do know I'm your customer, right?" but I bit my tongue. Lucky for me, after Wally quoted me 10,000 lbs as an estimate I purged just tons of stuff... including a full dining room set. AFTER a massive purge, I came in at 10,080 lbs and we had about 6 inches to spare on the 32' truck they sent. I found out later that Wally is known to under-estimate... so be aware if you are getting a quote. I will say that their guys were great. They worked hard and fast and didn't break a single thing. They were polite and respectful of our property. No complaints there at all... At the end of the day, if I had to do it over, I would have chosen another company, but it also could have been worse. Given that our stuff made it and that the nothing got broken, I guess it's a win.

Friday night of the Canada Day long weekend, our fridge started to smell like burned plastic. 2 minutes later, black smoke started pouring out of the back of the fridge. I managed to run down and shut off the power before any damage was really done. I didn't know if I could get anybody to come on the Saturday morning of a long weekend, but Kevin from North Durham Appliance called us at 9am on Saturday morning. Kevin was on his way out for his vacation... but STILL came by to have a look. He replaced the part that caught fire, and we still had an issue so he had to go back to his shop and get another part... which he did. This is so far above an beyond, I can't thank him enough. What a fantastic job. Fridge is up and running, and it cost me $118.

Daniel quoted me on fairly short notice to do 3 bedrooms for my kids. The painters did a good solid job. Nice lines, good work. Paining is funny because while you want them to move quickly, it comes out better when they take their time. It was a whole day job for my 3 bedrooms, but they did a great job. They were hear on time, and done when Daniel expected them to be done. They were quiet, polite and professional. Even the Bell guy commented on how quiet they were. Well done.

Sean did a solid job on my home inspection, considering there was 3 feet of snow outside. He pointed out some minor things and one major concern, which required further expertise. It was a good catch, and we dealt with it easily. The report came quickly and it was worth the price. Your home inspection is only as good as your inspector, and Sean was solid, reliable and knowledgeable. I would absolutely use him again.

These guys were fantastic. They worked with my crazy dates, called to confirm the day before, showed up EXACTLY on time, asked me if I wanted a coffee and even helped me figure out my hot water heater (which of course is not part of the service.). They had a LOT of people, but they were all very polite and worked solid to get the job done fast. Duct Cleaning gets a bad wrap because of the telemarketers, but these are NOT those guys. They also cleaned all my carpets, and the quote was almost exactly what they said it would be. Totally worth it. Thanks Ottawa Duct Cleaning!

I am not a "handy" individual when it comes to home repair and knowledge about this. When a friend of mine showed me his home inspection report from Mike Holmes Inspections, I was blown away! We had their inspector come in and spend 2 hours looking through the house. They told me to expect 3 or 4 hours, but I figured it was a newer house and there were fewer issues. Our new home is 8 years old... not old by any stretch of the imagination. The inspection was almost $695 + GST, which is expensive for an inspection, but I expected a great amount of detail on my report. The guy appeared to do a fair job. I specifically asked him to make sure that the electrical was good in the kitchen and the laundry room, because the reno's were DIY by the previous home owner. He finished his inspection and walked through with me. He noted that the roof would need replacing, and that there were normal settlement cracks in the foundation (very small!) and that the attic could use a little more insulation. Lots of minor things... rotting wood outside the home. Ineffective caulking, etc. He noted no issues with the electrical. That was the last time I was in the home before we moved in. A week after we moved in, a family member came over for a visit. This family member is a part time contractor, and before he was even inside the front door he said "What's wrong with your doors?" He then proceeded to show me where the previous home owner did a DIY repair on what appears to be a kicked in front door. Air flowing through the top and bottom. He said "You should have used a home inspector... this could be expensive to fix." When I told him I DID use one, he got concerned... and we started to look further. The double door in the front has a door jam that appears to be made from left over wood and replaced the actual jam with a DIY jam, which doesn't fit right. Air flows freely at the top and bottom. The home owner put several layers of extra weather stripping to compensate. I thought it looked odd, but didn't think much else because it wasn't in the report. I'm told that to replace the double door and frame (which may be needed) it could cost me as much as $5000. Granted, that may be high, but it won't be cheap! When I asked Mike Holmes Inspections, they said "It's not a major issue and could have happened after the inspection." Which is total crap. Down to the basement. We had a look at the electrical panel, and it looked okay to him. However... up and to the left (maybe 2 feet away...) inside the vapor barrier was quite a bit of mouse dropping. "Did you know you have mice?" No... it wasn't in my report. When asked Mike Holmes inspections said "Not a major issue, we can't catch everything." We went up to the kitchen. Above the stove is a live power line. It is capped, but hanging out. Being under some trim... I didn't notice. Neither did the inspector, even though I specifically asked him to check it. It was not in my report. We went into the garage... we found dozens of holes in the drywall, some pretty big. One of them was very interesting because it has an electrical box with a split of a 240 Amp circuit, cut right into the wall between the garage and the laundry room. Again, not in the report. We pulled out the dryer to inspect the electrical and found a 1ft x 1ft hole in the drywall where the dryer vent is. This is 4 feet away from were the hole in the garage is for that electrical box. Again... not in the report! When asked, Mike Holmes Inspections said that they are not allowed to open a junction box, though they admitted that it was odd. So I asked, if it's odd, why isn't it in the report? No answer. On the 1 ft by 1 ft hole behind the dryer, the excuse was "We normally don't move appliances." but I pointed out you didn't have to look behind it, simply under the counter that is around the dryer. We found some water damage on the kitchen cabinets from a leaky fridge. Not in the report. They don't check the actual appliances, but the water damage should have been noted. So to recap... they missed damaged front doors, mice, DIY electrical, poorly done reno / electrical in the laundry room, water damage, poorly installed toilets, drainage problem in ensuite bathroom and multiple holes in the garage (which I am told is important for the warmth of the room above. When I called them, they made every excuse in the book. Ultimately it comes down to this... I NEEDED this information WHILE I WAS NEGOTIATING for my house. Not after. I needed to know I have to get new (or even repair) doors, I have to bring an electrician in to check all the DIY electrical, etc. Now, it's too late! They said things like "We didn't cause any damage to the house." and "At least you don't have a flood" and "That could have happened after the inspection". They didn't get that I needed the inspection info BEFORE the deal was done. Almost nothing was in the report that needed to be addressed immediately. The person I spoke to there said they would meet with the head inspector at Mike Holmes Inspections. Today I got a call with the results of that meeting and was told that it was "reasonable" for the inspector to miss these things. They told me "You didn't ask any questions of the inspector" which is a falsehood... but even if I didn't, THAT'S NOT MY JOB! That's why I paid HIM twice the going rate of a non-Holmes inspector, to ask those questions for me! For whatever reason, I can only add 1 picture. I do have more I hope I can add later.