Steve in Ottawa

I hired Donovan Syryduk when it was discovered my roof and chimney were in serious disrepair. Donovan dropped by, provided a quote, and explained everything he was going to do to repair my chimney. I was quite impressed with his honesty and opted to use his services. My wife and I were both extremely impressed with his abilities and the work he did on our behalf. He is a true professional and a dying breed when it comes to honest tradesmen! When he showed up for his first day on the job, he was well dressed, on time, and ready to go. While working on the chimney he invited me up to show me what he was doing and what some of the problems were. This is clearly different from other contractors I've had who are reluctant to have the homeowner around. If you're looking for a mason, you will be very pleased with Donovan's work.

I hired Clarke to conduct my home inspection in the Spring of 2009. When I initially met with him, he was certainly a pleasant individual to speak and took the time to answer questions. Unfortunately, after living in my home for the past few years, several issues have emerged that Clarke should have been immediately able to recognize. The first issue was water infiltration in my roof in the fall of 2010. We started to notice that water was leaking into our home after a few hard rain spells. We called several roofers to our home and every single one of them pointed out that roof patch material should not have been used around flashing, etc... In the end, there were three different areas of water infiltration and ALL of them were located where roof patch material had been located. I fail to understand how Clarke missed these obvious problems. In his report he merely stated that he had "traversed" the roof. Buy beware folks, Clarke's inattention on this matter set us back almost $25000. In the most recent gaffe to emerge, Clarke's report clearly states that I have a 200 AMP service in my home. I do not. I have since learned that I only have a 100 AMP service but I have a 200 AMP panel - not the same thing at all. Since I am not an electrician, I was counting on Clarke's expertise to properly identify what is coming into my home - again, he failed to recognize this critical piece of infrastructure in my home which potentially could have jeopardized the safety of my family. When I e-mailed Clarke outlining the first issue, I might as well have sent my e-mail into the ether - no reply, no apology, no nothing. I will be following up with an official complaint but for the time being, I would recommend that if you're seeking a Home Inspector, please find another. I do not think Mr. McNair has the requisite abilities to adequately inspect a home. Buyer Beware!

We worked with Carastan flooring last year to have the linoleum in the Kitchen and downstairs bedroom re-done. The guys at the store were very helpful keeping within budget. The material we chose was quite good and has remained so since we had it installed in 2009. The best part of the experience, however, was their installer. This guy was absolutely meticulous in how he installed the flooring. His prep work was utterly superb and I think the key reason our flooring looks as good as it does. I highly recommend working with Carastan.