Bruce Haines in Toronto

Mike and Eva Solti, and their extended family, working in landscaping and garden design and maintenance are the best kept secret in town. For over 30 years, starting with Mike's father, Mihaly Solti, Great Outdoors and Design have carried out superlative work at our residence, at reasonable cost.. With great attention to detail they have completed all sorts of stone work projects including, walkways, patios, interlock driveway, retaining walls and steps. All of it has been of lasting quality. Moreover every spring they design and set up our garden with beautiful flowers and planters and come back for a monthly tuneup. We have come to know the entire family and their involvement in this wonderful service. All of the work is carried out very professionally with thoughtfulness and integrity. They have just laid in this year's garden. It's beautiful!

Val from Strong Plumbing returned my call for service within a few hours. I required replacement of two exterior taps and replacement washers on two interior tap. Val booked me in for 8 am the following morning. He arrived promptly and in the course of carrying out the work he noticed hot water from an electric heater entering a cold water pipe because of the lack of a directional control flow valve; a problem which he able to remedy without another service call as he had the part available in his service vehicle. Val performed all the work very professionally with minimum disruption to our water service. The work was completed within 2 hours; half the cost was for parts. He left the work sites spotless.

Laird & Son is really a first rate company. On a cold February day I discovered a water leak from the gas boiler. Within hours their service representative, Bryan, arrived at my door and solved the problem within an hour. All seemed well but there was a separate problem that only appeared in the small hours of the following morning. The heat went off and it started to get cold. I called Laird & Son and within minutes Ken returned my call. He showed up within an hour and this time fixed an electrical problem. By 3.30 am the heat was back on. Everything was covered under the "ultra" service contact except for a total cost of $150 for the two attendances. Gold stars for Bryan and Ken!

This superb roofing company didn’t miss a trick. They were completely professional from the outset. Our initial appointment to obtain an estimate was confirmed in writing which included a brochure outlining helpful matters for consideration in hiring a contractor. We were in need of a complete roof replacement and when Walker’s estimator, Brian, attended, he carefully examined the roof, including our attic and answered all of our questions. We asked him to submit an estimate and he returned for a second appointment following which we entered into a contract which very carefully set out all details of the work to be done. This included removal of two layers of old shingles, removal and replacements of all vents and roof valleys and replacement of any deteriorated roof boards, the installation of underlay as well as underlayment to cover the entire roof area; the installation of new shingles, and very importantly, new soffit venting. Walker’s confirmed in writing the tentative date in mid November for the work to commence with an estimate as to how long it would take. With the confirmation came a roofing pre-construction check list to enable us to carefully prepare for Walker’s attendance. The work started right of schedule, two days prior to which Jim attended to confirm details of the placement of equipment and materials. Starting on November 15, Christian and his crew of three worked carefully and continuously for three days. At the end of each long working day they cleaned up the work site, removing all debris and making sure that roofing nails were not left on the driveway or walkways. Five days later Bernard attended to carefully check the work done. Not until then did Peter Walker ask for payment of the balance of the contract price which includes a 25 year manufacturer’s warranty for labour and materials. The motto of Peter & Greg Walker Contracting Inc. is “We Eliminate your Risk!” I think it should be changed to “We Eliminate your Risk and give you Peace of Mind!”

I have been dealing with Laird & Son for many years. In 2006 they installed our gas furnace and have since maintained it. We recently encountered an expansion (pressure) tank problem that had resulted in water leakage. The company's courteous staff responded and their service representative, Bryan, with 37 years experience in the trade, attended. He quickly determined and remedied the problem. Our service plan which Bryan had previously recommended covered almost all of the cost. He also spent some time explaining the operation of our heating system and steps to improve its efficiency. Laird & Son have an excellent reputation which is well deserved.

Steve attended from Anta Plumbing to estimate on the water line replacement service to our home. It was most important that we make use of the trenchless technology (torpedo system) as the service to be replaced was located under very extensive masonry, including a retaining wall, an interlock driveway and a concrete garage floor. On being shown the site Steve immediately understood our requirements, displayed extensive knowledge and gave excellent advice. His estimate turned out to be the lowest of the three we obtained. We accepted his estimate and within 2 working days he had a crew assigned. Igor and Oleg attended right on time and carried out the water service line replacement with a very high degree of competence. All the work was completed in one day and they left the job site in spotless condition. Anta's service was remarkably good and carried out with the estimated price. Hat's off to Anta!

We had identified the problem of the phantom flush toilet on line. Valentin showed up right on time for the appointment. He explained the problem and fixed it. He also repaired a leaky tap problem while he was there. He had all the parts with him. He was just great. The bill was very reasonable.