Don

After contacting several HomeStars Electricians for advice and quotes, Steven (HOMElectric) was my chosen Master Electrician for this project. While all the other Electricians were very quick to suggest that I spend $3K-4K+ to 'upgrade my circuit panel of my house 'to accommodate our desire to add EV charging service to our two car garage', Steven was the only Electrician to suggest that my 125Amp house panel may still have capacity. He asked for and showed me how to download a year's worth of use data from https://alectrautilities.com/, our provider. With this data, Steven and the ESA (as they permitted and issued a certificate for Steven's work) said that our desire for two new 50Amp EV Charging circuits was possible. We opted go with two 50Amp circuits versus 40 or 30Amp ones so that we could install a higher capacity EV Level 2 charger. We only intend to use one of these new circuits but decided it was wise to pay for a second circuit now because of all the drywall work involved to run the line through our finished basement). We know that it is likely that we'll want the second charger capability in the years to come. This was all authorized by ESA with our existing 125Amp panel based on our historical usage; saving us thousands and avoiding a service upgrade of a 200Amp panel upgrade that we shouldn't need - but could always still do down the road. Steven also used 'armored' cable - making the cabling very protected in our unfinished garage. Steven and his helper were very polite, very punctual and very clean - cleaning up after themselves each time they visited. (as they came back after offering to repair our drywall too!). I also appreciate that Steven was very tolerant of all my questions. I always like to understand the rationale and how things work and why. Exclusive of Tax and ESA Permits; Steven's work was very good value for us. Thank you.

We sought quotes from a couple Homestar vendors, a Costco vendor and we checked with local big box stores. Jordan (ShadeWorks) offered a courtesy in-home house call. He had really nice manner about him; no hard sell; good advice and offered us plenty of options to consider. In the end, considering three quotes we received, my wife and I decided to go with Jordan (ShadeWorks); who had no objections when we asked to reduce our original intentions/order with the intentions of considering more window coverings at a later time; being conscious of our budget. We would recommend Jordan (ShadeWorks) to friends and family.

This morning, my wife raised the garage door and backed her car out of our garage. She pushed her remote to close her door, only to find the door jamming and a broken wire cable, having detached from the door, dangling freely. My wife and I managed to manually disconnect the door from the opener's carriage and together lowered the door manually to secure the garage for the day. Hitting HomeStars.ca, I found Markham Garage Door Ltd to be a highly rated local service provider with Reviews claiming quick friendly response. I sent them an email from HomeStars at around 7:10am, had a response from them by email by 9am and had an appointment booked with Ernie for 4pm that afternoon! Fast and very friendly service by email and by phone. Got home and by 4:10pm, Ernie was onsite continuing with their fast and very friendly; and what I saw, thorough, inspection, identification of issue, replacement of cabling, retensioning of spring, re-calibration of door and a thorough maintenance (oiling and cleaning) of all springs, cables, pulleys, recalibration of door opener; all to ensure the door now operates better than and quieter than ever before - now even closing properly against the floor of the garage - prior seemingly always to leave a small gap prior. Ernie had the opportunity to 'sell us' on a new set of doors; but he concluded that we had 'original' builder wood doors... but concluded that with proper maintenance, we should likely have several years of life left. An honest assessment; to get further life out of what we have; with some proper maintenance. Thank you Ernie! I've got your company on file now.... when new doors are needed.

Living in our 1984 build house since 2011, previous owner completely finished the basement (drywall) ceilings etc.... so everything behind our walls somewhat a mystery for us. Last week, my wife noticed a very small (less than a dime) soiled wet spot showing up on our basement drywall ceiling. Over the course of this past week, the spot grew in size (water staining) and continued to cause me concern. Checking pipes and drains in the kitchen above; no sign of a source from our kitchen - I finally took the plunge and carefully cut an exploratory hole in my drywall ceiling in the basement to reveal the issue. A cold water supply line (under pressure) to our kitchen was less than an inch from the drywall ceiling under it - and it appeared to have been soaking up the sweat from the pipe (less than a leak) for some time - but the drywall likely couldn't absorb it anymore and the issue finally revealed itself to us underneath. Recognizing that this was a supply line (under pressure) and that this could have been VERY much worse - with the basement flooding - if it had given way altogether; I felt I couldn't wait and that it would be wise to seek professional assistance rather than trying to fix myself in this tight space up on the joist. Searching through HomeStars.ca as I have done in past for tradesman that I hope I can trust.... I came upon ANTA Plumbing; its reviews were strong; and its rating with Better Business Bureau were A+ as well; I decided to check out their website. Once I got on to their website; within moments, a popup chat window opened (this being a Sunday morning) and an actual knowledgeable person from ANTA was on the other end! Not some call centre robot... I explained my findings, and Eugine immediately tried to provide me a solution; being a Sunday, being that I opened up a chat around 11am, he did indicate that all their plumbers working today had full schedules... I told him I'd be flexible; he thanked me for that and said he'd do his best to fit me in.... and then a couple moments later... he indicated that based on my location, he'd try calling one of their plumbers on their day off! To my surprise, Rulin, one of their plumbers on his day off, took the job assignment from Eugine; and within 90min, Rulin was in my basement! Rulin was very pleasant; covering his shoes each time he entered my home and coming the basement floor and piano in the area with plastic before beginning any work. He confirmed my suspensions and isolated micro pin defect in a copper 90 elbow joint; actually not a solder joint; but a defect in the elbow itself - which Rulin educated me in saying copper, 30+ years old, can develop micro weaknesses over time; that this was not unusual considering the age of the home. He asked if he could repair with PEX versus copper, considering how tight the area was in the joist with an exploratory hole in the drywall under it. In short order, he removed a section of copper and replaced the section with PEX using copper-to-PEX fittings and 'bob's your uncle' the repair was complete. No surprises on the estimate or the final invoice; Eugine's estimate in the chat was exactly what Rulin estimated before he started and charged after the job was complete. Rulin even telling me that his work with ANTA was warrantied for a year; should I have any further concerns with this issue. Eugine.... Rulin.... Season's Greetings to you. An impressive 'cold call' on a Sunday morning yielding a fix 2 hours later.

Found TheBedroomShop website while looking for Canadian Made solid bunk beds online. Made contact with their Newmarket store and arranged to meet the Store Manager to review our needs. Found the selection, options and pricing to be very competitive. Found their showroom to be very well stocked with showroom samples of all of our items of interest. Found their willingness to negotiate pricing with our large order to be very helpful; hence our initial interest in bunk beds expanded to include a number of sofas and sofabeds and mattresses. Pleased to find local Canadian manufactured products being carried by this company. A complete showroom fabric display of hundreds of upholstery options for each of their manufacturers. This allowed us to leverage pricing and delivery costs by bundling our order. Very pleased to find that they were able to accommodate delivery to The Kawartha's, to our lakefront property. Excellent communication, in person, by phone and email throughout the process.

Our story all started back over the winter when we purchased a new 'older' home that had an inground salt water pool in its backyard. Purchased during the winter, we had to purchase sight unseen at the Seller's word; having received confirmation that another pool company had serviced and closed the pool the fall prior. After taking possession and with the weather improving, I didn't know where to turn, having never operated a pool myself prior. I begin searching for help. I called one company that came by and 'assessed' our pool, walking around with their hands in the pockets most of the visit; looking with their eyes only and charging me $60 for the assessment. I was not comfortable with their 'hands off' attitude and their labour charge for performing no labour. I continued my search and I found HomeStars.ca Lennie's Premier Pool Group came out on top; with a steady stream of 10/10 reviews that sounded too good to be true. I hestitated, seeing that Lennie was based out of the west end of the GTA; but his HomeStar.ca profile showed that he serviced Markham. I emailed him and he responded. I phoned him and he answered. I asked him for answers and he gave them. He arrived to assess our new pool and got his hands and feet dirty; I can assure you; in freezing water at the bottom of my pool in March; his assessment; attempts to fix our liner and open our pool; and in the end, after numerous visits and attempts; arranged for a custom liner measure and installation. This wasn't in our move budget; but Lennie assured us that it was the 'best' direction for us. Lennie has explained everything he has done; provided me, the home owner, the education that I needed; has 'held my hand' through the first two months of pool ownership and has impressed my wife and I the entire time with his dedication to his clients. I know that despite Lennie's very busy schedule; he has time to take my calls and answer my emails when I need advice or direction. Without hesitation, I endorse and would recommend Lennie to anyone with a pool that needs help, needs advice, needs quality service and quality workmanship. Thank you Lennie. I know that you'll be there for us now and in the future. We expect to be calling Lennie back at the end of the season to take advantage of his Custom Safety Pool Cover Installation and Closing Deal.