Nicole in Toronto

My experience with Fine Finishes Design Inc. has been nothing short of excellent. I have used Andrea's services before, around 5 years ago, to choose paint colours and I was very happy with what she recommended for my children's rooms back then. I did not hesistate to call her again as we just purchased a new house and I wanted to change the paint colours. Andrea comes ultra-prepared with her suitcase on wheels filled with paint colour swatches, and she is so organized! She gives you paint samples right then and there on a page with the colour names on it, so it's easy to keep track of everything in the folder she gives you. She recommended colours with certain undertones and steered me away from others, depending on the light in the room, colour of the flooring, furniture, etc. She also helped me choose lighting and I am so glad I had her help; I avoided mistakes that would have been very costly! Andrea's choices were very wise and her expertise was evident in all the amazing advice that she gave. We ran out of time at the house for our buyer's visit and she met me afterwards at a coffee shop to continue the meeting to ensure we covered everything. She was prompt in returning calls, punctual, very professional, and so pleasant and easy to get along with! I am very grateful for her help and will be calling her again after we move to have her assist me in placing art work, etc. in our new home. I won't hesitate to call her again in future for any design advice I may need.

We called Locksmith Care and spoke to Dimitri regarding changing the keypad on our door that was malfunctioning. He answered the phone right away and gave us great advice. He was very honest and accomomodating, which we greatly appreciated. When Dimitri came for the service call he was on time, very polite and friendly, and did the job quickly. We will be using his services again in the future and highly recommend him to others.

Troy was excellent. We had a raccoon problem with a mom and several babies living under our back deck. On the phone, he offered as much DIY advice as he could before coming out to see us. He arrived on time, was very friendly, knowledgeable, honest, and efficient. He is a guy who evidently loves his job! He took his time, explained very clearly, and answered all of our questions. We were very pleased with his work and would very highly recommend this company.

We had Marsh's come out and install a Valor fireplace in our previous house about 8 years ago. We loved the Valor because it was a top-of-the-line unit that you could adjust from a roaring fire, medium flame, or down to a small flame with very realistic looking logs/brick background. It was so much better than the basic units you could get elsewhere where it's either full blast or off. My parents' new house had one of those installed by the builder and because the unit operated on full blast it was always so incredibly hot, so they ended up not using it anymore. We adored our Valor and Alan suggested we could use it to heat the whole house in spring and fall, since our home was open-concept. He was right! We saved a lot on heating bills, and in the winter we kept it on a low setting so we could use our furnace less. We always got great compliments on it. When we moved 4 years ago we were sad to leave our Valor, so in our new house we replaced the wood-burning fireplace with another Valor fireplace. We love it! And the Marsh's staff are phenominal. I remember how helpful they were (at both houses) when they came to install the fireplace. Polite, accommodating, helpful, very knowledgeable, and they clean up when they are done so you don't even know they were there. We also had gasline for our BBQ installed outside our home and we love it; no propane tanks to constantly refill! The fantastic thing is that they have excellent service AFTER the fireplace has been installed. You know how sometimes you purchase something and if you have questions, issues, etc. you just cannot get in touch with the company after that? Not Marsh's. They respond quickly and stand by their products. We had a small issue with a battery running out on the receiver (for our remote control) and Alan got back to us right away and helped us solve it. He sent someone out the next day to do a service call, and the man even came back a few hours later to clean our fireplace for us! Very impressive. My husband and I checked out several places before we decided on Marsh's (it was recommended by my father-in-law) and are so glad we went with them. This is a family-owned business; the old-fashioned kind where service reigns king. I would highly recommend them.

I was very impressed with Knox Insulation's work and service. I found the company using HomeStars and got a prompt response from Kent Knox when I called and left a message. He came out a couple of days later to give me an estimate. I had another company come by to give me an estimate, also, and while they both told me the same things about the attic, Knox Insulation's quote was the most reasonable. It turns out our attic was not insulated properly (thanks a lot, previous owners!) and some places had NO insulation in spots at all! Kent worked to increase the ventilation and insulate the attic properly. He also insulated a pipe in our bathroom fan that runs into the attic for no charge. By the time they were done the work, he had discovered that the potlights in my baby's room had not been insulated properly from above in the attic, either, and the bulbs used for these lights were burning hot! (These potlights had been installed about 23 years ago when the second floor was added to our home by the previous owners). Kent said these lights could easily start a fire. We have these old potlights in all of our bedrooms and I am going to change them all to ensure we don't have a fire hazard on our hands. I appreciate him telling me this because otherwise I would not have known! I am pleased with Knox Insulation's work and am eager to see how much cooler in summer and warmer in winter our second floor will be from now on. This company arrived on time, completed the job efficiently and quickly, and were very polite. (My only very tiny complaint was that they did leave a bit of a mess, but it was a very hot day with a heat alert and I was not going to be petty.) If you want to support a smaller, Canadian, family-owned business, this is a great company to call.

I have had this company come out on three occasions to fix my broken clothes drier (an oldie but goodie), my Jennair electric range (20+ years old), and my leaking dishwasher (same vintage). The man was honest, told me that these older appliances are made much better than the new ones, and to keep them as long as I can. He also sells and installs new appliances, and he certainly could have told me that my old appliance was done, and tried to push me into buying a new one. But he did not, and I really appreciated his honesty. That is why he was recommended to me from a neighbour of my mother's. He is honest and trustworthy and gets the job done well. He also came out very quickly when I had a leaking dishwasher and was worried about water damage to my floor (turning it on to drain the water was not an option), which was great. He also gave me a good recommendation as to what brand of appliances to buy in future when these old ones fail. He had good reasons and explained why certain brands are better than others, which is great. It is so hard to make an informed decision with all the brands out there, and let's face it, I know very little about appliances. I would highly recommend this company.

We have had T-Rex clean our eaves every year for the past 7 years or so. We have been very satisfied with their work. They are honest, very hardworking, and get the job done right. I really appreciated their opinion and honesty when giving me an estimate. They were totally correct in diagnosing a problem with our downspouts and took the time to look under the back deck to see that the earth was soaking wet under there; the eaves were not draining properly and there was too much water draining in that one spot, plus the eaves were at the wrong angle. I was grateful that they took the time to look into the problem and give me a recommendation, instead of just cleaning the eaves and leaving for the next job. I would highly recommend this company.

I have nothing but praise for Clarke Basement Systems' work on our homes' 2 crawlspaces. They came in July to complete an internal waterproofing job, and came back in September to work on the crawlspaces. It was not fun work, let me tell you. In some areas, due to ductwork and support beams, the height they had to work with was less than 3 feet high. We had mice in there last year, and it wasn't pretty. I was not going to work on the crawlspace at all and just seal it up as we were drywalling (I didn't know any better), but thankfully Claude told me the facts and we realized there was wood in there in contact with the soil: a prime environment for mold, and our ductwork (with open vents into the space) ran through there! Not healthy. We knew we had to do something, and when we discovered that mice had been in there, it was imperative that we deal with it before it got worse the next winter. I am so thankful that Claude was so knowledgeable and he was never pushy in any way, but wanted me to know what was going on so I could make an informed decision. Rob, the foreman, was always cheerful even though the situation he was presented with was far less than ideal. The place was smelly, so low to the ground, and he had to go in there with a battery powered saw and take out all the wood. The opening he had to crawl through to get in was just the size of a window. A small one! The crew worked so hard, for several days, and did everything possible to ensure our crawlspace was transformed into a clean, healthy, dry, and neutral-smelling space. It was so bad when they started that my contractor, who was finishing another part of the basement at the time, had to leave for two days! When they finished, the window-openings were left open for a couple of days and you would not know it was the same space. It did not smell at all and was dry and clean. I cannot thank them enough for their HARD work, WONDERFUL attitude, and expertise. You guys are a 10/10! Thank you Claude, ROB, Mark, Noel, and the rest of the crew (different people came on different days).

I was not very impressed with Alka Kitchens. We used them several years ago to make cabinets for our two upstairs bathrooms; two linen towers and a vanity, and a large vanity for the kids' bathroom. First of all, we went there to take a look at their showroom. Now this is several years ago and they were painting their door, but it was on a Saturday they were not closed yet--it was during business hours. They did not put a "wet paint" sign on the door! So I pushed open the door and got paint on the arm of my expensive ski jacket. No one said sorry, and no one said they would pay for the cleaning bill; it was oil paint and NEVER came off. I don't know why we did not go elsewhere at that point, as it should have told me something about their service and attitude, but we stayed. They were the cheapest and our renovation costs were spiralling higher and higher, so we stuck with them because they were very reasonable. We chose white MDF thermofoil cabinets, nothing fancy. They came to the house to measure, made the cabinets, and then came back to install them. The cabinets were OK, but the crown molding's mitred corners did not fit properly (was a big gap!) and one of the doors was damaged, and the other door would not stay closed--the magnetic piece was not meeting the other magnet to hold it closed (it was a corner cabinet and an odd shape). I called several times and they said they would send someone. They never did. I gave up calling, and we just fixed the problems to the best of our ability ourselves. We were young and inexperienced; our first renovation. If it were me now, several years and 3 renovations later, I would handle it differently. Don't tell me I damaged the door (that's what they told me); it arrived that way!!! Be careful if you are hiring this company to make cabinets for you; make sure the work is completed properly! It's the little details, the cosmetic stuff, mostly......but it matters!

From the moment I met Claude Mathieu from Clarke Basement Systems, I knew my basement was in good hands and that I had found the right company for the job. We had water leaking from last year in an unfinished portion of our basement, but this spring we had leaking in the finished area and knew we were in trouble. We cut open the wall in one area and found is soaking wet and black with mold. I know the hazards of mold; with a new baby in the house and another child, I did not want to risk my family's health. After some research I knew external waterproofing was out of the question cost-wise, as well as for the fact that the back and part of one side of our house are inaccessible due to a main floor addition. Internal waterproofing seemed to be the only way to go with our 61 year old foundation, and cinder-blocks at that! They are hollow inside and once you have water, it will not stop coming in. It can't be fixed with crack sealing. I knew we were in trouble and felt overwhelmed with the immensity of the situation, as well as with the financial burden. However, I had to keep calm and find the best company for the job. Claude was helpful, friendly, not pushy at all, and very informative and professional. He came armed with a wealth of information; he gave me a booklet, pamphlets, and a DVD to show how the job is done. He also told me right away that the city offers a rebate and showed me the application. He also agreed to price match and gave me a discount after I received other quotes that I shared with him. I was very impressed with the products and with Claude's knowledge. He was the ONLY inspector/waterproofing contractor that looked behind the stairs when I thought there was no way in (he found a way into that crawl space with his camera) and also unscrewed the grate on a vent and put his camera in that area (some pipes that were drywall-boxed in), too. He also pulled back carpets and found stuff (efflorescence)and other spots of mold that no one else bothered looking for. I am so glad because had we gone with anyone else, we would have neglected that area under the stairs and that was a major problem waiting to happen! I am so happy we went with Clarke Basements and want to thank Rob, Jose, Noel, Joe T., Joe M., and Efrain for an incredible job, cheerful attitude, and spectacular work ethic!!! You made a very stressful experience into a calm, happy one! I wasn't thrilled about having someone jackhammer down to the footings of my foundation (YIKES on the stress-meter of owning a house) but it went off without a hitch and I felt confident and relaxed with such professionals. I will definitely be telling my family and friends about this company if anyone needs waterproofing done in the future. And if we ever have problems again (but we were reassured we WON'T!) we'll be calling YOU, Clarke Basements. THANK YOU.