Home Improvement Specialists - A Division of Handyman Connection

Pros :
- Polite and available
- Part of the job well done

Cons : Many aspects you would not expect from professionnals

- Did not use primer and ended-up having to paint 3 coasts which meant more money and longer time
- Paint smudges and dried paint drips
- Only used primer on ceiling, not ceiling paint, so it looked patchy
- Many areas where edges was not great / did not look professional
- Floors not well protected, ended-up having to remove a lot of paint throughout
- Only rolled paint in some areas (no edging between wall and ceiling, so you can see an obvious 2-3 inches gap)

In addition, their estimate for the cost of paint turned-out to be double what it was suppose to be.

As my wife says, if I want a job that does not look professional, I can do that myself, I don't need to pay someone good money for that...

Pros :

Handyman was polite, concise and gave advice when laying out the design. They were dilligent in cleaning up their work area every day.

Cons :

The end of the job was quite rushed leading to many "mistakes" with paint touchups, stained grout, lights not centered, and the tub spout pulling off the wall.

This review is for Handyman Connection Etobicoke, ON. I hired this franchise on June 17th to do the following tasks at my rental property and the work was completed by June 29th when I received my final invoice:
"-Tuck point an area about 3X3 standard wall brick Red in color and pull out cement wall plugs and fill in holes
-Remove one panel lattice at front deck and create a removable access panel to allow for cleaning under the deck
Remove an area of (24X6") of Cement" (a temporary overlay due to trip hazard)
- Parge area on garage wall"
I spent time with the "Craftsman" they sent to my property, walking him around the property and clearly outlining what needed to be done, He took notes. I requested that he send my pictures as he completed tasks and that he phone or text me with any questions, as well as send pictures of completed tasks. Unfortunately, this was not enough. My assumption was that a craftsman is skilled and creates functional work; knows how to prepare his work area; cleans up after himself; will leave my house looking better than he initially found it; and will complete the tasks as outlined on the invoice and nothing more. This craftsman did not know how to frame a panel; make the frame flush to the porch and when it was clear that the panel stuck out and was uneven, decided to alter the panel on the other side of my porch, without my permission. He filled brick holes left from screws in the brick, by slathering mortar over the brick. He left a puddle of cement on my driveway, after parging a section and for some unknown reason, added cement to my brick wall. He also tuck-pointed a corner brick without aligning it to the wall.

The owner of this franchise handles customer service. He did send the craftsman back to try and clean up the cement spill on my driveway, but I will either have to paint or resurface it, to get rid of the remaining white spots. As to the rest of my issues, his customer service style is defensive: Deflect: How would you do it? It had to be done this way..." 2. Deny: The Craftsman did not put cement on the yellow brick by the garage. It must have been there. 3. Ignore: Despite phone calls and emails (the last dated Jul 13th), I am still waiting for a copy of receipts used to purchase materials and I am still waiting for a copy of the "Total Home Protection Plan" referenced on the front of my invoice. Although I am a senior without any knowledge of the trades, I am quite capable of recognizing inferior work and damage to my property. It will cost me at least the amount charged by Handyman Connection, to restore my property to its pre "Craftsman" state.

I would like to say what a nice experience we had with the 2 workmen at our residence.
The first to arrive was Keith. He was adding some grab bars to a bathroom and replacing bathroom fans.
He went out of his way to ensure the grab bars were fastened to the wall with correct bolts and fasteners. The ones that came with the bars was very floppy.
When working to replace the fans he found that there was not enough wire to place with the new fans. He cleaned up his mess and then ensure that the office knew that we needed an electrician to fix this problem.
Keith was very nice and exceeded our expectations with the work he did.
We then had Jerry the electrician come a few days later. He too was courteous and very nice. He had to go to a store for some parts to ensure all work was done safely. He offered to clean the mess but I insisted I would do it.
Jerry & Keith went out of their way to ensure all was done right.
I would will be recommending Handyman Connection to others.
Many Thanks

From my first phone call to Handyman Connection I was impressed. Alex in the office was very pleasant and made me feel comfortable. Kaz who came to do work in our home, was not only a gentleman but professional beyond our expectations. We were expecting more of a handyman but Kaz was experienced and knew exactly what needed to be done and what equipment was required. Every task he did was so well planned out not moment was wasted. Not only did he install a new faucet in our bathroom, he patched up the necessary walls and was able to match the colour of paint perfectly. To our pleasant surprise he was able to adjust the shower water temperature on the new faucet to our liking. We liked the idea of the company having liability insurance and the fact that the contractors are bonded. We will certainly work with Handyman Connection and Katz again. Thank you for your expertise.

What can I say about Mario that I haven't already said. He's such a nice man, polite, friendly, couteous and his work ethic is impeccable. We request him for the work we want done.

We did a complete reno of our Kitchen, Dinette and Family room which involved Electrical, Plumbing, Removing Stucco, Dry wall and relocating the Stove, Sink and Dishwasher. Alex and I worked together to set up a schedule on what needed to be done and when. The tradesmen were professional and we worked together to accommodate all the little disruptions that happen during a reno. They completed each step on time and with great professionalism. Alex provided me a written estimate of any changes to the original estimate and I needed to approve before any work was started. All in all it was a very positive experience and I would not hesitate to use them again and recommend them to my friends and family.

I'm slightly handicapped. Alex took care of my minor repairs in a very efficient way. His recommendations and work were great.
on time . Cleaned up and took things to my recycling room.

My laundry/utility room was the last part of my basement that hadn't been dry-walled. It was a small job - and you know how hard it is to find a contractor to do a small job! Dave from Handyman Connection came and quoted on a Tuesday, started work the next day, and finished by midday, Thursday. I was thrilled with this turnaround and the price was very reasonable, given it was a difficult space to work in.

Handyman connection sent us Alex Ramirez to build a window seat in our bay window in Downtown Toronto. I showed Alex a few pictures of what we wanted and he was able to replicate it perfectly. He did it a the most reasonable price we had seen (since we did quite a bit of comparison quotes). The quality of the work was flawless and we will certainly continue to use Alex for projects in the future.