David R. Smith Design Inc.

Friends of mine suggested David when I decided to underpin and renovate my basement, as they'd used him for the same project at their home and had nothing but good things to say about him. Allow me to now add my own words of praise: David is thoughtful, patient, and very creative. He kept in constant contact with me, answered dozens (and dozens) of questions, and stuck to the timeline and budget we'd agreed to. I'm excited about the space he's created for me and can't wait to see it. He was the perfect partner for this initial phase - I hope the rest of them go as smoothly!

We hired David to design a new home for our growing family in Leslieville. Upon our initial meeting, we felt David was very attentive and patient in explaining the process to us. This was our first time undertaking such a project and we were unaware of all the steps and potential set backs that could occur. Subsequent correspondences and revisions were timely and reflective of what we wanted. We thought David did a great job - Thanks!

I give David a 10/10 star rating based on his knowledge, skills and how he interacts with us. Very understanding and gives sound advice on what's better, cost effective and the right contractor for you. Keeps us well updated on how the project is progressing. He is always there during and after process. We are so happy we met David and will highly recommend him to friends and family for their future major home projects. Thumbs up for David.

Hi David,
The experience of working with you has been fantastic - x 2. Thanks for your diligence, your attention to detail, and your incredible creativity. I think I’ll have to go out and buy another “tear down” just so we can work together again.

Send your invoice and we will pay it promptly, with pleasure.

Sincerely,
Dan

I would not hesitate to recommend David. He was reliable, respectful, timely and had lots of time to answer any and all my questions about the process. The whole process was pretty painless!

David worked with us to fully redesign both floors of a bungalow.from first meeting we were very comfortable with his skills , vision and immediate response to any questions. After receiving imaginative prelim plans which were exactly what we were looking for, we have shelved temporarily this project . Once we restart we hope David will pick up where he left off. Thanks David for great effort so far!!we will be in touch . Chris and glenda

With absolutely no experience with home ownership and renovations, we were extremely vulnerable when seeking out services, especially with respect to our proposed addition drawings and permits.

Thankfully we found David.

Our first experience with David gave us the sense and confidence that we had someone in our corner. David was mindful and respectful in all his interactions with us. This was a great way to set the tone for our technical and very real task of acquiring permits through the committee of adjustments.

We were requesting a minor variance (as David had correctly guided us towards) and the journey involved many facets that included multiple drawings, repeated engagement with the city, the committee of adjustments hearing, etc.

David handled ALL of this.

We were satisfied with the outcome of the drawings for our addition given the budget limitations (David was always cognizant of how drawings impacted construction costs). We did receive approval from the committee of adjustments despite some neighbours' opposition. David went above and beyond in speaking to our neighbours on multiple occasions. He handled those discussions with absolute respect and professionalism.

I waited quite a long time before writing this review because I wanted to see how David's drawings played out through the 5 month long construction period. Nearing the end of that period, I can now confidently say that the drawings were coherent, clear, and of great value to the contractors who took on my project. This was a critical piece for me because the drawings generally always look good/cool but my concern was always - the application of those drawings for builders! It has worked out great!

In closing, we were lucky to find David given our context - uninformed and on a pretty tight budget. David addressed both of these elements with respect in educating us on some key aspects and always drawing with costs in mind. David is flexible, cooperative, strategic, thoughtful, and diligent in completing what we needed him to complete. He drew the house we wanted and got the permits we needed.

Thank you David. If we find some money one day somewhere, we will do the front of the house!

David developed architectural drawings and performed all the foot work for acquiring a full permit package for our project. We came to him with our ideas, and he guided us with his expertise and extensive knowledge. In addition he thoughtfully considered our wants/needs and balanced them with our home's realistic limitations to develop the plans for our dream home. We highly recommend David to anyone!

We have used Davids company on several occasions now for both small & large projects ranging from home additions to roof top deck structures.
David has provided an efficient and speedy service to our company in order to produce clear concise plans to make the renovation process as seamless as possible for both ourselves and our clients.
Needless to say that our clients have also been impressed by his work.

We hope to continue working with David on future projects.

Our project is rather big and complicating: we are putting a second story over half of an existing bungalow, building a two car garage attached to it, and putting a floor over that. I’m a project manager (not construction) and very interested in the whole process of design and build so I’m a sure I am a bit of a pain to professionals (and place high expectations on them). There are a few general things I look for in professions – quality of work, trust, listening skills/ability to work well together, responsiveness/communication, and price.

David didn’t disappointment on any and even impressed me. While searching for a designer, I found many of them only heard a small percentage of what I was saying and then it became them telling me what they wanted – not what I want. David listens very well. But he also knows that he has more experience than I and does make recommendations and gives me a lot to think about. But if I don’t decide on his idea, there are no hard feelings as he knows I’m building my dream house, not his. In the end, I think we are building a beautiful house – one with both his ideas and ours.

We also had to use David at the Committee of Adjustment (CoA) as we had to break some variances. We had objection from one family but David handled it VERY professionally – not backing down at all but not insulting my neighbors. An easy win at CoA thanks to David.

Throughout the process, he always was well organized and communicated well to me so I knew what to expect ahead. He has always been super responsive and never left me thinking ‘has he forgotten about me’.

We had many issues (not related to David) which made the whole process drag on and poor David’s had to be patient. In the end, I think David was involved for over a year and never complained and even helped out wherever he could (even though it wasn’t his area).

Even though David’s portion of the process is completed, he still answers my questions promptly no matter how small or unusual. He is definitely someone I enjoyed working with and someone I would highly recommend to my family, friends or…you.