Penguin Basements

Choosing Penguin Basements was by far one of the best decisions we made for our house. After we moved in May, we realized we need to renovate our basement as the house was owned by an ex heavy smoker and the basement was particularly affected by it.

We went to the 2017 Green Living Show and stumbled across the Penguin booth. I had heard about them and ended up getting a flyer. We reached out to them a couple of months later and met with Dave who took us through the process of how they build the basement using mold resistant materials as well as the process from start to finish and even did a quick design. The great thing is that we could ask for things without a concern of it not being able to be done. For example, one of the big upgrades we asked for was to go to a 200amp electrical from the 100 amp we had. We really liked the fact they used quality materials and that they had a financing option.

We also liked the options we had during our selections appointment with Gem. There wasn't a point where we thought our options were limited with the exception of the toilet selection. I think they have more selections now, but there was only one that we could choose from at that time. They had so many base options that we only upgraded one item which was the tiling. We didn't have to stress about upgrading any other materials which put us at ease.

The project was supposed to start in July 2017 but due to a busy schedule, construction didn't start until November 2017. Before the start of it, the electrical, floor leveling and demolition was able to happen to get everything prepared. Jon (the project manager) and his team were able to come in and finalize the design with us.

Once construction started, it was really fast. We have a small basement, but even still, when a trade came in, it was able to finish the same day or a couple of days. The thing that shocked me the most was how friendly and engaging the tradespeople were. I find most tradespeople unapproachable, but not these ones. I can tell Penguin puts effort in hiring the right people.

Claudio came by at the end to note a few small items that were missed. I never had to stress that they missed something.

The result of the basement was a night and day difference and we are absolutely pleased with the end result. It looks professional and high quality. We never go down there ever feeling that it is cheap.

In terms of issues, we had the following small items:

- We didn't always know what trade was coming in and when. Sometimes we did, but it wasn't consistent
- We originally asked for Magnesium drywall, but they installed another kind (which is just as good, it's purple in color). The benefit of the mistake as the Magnesium boards can be prone to cracking and we got a credit back for using the other
- When the electrician was done one day he accidentally shut off the stove at the breaker and had a bit of a hard time trying to get him to fix it before he left for the day

We ended up having a Manhattan ceiling and a bathroom with a shower that was heads and tails better than what we had previously. We kept everything open concept to maximize the room and have extra outlets and lighting that wasn't an option before.

Overall I would recommend Penguin without question.