Penguin Basements

SUMMARY:

Up until the end of August 2021 most of the work done by Penguin was satisfactory. Most of the trades (some were sub-contractors) other than the window egress installers and tile installers (for the washroom) did a decent job. Our main problem has been our egress window during the warranty period and Penguin's overall responsiveness after MANY calls/emails etc. It took over 1 year to resolve this and to date (as of October 20, 2022) we are still not 100% sure the problem has been resolved. However, in recognition of Penguin, they have stepped up and ensured the installer would be here on time. As of April 7, 2023 we still have water coming into our basement from the egress window that Penguins subcontractor installed after 6 attempts to fix this problem. There are 3 major issues with the install: 1) the subcontractor did not install the blueskin underneath the lintel not over top of it. 2) the subcontractor used spray foam insulation instead of mortar. 3) the subcontractor did not leave a weeping hole. At this point we are out of pocket and we are hoping Penguin does the right thing and pay us to resolve this on our own instead of sending back the same subcontractor.

DETAILS:

We had our basement renovated in the summer of 2021. Penguin did all the work to add a washroom and kitchen as well as coordinate all trades. Overall Penguin did a good job with the basement insulating, drywall, plumbing, HVAC, finishing, painting, cabinetry and electrical except for minor problems and one major issue we are still dealing with since August 2021. The main exception here was the washroom shower stall tiling which does not allow the water to drain properly (it puddles in the middle of the shower). Instead, the water remains in one place and does NOT drain properly. That is because the tilers did not grade the shower stall properly.

Our problem started after the basement was completed in August 2021. Here is the major problem we had:

Because we put a kitchen in our basement, we were required by code to have an egress window installed in our basement as well. The team that came were subcontracted by Penguin (another company) cut the concrete and installed a low-quality egress window. They cracked the bricks above the egress window and did not properly caulk around the window nor repair the bricks. After the first rainfall we had water coming in from the top. We called Penguin several times and many emails to have the company that installed the egress window come back to fix the problem. After another month more water continued to enter the basement from the egress window. Again, after several calls to Penguin and numerous emails and weeks they finally returned our call and sent egress window installer again. Same result. More water entering our basement. We are now in March 2022 and still the same problem! Again, we must send numerous messages to Penguin, numerous calls and wait for them to respond. At this point we've had to put a tarp over the egress to stop the water from coming in during rainfalls. It's been since September, and we cannot get Penguin to resolve these issues and for someone to take ownership and fix the problem once and for all. It's been extremely stressful for our family to have to deal with this company lack of responsiveness and every time it rains, we have to have tarps and cloths to protect our basement. We have had many sleepless nights whenever it rains. Nobody returns our calls, answers our text messages or emails.

HISTORY:
UPDATE: April 11, 2022: Penguin called us back this week to replace the egress window and send back the window installer company they subcontracted to. We our thankful to Penguin for committing to resolving this. We were told the original window was defective and that this was not being caused by the hairline crack in the bricks above the window. The next step will be to remove the water damaged drywall and fix other warranty related items. We plan on water testing the the egress window to ensure no more water is entering our basement. We recently discovered that our bathroom sink is leaking and have been provided assurances by Penguin this will be resolved soon.

We will update the rating again and additional commentary depending upon resolution of the above and other items we have requested to be fixed. We plan to provide a full review of Penguin basements.

UPDATE April 15, 2022: We performed a water test against the egress window Penguin Basements installed. We have noticed a small amount of water by the lower right-hand corner of the window. This was brought to Penguin's attention.

UPDATE April 18, 2022: The finishing supervisor came by today to fix the drywall and paint. We discovered that the egress window installed rubs against the ceiling when we attempted to open the egress window and that the drywall would need to be removed. However, Penguin refuse to remove the drywall as it would be more work for them, we were told. We are hoping that Penguin will do the right thing here remove the drywall and add approximately 1/2 inch of drywall on all sides so that the window can open properly and the trim can be installed.

UPDATE April 20, 2022: Penguin came back to fix the leak in the washroom sink. We ran a water test on the washroom sink and so far so good. Its been a struggle but I will say they do come back BUT you must call the MANY times and email them over BuilderTrend. I was assured by the owner that this responsiveness issue would be addressed.

UPDATE April 26, 2022: So far so good no water our egress window. We will update this after a more serious rainfall to make sure that this matter with water coming in from our egress window is truly addressed.

UPDATE May 13, 2022: Although Penguin and the other company came back to replace the egress window the window barely opens, and it rubs against the ceiling. Penguin did not want to spend the money to do the job right the first time and expand the drywall. Their argument was it was too expensive for them to do the job right!! I would have liked to recommend Penguin Basements, but they did not step up sadly to do the job right the first time.

UPDATE: Oct 17, 2022: We are still experiencing problems with water coming in via egress Window that was installed April 2022. This is the second window. We have reached out to Penguin Basements in hopes they will honor their warranty obligations and hoping we will have a much better experience with their customer service. I attached pictures of our egress window water that is coming from our new egress window below

UPDATE: October 18th, 2022: Penguin basements sent back the window egress sub-contractor to fix the window. It turned out that the lintel they originally removed and installed did not have blue flashing which was causing the leak (We are still unsure). Im thankful that Penguin basements sent somebody else immediately and is trying to improve their warranty period follow ups. However, given that this has been outstanding for over a year now I am still VERY concerned that a leak may occur. Note, the window installers did not come back to perform a water test to verify their work for some odd reason.

We did a full basement reno through penguin - started with nothing but rafters and now we have an amazing basement with tons of finished space AND a bathroom. We love it.

Penguin was extremely professional all the way through and their staff is very good and knowledgable. Everyone who came to work on our house was experienced and qualified, and the few times we had some minor issues they were quick to address them.

We also LOVE how they use the 'buildertrend' app so we can see the schedule, invoices, messages, etc. online and you always have a view of what's happening.

We highly recommend Penguin Basements to anyone looking to finish a basement in the GTA. You won't regret it!

Over the course of 3 months our dream basement has finally come to life! We now have an extra living space, wet bar, full bathroom, & bedroom. Penguin worked through each aspect with great attention to detail & made sure everything was completed properly. Roberto & Lisa helped to keep things moving, even though COVID caused some delays. Special thanks to Jon who was present after each team to complete finishing touch ups. We couldn't be happier with the finished product.
-Kamilla & Ryan Dollimore

This is a very positive review, but that doesn't mean the project went flawlessly and nothing went wrong. Rather, the reason they deserve such a positive review is because LOTS of things went wrong, but they made sure to put them all right - and finished the job with great results!

We'd just moved into a lovely older house... with an absolute disaster of a basement. Crazy wiring, bare light bulbs with switches in bizarre places, and a malfunctioning sump pump had flooded it, making the whole thing even more of a mess. Relatives visiting the house described the basement as "scary".

At the initial assessment, Penguin created a 3D simulation of our existing basement and discussed with us what kind of space we wanted to create. They were very thorough, getting a list of just what we wanted and creating a floor plan showing what our new basement would look like.

The project was managed through Buildertrend, an online service that allows you to track various aspects of your renovation project; you can see the floor plan, as well as review your choices for paint, flooring, carpet, etc. It also has the schedule, so you can know when workers are going to be visiting. A very useful tool, though a little confusing to use at times.

It wasn't all smooth sailing - in fact, all kinds of things went wrong! After that first meeting, they'd created a carefully planned schedule for when all the construction would take place. And I'm sure under normal circumstances, it would have all gone just as planned. But with the pandemic, and all the restrictions resulting from it, the carefully planned schedule was swept away. Necessary materials became unavailable, and since they had several projects on the go at once (all of them experiencing delays and material shortages), they had to keep switching in different work crews to keep up with everything. As a result, there were definitely delays, miscommunications and mistakes... but despite all this, the good people at Penguin handled all these problems like the professionals they are.

They were very upfront about the issues, and did a good job of letting us know how they'd impact our renovation. Even though the schedule was delayed, thanks to being able to view it online I was able to keep track of what was happening, and never had to wonder when the next construction crew would arrive. Even more, they were willing to accommodate changes; if one of the days on the schedule wasn't going to work, all we had to do was notify them ahead of time and they'd move it.

They were struggling with material shortages and shipment delays too, but were always working to do right by us. I was especially impressed with what Alex, the interior designer did when we couldn't get the exact flooring we'd chosen. She found a very similar floor from a different supplier, then contacted us to make sure we were okay with it.

The replacement she'd found was an almost EXACT match - had Penguin just made the switch without telling me, I wouldn't even have noticed! But they still got in touch specifically to tell us it had changed and make absolutely certain the new one was acceptable.

And so the project continued. Turning our nightmare of a basement into a place people might actually want to live was a huge undertaking with LOTS of unexpected difficulties... but every time something went wrong, Team Penguin would put it right. They were clearly willing to bend over backwards to make sure we got the basement we wanted.

Everyone who visited our house was professional and friendly - both electrical teams in particular were an absolute pleasure to deal with. I was also very impressed by the care they took of the rest of our house; a protective paper "carpet" was placed over the area they had to pass through, and they always cleaned up after themselves after a hard day's work. When the work was complete, Penguin even sent a cleaning crew who not only made our basement spotless, but gave our front hall a good cleaning on the way out.

Not only the on-site workers, but everyone I spoke to at every stage of the project was polite, friendly and seemed genuinely eager to help. I especially want to thank Valerie, Jon and Lisa, all of whom did a spectacular job fixing all the problems large and small and helping pull this huge project through to completion. In the end, after all the trials and tribulations, what matters is the results... and as you can see the results were amazing. What was once a "scary" underground dungeon is now a lovely living space.

In short, Penguin were a joy to work with every step of the way, and I'd recommend them to anyone who wants a better basement. Very satisfied.

Penguin did a fantastic job in our basement. We were able to arrange the whole job over Zoom to start with Guy and Rodrigo. They sent someone on site who took pictures of the entire basement and produced a 3D mapping so we could visualize the floor plans and proposed layouts.

Their on-site staff (Roberto and Armando) are very knowledgeable and were able to resolve any issues that came up during construction.

We are very happy with our basement and can't wait to entertain in there for years to come.

**Update We've heard from the business and they say their going to resolve the issue. I will update this review upon resolution of our issue.** We were sold a space via Zoom for our basement by Guy (owner of Penguin Basements). His vision for our basement was appealing to my wife and I, so after receiving other quotes, we elected to use Penguin basements. I wish we would have dug deeper into the reviews of the company though.
Penguin agreed to finish our basement, which included a bedroom for my daughter and an office for myself. I specifically said to Guy that we wanted to ensure this project is completed right, that's why we were coming to Penguin in the first place. We wanted permits, and everything to be completed correctly.
The project started and things appeared to be progressing well, however the building inspector didn't show up for the initial inspection prior to the drywall being put up. This resulted in the inspector failing the build as there were supports missing from parts of the ceiling, and the windows would not open due to the drywall around the windows not permitting clearance of the windows (this is obviously a huge safety issue). The inspector was also suspicious of the bedroom as Penguin listed it as a Media room when they submitted our plans to the city of Oshawa for a building permit. I'm unsure why this is the case, but I'm sure it has to do with cutting corners and ignoring safety.
My wife at one point in October of 2021 had to call the Penguin office every day just to speak with the PM (Rodrigo) to ascertain when a crew would be back to fix the issues so our basement can pass inspection. We have been given the run around by Rodrigo, Guy and anyone else that would answer the phone at this business.
This is so terribly unprofessional for a business to take your money, and not complete the job that was agreed upon at the outset. It wasn't our fault the inspector didn't show up. It's not our fault that the build was completed without inspections. That's why we hired a so called professional business. We were assured everything would be completed on time and to a high standard.
Well, this project should've completed by July 30th, 2021. It's now January 25th, 2022 and we still have no solution to our issue. I have taken this matter to the Better Business Bureau, and if that doesn't motivate Penguin to resolve the issue, the next stop will be to obtain a contract lawyer to pursue legal action. You should NOT use Penguin for your projects as even their own employees speak poorly about them.

TLDR: Penguin skipped essential city inspections, didn't complete the work to building code, and now refuses to fix the issue after hiding for months by ducking phone calls and ignoring their responsibility. Do not use this builder for your project as you will regret it.

6 weeks jobs turned into 9 months and still not finished
1) kitchen cabinets and pantry not done
2) closet doors not done
3) there should be 3 days cleaning in job schedule but owner Guy Solomon denied it
4) purposed to earn Air Miles but never honour it
5) Our condo is going to stop this project because it lasts for so long but penquin just ignore it
6) we were living in hotels for these months, accommodation and meals cost us more than 40k

Just an FYI - the General Manager has not yet contacted me, despite my posting this review over 2 months ago, and despite their explicit statement below indicating that is what they would do.

I have to break this down by individual components:

1. Financials - 7/10. It was on the pricier side, but the price didn't shift and change and I never felt I was being pressured into buying more/replacing my requests with pricier ones.

2. Resources - 7/10. All were respectable and did not behave in anything but a professional manner. Even after my complaints they were supportive and understanding.

3. Management - 2/10. Here is where it goes downhill. The sales pitch (for which I would give 11/10) made it clear there was a support office who would respond to me. Nope. The tool they use - Buildertrend - wasn't updated accordingly. The project plan changed several times (Another reviewer mentioned this as well). Emails went unanswered. There was little to no transparency. Any of my concerns were unanswered or unresolved. If you can NOT create a project plan upon which your client can rely, it is a USELESS tool.

4. Timeline - 0/10. Seriously. The project started mid-October and there remains stuff to do. It was supposed to have finished by the end of October. I would have been satisfied if they even managed mid to late November. It is now mid January. I gave Penguin 5 days a week, 11 (!) hours a day access. AND Saturdays if necessary. They did not have their resources lined up. Different resources would finish tasks (the floors were done by 2 different resources; the tiles were done by 2 different resources). They overcommitted everyone. Not to mention the Xmas break and a COVID exposure, which added time. The Xmas break could have been avoided if they had finished on time! Resources wouldn't show up until 2pm and then want to work past 6pm. There seemed to be an idea that Penguin could work at THEIR discretion. Bitterly disappointed with the timeline. And in the magnificent sales pitch this was clearly spoken of as a NON issue. Penguin resources were committed to doing as much as they could (it’s even referenced in the material they provide for clients on buildertrend)

Based upon this alone I would say PROCEED WITH CAUTION with Penguin. They have OVERCOMMITTED themselves in Ottawa. They are NOT different from other contractors, which is expressly why I hired them – for the value added. Upon which they did NOT deliver.

TLDR version:
In week 18 of a supposedly 4-week contract. The project is still not finished. Massive mistakes, non-responsive, lack of coordination and ownership, bad project management from Penguin. I would not recommend it.

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Long version with details:
This is going to be a long review and I would try to be objective as possible along with breaking down different sections of the review. I also have almost all the messages and schedule pictures from their software so I can provide additional details if needed.

• Initial Sales: 9/10, very good service. The person estimating was knowledgeable, understood why we are building the basement (separate legal unit), gave good advice on keeping the costs low. They also set the right expectation in terms of City approval process, and that it takes time etc.
• Cost: 7/10, Cost was competitive to other large builders but more expensive than small builders.
• Quality 5/10, quality of work is fine. When they work, they work quickly and are generally good. However, in my case, they just simply didn’t work, didn’t show up, didn’t care about quality (paint finishing, door hinges, baseboard colors are not properly done). I put 5 because of one single person who was amazing. He got stuff done, pushed to get stuff done but literally everyone else dropped the ball.
• Mistakes 0/10, the number of mistakes they have made in my project are crazy.
o Kitchen cabinets were delivered 3 times with the wrong size, finally I asked one the site leaders to make changes on-site and somehow finish.
o Cabinet handles were simply forgotten and even after multiple reminders, missing. I eventually went to a shop, bought those myself and asked them to put it.
o Kitchen design (interior designer) was terrible and not well thought out. It only becomes obvious once finished.
o My smart thermostat was burnt because HVAC movers forgot to unplug it before the surge after moving. They did ask me to unplug other things and simply forgot to unplug the thermostat! They were also likely unprofessional and took 6 hours for something they initially mentioned as 2 hours themselves. Penguin then had the courage to say, “well we planned for 2 hours and covered 2 hours of work in your contract, but it took 6, so to balance it, please pay for the thermostat yourself and we would put the new one on”. This was the start of my project, in order to be accommodating, I agreed. Looking back, I should have told them to stop at that time and gotten out of the contract.
o “Forgot” to put the dry wall on the ceiling in one of the rooms, it took multiple reminders to get that work done. Then while putting the ceiling, they unplugged the bulb socket and then it took 4 weeks, literally 4 weeks for someone to come in a put the bulb socket back in. Clearly, it wasn’t complex work, they simply were not bothered to do it.
• Project Management 0/10, Multiple agreements (written ones), were simply not acknowledged.
o I paid for an extra 220V line to the garage for car changing in the initial contract. Then I reminded them again, they asked for a CR, reminded them it's covered, next day they forgot again. Reminded a third time, they put in a 40A wire because “that’s all they had” that day. Reminded a 4th time, then they brought in the right wire, fished out the previous one, broke ceilings again and then asked painters and wall resources to come finish.
o I signed off on interior designer selections with a clear agreement that close to actual project work appliance sizes would be validated again. Close to actual project, was rudely told nothing can be done. My existing appliances, 30 inch ones were all made useless and we had to go find more expensive 24 inch options. Had they told us beforehand, we would likely have asked for change in kitchen design to accommodate but they didn’t give any chance. My signoff on design included comments on their own software that sizes need to be confirmed beforehand, so it wasn’t verbal, it was all on their tool.

• Overall, 2/10, Considering project management and coordination is one of the MOST important pieces of work, instead of you dealing with multiple third parties, they completely bombed on that and based on that I would NOT recommend them. I have yet to see how they would honor “warranty” but if they are unwilling and unresponsive while on the project, I am not holding out much hope. I have also lost a minimum of 3 month rent from basement from the original schedule that Penguin promised themselves.

We did our whole basement with Penguin and are satisfied with the quality of products and service, extremely professional and good communication, from day 1 to finish everything went smooth and as planned. We will be recommending them to our family and friends, Thank you