Partex Design Build Ltd.

Susanne from Toronto
Posted: Dec 9, 2015
Repair/Rebuilt Side Porch/Decking
Par-tek Construction and Andrew were engaged by us to work on several projects to our Victorian building in downtown Toronto.

The first project was to fix some badly crumbling brick faced stairs. Andrew came up with some great ideas and we ended up using ¾” thick marble to cover the steps and exposed porch. The second project, a few months later, was to rebuild and paint our Victorian porch and stairs and security gates below, as well as paint all of the exterior wood for our portion of the building, plus the iron fence and gates. Again, Par-Tek delivered. The third project was to treat our ageing steel fire escape. Par-tek found a terrific rust converter, that actually converts rust to a paintable, inert material. Then painted the entire steel structure with a reliable exterior anti rust paint.

We are very pleased with all of the excellent services and problem solving Par-tek has provided. Each time we engaged them, they came through. We will work with them again.

Susanne,

Downtown Toronto

“Par-Tek Construction performed admirably on our renovation project. They proved to be good listeners to our stringent demands and provided excellent solutions and advice throughout the project. Their trades were courteous and clean, and performed their tasks well. The project was completed on time and on budget and the quality was excellent. This experience was remarkably different from our experiences with most contractors, and we will be bringing them back again for our next project.

I heartily recommend them to you.”

Andrew was very conscious of the cost of the project and worked hard at keeping on budget. He proposed changes to the original drawings in order to save money and prevented unnecessary work that may have put the foundation at risk. He worked with a new engineer to get city approval of the new plan so that underpinning of the foundation was not required. The job required working around brick columns that supported a deck and balcony. His innovative way of underpinning the columns saved a lot of work and the columns.

There were a few glitches along the way such as when the concrete forms blew out but he covered the extra cost without hassle.

So far, the quality of the work has stood up to a full winter with no cracks or signs of stress.

In addition, he set the post for a fence project that required very accurate attention to detail and precise installation

I entered into a contract with Par-tek Construction 1 year ago after finding the contractor using this very site. The reviews were good and his responses by e-mail or phone were quick. We signed an agreement to begin wprk on converting a carport into a garage, for design work and the permit, and I made several payments. Due to various delays no work was completed other than getting a permit, and construction was pushed to the spring.

This is where my problems began to get worse. Not getting anything built per our original timeline was a setback, but I was still confident in the contractor. Andrew (who is owner) still seemed willing to complete the work, but continually delayed the start. First it was pushed to March, then May, and when we finally seemed close to starting, he abruptly terminated our arrangement. He said we did not have a signed contract for this part of the work, and specifically "Get somebody else to build your garage." My mistake was trusting him on his word and paying more than what was outlined initially to continue the work.

Obviously this left me in a tough spot. No work has started, and I was out the several thousand dollars I paid him for essentially the promise of work to come. My attempts to get a refund were not met well. His response to me was to claim that his costs were mysteriously much higher than what I had paid. So much in fact that I now owed HIM money! There was no mention of these mystery costs prior to my request, nor any dollar values provided.

There are all kinds of words to describe a man like this, but I'm not interested in venting. I hope my story guides you to a better contractor than I found.

My wife and I recently engaged Par-Tek to design, permit and construct an extensive main floor renovation and second floor project. They were brilliant.

The main floor scope was to eliminate as many walls as practical, install four new flush beams, design and supply an new kitchen and layout, lighting design with many new pot lights throughout, remove all existing flooring and install new hardwood throughout, new powder room, new windows and sliding doors, relocate laundry to downstairs.

The second floor was treated with an entirely new layout, tile, finishes and fixtures to the master bedroom and new master bath, along with gutting and refurbishing the guest bathroom, with new hardwood floors throughout the second floor.

Andrew, the owner, worked directly with us and our budget to establish a design that would meet our needs. They managed to exceed our expectations and pay strict adherence to our agreed-to budget, no easy feat.

Their detailed budget included the entire scope of work, design, engineering (to remove most walls and install new beams for our open concept main floor), coupled with lots of solid advice regarding sourcing materials, finishes, colors, textures etc.

They even loaned us a few tools when we did some of the work ourselves!

We plan on selling here in a few short years and move closer to downtown.

We will definitely be working with Andrew and Par-Tek again when we do.