We tried this company out on our realtor's recommendation. Mistake!
The owner was very nice, and did our initial quote. We added/removed items to fit our budget because they were quite pricey, but able to do the work quickly.
Here is a synopsis of what we hired them to do:
Add a turnbuckle to our gate to make it open/shut more smoothly.
Replace old exterior metal door with new one (that we were supplying)
Add trim around the other exterior door to make it look more "finished". Purely cosmetic.
Change lights/ballasts as needed in basement.
The day the two workers arrived to do the work, we were immediately told they couldn't do two of the four jobs the way we initially planned. Okay, we take their advice and come up with a new plan.
Boy, what a mistake. Instead of adding a turnbuckle to the gate, they used a saws-all and just cut the gate. Great for now, but that didn't work to tighten it up at the post.
They told us they couldn't replace the door due to 2 x 6 construction and a 2 x 4 door. Fine. (Though I have to say, my husband replaced our other door under the exact same circumstances two years ago). They offer to clean up and paint the current door instead. Okay. Nope. Get home that evening to discover they used a paintbrush and it looks like a 5 year old did it.
The cosmetic framing around the other door was okay (not great, but ok). However, they painted it after putting it on, got paint all over our siding. Awesome. Did not tape anything off before painting.
Our final invoice shows they've replaced 4 lights and one ballast in the basement. Nope. 1 ballast, 2 lights and they have left us 2 spares. The lights in one room are still flickering.
I am giving 2 stars instead of zero because we obviously called them about all of these things. Paul, the owner, and his foreman came out the next day to see for themselves. Initially, they just wanted to knock $300 off the bill and leave us to fix it. No! We hired a service to do these jobs to make our lives easier. After some discussion, they decide to send the foreman back to fix things. They warn us that if they need to replace another ballast, that will cost us extra for material. We agree to that, but to no extra labour.
Over the course of the next two days, they come back. The door painting is fixed up, we are happy with it. The frame is fixed up, okay. They replace two more lights in the basement, but the one room is STILL flickering. When we call, we are told yes, but a ballast would have cost more. We KNOW, you told us that two days ago and we agreed. In the end, husband went to Rona and bought a new light for $68 and replaced himself. When he looked at the old one, sure enough ballast was shot.
In the end, it seemed liked Paul kind of tried to make it right, and to some extent did. However, they are charging between $65-$85/hr for labour, and the workmanship was awful. Not only that, but what was supposed to be a timesaver became a huge headache for us. I would definitely not recommend after this experience.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $800.00