Advantage Painting & Flooring

Under no circumstances should anyone hire Mr. Behl or his company (1803856 Ontario Inc./Advantage Flooring/Painting) to complete work in their home. He is unprofessional and dishonest. His company website states that he works with a certified professional team, that no job is too small, 100% satisfaction guaranteed and with quality you can trust. The work in our home was deficient and our home was treated with absolute disrespect (for example, at one point during the work, Jay asked us by text message to change the entry code on the door that was being used because some of his equipment had been taken by workers. When we expressed astonishment that he could be saying that to us and asked how that was possible and who it was that he had going through our home unattended, he tried to brush off his comments (we have screenshots of this conversation by text). Flooring was laid unevenly and in ways that required transitions that shouldn't have been necessary. Transitions that were laid to try to fix the shoddy work were also done poorly and aren't flush. Several areas are very squeaky. Damaged and scratched cuts of flooring were used in several spots (there is plenty of extra hardwood that could have been used, as quite a bit more was ordered and paid for by us than was necessary).

We hired Jay and his company to complete flooring and painting throughout our home on a particular timeline (we had a set move-in day and time that we required after a long haul move from another city). We took possession on the 1st, and work was to be completed by the 18th, with move-in on 19th. Jay was aware of this timeline from the outset, although he tried to argue later that we changed it. I have extensive written proof this is not true. A schedule was set out in writing. It was not met at all. We were told the day before move-in that our basement was not finished and we planned for that (with a plan to have all items that would have gone to the basement placed in the garage). We were told, in writing, that the main floor was complete. We arrived to our home on moving day to find portions of the main floor not complete (dining room and family room), glass railings from a staircase removed and precariously leaned up against appliances in the kitchen leaving the stairs to the basement entirely open and a safety hazard, a smashed custom shutter from a bedroom valued at $1800 dumped in our garage, garbage strewn about our house and in the duct work (empty drink cups), paint splatters and damage throughout the interior of the house and exterior (all over a fence, deck and pool pump outside), open paint cans, dirty brushes and trays, and more. We had moved some kitchen items in upon possession and stored them in cupboards before moving day 18 days later. We found wine glasses had been removed from our kitchen pantry and used to store screws. There was dirt, debris and equipment everywhere, including in our garage where we needed to place half of our possessions and furniture given the state of the house. We were unable to stay at our home for several days. Jay has argued that we changed the moving time and that's why it wasn't cleaned before move-in. He also stated that he cleaned "for hours" himself. I have extensive written documentation by email and text and photo evidence of everything, as well a recorded conversation from move-in day when Jay finally showed up in person and we had an argument about it all (we asked him to leave our property and not return). After paying $33,000, we reduced the remaining invoice amount for delay, damages and deficiencies for a total amount just over $46,000. Jay proceeded to repeatedly send us emails and texts, with sometimes 7 emails over the course of 10 minutes in a night for the next several weeks. I would under no circumstances recommend hiring Advantage. Jay caused immense stress, extra time and money for us and we entirely regret ever hiring him for any of the work. We are now left in the position of fixing the damage to our home and the deficient work that was done, and also hiring other contractors for the remaining work (for example, work on 3 staircases that was scheduled to be completed with Advantage) and are way behind on settling into our new home as we hoped to be.