David Bezmozgis in York

I hired Dino to waterproof my basement from the inside in advance of a renovation. He'd come recommended through a friend. At first, I liked him. He came across as personable and knowledgeable. My house is 80 years old and had shown minimal signs of moisture, but even during the flood of July 2013, it didn't flood. I decided to do the job anyway, as a precaution. Dino's workers came and put Delta vapor barrier on the walls and dug a trench around the perimeter of the basement and laid what they told me was weeping tile. They cemented over and I assumed they had done a proper job. Now, in the winter, I have started the basement renovation. In the process of replacing the plumbing in my basement, my contractor exposed some of Dino's work and was shocked by what he discovered. He found broken pieces of plastic pipe at various places along the wall. It was laid very shallowly in the gravel, not beside the footings as is the standard for this kind of work. When I called Dino to explain the work he said that this was normal and the way they always did it. He called it a "free-flow system." (My contractor had never heard of such a thing, and in my research on the Internet, I didn't see anything remotely like it.) I told him I wasn't happy with this since it wasn't what I expected and he agreed to come over check out what his guys had done. Even seeing the broken, disconnected pipe laid in at random places, he insisted that this was normal and that the pipe wasn't necessary. The gravel would still get the water to the drain or the sump pump. (As for why any pipe was used or the logic behind where it was dropped, he didn't provide a coherent answer.) He said that he'd done a great job and that my basement would never leak. And if it did, he said he guaranteed his work for 20 years. When I insisted that he either do the job to industry standard so that it could pass inspection or give me my money back he said the most he would do was touch up what was there. If I didn't like that, I could sue him. I said I would do that. And he invited me to go ahead since he planned to close the business anyway. (So much for the 20 year warranty.) In the event this man remains in business--steer clear.

I found Arvin and Pazman through Homestars. I compared their quote against that of several others' and theirs was the lowest. I asked them to provide some refenrences and they were happy to do that; all the references checked out. As part of a basement renovation, the structural engineering job was to replace two large brick piers in the basement with new steel columns. Since the piers were supporting our house, it was critically important. Arvin and Pazhman did two site visits and Arvin, the point person, was very judicious about responding to emails and phone calls. He also accommodated our schedule--especially commendable because the project timeline changed and he had to juggle the more erratic schedules of our contractor and architect. He did so without any complaint. In general, both Arvin and Pazhman were a pleasure to deal with. And the design they came up with worked seamlessly with the aesthetic of our renovation and erred on the side of maximum safety. I recommend them without reservation.

I needed to replace the knob and tube in my house for insurance reasons. Bill's quote was the lowest and he struck me as the most professional of all the contractors I spoke with. From the very beginning he was organized and detailed in his quote and, as the job progressed, he updated the quote as needed. In the end, the job came in very very close to the original estimate and the extra charges were all legitimate (things that were uncovered during the work) or things I chose to add to the job. Bill also worked within a very tight window for me and he was flexible and accommodating. He was also very pleasant to deal with, as were all of his workers. Aside from replacing the wiring, they patched all the holes for $1000. No other contractor offered this service--certainly not for such a reasonable price. And they also installed many news fixtures and fans. All in all, a thorough, transparent and professional job.

We sublet our house to tenants who spilled hot water on our antique dining-room table. We solicited quotes from a number of furniture refinishers, including a number on homestars, and Walter's quote was by far the lowest. Other refinishers warned that a low quote would mean shoddy workmanship but that certainly wasn't the case with Walter. He was very easy to deal with. He responded promptly and cordially and did the job in the time specified. (About two weeks.) He picked up the table and delivered it for a cost, but it was the same cost charged by other vendors. And the finished product was impeccable. (I will post before and after photos if possible.) The table hasn't looked this good in 100 years. I recommend Walter without reservation.