RayT from Toronto

Last fall after some heavy rains I noticed 3 separate areas of my upper floor roof leaking quite badly. I had actually called a roofing company thinking I needed an entirely new roof, but they had a look and recommended me their sister company Mr. Roof Repair. They came promptly and with photos gave me a very detailed quote. Since I had 2 leaking skylights and one air vent, they had to come on 2 visits as it was too cold one early October's day. The guys worked nearly 1/2 a day even in a thin layer of snow to fix the roof. It's been nearly 7 months since the repair and all the leaks are gone, even after the horrible winter we had. There was a bit of billing mix up with one of the girls, but we eventually did get it straightened out. The owner even called me in March to ask how my roof was doing. Great service, and efficient online booking system. Would glady use them again or recommend to friends and neighbors.

I had carpenter ants invade my home and tried various borax/protein/sugar based baits which didn't work. Vance called me early in the day to confirm my address and he showed up on time. I walked thru my home showing him all the spots where I saw ants, and he went to work while my family was sitting in the backyard eating our breakfast. I had to sneak into the house a few times to get stuff I forgot, the fumes were strong and lasted about 3-4 hrs even with the windows open. Luckily by 6 hrs almost all the fumes were gone. Since he only sprayed the basement and the main floor, the upstairs didn't have the fumes at all. He found one area just outside the kitchen door where there was a pocket of ants pouring out as he sprayed into it. The following week I only saw a few ants stagger around and die quickly, and a month later nothing at all. He offers a 6 month guarantee. Great service, would hire him again.

This is the second time I had Jerry come to my home for electrical work. This time, an entire section of my 40+ year old home lost power for some unknown reason. I already had a handyman friend come to inspect all the outlets and wiring from the panel, and he couldn't find the problem. Jerry came and did the same, including going to the attic and still couldn't find the problem source. It was most likely buried in some wall etc. His solution was to bring up a new wiring to the upstairs 2 rooms and the garage. I was worried when he first mentioned about opening walls, drilling holes etc. In the end, the only hole he had to make was in the garage wall, and he was able to connect the wiring back to the rest of the existing wiring without drilling any more walls inside. I was amazed and relieved! All this, and he even came back with his assistant on a Sunday to do the re-wiring job! Another job well done, clean and courteous, highly recommend Jerry at Electropro.

I had David B. come to do my audit. He was very professional and inspected both outside and inside of the house and was very thorough. Main problems were air leaks, especially potlights and fireplace. He did a blower door test and walked around with me to show where the air leaks were. He made suggestions as to where the leaks from the potlights on the ground floor may have been from, since my 37 yr old home had double layer brick walls but most likely uninsulated. Also my roof needed more insulation and proper weatherstripping of the hatch. He wasn't as useful about the fireplace as it wasn't his specialty (which I found another company to fix). I had no problem getting back my first rebate quickly, and David emailed me his detailed analysis report and replied to my email questions even a few months after the audit. The report was a little confusing though, especially about the part about my basement insulation. But it was nice that it prioritizes which upgrades gives the biggest rebate for the dollar spent (mine would be to upgrade furnace, followed by adding roof insulation). They do have a separate person who takes care of the reno job as well, but after his estimate I decided to go with another company mostly due to price. The estimate itself was useful in that he detected more problems that David didn't (including pot lights on the top floor that were non IC rated). If you do go with this company, my advice is to ask for David to do your audit, followed by an estimate with their renovations team to make sure no other problems exist.

My chimney looked like it was never cleaned before, even though it was converted to a gas burning. I've always liked wood burning fireplace, so after the gas valve broke down, I decided this was the best time to convert it. Also, the flue was either eroded or completely missing, such that cold air billowed in each winter and made our family room miserably cold. I didn't want to get a chimney balloon, so decided to get a retractable chimney cap. I called around a bunch of chimney places and not many could do all 3 items I wanted (cleaning, converting and cap). A-1 was one that could and quoted a decent price for it. The cleaning was done first and was done very quickly and neatly. The conversion was next and was also neat (gas line removed). Finally the cap was done last. The hook to release the cap is tucked away on the side and works well. Great job, would recommend these guys again.

After I had a home energy audit done, I knew what was needed to be done in terms of my insulation addition. I called around a few places and the owner actually answered my calls and gave what I thought was the most reasonable quote. I also had some problems with potlights which were not IC rated and thus leaking air. I had them add some of those plastic blue covers before adding insulation (going from R20 -> R50). They also insulated and sealed my access hatch. I also had leaks from all of my older potlights on the main floor, and they managed to find the access panel (without me showing them that it was tucked away in a broom closet) and they managed to blow some more insulation in the gap between my kitchen and top floor. Now the house is much cooler in the summer and I use my A/C much less than before. Hopefully this winter will be better on lower heating bills as well. Great job, everything was very clean and nothing damaged. Would definitely use them again or recommend to others.

My old Beam central vac unit died on me one day and I had a sticker on my unit with Superior's tel#. I decided to give them a call to see if my unit could be serviced. I knew it probably wasn't serviceable since the unit was smelling pretty badly burnt already. Steve the sales and service guy came out to my home and gave me quote for a new unit, which was expertly installed the next day. Two months later the unit wouldn't turn off (seems like a common problem with Beams, as they have it listed on their FAQ online). I called them up again and within 2 days Steve was back and fixed the problem, free of charge. I also had them send out another person come out to install a Vac Pan for me. The position was critical and the installer gave me good advice as he thought it wasn't secure on the kitchen centre island. In the end, it was installed under the kitchen sink and the job was neat and clean. Apparently my floors were extra thick wood and took him quite awhile to saw through it all.

My 35 yr old home underwent some serious renovations, including resanding of some hardwood floors. Along with a new baby along the way, I was quite concerned about the dust in my air ducts. I called Top Line early am and they gave me a quote over the phone, and if I had decided to do the entire home cleaning package (i.e furnace coils, A/C, central vac) then there would be an additional discount. They also offered to come the same day, since they were doing another home in the area. <br><br> Their team consisted of one senior member, and 2 other assistants (the senior fellow was directing the others). Unlike the previous duct cleaning I had with another company in my previous home, Top Line pre-taped all of the ducts with a theory of blocking air flow only to the desired duct to maximize suction (and also to prevent dust from flying out). Whether it works or not, I'm not sure, but at least it's extra effort I don't mind having. I also noticed later on that there were some additional plastic plugs in the basement duct work near the furnace that didn't seem to be there before... I assume it's for easy access to the ducts for future cleanings (no one mentioned about it to me). They spent a total of 1.5 hrs on my 3000 sq ft home, and tested all equipment was in proper working order before leaving. <br><br> Overall very happy with their service, price wise seems to be standard amongst all the companies with a slight discount if you have more cleaned. My neighbor also decided to go with them as well, after seeing them do my home.

I purchased a 35 yr old home which had aluminum wiring in most of the older rooms. Initially we were scared off by the previous owners in that it might be difficult for us to get adequate home insurance. After some research on the net, I found out that aluminum wiring isn't that big a deal, as long as it's done right. Thus, I decided to get a ESA inspection before hand, just to see what kind of work I really required (in hopes that I could save a few extra dollars in the long run). After my inspection, I called around a few electricians that were highly recommended on Homestars. One of them wanted to completely pull out all of the wiring and change it back to copper. I told them I didn't need it, and they never called me back. Another said they would just simply change all of the outlets for me and quoted me a pretty stiff price for all the work. Luckily I found Jerry at Electropro. He was very prompt in replying to me (called me back the very next day) and came to do my job within 1 week (I had a ESA deadline to complete the work within 1 week, since I had left it sitting around for awhile). Jerry took out the permit for the work, and did the work as needed from the ESA inspection report. He even corrected some of the improperly done work that another contractor was doing for me at the time. Jerry followed up by arranging for another ESA inspection, which passed easily. His price is very reasonable and he is very courteous and works neat and efficiently. I would definitely use him again for my future projects.

Shopping for a good mattress is very difficult. It's not like all the stores carry the exact same models for a particular mattress brand. Thus, it's hard to directly compare one mattress to another between stores. Initially we shopped around many stores in the GTA looking for our queen sized mattress, and found varying prices. Probably the most expensive the were the big box stores like Sleep Country Canada. We stumbled upon a smaller mattress store in Scarborough called Mattress Mall. Our last purchase was 7 years ago and we were very happy with our Sealy mattress purchase. Since then we have returned again to buy a king sized Simmon's beautyrest, and also a twin mattress for my son. Our sales person Matt is very knowledgeable and doesn't pressure you at all when you're in the show room. Plus they've moved across the street from their old location to a bigger and better showroom with more models for you to test out. They carry all the major brand names (except Tempur Pedic). Do shop around a few places before you make your purchase, but we are very happy with our purchase and service with Mattress Mall in Scarborough.

I had a few friends recommend me Jia Jia movers. They are mostly mandarin chinese speaking workers, but they can usually understand and sometimes speak a little english too. Booking was efficient, but they don't seem to reply to emails. The showed up on time, had 4 guys and a large truck do my entire house move in one single trip. They very carefully disassembled and wrapped my antique grand piano up beautifully, as well as a 50" rear projector view tv. They were so fast that I was still in a rush to keep up with them in terms of taking apart last minute tables and putting things into boxes for them to move. No additional charges for rolls or tapes etc that previous moving companies charged me for. One guy did break one of my ikea dresser legs (their stuff is pretty flimsy) when he tried to lift the unit all by himself. Final bill was as quoted, but they do ask you pay enough tip (approx 10%). I would use them again or recommend them to friends.

Found Alliance flooring highly recommended on homestars and redflagdeals forums. I called around 5 places and the best price quoted and most knowledgable replies were from Alliance. Lehel showed up on time to do my quote and was very detailed in his estimates and measurements. On the day of the refinishing work, Lazlo was also very friendly and showed me all options to re-staining the floor. Floors were done beautifully and on time as promised. My friend who is a part-time contractor even commented on how nice the floor looked (he offered to do it cheaper but that was after I had found Lehel and put a deposit down). I was also able to save a bit of money too, since I didn't use any stain and went with a natural look and did varnish only. They were nice enough to credit me some money back as well. Only draw back is they can't take credit card over phone (must physically bring card into their store) but at least you can see some of the samples and paint stains. I would definitely use them again or recommend my friends to them. PS - I realized that Lazlo had put 3 large garbage bags full of sawdust and some large tins of chemicals. But when the garbage guys came around, they literally ripped open each garbage bag to take a look and decided not to take any of it away. I'll have to call to remind Lehel that they should be taking away that garbage as well, rather than leaving it to the customer to dispose of, since the City of Toronto now does not take away renovation garbage.