Shannon from Toronto

These are my dream cleaners. Over the past 8 years we have hired a number of different cleaning companies to clean both our own home and a rental property, and Aida Sara and her team blew them away in terms of how clean they got the house, how quickly and industriously they worked, how expert they were, and what great value for money they were. It's not just that Aida's company did a better job than any other cleaners - it's that they did a MUCH better job, an 11/10 as opposed to perhaps a 7/10 for the next-best cleaner we've used. Usually one needs to point out little things that were missed - the kind of things that you only notice if you live in a place or are really paying attention to detail. But Aida's standards are very high, and her ladies are experts and very well-trained - there wasn't a nook or a cranny they missed, from inside very musty and dirty closets to behind and underneath the stove and fridge, to behind and under every piece of furniture in the house (something which a lot of cleaners are loathe to do because, yes, it is a lot of work to carefully move then put back many pieces of furniture.) It is worth pointing out that this was a deep clean so many tasks were undertaken that wouldn't be in a weekly or monthly clean (such as washing all the windows, including the removable sliding ones), but that what they managed to accomplish in 10 hours astonished me (and they worked far, far faster than even very good cleaners I've used before - they were astounding value for money.) I have total confidence that Aida applies her same high standards to 'regular' cleans and will be recommending her high and low to family and friends. Incidentally, this is a small family-owned business and not only do I find it's a pleasure to deal with the owner directly every time, but I think it also ensures high and consistent quality - because Aida knows her staff very well and furthermore is often working alongside her team. You really do not get that kind of oversight and quality control with bigger companies. May I say that Aida herself is also a very lovely lady, good-humoured, flexible, and very dedicated to running an efficient and reliable business. Her ladies were also unusually good-humoured and polite people, and this despite working in 35+ degrees heat, and so quickly and industriously that I felt tired just watching them. You will not find a better cleaning company than this, at very reasonable prices. An A++ business.

Lou Aretusi is a gentleman among contractors. In February we realized that our new home, built in 1927, had very poor heating to the second floor, so that the ground floor would be toasty warm while the upstairs was quite cool. As another reviewer said, it's hard to find someone who specializes in sheet metal work, but we found Dave White Heating on Home Stars and what a wonderful find that was. Lou came in and took a very close look at the existing duct system in the unfinished basement, answered about a million questions, was never rushed, provided some very helpful suggestions, then provided a clear and very detailed written quote that broke down in meticulous detail the different components of the work to be done and the prices. Everything we had discussed - up to the diameter of the different ducts - was there in the quote (it is by far the most detailed quote we have gotten, in 15 months of dealing with different contractors.) Lou really knows his business, and is exceptionally patient and congenial - he always answers his phone himself and is happy to answer questions. Ultimately, we replaced the main supply duct that services the whole house with a larger one, as well as four branch ducts that serviced the basement and upstairs, perhaps 60% of the ducts in our tiny home. We also installed two new ducts into the living room on the ground floor. Lou and his brother Marino performed the work in one day, and what efficient, cheerful, hard-working and professional gentlemen. Add to that list complete honesty, integrity, forthrightness, and beautifully executed workmanship and you'll understand why I say that if all contractors were like Lou, there would be no Holmes on Homes. (As a final note - the house is now toasty warm from top to bottom. This was a huge improvement for a very reasonable price!) A++

I can only reiterate the high compliments that have been paid to Boris and CozyWorld by countless reviewers before me. Boris is often described as a 'gentleman' and this is the perfect description - he is a wonderful, courteous, calm and forthright gentleman with great integrity - you will not find any attempts here to 'upsell' you to a bigger or more expensive furnace you don't need. If only all contractors were like Cozy World - what a pleasure to deal with. We replaced our 29-year-old furnace with a Goodman 96% efficiency, variable-speed (DC) motor, 45,000 BTU furnace. The Goodman furnaces come with great parts & labour warranties but we asked to purchase an additional 5-year Labour warranty (for a total of 10 years) ($120) for our own peace of mind. Cozy also installed a chimney liner for safety reasons - to ensure that carbon monoxide exhaust from the hot-water heater doesn't fall back into the house due to a cold chimney - as the new furnace is direct-vented, it no longer uses the chimney (which used to be kept warm by the old furnace exhaust.) The old (enormous) furnace was also removed and disposed of. The installers, Kam and his assistant, were oustanding examples of hard workers - efficient, tireless, quite expert in their installation, and left everything very neat and tidy. They were also, like Boris, the epitome of courteous. This company really has a wonderful way of treating customers that other professionals could learn from. I unequivocally recommend Cozy World.

I had an outstanding experience with NewRidge. As others have commented, Scott's responsiveness to an initial inquiry is superb - very quick and thorough, with a ballpark estimate to give you a sense of the price range you might be looking at based on your square footage. Communication continues to be good from beginning to end of the project, which is not always the case with other companies. Sebastian came out to give a detailed quote and he was straightforward, clear, and very likeable to boot. He and his son refinished both the ground and second floor of our 1927 home, removing the expanses of broadloom carpet (and carting it away), sanding down the oak floors, filling in small gaps with wood filler, coating the floors with four coats of a 'satin' natural finish, then adding three-quarter-round to the baseboards. The results are simply spectacular - those 87-year-old floors look warm, glowing, smooth, and glossy. It is a huge and astonishing transformation from what were fairly worn-looking floors to what look like newly-installed ones. In addition, Sebastian and his son were a great pleasure to deal with, consistently good-humoured and even-tempered, industrious, and meticulous. They showed up when they said they would, were efficient and hard-working, and the job was finished a day early (which was helpful given that we had another contractor coming in soon afterwards.) On top of everything, their prices are extremely reasonable. I would rehire NewRidge in a heartbeat and unequivocally recommend them to family and friends - they are the 'gold standard'. (Incidentally, six months have passed since the floors were refinished and they still look spectacular... If I were given the choice between my refinished floors and brand-new oak floors for the same price, I would still choose these refinished floors - they are that beautiful.)

I found Insta-Insulation by watching a Holmes on Homes episode where he raved about spray-foam insulation and used Insta as his go-to insulation company. After using Insta-Insulation on my (relatively small) job, I can add my vote of confidence to Mike Holmes'. This is a really well-managed company that obviously prides itself on its customer service - everyone I dealt with, from the phone staff, to Jeremy, who gave me the quote, to the installers, were professional, courteous, and very serious about getting the job done. This was from a given in our case because the job was so tiny - a porch overhang of about 60 sq feet. (A living room was partially built over the front porch - the porch ceiling was previously insulated with pink fibreglass insulation but this was barely effective, as in winter wind literally 'whistled' between the floorboards.) On a job this small, most companies treat you as a lower priority, but not with Insta - they treated our job like it was a $5,000 job. (They had to come back several times to complete the job due to weather and other unexpected circumstances, but never grumbled and were always quick to come back.) Quite remarkable. A company to be commended, and recommended. Thank you Insta-Insulation for your great service! I'm excited for the rest of my renovations and can't wait for my porch to be complete. Jeremy and the crew were wonderfully professional and kept everything clean.