John McKean in Willowdale

I went to the Sheppard Ave. E store to replace either a leaky faucet cartridge (if they could help me get it out) or the entire valve assembly. There was no manufacturer identification on anything. Happily, I got Sidney in the plumbing department and he was very helpful. After trying his best to remove the cartridge, he said any more force would probably destroy the whole assembly. Since we would need to know who made it to get a new assembly, the only thing he could suggest was to soak it in CLR or vinegar for a couple of hours. Good advice - worked like a charm - thanks Sidney! Sorry you missed a sale, but I'll be back soon.

Excellent Job - on time at a reasonable price I rarely give ten star ratings (nobody's perfect) but this time I cannot find any fault with Premium for excellent work, done on time, exactly as we wanted. We had no problem contacting Nestor at any time and he even called us to say he might be a few minutes late (he wasn't). He made sure to match colours to our satisfaction, the painting was first-class and the clean-up was excellent. Our projects were a complete sand-down/re-stain of a deck and the restoration of a badly weathered verandah railing and stairs. Nestor found some rotten spots and permanently fixed them with "bondo" at no extra charge. We paid $1800 which included high quality paint and materials. This works out to about $90/hr for two workers - very reasonable we thought. Based on Nestor's reputation and his confident attitude, we accepted his estimate without seeking any other. We have some interior paint jobs next year and Nestor will be doing them.

We have used Underhill's several times in the past and trust their work. We didn't ask for competing bids. Our neighbour to the back had removed some large limbs creating a gap in the woodsy feeling of our Underhill's landscaped back yard. We called Dave Underhill for his expert opinion. He recommended two, eight foot tall evergreens (Hemlocks) planted six feet apart. The Hemlock is about the only evergreen that can grow in the deep shade of our yard. They are also among the most beautiful trees we have seen. Dave's crew arrived exactly on time with two absolutely perfect Hemlocks and planted them with skill. It took somewhat longer than we expected - the root balls were huge and extremely heavy. John and Alex (the planters) explained that they were native grown (Ontario) and should adapt to our yard better than the cheaper BC grown trees. We paid $1200 plus tax for the trees and installation. That seems reasonable compared to trees we saw at a Sheridan Center. As an aside: The complaint I saw here about paving stones made no sense to me. Underhill's did two large paving stone projects for us six years ago and they are still in perfect condition. That person must be thinking of some other contractor.

After Googling around trying to get replacement AprilAir filters I came across www.ontariofurnacefilters.com whose price ($45) was much better than I could find elsewhere ($60). A US supplier had a lower price, but shipping brought the cost to well over $60. ontariofurnacefilters.com ships for free via Canada Post. I ordered on a Tuesday afternoon and got my filters (along with a pen and a thank you note) Friday morning. I would advise anyone who needs filters to try these folks.

We chose Alarmforce because of it's voice challenge system. Figuring that 99% of alarms are false, we wanted an easy way to cancel an alarm as well as avoiding inadvertantly triggering it. Alarmforce doesn't send the police if you respond to their dispatcher with a valid password. The system can be armed/disarmed by any phone in the house. Much handier than a keypad. We are completely satisfied with their quick response, ease-of-use and customer service. The installer arrived on time on both occasions (we needed an upgrade after expanding our house). He knew the system thoroughly and customized it to exactly what we wanted.

These folks know wiring and everything needed to complete a project. They had absolutely everything I needed for a very complicated, outdoor, remote controlled garden lighting project. I picked their brains for over an hour - their advice saved me a lot of time and money. They have a good selection of Greenlee tools and X10 automation controls. It's a bit of a drive for me, but I'll definitely be back.

We were lead here by an interior designer because she said the selection was about the best in Toronto. I agree. The service was good and we managed to get a fixture for every location on our list (8 different items). The only hitch was that one of the items was on back order and would take three weeks to come in. That was six weeks ago. I would recommend Sescolite if you want high-end or difficult to find lighting. If you can get what you want at Rona or CanTire, do so - you'll probably save some money.

For such a large store I'd expect better selection. I'm more likely to walk out of Home Depot empty-handed than I am from a Rona or CanTire. Cashier lineups often seem to be longer than competitors as well.

Delighted with our front yard renovation last year, we called in Underhill's to do the back this summer. This was a big job - literally tons of earth and scrub moved and removed, skilled tree trimming, big rocks, hundreds of plants and sod installed. They had to come in the spring to prep the yard for our new addition, then return later to finish the job. Underhill's showed up right on time, worked all day every day and finished ahead of schedule. There was a little damage, but they paid for all repairs without any disagreement. As before, we didn't ask anyone else to bid on the job so don't know if their price was high or low. We knew they could do the job to our complete satisfaction so we just went with them. Also, we had no idea what we wanted the yard to look like - just that it be low-maintenance. Dave Underhill's design was exeptional (just like our front yard). Many people have praised it. We highly recommend listening to Dave's opinions - he has a great sense of what will look best and how easy it is to maintain.

Karoly (Charlie) Peszler and his crew showed up on time and stuccoed our new addition quickly, quietly and cleaned up after. There was a minimum of "fluff" from the foam sanding. They did an excellent job. New Era was acting as a subcontractor to our incredibly fussy general contractor J.T.Stewart.

I rated price as average but did not compare with any other vendor. I expect that their pricing is competitive. I rated quality as it pertains to service. It took repeated calls to get answers to delivery delays. Their selection was pretty good - better than the others we tried. The patio set we bought (sofa, 2 chairs, 1 ottoman, 1 coffee table, 3 end tables) took longer to deliver than initially stated, but seems to be very good quality. We would (and did) use General Products again.

Centura was recommended by our General Contractor J.T. Stewart. Since we didn't compare pricing with any other supplier, I rated it Average. The showroom is large and offers a good selection. We would shop there again.

I contacted Premi-air by email about coverage for a new HVAC system. Their service manager Victor replied immediately with a comprehensive price list. Their prices were very competitive and their service methods very thorough. Victor gave me good advice about warranties and it turns out we won't need their services for a while. When we do, they'll be my only call.

Tubs was recommended by J.T. Stewart our general contractor. I presume their prices are competitive, we didn't look anywhere else. If there was a rating for Selection, I'd give it an Excellent. The showroom is large and offers a wide array of products nicely grouped. I expect their selection is one of the best in the city. The staff is knowledgable but a bit aloof. Nice, if you don't want to be pestered.

Sylvana (who looked after us) was highly recommended by J.T. Stewart the famous general contractor. He's so fussy, we just know they must have very high quality. I rated Price as Average since we didn't compare prices with anyone else. They seemed reasonable. Their showroom is a little cramped, but there's lots of samples and Sylvana's brain is an encylopedia. She guided us through all the ins and outs of choosing types of drawers, doors and stuff. We will definetely use Lido for our kitchen reno next year.

Andy and Collin are first rate electricians. They show up on time and devote full attention to the job. They're up on all the new products and techniques and aware of all the bylaws in the area. We have used them on two projects and will use them exclusively from now on. Clan Electric acted as a subcontractor to the extremely fussy J.T. Stewart General Contractor. They wired power, telephone and cable TV and installed lighting, heating, and fans in our new additon. They also corrected some existing wiring problems and converted the house to 100 Amp service.

John Stewart acted as general contractor on a 300 sqft addition to our 1951 story-and-a-half. It (along with an old main floor room) included a mud room, bathroom, laundry room and family room with two large closets. The foundation is concrete block and slab with a four foot crawl space. The superstructure is frame with stucco. As with last year's exterior renovation, John did a stellar job. He's extremely fussy about quality and timeliness. Our addition is perfect and right on schedule. We rated his price as excellent because what he delivers is priceless. Next year he's renovating our kitchen and upstairs bathroom.

John engineered a beautiful exterior renovation to our dowdy old 1951 Willowdale story-and-a-half. The verandah he designed and integrated is outstanding. The finished house is much more attractive than we expected. We chose J.T. Stewart General Contracting after talking to several of his customers in the area. All said he was very reliable and did high quality work. They thought his prices were reasonable. To avoid disappointment, we decided to have John do our renovation even before he quoted a price. His bid was higher than we expected but, seeing the result, feel the price was very reasonable. Being retired, I had the opportunity to watch John and his crew work. They started exactly on time and finished the job a few days early. His attention to detail and insistence on top quality construction resulted in a rock-solid building with a flawless finish. His subcontractors were first-class and he rode them mercilessly. We can't imgine that there's a better contractor anywhere. We recommend him very highly.