Ravindra Gulati from Mississauga

---Home Remo Direct, uses top quality materials—I love this!--They supply most material and their North Mississauga show room has plenty of samples. They send professional workers. 90 % of the workers were excellent in all aspects—polite and willing to help. Initially I met with the President of the company Remon. After a few meetings we came up with an excellent design and Remon worked with my budget; so I decided to contract Home Reno Direct Great company, check the pictures the kitchen came out great But some suggestions if you use them 1-Go over and over your colour choices to ensure colours do not clash. You can always re paint the walls and return furniture, however your Kitchen counter top, tile, cabinets and backsplash are permanent. While everyone loves our Kitchen, I feel our whites clash. But, maybe I am just nit picking. Second our backsplash does not end at the right place. I wanted to ask Home Reno to extend, but I hesitated, the project was nearing its end, and I did not want to bother them. Previously Victor, the Site Supervisor mentioned he felt we were complaining too much. So I let it be. 2-Go over the Contract details. Before, you take home the quote with you and review it for 24 hours. Get details added. For example if the contract says, supply and install new cabinets, Mare sure you get them to add Supply and install new cabinets (cabinets the exact same as in Showroom, Maple, soft close) We wanted soft close drawers and this options was never discussed. 3-If possible do the demolition your self After our walls and floors came down, the quote went up. For example Home Reno Direct charged $700 to replace the old insulation, with new pink fibre glass insulation. (See picture above of opened up wall) To me this was too pricey. But as they were already contracted and they had workers, it was just easier to go ahead with their quote. If you have the patients, try to do Demo first, before you contact, that way the contractors can’t say they found un expected cost. 4-time line pay back My father travels every winter and was set to return the third week of April. My goal was to have the project done upon his return. Long story short, we were not even in the ball park of getting this done by the third week of April Target start date was March 21st, which was delayed, by 2 and ½ weeks. The project time line was 3 weeks, but as per delays with the third party kitchen cabinet makers it took about six weeks to complete Keep in mind when you don’t have a kitchen you spend a lot on $ on takeout food At the same time, I would rather companies take their time and make sure everything is done correct the rush. I would ask for $100-$200 discount for every week the project is late. In the grand scheme of things this is not a lot of $, so the company won’t feel rushed and hopefully will still ensure they send the correct workers over to make sure the job is done correct. 5-pay at your own pace This one is always challenging. Especially when custom made kitchen cabinets get involved. Try your best to go over the contract and ask for payment when work is completed. Aside from having to pay so much for the cabinets up front, Home Reno direct is pretty good with this.

We are happy results provided by VEA Master. I posted the project on trusted pro and Vevo was 1 of about 5 responses. They provided me with Stepan r phone number. Stepan came over and discussed options to stain the floor. Just by talking to him I felt he was very knowledgeable about the topic. He provided the quote and I said I would call him back. I called around and determined Stepan quote was comparable or better. As I was already Happy with Stepan I decided to hire him. And we are very happy with the process the end result. (included in the cost , they replaced the floor trim)

Glenn delivered exactly what I was looking for we hung new hope Depot cupboard in the Laundry room and hang a floating shelve in my basement. Glenn even suggested a better spot for the floating shelve He will be my future go to guy for Odd Handy Man Jobs around the house

My mom wanted to turn the back window into a sliding door- (so the grandkids had easy access to go play in the Back Yard) I posted a” Post a Job” on Trusted Pro. About 4 people replied and of those four, two come came by to provide estimates, of the two I was happy with Harry and I was leaning towards him. But to ensure I crossed my I’s and dotted my t’s I decided to call a third company. I found a third company that received a lot of strong reviews. Maybe it was the strong reviews, but after meeting the third company, I flipped and decided to go with the third company. So a week later I called this third company to book them, but while talking to them, they mentioned they wanted me to go out and buy my own door handle. Really, why bring this up now? Also thinking back this third company, was ambiguous, when it came to the possibility of re locating wires. Granted no door company, carries an electrician, but Harry was clearer on the solution if wires were found. The Third Company made is sound like they would walk away if they found wires. So happily I reverted back to Harry. Two other things, Harry was flexible to meet and best off all, and he was relaxed with the final payment. the Majority of contractors, act like, I am going to run away with the money. Lol After “Open Doors” completed the job, a few concerns- we have to re dry wall a small part of the wall and they left bricks pilled in the back yard. But overall I am extremely happy. The new door looks amazing and opens up the space. Harry delivered an affordable option and we got exactly what we wanted. He will be my go to guy for all future Doors and Windows. Thanks

We hired Basement bro to: Continue to renovate our Parent’s house; for our upstairs we wanted pod lighting and painting, and we wanted to finish our basement, so my wife and I could move into it. We requested the top floor to be completed within the first two weeks-this was done on time. After the complication of the upstairs, we anxiously awaited for basement. The basement project stalled. Basement Bro replaced the original project Manager. The second manager, Alex, was amazing! Things they could improve on -Additional shelving in kitchen please - As project managers changed, the process, at times, was rocky -As project managers changed the project was delayed by weeks -Basement Bro request 50% up front-as for delays this caused concerns. The person holding the money has control. Good stuff -We fit two bathrooms in our small basement with tile bathtub and shower. –These guys tiled the roof of the shower and bath tub, looks great -All Alex’s workers were great, especially the tapers and electrical-(These guys are good!) -Alex agreed to hang our Lowe’s shelving-this helped a lot –thanks -Alex was upbeat and communicated and responded -Elina (head Manager) sent over free Duct Cleaning-thanks -Overall, Basement Bro has a good sense of Design; this sense of design matched my sense of design. Alex and I created a wonderful basement in a small space. Friends and family compliment this basement. “It does not feel like a basement.” Coincidently a friend completed his basement during the same time period. His final design pales in comparison Summary Our next renovation is about 18 month away, and yes I would hire Alex and Basement Bro again. I would ask for an industry standard payment schedule. And I would request Alex as our project manager. Despite problems, good companies resolve issues and in the end the basement is excellent. Thanks Basement Bro! Side note **

Out all the Trades, the Lock smith have been the hardest to deal with.1/2 of these guys want an appearance fee the other half fail to call back. I wanted to add three bolt lock to my garage door and surrounding door. I called the secretary of this company and she made it seem like it would be so affordable and easy breezy. Easy yes, affordable no, it was $350. Mid-way through the process the rate went up from $300 to $350. Basically you take a day off to meet these guys and when they show up you are too anxious to get it done to tell them no Thank you so they gauge you My suggestion is have a handy man cut out the holes for the bolt locks, buy the lock , go somewhere (do not have them come to you ) to get it keyed (one key for all three lock, or how many you need) –then see if the same handy man will install the locks. (My contractor had issue issues cutting the hole and this led to me going the lock smith way.) Which I regret Back to this company, don’t call them, they will jack the price on you when the show up.

November of 2013 I started the process of remolding my Parent’s basement: a walk and a finished basement. I contacted about 6-7 contractors-most were eager to complete the basement, but most were hesitant when it came to the walk-out. Mike Messiha has an engineer degree, hence I felt comfortable contracting him to do the walk out. (Project 1) Mike’s team did an amazing walk-out. In addition I contracted Mike to finish up our laundry room and remolding our upstairs bathroom. (Project 2) Overall we are happy with M and D Buildings- Concerns are addressed and Mike is accessible via email or text message. We did go over budget but this was due to upgrades. Thanks Mike for making our walk out possible!

Last week, one morning, after the rain, I visited my Mom’s house: I found a puddle of water in her basement –The puddle appeared to appear out of nowhere –no trail. So I went to Trusted Pro and found and contacted Daniel from Kiro. He said he would be over within 2 hours. Daniel came inside and located a crack on the wall. I never saw any water coming from this crack, but he pointed out the faint water train stain. Later when I phoned Daniel- on the phone he was patient with my questions and re-assured me (I am a skeptic by nature) that the water was coming from the crack. He advised that once they sealed the crack it would prevent any more puddles (from that area). They would seal the crack from the outside. The next morning, despite the tight working space, they came over and started to dig right away. I had to leave to go to work – (at that time they had dug far down) so I never got to see them finish the work. But they have sent me photos. Since Kiro fixed the crack it has rained and no puddle! Although I learned that water moves in mysterious ways, sometime you get a flood days after the rain has stopped. Time will tell -but my gut tells me they did a good job. So I thank them for putting my mind at ease.