Kathy in Upper Beach

While considering replacing our original hardwood flooring on the main level of our 90-year-old semi, we came across Squeak Knights. Our hardwood still looks decent and we loved the idea of silencing the loud squeaks with less disruption and cost than a full replacement. We agreed with Maxims suggestion to treat just the most-trafficked sections (no more than a third of the square footage) to minimize time and cost. Two workers spent 3 days here treating our floors. They came on time and did the work within the dates specified. The squeaks were definitely reduced - but not silenced. In fact, we were initially so disappointed that Maxim returned to inspect the job and the workers came back for another days treatment, without additional cost. It seems our sub-floors are in bad shape and that expecting Squeak Knights treatment to eliminate the squeaks was not realistic for an old floor like ours.

It was a challenge finding the right gardening company - we weren’t looking for a major landscaping job nor for someone to drop in for 5 minutes every 2 weeks to cut our lawn. What we wanted was someone to spend a few hours here each month maintaining our large, somewhat messy and wild perennial garden, and to help us improve it over time. Fortunately last year we located Chaz and Gardens in the City. Chaz came out personally for a site visit in early spring and to see what we had. Her staff visit every few weeks from spring to fall and keep the garden nicely in order, saving me many hours of work each month. Chaz sends out a notice ahead of time to let customers know when they can expect a visit. They tidy up well and leave everything in garden bags ready for the next garden waste pickup. We're pleased to continue working with Chaz and looking forward to seeing our garden continue to improve!

We discovered our five-year-old Bosch dishwasher was leaking from around the door. Peter described in detail various possible issues that could be causing the leak and offered useful information on how dishwashers work and what can go wrong. He made some adjustments to the door seal and better levelled the dishwasher. He thoroughly tested for leaks after the work was done. In the 2 months since his visit, it hasn't leaked again. We're very happy with how little Peter charged for a great service.

Serge's quote to install 5 new windows and new vinyl siding on the side and back of our 85-year old semi-detached was literally half that quoted by a large company. Fearing it was too good to be true, we called a couple of Serge's references who confirmed the excellent quality of his team's work. Serge provided us with a detailed contract and even though he ran into a few challenges, stuck to the precise quote he gave us. He and his team were very fast, completing this large job in under 6 days. They tidied the area completely each night and kept disruptions around our property to an absolute minimum. Best of all, the siding was installed very meticulously and looks beautiful. The fine finishing work around tricky corners was most appreciated. Within the first day, we were approached by several neighbours admiring the work.

We are very happy with the drapery installed in our master bedroom. We had initially planned to go with blinds but during our conversation with Ana when she came to visit, it seemed to make more sense to get custom drapes with blackout lining. The installer worked with our uneven flooring to ensure the drapes hang to the perfect length on each side. Night and Day's products are not inexpensive. But the quality is high.

Birds had built a nest in our eaves at the front of the house. Plus we'd been hearing raccoons on the outside of our house in the evenings and were concerned they might be finding their way in. Troy came to look and climbed around the roof, pointing out to us a rather shoddy job that had been done by another critter control company years earlier. He reassured us there were no holes raccoons could get into and showed us how they were likely just going back and forth between houses. He also suggested chlorine tablets to keep them away in future. He pulled down the nest, which was empty. Troy was very personable, answered all our questions and charged us a really reasonable rate. Very satisfied!

Based on reviews from this forum, we hired Steve to fix a clothes dryer. Steve returns calls quickly (even on weekends), asks for a description of the problem and schedules a visit. We were tempted to get rid of the dryer but are glad we didn't, as it wasn't very old and Steve has fixed it so it works perfectly. He explains exactly what is wrong and how he will fix it. Plus he didn't accept payment until we tried the dryer out for a few days to ensure it was working properly again. It's been fine since he fixed it, about a year ago. When our dishwasher went on the fritz more recently, we went back to Steve. Again, we were tempted to dump the thing (although the dishwasher wasn't that old either) and again we're glad we didn't as Steve repaired it so it's working fine again. He gave advice about how to keep the thing working properly (rinse the dishes!) and what detergents to use. Steve really knows his appliances and he's very reliable.

We have just 1 bathroom so a plugged toilet is an emergency for us. Giorgio was at our house within about 90 minutes of our call. The fix was an easy one (our high-tech plunger is a dud, he told us) so he gave us a discount on the minimum charge. Plus he gave us advice about which low-flow toilet to buy to replace this one (that often plugs up) and also advised us our drainage is fine. We appreciated the advice and the discount.