JV from Toronto

I moved into a house with an old deteriorating, rotting fence and stonework that badly needed some TLC. I found several landscapers through Homestars and got several quotes, and I went with Avanti because Eduard was a great communicator, and whereas other contractors tried to pitch me on replacing my stone (which I thought was unnecessary), Eduard said it was mostly in good condition and could be kept, which meant a more reasonable cost. I made the right decision. The work looks great, Matt the foreman was also a great communicator and knew every detail of the work, plus when we had an issue with my neighbor over the fence, Matt and Eduard both took care of it professionally and without complaint. I'd hire Avanti again.

Most of our main floor is marble, and with two little kids it didn't take long for a lot of etch and scratches to appear. I found Marble Clinic on Homestars and went with them. Raul and Romi were the guys who did the work, they were both good guys, friendly, hard-working, and very accommodating. They got the work all done inside a week and when we noticed a couple of scratches that were missed, they came back and fixed them free of charge. Floor looks great, I'm happy with the work.

We had an old raised deck with some rotting wood so I decided to get it all replaced with a new composite deck, glass railing and power awning. I got quotes from three different contractors, and went with Adam based on his Homestars reviews, plus he's a good, personable guy. The finished product looks great. Only issue we had was one of Adam's employees skipped out on work a bunch of times which delayed finishing the job, but Adam handled the situation quickly and his communication was always great, plus I'm an employer myself and can understand those challenges so overall I'm happy with how things ended up.

My house was built in 2008 and I've discovered in recent years that the builder took a few short cuts, including installing a cheap base model furnace and air conditioner. I knew at some point I'd have to replace them with decent models and now that I have one child and another on the way, I thought it was time. I contacted five of the top companies on Homestars for heating and cooling in Toronto, and only two responded; I guess the others don't need the business. Richard was one of the people that called and I liked him immediately. He was friendly, he knew his stuff and he didn't try to sell me on models that exceeded my requirements. He also made himself available the same day to check out our house, and once I agreed on a deal for a new Lennox furnace and AC unit, he was able to do the install the very next week and had the entire job done inside five hours. The new AC unit is shockingly quiet! We used to have to blast the TV volume in the basement due to the noise from the old unit but now, you'd think it isn't even turned on. The iComfort thermostat is great as well. I think Richard and his team did a great job and I will hire him again.

We hired a nanny to take care of our 16-month-old daughter, and wanted to be able to keep an eye on things remotely so we decided to get a surveillance system installed. I chose New Age because they were quick to respond, had good Homestars reviews, and I liked Rino who handles their sales. He definitely talks the talk of a salesman but he never pushed me to buy more than I wanted to, plus he gave me a complete head's up on the installation process, how long it could take, that they might have to drill holes depending on the house layout, etc. When the installer came to do the work, he knew his stuff; clearly he's been doing this a long time. He did the work in the amount of time Rino said it would take, and he did a great job leaving no mess, and no holes. We can turn the cameras on and off whenever we want, and we can access them remotely via a mobile app or website. Mohammed the IT guy was helpful as well. I'm happy with these guys and just ordered a WIFI solution through them as well.

Our refrigerator freezer was accumulating ice, and we figured air was getting in somehow. We called JSN because of their Homestar reviews, and Ayman came over the next day. He was a really nice guy, really knew his stuff, and he saved us a lot of money because he could have tried to tell us we had to replace certain parts but instead he was honest - it was simply a piece of ice that had gotten lodged into the back of the freezer door slider. He took everything apart in the freezer, cleaned it all up, problem solved. Will recommend these guys and hire them again.

Charlie has been my reliable go-to guy for over a year now on a variety of projects, from fixing a broken garage door to winterizing parts of our house, to projects big and small in between. He's very knowledgeable, and I consider him to be very honest as well, a couple times even asking me what I thought was a fair rate after completing a small job. He's also on several occasions given me easy do-it-yourself suggestions on things, essentially taking money out of his own pocket. I'm not exactly a handyman myself and even when it comes to tasks that I could do on my own, my free time is valuable to me and I'd rather spend it my own way, so I'm glad to know that I've got a guy like Charlie just a phone call away. I'd recommend him to anybody.

We were looking to get an additional cabinet/pantry added to our kitchen to help with some of our clutter issues after having a baby. We contacted several companies and all but two (Vorob and another) said they don't do extensions, they only do complete new kitchens. We were also warned that it would be impossible for a new cabinet to match the existing ones. Vorob had great reviews on Homestars so we contacted them. Roman seemed very knowledgeable and skilled, drafting very detailed drawings to match what we wanted. He also was honest in saying new cabinets may not 100% match the existing but he would get it close. They were installed within a month as promised, and I couldn't be happier with the results. Not only does it look to me like a perfect match of the old cabinets, but he was able to connect them to the old cabinets so that it looks like an original piece. Great job, and I will refer you. I've included before and after photos here.

We had a big ash tree in the backyard that became infected by a beetle; it was subsequently sprouting deformed leaves, and bark was starting to peel away. I contacted several tree services to see about either saving the tree, or having it removed. And what I immediately liked about Aaron was his honesty; every other service that came to see the tree, offered to inject it first in an effort to save it. Aaron made it clear that the tree was past the point of saving, and that those services would undoubtedly charge me for the injection, then report back that it didn't work, then charge me the additional cost for removal. Aaron's quote was also the most reasonable of everyone I contacted. He was very professional, even dealing with my neighbors to reassure them that he was insured and that he was following city guidelines. When the day came to remove the tree, he and his crew did so quickly and easily, and cleaned up after themselves so that there was no sawdust left behind. They even went to my neighbor's yard to clean sawdust that the wind had carried. They did a great job, and I would recommend them to anyone in need of tree removal service.

I had tried three different snow removal services over the years and quite frankly they all sucked; they would either show up late or not at all after a snowfall, and would often forget to do certain areas I had paid for. This season we saw Greenbloom on Homestars and decided to give them a shot, and honestly they've been great. We've only had a few snowfalls so far this year but they came on time, they cleared everything as opposed to just a pathway like others had done, and that's all you can ask for so I'm satisfied, will hire them again.

I wanted to put locks on a custom cabinet I bought at Ikea, and contacted 5 locksmiths I found on Homestars to get various quotes. Two of the locksmiths said they couldn't do the job, and the other three said they probably could. Dmitri was the only one who volunteered to come out and look at the cabinet so he could give me a proper quote. The other two locksmiths just quoted me via e-mail and when I asked if they could come out to see what has to be done, they said I'd have to pay a site visit fee of $80 (whether they could do the job or not). Dmitri didn't require such a charge, and he did the job quickly and efficiently. Really good guy, honest and friendly guy, and I'll recommend him for sure.

Igal is the best at what he does, without question. I had about a dozen different pieces to go up, and thought it would take a whole day but he got it all done in less than 3 hours and did a clean and professional job. Very knowledgeable and honest guy. Will hire him again for sure.

UPDATE: After posting my last review with a 1 rating, the guys at Monster addressed my concerns, were very communicative and responsive, and resolved my issues. Thanks guys. I hired Monster Plow based on all of the positive reviews that I'd read online. But unfortunately, the level of service I've received this year hasn't been anywhere close to what others have written. I don't know if they contract the work out to a local team or what, but they routinely show up days after a snowfall, and once they do show up they do a quick 5 minute job and don't clear areas that I paid to have cleared, plus they have forgotten to put down green ice melt several times. I've had to contact them three times to have them come back to do a proper job, and on one occasion I was actually told that they couldn't come because the crew had to rest before the next snowfall. I'm paying more than double what I paid my last snow removal company, and I figured given the price, the work would be so much better, but that's not the case. I'm guessing the customers getting proper service are paying extra as a priority client.