D. G.

On Sat, Nov 7th, ’20, Kosta & his crew came to re-pave our shared double driveway. They were well-organized & tidy with their work. The driveway looked great. This is the third time the driveway has been paved. The first was in ’75 & the 2nd time was in ’91. At the end of November, we had a heavy rainstorm that showed a glaring flaw with the way the driveway was designed. Instead of draining down the middle, like the way our previous paved driveways drained, all of the water was draining over to my side of the driveway. At the top of the driveway, the water drains down the middle for about 12ft, then it veers to the left behind my car & pools at the front step. From there, it runs along the landing of the front step to the front lawn, where it continues to flow to the front of the house. Beyond this point, all the water, including the water from my neighbour’s side, drains into the hedge that runs alongside of the driveway. Very little drains out to the sidewalk. Once the rain stops, my neighbour’s side dries quickly, but our side remains wet. The wetness is not good in the winter because our side gets a layer of black ice. My sister had a bad fall in December & was off work for a month with a pulled hamstring & back injury. I sent an e-mail Dec 4th, including pix posted on this review too, to Royal Town to let them know what is happening with the drainage of our driveway. Kosta phoned back & left a message on Dec 7th. stating that the sidewalk on Kipling Avenue sloped to the south, so there was no way they could make the new driveway drain down the middle. Water would pool before the sidewalk & not drain to the street. When I called back & reached Kosta live, he repeated the same info & stated that the driveway is under warranty, so he'll be out in the spring to resolve the issue. On an added note, my neighbour & I were not told of this issue when Kosta gave the quote. We specifically told him that we wanted the drainage down the middle, like the two previous paving companies had it designed. We also told him that we wanted highway grade asphalt & I didn’t want our side to look like we’re sinking in pavement. Kosta took it upon himself to change the drainage plan that we requested when he was doing the paving & didn't tell us about the change. When May rolled around, messages were left on May 18th, May 31st & June 29th. None of my messages were returned, so I had to get my lawyer to send a letter threatening small claims court legal action. Unfortunately, this is what was needed to get a response. During this time, my neighbour showed me the big cracks that were developing on our side, towards the middle of the driveway. The three cracks total 15ft. Also, I had noticed there were 3 spots where weeds were growing through the pavement. (See pix for both issues) I haven’t seen this before on a new driveway, especially when the asphalt is under a year old. On July 11, ’21 Kosta came out to inspect the driveway. On July 19th, '21 he called me to say that they would be out on a hot day (over 25c) to heat up the pavement & re-slope the driveway, either by the end of July or into August. He said I should call him by the end of August if I hadn’t heard from him. The end of August rolls around & still there is no sign of Kosta & his crew. I called him & was told that the weather is too hot for his men to work & that the owner needs to come out to inspect how the driveway is to be repaired. He told me that they would be out by the end of Sept to do the repair. In the same pattern as before, there was no communication from Kosta throughout Sept, so I phoned & left a message on Sept 23, ‘21. Kosta called back during the early evening on Sept 24, ’21. The plan to repair has changed from heating up the pavement & re-sloping to cutting troughs into the pavement to capture the water. If this doesn’t work, then they will be out in the spring. This is the final straw for me with this company. Bad communication, stall tactics, stringing myself & neighbour along for the year, & band-aid solutions have ruined any trust that I had for them to resolve this issue. A proper drainage design is a key foundation to any driveway & needs to be implemented before the pavement goes down, not after the fact. The only way this driveway or any driveway is repaired when it doesn’t have proper drainage is to rip out everything & start all over again. They’re coming off like a honky-tonk, fly-by-night organization, so I don’t see this happening anytime soon. I would not recommend their services to anyone looking for a paving company with any type of expertise in their workmanship & handling warranty claims efficiently with a positive resolution. Update: On Saturday, October 23, 2021, Kosta came to repair the driveway. After a year of back & forth about the driveway drainage & cracking, he told me that there was nothing they could do about the drainage. He blamed it on the city sidewalk being set too high & the landing at our front step sinking too low. When we put the hose out to check the drainage, it was worse than I saw during heavy rain. A wide stream of water goes to our front step & flows over the entire landing to the house & front lawn. This isn't acceptable. The fact of the matter is that they built the driveway up too high & we are now downstream from the neighbours. As I have mentioned countless times before, our house is set lower than our neighbour's house. It was the way these houses were graded back in the '50s. This info falls on deaf ears & brings out all of the external issue excuses. Kosta heated up the asphalt to make a trough to pull some of the water away from draining towards our house, but it doesn't work. The water goes over it. It looks like a big skid mark, with loose asphalt stones, on the driveway (see photo), which is symbolic of the quality of this job. Kosta did the same heating of the asphalt to fix the 3 big cracks (see photo) that developed in the spring. This repair is not going to last, it's going to crack again. Now, my neighbour & I will have to find another contractor to dig up the mess that is out there & start over or go back to gravel.

The bathroom & kitchen faucets started leaking & it was getting worse, so Alex replaced the hot & cold cartridges in both. Alex at Award Plus Plumbing is always punctual, professional & repairs our plumbing with no issues. He's reliable & his repairs are excellent. I highly recommend!

During the dinner hour, the hose leading to the faucet for the hot water burst unexpectedly. Heard this hissing noise from underneath the sink cabinet, then opened the door & hot water was spraying out. I called Alex & he arrived within the hour he stated over the phone. It turned out to be a plastic hose that had cracked with age. Alex repaired both the hot & cold water hoses with better quality parts than what we originally had. I highly recommend Alex & Award Plus Plumbing.

We had some carpenter ants walking up the wall at the back of the house, so I called Pesticon & Khayyam came to assess the situation the next day. Khayyam is always professional, knowledgeable & punctual. He sprayed around the perimeter of our home to create a barrier, so the ants can't set up a nest inside our home, which has happened in the past. The area has a large amount of these destructive pests, but Khayyam & Pesticon have helped to keep them at bay. I highly recommend the services of Khayyam & Pesticon if you have any type of pest issue at your home.

We had a bathroom faucet that developed a bad leak, which constantly dripped over night soaking the cabinet, floor & some ran through the floor to downstairs. I called a total of 6 plumbers: 3 I couldn't reach & left a message-haven't heard back to this day. 1 stated that the entire faucet & hoses would need to be replaced. Finally, I reached Alex at Award Plumbing. He was able to do the repair the same day. Alex was punctual, professional, courteous & knowledgeable. In addition to this, Alex is very clean with his work & wore covers over his shoes before entering our home. This is a very important point because I've had too many experiences of having to clean up added mess brought in by street shoes. Overall, I am very happy with Alex's workmanship & would highly recommend him for any of your plumbing needs.

A handyman, who we deal with, recommended Roto Rooter Toronto to inspect the basement drain when it backed up. It was a partial block & the water was clear with bits of toilet paper coming up through the basement drain. Called Roto Rooter & their communication & punctuality was good. The supervisor came on Saturday afternoon to inspect the issue & checked our outside drain through the cleanout caps in the front lawn. He put the camera down the pipe & diagnosed the problem being a 1 inch gap between the exit pipe from our house to the clay sewer pipe. Also stated that the clay pipe was sagging & broken at the city connection. The quote given to repair the pipe connection, from the house to the sewer pipe only, was going to be $2800. I was told that I would have to contact the city to get them to check the city connection. I was uneasy about the water backing up & paid the $500 deposit to get it initiated to be repaired. I was told not to flush toilet paper until the pipe is fixed on Wednesday. After all of this, I checked Homestars to see what Roto Rooter's rating was. From previous reviews, the common repair for backups was to repair the outside pipe at the cost I was quoted & more. It didn't make sense to me to have Roto Rooter fix our end of the pipe, then have to arrange the city to come after & repair their end. I was going to call Roto Rooter to cancel, but then the supervisor, who had been out on Saturday, called to let me know they could come a day earlier for the repair. I cancelled the repair with him because I wanted to get a 2nd opinion & the high cost factor. He told me that he would be by on Tuesday to refund part of the deposit, which worked out to be $160, after the charge for the Saturday appointment was deducted from the $500 deposit. He said that he couldn't keep money that he hadn't worked for. Called the city, after cancelling the RR work order & an inspector came out the same Monday afternoon. He couldn't get the camera down the pipe to see what was going on at the city end, due to tree roots blocking the pipe. Another city crew was booked to snake the pipe & do a camera inspection. The report stated that the reason for the backup was tree roots. Even though the pipe has shifted due to age, it's not leaking & is draining as it should. To this date, which is over a week now, I haven't seen any sign of Roto Rooter with the balance of the deposit. Judging from the reviews, repairing the outside sewer pipe at a cost of $2800-$3000 is standard practice. In some cases, their repair made the backup worse. Giving incorrect/exaggerated info & soaking the customer with a high cost repair isn't good business. I'm taking the $160 loss & thankful that it's not $2800. Learned from this experience to not take a recommendation without doing research on HomeStars, etc., beforehand. They have lost my business for good & I would not recommend them to anyone I know.

We had a problem with our '06 Whirlpool top loader washing machine; when it was on its spin cycle, it would squeak & thump loudly, along with sliding over to the sink. Joe quickly found the issue; it was the teflon guides, there was only 1, the other 2 were worn right off. Now the machine works quietly, like it should. Also, Joe had been in to repair our '84 Eaton Viking dryer last Oct '14. At the time, he noticed the teflon guides were very worn, but didn't have the part on hand. When he arrived to repair the washer, he remembered the dryer & had the guides on hand to fix it too. Now the dryer works very smooth. I highly recommend Joe because his turn-around time from call to being on-site is fast, he's punctual, courteous & has stellar knowledge; not only on new appliances, but the older ones as well. If you want your appliances serviced expertly & operate at their optimum, I recommend him highly.

Khayyam from Pesticon has always demonstrated courtesy, knowledge, punctuality & successful removal of carpenter ants nesting in our home. Previously, we had used another well-known exterminator, but they never resolved the issue. Khayyam has done & always does an excellent job in removing carpenter ants on the first try. I would highly recommend this company, if you're looking for an effective means of ridding pests in your home.

We have a 1984 Eaton Viking clothing dryer that was working great, but had a loud squeak to it when turning in on & a thumping noise when the dryer drum was in operation. Joseph came out to assess the repair & it wasn't bad. He replaced the drum shaft, the drive belt & lubricated it. During his service call, Joseph demonstrated a vast knowledge older appliances, especially the Eaton Viking brand, had the parts on hand, so there was not back-order delay & repaired our dryer with expertise. It's running like new now. On an added note; punctuality, communication & courtesy complement his service skills I would highly recommend "The Appliance Guy", whether you have newer appliances or older ones like we have.