Wm. GROVES Limited.
Complete Sewer & Watermain Repairs & Installation
My husband and I have owned a home in Burl. for 30 years. It was built in the late 60’s. A sound home, 4-level back split. Not a drop of basement water in all that time. Whenever we’ve done renovations/repairs, we have always wanted quality work to be done.
We were stunned and appalled when we became one the flood victims on August 5. The water had spouted furiously from the floor drain and we ended up with more than a foot of water over our entire large basement. A mess that we never want to experience again. Had we known how awful and stressful the experience would prove to be, we would have taken measures beforehand - even if it had cost us many thousands of dollars.
Once some of the shock of it wore off and the immediate clean-up had been done (courtesy of our insurance company), we then proceeded to focus solely on “Prevention Work”. We both wanted to reduce our future risk to be as low as possible. Restoration work has been a low priority for us until the prevention work was completed.
We read the Region’s information - we also poured endlessly over internet sites - and we interviewed a few firms, both plumbing and basement firms. Frustratingly, there seemed to be many conflicting different opinions to sift through and to understand. And also, many new terms and concepts to grasp. Yet, we studied it all because it was important to us to “do it right”.
Wm. Groves Ltd. was recommended to us by someone my husband trusted and who also happens to be an engineer.
Will Groves came to see us promptly after we called. And he also thoughtfully came out a couple of more times, too. Will was always professional, always courteous and always kind. Whenever he was here, he answered our many, many questions with care and such calm patience. Very knowledgeable, never patronizing.
Groves, like many other local firms, have no doubt been extremely busy since August. Yet Will and the 2 men who worked here (and Sandy at their office) all came across as seeming to understand that the homeowner would feel ++ vulnerable, anxious and stressed by the flood experience.
Will answered e-mails promptly, too. He was respectful about other firms’ reputations as well. A small thing, yet one more indication of Will’s inherent class.
After we had obsessively sifted through all the information “out there” and after Will had carefully explained to us what he recommended for us, we clearly understood two things:
1. That Wm. Groves Ltd. knows what they are doing.
2. That they also understand/are complying with what Halton Region wants for residents of homes built before 1975. That is, to install a backflow valve, to install a sump pump and to disconnect the weeping tiles from the city drain. And to have the sump pump drain itself on top of the ground.
In stark contrast to Will, the heads of 2 other (unnamed) firms we met did not come across in all of those positive and professional ways. One was rather annoyed and abrupt with our questions about why he was advising us to connect the sump pump to the weeping tiles. That’s against the Region’s stipulations, and basically, not legal. He was also dismissive about other firms and their reputations. He subsequently did not even provide us a quote. Another firm’s middle-aged owner came over early in the morning wearing very holey blue jeans. He came across as very casual and off-hand. And he planned to connect the sump pump to the city drain. Not legal and not wise for older homes.
In the end, it proved not hard at all to choose Wm. Groves to do our work! Most everyone’s estimates for the work was in the same price range, and so, price was not the guiding factor. We chose Wm. Groves because of how Will came across. And we were pleased that we did so.
Will sent out 2 different men based on their skill sets to do the required work. Tim did the important “camera work” on our old floor drain, on our sewer drain out to the road, on the weeping tiles’ location and on the drain at the back door. Tim came across as quiet and low-key, but he was also confident, knowledgeable and kind. So careful and meticulous. And very practical. He patiently answered a lot of our questions, too. The resultant camera work was excellent and the DVD’s and diagrams were carefully done.
Will the sent out Dennis to do the back-water valve. He also did the drain by the back door. Dennis was quiet, too, yet courteous and he patiently answered questions, too. The entire idea of the BWV made us quite nervous at first, but it’s doing what it should do and Dennis did a good job. All 3 men reassured us re its importance and its function.
There’d never been any flooding by the back door, but we decided to “cover all our bases” and to replace that drain and its interior parts. That old narrow drain had always looked like it couldn’t handle much should it ever flood back there. And it had consistently looked a bit damp. Our large, back patio (covered with new pavers) leads down 3 solid wooden steps that end up in a “well” outside our back door.
I was at home when Dennis removed/replaced that 45-year old drain outside the back door. He worked so hard, so steadily and competently for a long time. A big job that needed an expert and Dennis was certainly that. When he ran into an unexpected problem, he consulted/conferred immediately with Will. The new drain (internal and external) is much larger than before, but it looks very good and fits in. Dennis also carefully replaced the newish paving stones by the back door so that they look as if they’d never been moved.
We were very impressed with Will Groves. And with both Tim and Dennis. We would use them again without hesitation.
