Natasha@home

I called What A View Window Cleaning Service to get a quote to have my home's external windows cleaned after searching here on HomeStars. I was impressed by Ken's quick call back and his ability to have one of their teams out to clean my windows in a day or two. My former cleaning company didn't show on the day I'd booked 2 weeks prior - and cited 'winds' but there was none where I am and they didn't notify me until 7pm. What a View's price was average but included both the external screens and taxes. The service was great. They had a 2-person team (Gary and Alex) arrive and get right to work. Access to water is all they need. They were able to clean over my UV stickers that help birds see the glass. As far as I can see the windows are perfect - one little black spot remains on one window but it's very small. Alex even showed me how one of my basement window screens didn't come out (a fault of installation) and was so helpful while I popped out the window for him to clean. Never has anyone cleaning my windows shown me that... that one small window was always dirty and I never knew why! They were quiet, polite and efficient. They don't take credit - but will do cash transfer, cheque or cash. Thumbs up guys - I'll definitely recommend you

I needed to update my master bathroom vanity - and my wood doors were in good condition so why replace them? I called PaintSquad and Jeff came right over with a sample of the finished product. If you care about detail and quality, you can't beat this professional spray-finish. Paint Squad will match any colour so your choices are unlimited. Dave picked up the the doors and drawer fronts and created a 'tent' to paint the cabinet edges so that there is little smell and no mess. They do need a window that opens to vent their fan. You should give the painted area in your home some good time to dry without you 'dinging' it - paint cures for a few days. So we didn't use that bathroom for the week between the edge painting and the re-install of the doors. Dave returned and put everything together perfectly - and he's a great guy. Amazing people. Amazing finish. They care about quality and are very responsive. I'd highly recommend them and their cabinet refinishing: https://paintsquad.ca Be advised that they don't take credit cards. So why didn't I give them a 10? Because knowing how to prepare, what to expect, steps and timelines, and appointment planning could be clearer. Easily solved with a simple one-page pdf sent to clients upon booking with what to expect, how to prepare, how to care for cabinets, timing expectations, and spaces for them to fill in the appointment times. So - they are a sliver away from perfect. I wish I'd done this years ago - the whole room feels and looks new just one week later!

This company does a few houses on our street every year - and since I began using them, I have them do my driveway regularly. I've been very satisfied with their service, detail of work, and the quality of the topping used. It's not like the thin stuff you buy at the box store. If you use chemicals like salt, de-icers, car wash detergents on your drive, you'd want to get your asphalt protected every 1-2 years. Since we use none of that, we extend to 2-3 years. The guy who comes to give you the quote is Terry - and he's honest and fair with the quote. (Ours is more because it's a deeper driveway - I will add a pic) They will give you a window of a few days (because application is weather based), collect the payment when they do the work or the evening of the job, and leave the driveway taped off at the bottom. They cleaned the weeds from the edges, used a blower to remove dust, moved my 2 urns (because I forgot to - sorry guys!), and had no over-spray anywhere. The seal finish is glossy for about a month and then becomes matte. They clearly care about the quality and my business. You better believe I will recommend them to the people who buy my house since I'm moving away. I will also post a photo of their typical pink flyer - because there are 2 companies in Durham with too similiar names I think. (They don't do Scarborough - I asked - I wanted to send them to do my Mom's place but they are busy enough with the jobs they get locally)

I hired First Choise Window Cleaning Ltd. I'm not 100% sure if it's the same as the other spelling in this thread. They do work in Durham Region and the GTA so I'm guessing yes. I spoke to Laura on the phone - and she was very helpful. She gave me an accurate price estimate - with a $10 variance - and that was exactly what I paid. I should say that their price was better than the other 2 quotes I took. There was a small confusion in the billing but it was dealt with in about 2 minutes over the phone. There was a 2-person experienced crew who cleaned my outside windows - and did it extremely well and quickly. So quickly that I was worried that it wouldn't be clean - but they were excellent. I have windows that reflect trees, so I have UV stickers on those... they were happy to clean around those or remove and replace them as I requested in my quote. This matters to me as I'm a bird-lover and I felt respected as a client. I will definitely hire them again... and likely for my mom's place as well.

I bought my current mattress at Sleep Country. I bought the mattress it replaced at Sleep Country as well. The first experience was much more helpful with sleep experts guiding us through a number of 'tests' of what mattress was best for us. But we were also fools and didn't shop around and paid too much for that mattress, two high-end pillows and pillow covers. This time, I was happy-ish with the price, but feel that mattress shopping is dreary business as there are tiny changes in sku/name from one retailer to another so its hard to compare prices to get them to price-match. We got good - but not stellar - service. Our bed has wood slats instead of using box springs, so we only buy the mattress - the price is reflective of that. I was very happy with their delivery. Fast, timely, easy, efficient. I won't allow un-bootied shoes on my upstairs carpets. I pre-paid for them to take and reuse the mattress (still in very good shape!) for those who need it. I was impressed that the delivery people were so courteous and remarked how clean our old mattress was - and took the time and effort to wrap it in the plastic from the new delivery before taking it to the truck. Best delivery I've had in ages! A tip - We received a discount coupon from Sleep Country when we bought the bed. Use that for a follow up visit to get your pillows or a good mattress cover. Wish I'd known -I bought it all in one go

This is definitely not for everyone - however for gardeners looking for native species, specialty trees, or a number of trees for very good prices, this is a real find. Golden Bough Tree Farm is a tiny operation about 50kms north of Kingston ON and sell bare-root stock. They use ethical practices, grow from seed, and care deeply about their product. They have a very simple operation and orders are done by e-mail and paid by paypal or credit card. They have 1 day in fall and about 5 days in spring if you wanted to drive to their location to pick up your trees (this is what I've chosen to do). All other orders are trees by mail - Canada Post (min order $60). There is no phone number - here is their website: http://www.goldenboughtrees.ca. Sorry Homestars - I forgot to list this in the company profile

The Driveway Guy crew sealed our asphalt drive. They offer a free in-person estimate, clean the driveway before and remove weeds along the edge, use an industrial blower to remove debris before starting, use boards to block over-spray (these may leave a black edge on the grass), used a trailer-mounted spray system and a good quality sealer. It was a very efficient crew and they were done in 30min. You need to avoid driving on it for 48hrs - and they provide the tape barrier at the bottom of the drive. Our driveway is about 17 years old and I am very happy with the even finish and the added protection a regularly applied seal provides. Sealers act like a thin shield for the asphalt composite; slowing the breakdown and making it more impervious to the weather and chemicals/soaps etc that get used on it - extending the life of a driveway with regular applications. DIY would have cost the same with all the equipment I'd buy... and the store-stuff is a thinner and less durable solution. I took 3 estimates and there was a range - but all companies say that the seal lasts 2-3 years before you need to have it re-done. I paid $100 last time to a door-to-door guy who knew his stuff and he did a good job, but the finish/coverage was not as good as this trailer-mounted 2-man operation. Only negatives are the shiny look of the drive (that fades to matte in a couple of months - I asked and then I went by my neighbours who used the same company some months back to verify) and lack of a booking schedule. They have to come based on weather/precipitation, so there are no set appointments and that's a little hard to plan with. The temps should be over 8C to do this so don't wait too long into the fall to get it done like I did last year.

Got fast and efficient installation of the water heater - but the appointment was 10-2 and they showed up at 2:55pm. Not okay. And then they brought the wrong unit and told me that no-one was available to bring the right one. I insisted on service that day since they'd kept me waiting in the house all day and it wasn't me who made the mistake. The installer was great and he did work late on a Friday to get it done. That was appreciated. There is no 'right answer' about water heaters: your decisions are based on a complex set of variables such as projected gas/electric costs for the duration, your use of hot water (and have you run out), your home's size/number of bathrooms/appliances needing hot water, your projections about how water heaters and their efficiency will improve during the life of your unit, whether you think you will need service calls, whether you plan on moving within 7 years, your environmental goals, your space requirements. Rent/Own? Tank/Tankless? Here's my take on it: if you plan to stay in your home for more than 8 years, want more model/brand choice, and have confidence in the unit, BUY. If you might want to change the tank (either size or technology), are concerned about costs of service, are cash-poor and want to spread the costs over a number of years, then RENT. I switched to Reliance rental based on our home's use and needs - and I found their call center helpful and not pushy. They should provide more information available for consumers. They rent Rheem which are at an energy star .67 rating/ for 40 or 50 gallon tanks. That's not great, but it's what the other guys' tanks also provide. Rental companies care about reliability so they don't have to service the units - they don't care about energy use which is what you pay for. I like that there's no contract (and they are clear about the exit costs) - and the fact that they got me next day installation because I was without hot water for a week while I made my decision about what to do. Ontario might be the only province where we rent hot water heaters - most of the country just buys them. I was fairly certain I was going to buy and spend the serious bucks to get a tankless system - but between the complex venting upgrades, installation costs, the costs/savings ratio, and the actual needs of our home, I discovered that a 40G tank was best suited to us. Ask friends what they did and why. They can't give you a solution for your personalized needs, but their reasoning will help you ask the right questions. It's a crap shoot since you can't control even 1/2 of the variables involved - so I'm not sweating the small stuff just enjoying hot showers again

Our EnerCare hot water heater came as a rental with our home. I didn't give it much thought - $26+tx/mo for 6 years - until it leaked all its water and died while we were away for the weekend. A check of our contract showed that the water heater was 18 years old so the fact that we'd had 6 years without one call to the company was a good thing, but it was probably a very low efficiency model costing us more in energy daily. When we called EnerCare, they didn't even know our names though they'd been billing us correctly for 6 years - they still had the unit registered to the house's previous owners. That is insulting and just lax business practice. Our contract had happily expired so we were free-agents and could change hot water types/companies/structures with no penalties. Then again, in 6 years we'd paid for the hot water heater as if we'd bought it - and given it's 18 years old - they were paid 3x the cost of the heater during it's life. When I was trying to make sense of the choices, I found that Enercare's call center is always helpful but not always well informed. You either luck out with who you get or you get confusion, incorrect or misleading information. I know because I called 4 different times. They are not pushy for sales - but contracts are so restrictive and they would not match the competitors online offer to try to maintain our excellent account and good business, so they lost us. Advice: There is no 'right answer' as to what to do about water heaters - your decisions are based on a complex set of variables such as your guesstimate gas/electric costs for the contract duration, your home's size/number of bathrooms/appliances needing hot water, your projections about how the energy efficiency will improve during the life of your contract, whether you think you will need service calls, whether you plan on moving within 7-8 years, your environmental goals, your space requirements and your current use of hot water.

Native Plants in Claremont is a specialized small grower for anyone seeking native perennials to make their garden more eco-friendly and improve local biodiversity. Fantastic resource for ethically harvested, locally grown, reliable native stock. Lovely location in north Pickering was a little hard to find, so use the GPS (4965 Westney Rd - see www.nativeplants.ca). While their prices are marginally higher than typical garden centres, you can be sure of what you are getting - grown without neonics and other pesticides. Best of all, the lady working was friendly and approachable for newbies... but is a certified Master Gardener and was able to provide great insights. They provide plants to the David Suzuki foundation, Evergreen in Toronto, North American Native Plant Society sale etc. Bought: prairie smoke for dry spots, coneflowers and rudbeckia to begin my native butterfly garden (sunny/dry), cardinal flower (hummingbird specialist!), and sensitive fern for the deep shade. Most perennials are $4-6 and the ferns are a little more. If you love bees and hummingbirds try their bee balm! I wish they had more local shrubs

Vandermeer Nursery has supplied the vast majority of the plants I've put into my garden project... done over a period of the past 12 months. They sell good quality plants and have a wide selection for all your needs - their system will tell you which are shade/sun/butterfly garden friendly/native. Their prices are average but the quality is better than average. I've tested their return policy with a couple of items after this past brutal winter and they cheerfully provided a credit (keep your receipt and return the dead plant) ... and 18 months is significant for a return policy! You will have better results because they source locally - what that means is that the plant you buy is grown in Ontario and won't easily go into shock or die when winter comes. I've recently learned that big box stores import plants from the US so the first cold winter they have is in your garden... much higher failure rate! When you're buying perennials, shrubs, and trees, that matters more than you imagine.

Anyone can dig but that doesn't make them 'professional'. Professionalism is the ability to envision, plan, execute skillfully, and to stand behind your work. We had 2 low L-shaped walls built with natural stone on top along a sloped drive. With a clean, linear design, if something is not finished right, the whole project looks 'off'. Our project looks amazing. Gunn Landscape (Adam & Jessica) had work ethic, precision, and quality workmanship. Landscaping is an investment and establishes your curb appeal - increasing value - so be wary of who you trust it to. Gunn Landscape Construction is professional and worthy of your trust: you can contact me for a reference. I had already designed my space, hand-picked my specific materials, and started leveling so we needed expertise in execution, quality work, and durability in construction. Adam was happy to work with our parameters. He has excellent skills and knowledge, and is detail oriented; he ordered and managed delivery of all the materials, fixed the gaps in my planning, and completed the project right on budget. My quote was what I paid. Landscaping contractors are unprofessional - worst trades I've ever had to get quotes from (even Home Stars companies). If they can't be on time, make and keep appointments, or return phone calls, how do you think they will be with your project, money, and warranty? Gunn Landscape Construction is the exception: on time, really listens, offers a fair quote, and a 3-year warranty. It is a new company - but with years of garden construction expertise. It's a bonus that they are really nice - and good people. Thank you Adam - you went above and beyond to make our project beautiful. (Project: Interlock walls with natural stone coping - 4-days - completed Sept 29th)

Mr. Crown Mouldings did my home 7 years ago - though they had a different name then. My thoughts were 'this looks amazing!' and 'why didn't I do this sooner?'. Steve gave me a reasonable quote and that was exactly what I paid. He gave me 2 suggestions and he was bang on - I appreciated his insights. He did think I was nuts to use a different depth/profile in the kitchen but I exploited the existing bulkheads to create a tray ceiling and loved it! * The crew was professional, on time, and really nice guys (2 guys). They worked so fast that I couldn't believe it would be a good job with my unusual angled corners (and walls are not as straight as we think they are!) but the job was beyond perfect: stellar! * They were so clean! I barely needed to vacuum my home after they were done, and they swept the garage/drive where they worked and put any bits into a garbage bag for me! * The mouldings are primed not painted but were so clean you couldn't tell the difference. * The guys suggested I wait a while and fill any gaps from shrinkage. A year later and there was only one spot I needed to fill before I painted the mouldings. Heat, dryness, humidity, cold... it looked amazing for the 2-3 years before I moved: how it wears matters! * Punctuality, quality, price, timeliness - All 5* I would have had them back to do the upstairs but I sold my house. Buyers love crown moulding - it adds architectural detail to any space. I'm saving my pennies to do my house - Steve, I'll be calling you!

LOVE Terra - for 7 years I went to Terra (Burlington location) every spring to get ideas, to browse their wide selection of plants, and to buy my plants. Their prices are on par with other garden centres and their July sale is awesome. I bought my skyrocket juniper trees and had them delivered. I bought some of my fave plants there - weigelias, rhododendrons, mountain ash, spireas, and lilac. My plants were always healthy and they had a great 1 year guarantee - which I used when the winter killed a baltic ivy and a hybrid rose. I will thank them forever for my three-way-grafted rose-of-sharons which I almost wanted to dig out and take with me when I left the region - envy of the neighbourhood and flowers from June to October! How much do I love Terra? I'm going to drive from Pickering to Vaughn just to visit them next week since I need some ideas and plants for my new front garden project.

I bought a love seat two years ago and I got a lemon. The Good: it was North American made, had great colour choices, was modern design, and is beautiful. The Bad: there was the first delay of a couple of months, the second delay of a couple of months, no contact from the company to inform me or give me an explanation, I went to the Dufferin location to speak to the office and they are less than professional or organized, 3 months after finally getting the love-seat a button pops off so I call, they lose my request for service until I call them 6 months later, I finally get it fixed. When the repair guy comes to fix it, I ask if its normal that the seat cushions are flattening so quickly. He said it shouldn't really be (though it's a couch I use for hours every day). He orders me new seat cushions and they are better foam. Months pass, and 2 more buttons pop off. I didn't call for the first button, but I called for the second service fix, the factory sends the wrong colour buttons which is only discovered at the service call. I send a swatch of fabric with the second button request. The people who called from their office have horrible phone manners, there are delays, lack of follow-through. I'd give the office staff a rating of 2. I don't know what to say - I have had great luck with couches so far in life. I usually buy Canadian (since Canadian couches are known to be worth the quality) and this one is USA. My 15 year old couch is better than this one: I'd rate the quality of this loveseat as a 4. They have excellent fix-guys. I would give them a 9 or 10 - polite, efficient and always on time. Joe was in this past week to open the back of my couch and put in all new buttons and deepen the tufting (since it was flush with the surface before). He tightened the legs and the couch is ready to go. Klaus was here before and he was great - got the seat cushions, ordered new buttons, and affixed them. Interesting that HomeStars does not have an option for the customer to address what the company says. 1. My timelines are about bang on. 2. I currently own 6 couches in use in my home - none have flattening cushions like this one does. 3. The office staff lost my bill of sale - couldn't find it when I was there at the office, and the office manner is not what you can expect from a professional organization. My first request for button fix was lost for months. How is this professional? When the company calls, they don't even identify who is calling - instead demand who they are speaking to. Do you tape your calls? Take a listen. 4 . I stand by my review or I wouldn't have written it. Their response (below) makes me decide to never buy from there again.

TNZ Windows and Eaves' service was great. They provided a very reasonable quote for cleaning my exterior windows, were helpful and informed when I called, and went out of their way to accommodate a request. The concern I had was about birds hitting clean windows since they can't see glass. TNZ said that they don't sell the bird-protective window stickers, but if I bought some, they would put them up for me. Since I needed only 6 stickers, they did it at no additional cost. They were right on time, scraped and washed my windows in a quick, efficient, and effective manner using gentle materials. And they cleaned all my screens too - included in the price. I should state here that my windows were really dirty and hadn't been cleaned in about 3 years. I will hire them again - the only reason it's not 10* is there were a few small marks on a couple of windows. Since they do eavestrough cleaning and repair and downspout disconnection, I will also try their other services.

Art Network Canada - On the surface, it's a brilliant concept. You select a piece of art you love from a large selection, and they have artists paint it for you in oil. Since it's hand painted, it will be unique, but you are still getting something you are sure to like. Except they don't return phone calls. Or e-mails. Or answer simple questions. Plus it's extra charges for taxes and shipping. And when I tried to cash in the Groupon I bought, their system deducted extra $$ charges somehow and they wouldn't even return my calls to figure it out. I contacted Groupon to complain and got my money back after jumping through some hoops. Shocked to see Groupon offer them again - and lure other consumers in for their questionable dealings. Buyer beware!

I didn't much like this process at End of the Roll. I wanted a piece of patterned berber carpet cut and bound with a wide fabric tape for about 9x10 (I had specific measurements). A big box store told me they didn't do this service, and I checked one more who said the same. I went to End of the Roll who did this and picked a carpet based on durability, style and colour - and the tape colour I wanted. Turns out that this carpet is anything but discount (they are supposed to be a discount place) and the cost was way higher per foot than the big box guys. I went ahead and had to buy the standard roll size for the length I wanted, it needed to be shipped from the US (I opted to have it added to another shipment so I would wait a bit longer but I would save money), then it needed to go to be cut and bound locally. I had to follow up multiple times to find when it was coming. When it did come, the binders went out of business and the company wanted me to get the cheap synthetic binding - I said no and they had to source a new binder (they honoured my original quote for the binding cost). Then I had to go and choose a new binding colour. One day I was there, the people couldn't find my purchase order to tell me what was happening. Then there was the visit to pick up my carpet. My carpet is beautiful and the highest level of stain repellent ... the binding and shades are spot on. I had to follow up a great deal (phone/ e-mail/ in person) to get this order completed and it still took ages (3+ months). The owner/manager has integrity, but the whole process was a hassle. The cost for this little project escalated to more than I wanted to spend - and the time/effort was high for such a little thing. Also - look I don't want to be petty - but there really was an awful BO smell in the place that made it very hard to shop there.

This is hard to write: the process was a real pain and they did everything to lose the business up front, but the at-site service and quality of work was very good. CertaPro arrived on time for the quote and the guy was great - helpful, pleasant and provided a clear, detailed written quote. Of the 3 quotes I took, this was marginally the highest, however, the work they planned to do on the preparation of the windows/ garage doors was very good (washing, caulking, puttying, scraping, patch cracking, sanding, and spot priming bare areas as well as using the paint consumer reports rated the best/second best for exterior jobs). This was important because the south facing side of my house takes a lot of weather and expansion/contraction and the previous owners clearly didn't do much to maintain. I took about a month to call and book... I called 3 times and left a message: no response, I called the 1-800 line and they didn't know who I was talking about - said they'd give him the message and never did (2x), I received a message saying they would like my business (impressive) but I couldn't reach them. Turns out that the number on the form was wrong - but that didn't excuse the horrific lack of service at the 1-800. Not sure why I persisted - but I did and a date was set and the paint colour was chosen (I chose a colour from another company and had it matched in the brand they use). The delay of getting the paint meant they didn't work on the day set because they couldn't arrive before I left for work (access to premise). The second appointment my spouse stayed home - and I got a call to say that the painters needed specific direction of what to paint. They ended up using the wrong colour on the wrong part: and it had to be repainted. They did repaint the next day and they did it well with no hassles. Communications were a nightmare and a mess of errors at every level. The painting quality was great... very thorough, they were meticulous, willing to work with the home owner and very focused on fixing the mistakes (we had Leslie and her crew). Look - mistakes happen - but how a company fixes it makes every difference. And now after the winter I can say it has really held up. My house looks great and I know its better protected against the elements - I'm glad I did it. That's why they are getting the decent rating. Once they get it together, they could be great.

As far as I can see the gutters are clean. Its an effective cost rather than getting to our high-pitched roof. The stuff in the gutters ends up in piles at the ends of the downspouts, so owners should plan for this with some plastic or other catch basin. Its easier to clean up that way. We also had the exterior windows done, there are still some marks... some squeegee lines I can see in certain light. Its a hand-done cleaning ... none of the high power stuff that ruins your seals. We had a small error in the billing, and it was dealt with quickly, efficiently and without problems.

I called What A Pane at 1:30... and Barry came by at 4:30 with a full selection of designs in the truck to view. It was easy and fun to design a beautiful private entrance. I was impressed with not only how approachable he is but also how professional. Working with him collaboratively was quite easy. I customized my door -taking it from half-glass to full-glass, colour of the 'leading', editing the design to exactly what I wanted, playing with the placement and style of the bevels, and picking the styles of glass. The price is reasonable, you can work with the door you have, and the new doors finally give me some privacy and make the entrance look really nice. The seals are good and they care about quality work. Great bang for the buck!!! Advice: Its your home so make it yours. Don't self edit - you are only limited by structural requirements. Just ask.

We shopped around and saw lots of things, but the leather sectional we bought from the Chesterfield Shop was not only beautiful but at a very competitive price. The pieces use kiln-dried wood and are Canadian-crafted so I know that the wood won't be full of toxins etc. The leather is full grain and beautiful. (When you are comparing, be wary of bi-cast leather or bonded leather which can be sold in Canada as 'leather'.) The design was very good. The sales were not pushy but still sales-y and the delivery was mucked up since they did not call us prior to arrival as planned so we could have someone home.

A JOB DONE RIGHT! FRAMON is a small family business who I hired to put in stained glass inserts for my front door. They serve Oakville, Burlington, Milton and area. (www.framon.ca) It was a big job for the fact that I wanted to make my 1/2 door insert into a full door insert, have 2 sidelights done to match AND I wanted to have the design fully customized. They gave me a sketch with the deposit receipt. Not only were FRAMON pleasant to work with, on time, and had great quality product, but they did a great job customizing the windows and installing. The wait times for a fully custom job are about 6-8 weeks. The doors not only look FANTASTIC but 2 years later they are perfectly sealed, energy efficient and so easy to clean. FRAMON have very competitive prices for the jobs they do (I've priced out good products). Two enthusiastic thumbs up!