Laurie in Mississauga

I found Ali by seeing his truck on my street one day. I Googled him, saw the great Homestars reviews, and wanted to pay it forward by writing this review. Ali is fantastic. He was at my Mom's house to disconnect a Jacuzzi bathtub, as she is converting her bathtub into a walk in shower. I asked Ali if he would wear a mask, as my Mom is 90, and we're trying to keep her healthy. Ali, with no hesitation, immediately agreed. As other reviewers have noted, it is such a pleasure to have an electrician who explains what he is doing. I really value that. I will be using Ali at my house in June and I have already recommended him to my sister. So glad I found him.

An excellent experience, from beginning to end. I needed to rebuild an existing retaining wall, and I wanted it to continue to match other walls near my patio. When I was obtaining quotes, Chris (the owner) patiently answered my many questions. His answers made sense (unlike some of his competitors), and he was honest about what we might face once we took down my existing retaining wall to rebuild it. A very refreshing approach. James and his team were fantastic. They meticulously dismantled my wall, so they could reconstruct it to match the other walls near the patio. They took the mortar off, and cleaned, each stone. When we did uncover the base, Robert (the Production/Service Manager) came to the site and James and Robert patiently explained my choices and the pros/cons of each choice. Speaking of Robert, he checked in every day. Usually, he visited the job site, and he also checked in via phone. The crew would take pictures at each step of the process, so he always knew what was happening. I was able to be at home part of each day, but if the client can't be, this is a huge advantage. You can clearly see what has happened on your job at each step. Chris also visited the site, which was much appreciated. James is a true craftsman and artist. His design for the new wall was much better than the original, and it flows better with the other walls. He does beautiful work. Meanwhile, Altin did a fantastic job rebuilding my chimney and ensuring it is now structurally sound. Plus, he did a great job parging some crumbling bricks on my front porch. At the end, James and his team meticulously cleaned up. I have complete confidence the jobs were done correctly and I am so happy I chose Avenue Road Masonry!

If I could give Nimo an 11/10 I would. On Saturday morning, I came down into the basement and saw water on the floor...yikes! I called Atlas, someone immediately answered the emergency phone line, and she told me that Nimo would be at my house that morning. When Nimo arrived, he was great. He was cheerful and calm, which I suspect really comes in handy when frantic homeowners have emergencies. He diagnosed that my condensate pump wasn't working, had a replacement one on the truck (wow) and replaced it immediately. I thought we were done, and would have rated him a 10. Well, that night I came home from my Dad's birthday party to discover...you guessed it....more water on the floor. I called Nimo, who came back at 10:45 pm and helped me diagnose that it was a small leak from the water heater. Realize, Atlas has nothing to do with my rental water heater but Nimo was exceptional again. He helped me turn off the water, gave me excellent advice about how to deal with Direct Energy, made sure I was OK and only then left my house. By the way, remember how I said Atlas immediately answers their emergency phone on the weekend? Well, Direct Energy had me on hold for 1 hour and 5 minutes until they answered at 12:05 am Sunday morning. Hmmm....what a difference in customer service levels. But wait, my story isn't done yet! That Sunday afternoon, Nimo took the time to call me to ensure Direct Energy had come and agreed the problem was the hot water heater. Wow! And, he took the time to call me as he was handling 11 emergencies that day. I've been an Atlas customer for 14 years and always had very good people working at my house but NIMO IS EXCEPTIONAL. Atlas, please don't ever let him go!

If I could give Justin, my Project Manager from Roto Rooter, a score of 20 I would! Justin came in the middle of the night when my wastewater pipe backed up into my basement. After clearing the problem, he used a camera to view the issue and discovered the metal "test t" in my wastewater pipe was rusting and needed to be replaced. Normally, this is a relatively easy project, as the Roto Rooter crew dig down 11 feet and replace the metal part with PVC pipe. In my case, though, they discovered sand mixed with water at 7 feet, and the earth started collapsing into the hole. They had only encountered this at one other house and it's a problem. Justin was an amazing Project Manager. He outlined my options, discussed all of the pros and cons and then co-ordinated a day that included the rental of a steel cage to be lowered into the ground, a hydrovac truck to vacuum up the dirt, sand and water, and the delivery of dirt and gravel. This was a high stress situation as the gas line had to be exposed. Also, my insurance agent had informed me that property insurance contracts in Ontario typically have clauses that exclude coverage for "earth movement". If a sinkhole had occurred, I would have been on the hook to pay for it even if it impacted the foundation of my house. Justin calmly got me through the project. Many thanks to Igor and all of the Roto Rooter team that assisted. I have recommended Roto Rooter to all of my neighbours who will likely encounter the same issue.

Last weekend, my neighbour noticed my eavestrough had separated from the side of my house. This was an urgent problem, as an animal could have entered the house via the crack. I found Steve via Homestars and I am so glad I did! He came on a Sunday and did meticulous work. Steve was so conscientious that he even called when he thought he might be a half hour late. The eavestrough looks brand new and I will definitely use Roof One for all my eavestrough issues in the future.

I have used Mckee - Horrigan twice to repair my garage door and both times they have been excellent. They come very quickly (even apologizing when they couldn't come the same day when I called at 2 pm) and always fix the door in 1 visit. They explain what the problem is and discuss various options to repair it. This time, they really went above and beyond, still coming and fixing it when I suddenly had to leave the house due to a family emergency. They called me on my cell, described the problem and pricing, and it was working perfectly when I came home. I highly recommend them.

I found Precision Window Cleaning on Homestars in 2011 and have used them 3 times. Brandon and his crew are always courteous, professional and punctual. I really like the fact that I can email Brandon and he always responds quickly. I have a large tree overhanging the roof that drops its leaves very late in the season - Brandon is always willing to schedule me as late as possible in the fall, to ensure the majority of leaves can be cleaned out of the eavestroughs. I highly recommend him and his team.

Last year, I met with several contractors to build a slate walkway for me. Most refused to even quote on the job, as they said they couldn't source the slate for me. Jorge, on the other hand, was willing to make the effort to find the slate and did a phenomenal job building the walkway. He and his team are true craftsman. The reason I want to give them an 11/10, though, is due to their efforts this year. The first year after a job, without the homeowner reminding them, they visit each job and reset any loose stones under warranty. Also, for a fee, they hand scrub, dry and seal the walkway. Unfortunately, the slate had a rare reaction to the sealant and a white film occurred. Jorge, without any prompting,came back 4 different times to use special (and I'm sure more expensive) cleaner and sealant to correct the pathway. He refused to charge me any more money for his materials or the significant number of man hours he invested in the project. You just don't find that pride of workmanship anymore and I would highly recommend them.