Meredith KW

We connected with Collin about a year before our actual renovation started. Every interaction has been professional and positive! We felt no pressure to sign with Westmount for the job, or pressure to start a reno that we were honestly still unsure regarding what we really wanted for our home. All quotes given were detailed and understandable. Communication was always clear and considerate. Once we signed our contract, information on the Buildertrend app clearly outlined the scope of the work, budget and timeframe. During the timeframe of our project, COVID-19 was becoming a serious concern. Everyone involved in the work on our home was consistent in keeping the work and home environments clean and separated, keeping each other safe, considerate of our worries early on and our decision to delay our job start date. The transition between the demolition crew and the rebuild crew was made thoughtfully to the trust built with our demo crew over the first half of our project. All Westmounts subcontractors are top notch and every one was respectful, funny, dedicated and great communicators. We lived in our home during the entire reno with just one weekend away for spray foam insulation to be installed. We were given ample time to prepare for that during the weird days of COVID. Our home was checked on over that weekend and we were given updates with photos on how the insulation went and the smell that goes along with spray foam. On all working days, including the very messy ones with concrete being broken up and water lines being moved or put in, the crew kept all areas being worked in so clean and so safe. Dust doors were put up too and days with extremely loud noise, ie. concrete cutting, we were given warnings ahead of time. Our entire project was incredibly efficient regarding scheduling and coordination of all work and installations. We were never waiting on anyone or any item. Communication, understanding, professional guidance in decision-making, and problem-solving were huge positive factors working with our Westmount team. The great example I can give of this is materials recommended and used - from our floors, to the four new windows installed, to the kitchen cabinets, every one hit our important targets of quality, functionality and budget-savvy choices. 12 to 16 weeks was our original time estimate. Our project wrapped up ahead of schedule despite some big scope creep which was accommodated without issue. In about 50 working days (or approx. 10 weeks) our basement was gutted, spray foam insulation was installed throughout. Then the basement was rebuilt including all new drywall, four new rooms two of which are bathrooms that involved tough concrete work, removal of a gas fireplace, three new windows, all new flooring throughout, a kitchenette, and new doors. Our main floor included the removal of all flooring but the bedrooms and original baths, removing the old kitchen and relocating plumbing and electrics for our new kitchen, new flooring throughout, walling off a walkthrough to the dining room to make the old kitchen a cozy den with a pocket door.. New LED pot lights were installed throughout the renovated spaces. Work that represents the thoroughness and skill of Westmount doing the entire job well was the reinforcing and stabilizing of our stairs and the time invested scribing the baseboards to meet the sometimes uneven concrete floors of our vintage bungalow! The attention to detail, the finishing touches, the thoughtful extra work put in are so plentiful that it’s hard to recount them. Everyone involved, Collin, Kyle and his team (Shane and Trevor), Josh and Roland, our plumbers and electricians, the drywall finisher, the painters…everyone we would be more than happy to have back for any future projects on our home. The job couldn’t have been done better and we couldn’t love the end results more.

The first rain storm after we purchased our home we discovered our roof was leaking. Causing water to run down the damp course, into the windows. Not disclosed by the previous owner and because of the weather, not caught by our home inspector - we were upset and anxious. Doing our own due diligence and being Homestars users we contacted the highest rated companies in the area. One had an automated message stating they were no longer sending out estimators because of being booked solid due to the wind storm Ontario had earlier in 2018, another wasn't able to send an estimator out until more than a week later, the third (referred to us by our neighbour) came out immediately and patched the roof but wouldn't be able to install a new roof until Spring 2019 due do their bookings. Allan Beach, a referral from our property inspector, came out immediately, inspected the roof, gave us a quote and said when his customers have roofs that are leaking he prioritizes their installation and our roof could be put on by the end of that week. His materials were the same high quality (Biltmore architectural shingles, stormtite wrapping) and price as the other companies, there's no bells and whistles, just solid honest work. Our shingles were delivered and placed on the roof via crane on August 16th. Two teams from Allan Beach roofing arrived at 8am sharp on August 17th. They were thorough in their set up to capture the mess and debris from stripping the old roof. They worked solidly and were well organized and could honestly have jobs as weathermen too. Around 2pm more rain blew in and they had just minutes before wrapped up and had put the new roof on where the leaks were and had about half the roof to finish. The following day, bright and early with good weather, they were back and finished the roof. Cleaned everything up with drop tarps and magnetic brooms. The roofers were politely and professional. We received a hand written invoice and the warranty information package (including a 10yr workmanship warranty) and Allan picked up the cheque himself. Allan Beach doesn't rely on flashy advertising to drum up business. Yes, the high rated companies surely deserve their rankings, but sometimes we miss diamonds in the rough when trying to pick who's best for the job. In this case, we were left leaky and lost by those top ranked roofers. We're happy to support a smaller local company, who clearly knows the business of roofing, of prioritizing and simply good customer service.

We've used Augusta before. Previously it was to move our items out of a POD delivered to our driveway after a cross-provincial move, later they delivered an antique refinished dresser. Both those jobs were done professionally, cheerfully and well-priced! Of course we would contact Dinko and Augusta to handle our move from the ex-urbs of T.O. to Kitchener. The team of four men arrived exactly when they said they would, we had two locations to move from. They set up protective mats and first they loaded a very old, large, heavy, precious family heirloom Welsh dresser with original lead stained glass. They wrapped it with care and moved and secured it in the truck. After loading the truck with the few other pieces at the first locations we headed to our previous home. Again they didn't dawdle and arrived and got to work quickly. In 2.5 hours they packed our lives and home into their 26ft truck and large panel van. The guys worked fast, professionally, cheerfully AND responsibly - making sure they were drinking lots of water while they worked! They let us now they would stop for lunch before heading to Kitchener and would see us there. We drove ourselves to our new home and an hour later the Augusta truck arrived and the team got straight to work! They unloaded, set up, chatted away (Nick told us what the word for guinea pig is in Russian as our three piggies made the move with us in our car, sadly we've forgotten the word already :( :( ). They asked for direction when needed, followed my obsessive labelling on the boxes, stayed hydrated and were consistently pleasant, friendly and hard-working the whole time. A job very well done, at a very fair price! We were happy before to recommend Augusta to our friends and family in need of movers and now even more so, seeing how stellar they worked through this household move of ours! We are happy give Augusta a glowing recommendation on Homestars and would be happy to employ again for another move! Thank you Dinko and Augusta team! Meredith, Matt and family