Nathalie S. in Oakville

We had water pooling problems in our gutters in 3 different areas around the house. The team was able to suggest ways to improve water drainage by realigning the eaves and adding a downspout in one particularly problematic spot. The eaves are high end custom made but they managed to match the new downspout perfectly and realign the eaves without any damage. They were very concerned with making sure water would drain properly but also paid close attention to aesthetics. They achieved both. We are very pleased with the service the team provided and would not hesitate to recommend this Company to any of our friends and family.

Initially very satisfied with contractor but as initial phase of project was near completion, we realized that none of the recommendations made by the company (e.g. architect, consultants, tree removal, etc...) met expectations. We had set an initial budget that were adamant needed to be met but when came time to sign the contract, the 'price' for the project was 30% over budget. This was obviously of big concern as we know projects such as these need a ~20% contingency fund for unexpected items or upgrades done along the way. This meant that we were at close to 50% over budget without having had started the project. We were also very disappointed with the contract itself which gave little to no detail as to where the money was being spent. References provided by the company were quite good but when we circled back a few months later to recheck them, some rescinded their initial recommendations once their own projects had been completed. Needless to say, we did not sign on with this contractor for the actual project and cut our losses before we got in too deep.

This is the second time that we have called upon John to inspect a house. We hired him this time to do a pre-sale inspection of our current home. John was thorough and fair. He charges a little more than the competition but the completeness of his report is well worth it. He will go through each item on the report with you as well as with prospective buyers as part of the inspection itself.

We initially contracted Better Contracting Services to conduct extensive repairs on our house in April 2008. The work was conducted during July 2008. Some months thereafter, upon witnessing the first severe rainstorm, we noticed the new eavestrough at the rear of the house was not working properly; water was flowing behind the eavestrough and down the side of our house. When we inspected the problem area more closely, we noticed several problems. The eavestrough was installed with insufficient grade to properly remove rainfall from the roof. The eavestrough was attached to rotten wood which should have been replaced in accordance with the contract. There is a significant open gap behind the eavestrough exposing our attic to the elements, thus allowing moisture, rot etc to develop in the attic. There is rotten plywood left at the corner of the roof which has lifted away from the main structure, creating another problem area for moisture and the elements to enter the attic. When we phoned the sales representative, Murray Collins, to inform him of these problems, he came to the house, inspected the problem and agreed that our complaints were valid and assured us that he would endeavour to have it fixed. After several promises, no-one showed up to conduct the repairs. After repeated phone calls to Murray over the course of several weeks, he eventually handed me over to Sue who is in charge of scheduling, as he told me he could provide no more assistance than what he already had done. This was approximately July 2009. Since then, we have contacted Sue on numerous occasions, and on every occasion she has promised to send over a team to inspect and conduct the repairs. Several times she even gave a firm date as to when the team would show up. We are still waiting. Our overriding concern is that my roof is rotting at an accelerated rate due to the exposure to the elements since the original repair. During the last phone call approximately 2 months ago, we agreed to pay for materials if they would simply agree to come and finish the repairs. This was not even enough to get them to live up to their promises. At this point, it seems obvious that Better Contracting Services is simply hoping our phone calls will eventually stop and that this problem will simply go away. We have been treated completely unprofessionally, obviously due to the fact that our original payment was paid in full (and in fact in advance of this repair) and they feel we are no longer a priority. It is clear that repeat business from former customers is not in their business plan.