SAF in Scarborough

We employed Avonlea for our main bathroom renovation in May-June 2011, so this review is horribly overdue. We had researched several companies through HomeStars, and despite some of the high ratings and immensely positive reviews, we were disappointed with some of the highest-rated businesses. One business simply never responded to our phone call to bid on our project. Yet another contacted us about 2 weeks after our initial phone call and was very defensive about not responding to us immediately, even though we never brought up the subject. Avonlea is a breath of fresh air in the over-saturated Toronto reno market. They responded to our initial contact within a couple of hours. John Miles was over to take a look at the project within days. He showed genuine interest and thoughtfulness in our project (despite its size or price tag) and was courteous, thoughtful, and helpful in his recommendations and estimate. We decided to move forward with Avonlea simply because they were the most organized and professional business we encountered for this project, and they demonstrated immediately that they were clearly worth trusting to gut and re-do our entire main bath. We didn't once second guess our decision. The project went very smoothly, with John Miles providing recommendations and advice as we went along, guiding the project from start to finish. When the work starts in your home, a team shows up the first morning to meet with you, discuss the goals of the project, and make sure everyone is on the same page. They do a very good job of ensuring their customers get what they bargained for. During the project, the fellow - Gabriel - that conducted the actual work on our bathroom was a pleasure to have in our house for 2.5 weeks. He predictably showed up on time, worked diligently, completed that day's work, and cleaned up meticulously on a daily basis throughout the project. We would recommend Avonlea without any reservation for any kind of renovation for your home. Simply put, they are extremely organized, professional, and know their stuff. They are easy going and will work with you to ensure you have the best possible experience and turn out from the project that you could have anticipated. Thanks so much for a brilliant job!

We spent a good deal of time deciding what to do with the flooring in our foyer, which is a true center hall plan, making it the center of attention in our home. After having decided to purchase slate tile from Acme Slate in Scarborough, we met with four different tiling contractors to discuss the removal of existing ceramic tile, and installation of the slate. Though all the contractors came through at a somewhat similar price, Marc Doiron's company, Creative Tile was not the least or most expensive bid. We decided to go with Marc as a result of several factors - his friendliness and attitude when he met with us (including a legitimate interest in our project), his indicated commitment to see the project through from start to finish (one contractor said he didn't want to remove our old ceramic), and the thoroughness in detail of his estimate. I can't fathom why some contractors think it is okay to slap an estimate together that misses core pieces of the project. I had one contractor that wanted to estimate on my job without visiting my home. The same contractor sent me an image file of a horribly put together estimate... So, in the end, Marc Doiron's "togetherness" was our deciding factor. Nonetheless, with at least one past bad contractor experience under our belt, we are always a little apprehensive having anyone come into our home to do major work. But, our apprehension wouldn't last long with Marc. He worked long and very hard to get the job done right. He arrived on time, and approached the job as indicated before he started. When the job of removing the old ceramic tile panned out to be much more tedious than anticipated, Marc took it in stride, and plodded his way through the work. He worked very long days, and took very few breaks for himself. Most pleasingly, he didn't get sloppy and rush. He still took his time and paid attention to detail. He simply arrived earlier and worked longer to ensure that he was still within schedule. Most importantly, Marc clearly knows his stuff. The attention and care he took in approaching our project, every step of the process, is very much appreciated. And, on several occasions, he went over and above what we felt was his call of duty to the scope of the project. Marc is simply a genuine guy, a hard and dedicated worker, and very skilled at what he does. He really made the whole process easy. And unlike some contractors I've had to deal with, he was actually a pleasure to have at our home for the week. And considering there are contractors I'd never like to see the likes of again, that meant a lot to us. You will not be disappointed if you employ him to work on your stone/tiling project. We are very satisfied with the work he did, and the beauty of our new foyer slate floor.

We had some of the usual suspects come out to bid on updating windows in our house as well as add a set of garden doors to the back of our house. We spoke with Pella, Anderson, as well as Home Depot and Magic Window. We were impressed with the Magic Window product from the get-go. The technology they leverage within their product is simply superior to the standard window technology. Too much to mention here in that regard, but a nice, easy example is the crank that standard windows use to open the window. The Magic Window does not use a crank, so you do not have to deal with the eventual deterioration of that mechanism. With Magic Window, you simply push the window open and pull it closed. Very simple, very robust. The hideaway screens and blinds are also a blessing in keeping the look very clean and promoting as much light coming into the house as possible. Over the course of two years, we have had all (except two bay) windows in our house as well as a set of garden doors updated by Magic Window. We are very pleased with the product, and have had no issues whatsoever. They have added light, functionality, and have greatly enhanced the look of the house - inside and out. We also have a lot of oak throughout our house, and while the company does not offer wood windows or doors, they do offer a synthetic with an oak-like finish. I was very skeptical of having this synthetic finish in my home, especially next to the real thing. But, once I saw the real life samples, I was very pleased. The finish is much more pleasing than you'd expect, and blends with my wood very well. Plus, the benefits of synthetic over wood for window/door longevity can't be argued. The only challenge I've had with this company is that depending on the sales person you work with, they can be a little bit disorganized. However, it is very much worth the time taken to get to know them and work with them on a plan that works for your home. Without hesitation, I am happy to recommend this company's great product.

We chose Al Miley & Associates completely based on the reviews here on Homestars, and were so glad that we did. We felt nervous at first trusting anyone to prune our giant Austrian Pine at the side of our corner lot. But seeing as the size of the tree was too large for us to manage ourselves, it was imperative for the tree's health to hire a professional. And professional this company is. Really not much more to say -- efficient, effective, easy to work with, and delivered exactly what they promised. Final cost even came in slightly under the estimate. Thanks very much for a job well done; we (and our neighbors!) are very happy, and we will certainly have this company come back for future work.

We had several masonry specialists bid on a job to spot tuck point our house as well as replace some crumbling bricks on our garage pillars as well as two chimneys. We decided to go with Image Enhanced for a couple reasons (price was not a factor as they came in close to the other contractors that bid): 1. The rep that came to our house to estimate took his time and made a decent assessment and recommendations on the work to be done. His quote was the most comprehensive of any of the other quotes we received from other companies. This was the #1 reason we chose this company. They seemed to consider a lot more than others did. 2. They put a very professional foot forward with a helpful web site, courteous uniformed staff, printed quotations, and good follow up. The professionalism stopped dead once we signed a contract to get the job done. Once the sales process was over, the customer service went down the drain and the contractors that were sent to our home were not the right people for the job. I'll say up front that the work they did in removing the broken bricks on the chimney and the garage pillars was satisfactory. I was happy with the result. However, the tuck pointing was the main part of the job, and the results are literally a nightmare. The grinding out of old mortar has left chips on our bricks that are too numerous to count. The contractors were in such a huge rush, they left many sections of ground out mortar unfilled with any new mortar. Large sections were left completely unattended to, and sections of bricks around our window sills and base of our chimney were left a complete mess. We had to call the company to send the contractors back out to address the issues. The contractor came, look at us like we were nuts, quickly filled in a few spots, and left without saying a word. I called the office again and told them not to send out the same contractors. They sent out a different set next that left a different set of problems. The second set of contractors would not tint the mortar to match the other mortar, and they left a mess of mortar that now needs to be scraped off of bricks. Nothing was cleaned up and they even left a huge bucket of mortar on our driveway for which I had to call the office twice before anyone came to pick it up a week later. Because life was very busy at that time (we were preparing to get married), we were happy just to have them away from our property. But two months later, after our wedding had past I still felt horribly about the situation this company left us in. So, I decided to call the office once more - only to speak to someone about our dissatisfaction so that they could perhaps learn from it for the future. I did not care at this point to have anyone else come to my home, I just wanted to leave feedback. The person I dealt with on the phone offered to have a supervisor call me back and come look at the mess left on my home. I thought that would be fine for the sake of information for their company. The supervisor never called me back. Somehow, I am not surprised.