DMA

I have never been as happy with a home improvement company as I have been with Ontario Downspout Service. They did my eaves, soffits, and downspouts a few years ago, and I was so impressed with them that they were the first and only company I wanted to do my roof when the shingles needed replacing this year after springing leaks over the winter. ODS came out immediately to do emergency repairs, even though we were not yet under contract to do the roof in the spring/summer. My roof is complicated in that half of it is peaked, and the other half is flat, like many homes around the GTA. I wanted to do metal for both parts---so as to never have to think about re-roofing again in my lifetime---but Mark (the son in this father-son company), after spending significant time to investigate the best metal configuration to meet my desire to have a long-lasting roof with space for a lot of insulation underneath, wisely advised that metal for the flat part would be a very expensive ordeal, with probably not much gain over a traditional flat roof given the quality of products and guarantee ODS provides for flat roofs. Despite a complex metal roof over the flat half probably gaining him a huge profit, he put my needs first; that is not something that can be said about a lot of companies. So, I went with metal shingles on the peaked half and a traditional flat roof on the flat half, but raised up 4" to insert a lot of extra insulation since the top floor on that side has issues of being very hot during the summer, despite the ceiling being spray-foamed from the inside. As with the downspouts, Mark and his team were the picture of professionalism during the 4.5 days needed to do this job. They were courteous to us and our neighbors, kept us apprised of their progress and work plans (which were delayed due to unlucky weather), took pride in their craftsmanship, and thoroughly cleaned up at the end of every day. The roof looks fantastic. The metal shingles look like heavily textured high-end regular shingles as opposed to the basic flat panels that most metal roofs have, and the scalloped look of the end caps is gorgeous architectural touch. The flat roof and its 4" of insulation immediately resolved the heat issues on that half of the house. Every experience I have had with Mark and ODS has been wonderful. They are honest and direct, and don't leave you wondering if you are being taken for a ride. As a handyman and engineer, I know my way around home construction and repairs, and ODS has always treated me and my questions with respect, and never been condescending or patronizing, which is unfortunately more than I can say for many other home reno companies I have worked with (perhaps because I am a woman). I have enthusiastically recommended ODS to all of my friends and neighbors, and that is not something I do often.

Farid installed a glass enclosure + door on one side of our shower about 10 months ago. The door looks and functions as great now as it did when he first installed it. Farid helped us figure out a design for the door since our situation was somewhat unusual in that we needed to have the door hinge on the fixed pane of glass as opposed to hinge on the wall in order to access the shower controls from outside the shower. We also have a skylight above the glass wall/door, so the fixed pane of glass couldn't be fully attached to the ceiling, and couldn't be full height since it would look weird. But, we also couldn't do the fixed pane at the same height as the door because it wouldn't be strong enough to bear the weight of the door, and we did not want any extra metal hangers or supports for aesthetic purposes. Farid came up with the brilliant idea of notching the fixed pane so that it is affixed to the ceiling all the way until the start of the skylight, which provides enough strength to hold the door while still having a clean look. It took extra measuring, extra time cutting, and extra time installing, but the look is perfect and the door is secure. Additionally, Farid is quick to respond to text messages and is a pleasure to work with. I would absolutely recommend him to anyone looking for glass work.

Canadian Choice replaced most of the windows in our house last month. We had interviewed eight companies, and Canadian Choice had everything we were looking for---quality windows, technically knowledgeable salesperson/point-of-contact (Mike Lesche, "Boss Mike"), wide range of exterior color options, and ability to handle some of our special needs. We converted one large window to a bay window (which needed a roof), bricked up another window, and for the few windows and doors had been replaced more recently than the others, we wanted to keep them and have them capped so that they looked like the new windows from the outside. Canadian Choice was able to handle those requests within our tight budget. The new windows are amazing---they look fantastic, they block so much sound from the outside, and they keep the house so much cooler (it's summer now) than the old windows. If I had known what a dramatic difference new windows would make to my enjoyment of my house, I would have replaced all the windows years ago. On the day of the install (<30 days from the estimate), the install team arrived on time. The install team consisted of a different Mike ("Installer Mike") and his assistant. They worked quickly and competently until late in the evening to finish the job in one day, but if you ask Installer Mike too many questions, he gets a bit rude. Unfortunately, we had to interrupt his process several times since many details of our install (e.g., capping existing windows, one window in a shower needed special trim) weren't explicitly written down in the contract, so we had to call Boss Mike multiple times to straighten things out, even though we had gone over those items with Installer Mike (and verified with Boss Mike) when he came to do the measurements. Boss Mike quickly straighten things out and made sure everything was exactly what we expected, but it would have been easier with better communication between Boss Mike and Installer Mike before the actual installation. The lesson learned is to make sure every last detail is written in the contract. Also, we had to pester Installer Mike about completely filling gaps with spray foam (he was trying to be quick and only fill from the outside, when we also wanted the gaps filled from the inside), and while the windows he did were adequately insulated, the message apparently didn't make it to his assistant. We had to fill in the gaps on his windows the next day; luckily, we have lots of our own spray foam. Still, I would absolutely contact Boss Mike for future window replacement, and I have recommended him to neighbors. One last thing worth mentioning: During the install, a piece of aluminum flashing fell into our AC unit and caused significant damage when the AC tried to turn on the next day. Boss Mike was quick to accept accountability and promptly reimbursed us for the repairs. I only mention the incident because it is useful to know that if something goes wrong, Canadian Choice will do the right thing. Not all home improvement companies are so trustworthy.

I cannot recommend Ontario Downspout Service (ODS) highly enough. It is a father-son business and offers a personal, client-focused touch. Harvey, the father, came to give us an estimate on a Saturday, the day after I connected ODS through HomeStars; ODS was the only company out of the several I contacted to get back to me within 3-4 days. ODS was also the only company who showed up for the estimate on time, and one of only two who could give me the quote at the end of the site visit (the rest took 2-5 business days later). Mark, the son, came to do the two-day install with his crew. They were all exceedingly polite, professional, and punctual. The quality of the work is superb, and the new soffits, eaves, and downspouts completely transformed the curb appeal of my house. Mark always sought my input for any decisions that had to be made, and was thorough in explaining different options and their pros and cons. I would definitely use ODS again and recommend them to my friends and family.