Christian in Toronto

Sandra and Johanna renovated our 100-year-old staircase this fall, sanding and painting the wood and making it look incredible again. It was their second job with us and, as usual, they exceeded our expectations. As before, they were very detail-oriented, great with communication, and kept a clean and professional job site. Highly recommended.

I hired Habitual Homes to paint the interior trim on my new windows and couldn't be happier with their work. They assisted with design decisions and ensured the framing was finish-ready before executing a flawless paint job that elevated the look of the windows. Sandra and Johanna were a pleasure to deal with and the project was managed very well. Johanna kept a quiet, clean job site, which was especially helpful since my partner and I both work from home. I would not hesitate to recommend Habitual Homes thank you, Sandra and Johanna!

I wouldn't normally go for an "as seen on TV" company but I called Better Contracting after they were recommended by a family member and am happy with my decision. We had an old, leaky skylight that needed either replacing or repair, on a steep roof with cedar shakes - during our consultation their crew chief provided level-headed perspective, along with a quick (and functional!) patch job to hold us over until the replacement could happen. When job day came around, the team worked quickly, quietly, and cleanly, which we appreciated given they were standing over a large hole in our roof. They sought out and repaired water damage, communicated whenever something unexpected needed to happen (like removing extra drywall for the new window) and did a bang-up job replacing the shingles. Once the roof gets some weather on it you'll never know they were even here. Very happy.

Mike and his team waterproofed a section of my home's foundation, which required removing a section of deck and digging, partly, in a very tight space between the adjacent house and my own. His quote was transparent and straightforward, and although he came in higher than the competition my partner and I are very satisfied with our choice. He and his small crew were quick, tidy, and very professional. The deck was removed very cleanly; the dig and waterproofing happened without a hitch; and they were careful and considerate of the space we share with our neighbours. They left the work area spotless, as well as the front yard, where the loose soil was stored during the job. Mike was also very communicative and responsive to my questions, both before the job was awarded and during the work period. All in all a great experience with this company -- thanks again, guys.

When we first visited National Drapery’s store we found the staff to be friendly and helpful – unfortunately, after that point our experience took a complete U-turn, mutating into a cautionary tale of disservice and disregard. Initially, we were pleased when National offered a complimentary in-home consultation. We had an idea of what we wanted and were looking for some advice from someone with the aesthetic and technical expertise to provide options based on our tastes and preferences. We were looking for what we thought was a fairly simple item: a white roman shade for our kitchen window that would let in as much light as possible and were explicit about not wanting anything that resembled a bed sheet on the window; rather, something that hung nicely and did not wrinkle. After much back and forth via email and telephone with the consultant (emails that went unanswered until we followed up with the store directly), multiple trips all the way across the city to their showroom to view fabric options and multiple inquiries about the suitability of the fabric we liked, we went ahead and ordered our roman. $1000 dollars later we have what appears to be an unfinished square of cloth hanging in the window of our newly renovated kitchen… and don’t take it from us: multiple National staff have themselves agreed after seeing it. It was delivered with the wrong chain pull (plastic, not metal, as we requested) and we have found that the fabric does indeed wrinkle. Moreover, the structure of the blind (strings, loops and stitching) is entirely visible through the fabric. Here lay the root of our initial disappointment with this company: with someone standing in our kitchen, observing the light, architecture and décor, and understanding our fabric preference, they failed to deliver design advice – or even a warning, for that matter – that would have led to a better result. Instead, the expectations they set for the product we eventually received were completely out of line. From there, our experience turned from frustrating to infuriating. When we reached out to National to discuss the blind we were met first with indifference and, on subsequent phone calls, with rude, defensive and patronizing behaviour from their staff. It was, bar none, the worst customer service we have ever experienced. We were told it was a matter of “he said, she said,” that they had done nothing wrong, and that they owed us nothing for what had happened. Upon seeing a photo of the blind, the manager acknowledged that it did look unfinished. She offered to make some small adjustments – removing loops or adding a thicker liner – but this would have involved multiple trips to their store (they refused to pick it up from our home) without doing much to solve the issues. She also suggested we could pay an added fee to add a border to give it a more finished look… so we were also unaware that we were paying $1000 for an UNFINISHED blind! Our customer experience with National has been nothing short of dreadful: because they failed to provide us with the details necessary to make an informed choice; the finished piece of work suggested they hadn’t been attentive to our questions, concerns or specifications; and they were uncompromisingly unhelpful and defensive when we expressed our disappointment with their product.

We needed some basic upkeep done to the walls and chimney of our 1920s home and selected Turnbull for their fair pricing, straightforward communication, and experience with older buildings. They replaced the missing and damaged mortar, filled a hole in our concrete block foundation, and advised us on future repairs to our chimney. They chose a mortar suitable in strength and colour for the age of our home and the new tuck-pointing is nearly indistinguishable from the older mortar that surrounds it. The masons, Phong and Lionel, were very professional -- efficient, tidy, and communicative. Overall a very good experience with everyone involved: thank you!

When my partner and I needed the walls in our new house repainted, Diane and Mike were recommended to us by my parents and they did not disappoint. They're efficient and pay close attention to every detail. They also know their colours and helped us with the tricky job of navigating the many shades of white from which we had to choose. We're very happy with the quality of work -- thanks again, guys!

Bill and his team upgraded the wiring in our 1920s home, along with a host of other tasks to improve the appearance and functionality of the house. They were meticulous, knowledgeable, efficient, and tidy. They were also able to complete this fairly invasive job with minimal damage to the walls and ceilings – which they also patched. My partner and I were very impressed by everyone's professionalism and attention to detail. Bill proved to be attentive, available, and transparent about all costs up front. This is our first home and being unaccustomed to this type of work we appreciated that Bill provided a list of all potential jobs we could have him do, with their associated costs, before the contract was even awarded. This put us at ease with the process and helped us make our decision. Now that the work is done I'd absolutely recommend KNT for this type of work.