Sylvia

This job was completed in October, 2019. I meant to post the review (written then) but forgot. I was reminded of this omission when he completed another job, recently, on our rental property and we received the same, excellent level of service. Ilir is an excellent communicator and incredibly professional. He helped us out immeasurably by organizing the job directly with the fellow removing our solar panels. He removed the old shingles, replaced some boards that were rotten and provided photos, re-shingled the roof, and followed up with us about one month after the job was completed to make sure we were satisfied. He also issued a Workmanship Warranty, good for 10 years, and took photos of the job, before, during, and after the work was completed. He was a pleasure to work with. We highly recommend Ilir, The Roof Technician.

Working with Agnieszka Chromicz-Chan was a surprisingly delightful experience. I had never used an interior designer and was nervous about how it would go. Would the designer understand what we wanted to accomplish? Would she be able to help us create a space that was uniquely to our taste without imposing her vision? How would she handle us if we were making choices that she knew wouldn’t really work with the space? Could she work with our budget and keep the project in line with what we were willing to spend? I am pleased to say that Agnieszka navigated each of these potential minefields with aplomb. We had decided to replace our glossy black floors with something lighter that would open the space and show less dust. The biggest challenge was choosing the colour of the wood for the floors. We have a golden granite countertop in the kitchen with which we were unwilling to part. Our cabinetry (kitchen, dining room and family room) is all a dark espresso colour with a hint of red in it. This made for an enormous challenge in finding the right floor – something that would not be too yellow, too green, too grey, or too brown. This was, by far, the greatest challenge of the project. But Agnieszka was patient as we went through literally tens of wood floor samples – all laid out on our floor and moving periodically to a different section of the space so that we could see them in every light. She came to our house every time I brought back new samples to give her insight. She scoured wood flooring outlets and stores. She was an incredible asset and co-conspirator. The best part is that we found the exact right flooring. Agnieszka was helpful in many other ways as well. The biggest challenge I have is with colour. I am not very confident in choosing colours, and because our main floor is open concept, every wall but one is visible from the entrance. This poses an enormous challenge: how can we delineate the spaces between rooms while not over-powering with colour? I did not want the entire floor to be white, so the key was to choose a couple of accent walls to ground the space and then work around those colours to build from there. Agnieszka was, once again, full of ideas and incredibly patient as we worked through this challenging piece. The result is a main floor that feels fresh and bright and uniquely ours. One of the biggest contributions from ACA Design was Agnieszka’s design of our audio-visual cabinetry. We wanted something that would unify the space but also not be over-powering - airy, while providing shelving and a unique space for our tv and stereo equipment. Agnieszka did a fabulous job. One of the most interesting aspects of the cabinetry is that she included a base on which the cabinetry would sit. This makes all the cabinets and shelving look like they are part of a larger unit, but without feeling “heavy”. This feature unifies the space while elevating the unit off the floor. I am incredibly grateful to Agnieszka for her tireless guidance, support, keen eye, creativity, and the positive spirit she brought to this project. We love our new main floor.

Hoerner came to our rental property after I called them about a complaint from one of the tenants that the toilet was making a gurgling sound and not flushing properly. After several attempts to diagnose the problem ourselves, we called in the "big guns". Cole and Nick arrived and after a camera inspection determined that the problem was with tree roots, gravel, and dirt blocking our century old clay pipes. They promptly dug up the concrete floor to get at the problem and discovered broken clay pipes and indeed - tree roots etc. - everywhere. They set about clearing out all the debris and replacing the clay pipes with PVC throughout the basement to the property line. This was an enormous job and the team worked efficiently and were always respectful of the property and the tenant. Cole & Nick were Incredibly thoughtful and always let all the tenants know in advance when the water would be unavailable so that they could plan for it. The tenant said that they even moved snails off the path so they wouldn't harm them during the work. :) - It's the little things. Once this was completed, they realized that there was still water leaking - now from the water pipes, which were still the original (i.e. lead pipes). Andrew sounded almost apologetic when he broke the bad news to me. We would have to replace the lead pipes with copper, adding even more to an already very big plumbing bill - but it needed to be done. They replaced our old pipes with 3/4" copper and backfilled the soil. They tidied up beautifully and closed the giant hole in our basement floor. Throughout this messy project the workers did their best to keep the tenant's apartment clean as they walked in and out of the main floor apartment. The team worked hard and were pleasant and polite throughout the 2 1/2 weeks it took to fix the problems. Hoerner has done several jobs for us in the past at our other rental properties and at our home and I recommend them very highly for their quality work, professionalism, tidiness, courtesy, and respect towards everyone involved.

From the beginning, Ilir was organized and professional. He came to our house and climbed onto the roof to examine the condition of the existing roof, the solar panels and how they are attached to the roof, the skylights, the eaves troughs, and the vent stacks. He suggested that we remove the two, very large vent stacks and replace them with a ridge vent. This was an excellent suggestion and our roof's profile is much improved with the eliminated stacks. Ilir was also very concerned about the removal of the solar panels. I connected him to the gentleman responsible for removing the solar panels and the two of them discussed the details so that everything would go smoothly - and it did. Ilir's team completed the work in two days (they had to take a two-day break in-between due to heavy rainfall and heavy winds, respectively), but when they returned, they worked hard to make sure the job was completed in the promised two days. After the work was completed, he followed up with me to see how the solar panels' re-installation had gone. That was very impressive. When I received the final bill, there were no surprises. Once the bill was paid, I received a 10 year workmanship certificate. It was an absolute pleasure working with Ilir and his team. I recommend them without reservation.

I called Hoerner at 8am to tell them about a severe leak that we had just discovered. Immanuel and Mario were at my door by 9:15am. They were polite and professional. They set about opening up the ceiling in my kitchen to find the source of the leak. They then moved upstairs to the bathroom, where they opened a portion of the wall to see more. They spent a lot of time and care to make sure they didn't cut more drywall than was neccessary - which I greatly appreciated. They even went so far as to be careful not to cut into an area on the wall that had a design stenciled with paint. In the end, it was a relatively simple solution to the problem, but what I appreciated most was the thoroughness with which they set about making sure that they were correct in their diagnosis. They worked well together and cleaned up the work area once they had finished. They were also very personable - nice guys.

The team at Grizzly Plumbing & Heating are courteous, professional, respectful and knowledgeable. They installed an in-floor radiant heating system in part of our basement - an area of about 350 sq. ft. When they dug up the original floor, they examined the pipes and found that they were made of clay. They recommended that I change them to PVC to avoid problems in the future (we have an enormous maple tree in our front yard and roots could easily cause us complications down the road). They worked quickly and efficiently and the entire installation was completed, including the clay pipe relacement, in 5 days. They kept the work area surprisingly clean and they worked very efficiently. Every member of their team knows a lot about plumbing. Brad had installed the boiler system for the radiant floors 1 1-2 years earlier when I first mentioned the possibility of getting in-floor radiant heated floors. He talked me into getting a tankless hot water heater and the boiler which now supports our heated floors. It was good advice.

Dale Marsh (owner of Complete Home Solutions) and his team had done some work for us on our home and our rental properties, so when a friend needed a recommendation for a big project, I recommended Complete Home Solutions without hesitation. The friend was suddenly transferred to France for work, leaving me to be his representative by proxy for the renovation project. It required a complete gut: a duplex conversion to a single family home, with work on the exterior as well. Dale and his team were wonderful to work with. His pricing was reasonable and accurate. As plans developed and changed, he was flexible and adapted quickly. He puts his clients' needs and budget high on his priority list. As a result, he made excellent recommendations and was particularly adept at finding ways to save money. His crew is a wonderful group of competent tradesmen who are pleasant, neat, and hard-working. I look forward to having more opportunities to work with Dale and his team at Complete Home Solutions and recommend them highly.

My experience with Baustein Kitchen was incredible. My husband and I had been planning to remodel our kitchen for some time. It was a daunting task that required someone with a good sense of space (our kitchen is 10' x 12'), design flare (we wanted something unique), and people willing to provide quality workmanship. Baustein met all these needs and more. We phoned them on a Monday and by Thursday they were at our home with a camera, measuring tape, and a list of questions. When they arrived I had my "wish list" ready. Little did I know that I would get everything on my list! Walter and Sabina were so professional, patient, and good at listening that we got exactly what we wanted - and we love it! Everyone who has seen our kitchen tells us how much they love it. Baustein made use of every inch of space and I no longer have to go to the basement to get a pan or serving platter! Everything from the hideaway spot for the toaster and recipe books, to the glass-enclosed lit shelf through our pass-through: no opportunity to maximize space was over-looked. Walter's design sense also convinced me to purchase a wall-oven. Our kitchen looks so much bigger now and I love my pot drawers. They even built us a table to match our counter-top! Baustien provided custom-made cabinetry at its finest. Thank you to Walter, Sabina and Erwin. We love our kitchen.