Restoration 1 Etobicoke, Review
On the evening of Boxing Day, 2016, my partner walked down the stairs to our newly renovated basement and found 2 inches of water on our “floating” floor. I heard her scream as I was putting our 8-month-old baby to bed. We needed help and we needed it quickly. We could not rely on our usual process of reading reviews, collecting multiple quotes and doing research on service providers. In our panicked state, we googled “flooded basement, Toronto, help” and found the number for Restoration 1 Etobicoke. Within 20 minutes, Jesse came out to assess the situation. He quickly identified the problem, temporarily fixed our sump pump and stayed by our side until the majority of the water had drained from the basement. He also gave us numbers for emergency plumbing services and helped us bail water coming from the exit pipe of the pump. He had a calm and kind demeanour and didn’t leave until our basement floors were no longer floating. He gave us a card, informed us about next steps and asked us to call back if we needed anything.
The next day, totally unprompted, Steve, the owner of Restoration 1 Etobicoke called to see how things were going. By this point we had called our insurance provider to find out how to proceed. It was a statutory holiday, so we could not contact our broker for 2 days. Instead we called someone at the emergency, after-hours number of the insurance company. As two adults, neither of whom had ever had a claim before, we weren’t sure what questions to ask or what processes to follow. Steve helped us with the process through a three-way conference call. He also offered to bring in dehumidifiers while we waited to hear back from our broker.
Once we received permission from our insurance provider to use Restoration 1 as our emergency response team, Steve sent over a crew of highly competent employees to help dry out the basement and remove all items at risk of developing mould. Members of the emergency crew included Jessie, Matt, Junnie and Nick. In teams of two, they cleaned and packed away dry items, isolated and made a list of damaged items, set up dehumidifiers, removed the floors, 2 feet of drywall and baseboards, and hauled away all debris from our home.
In regular communication with our insurance broker, Dave generated detailed estimates for both emergency and repair work. He shared these estimates with us and explained the elements we didn’t understand. Once we received confirmation from our insurance provider that the repair work would also be covered, a rebuild crew managed by Reid came by to restore our basement to its pre-water damaged state. The rebuild crew including Stefen, Marco and Vincent did an excellent job and were as personable as all the Restoration 1 employees we had met to date.
The job is now complete and we are truly satisfied with the results. Restoration 1 Etobicoke has exceeded my expectations. Not only did well co-ordinated teams work efficiently and effectively to return our basement to its earlier state, but the business owner spent multiple hours responding to my texts, emails and calls throughout the process. He and his employees are dedicated to high quality customer service—an essential attribute for any business supporting people who are dealing with sudden property damage.
I hope we never have to see the employees of Restoration 1 again, but if we find ourselves in another emergency flood/fire/mould situation, I would not hesitate to contact them. Thank-you to Steve, Dave and Reid in the central office, Jesse, Matt, Junnie, and Nick on the emergency team and Stefen, Marco and Vincent on the rebuild team. You did an excellent job.
