Rick McDonald in Etobicoke

During my laundry room renovation I decided to replace my aging Rheem water heater since it was showing signs of rust and space would be tight when the room was completed. I researched exactly the make and model of water heater I wanted (John Woods 50Gal power vent). After calling a number of businesses I ultimately selected Phoenix Heating and Air Conditioning to do the job based on responsiveness and price. When I originally called, I spoke with Sam (the owner) and he was very responsive to my inquiries and we arranged a convenient time for him to visit for a quote. I knew I needed to replace the old unsafe ABS 3" piping and Sam included that in the quotation. He took his time to inspect the site and plan around any challenges both inside and outside the house. While it took us some time to eventually arrange for the installation, I'm glad we eventually did. Sam and his assistant arrived on time for the appointment and proceeded to remove the old water heater. The removal was not an easy one and I have considerable respect now for the level of difficulty and effort required. The old water heater was really heavy and a tight squeeze to remove. There was also some difficulty in draining due to it's age and location of drain. But Sam and his assistant persisted and it was eventually drained and removed. After that, the installation of my new John Woods 50Gal power vent water heater with new white PVC piping went smoothly thereafter. Besides a top-notch install, Sam offered many of his insights and tips regarding my heating and a/c system. He even helped to clear a clogged A/C drain which would certainly have caused an issue once the summer kicked in. Ultimately I was very glad to have used Phoenix and would do so again.

I purchased the top-of-the-line Samsung front-loading washer-dryer combinations for my new home. Faulkner's price was slightly higher than another vendor in Toronto, but I was recommended to use them by a friend and I typically try to support local vendors. When I met with the owner to originally inquire about the purchase, he made a point to say that his delivery & installation people were better since they were employee's and not contracted services (a disproven point as you'll see). The 2 delivery & installation guys arrived early. They proceeded to have a loud obnoxious argument with swearing outside their truck that was heard by all my new neighbours. This should have been an indicator of how the delivery was going to ultimately proceed. They moved the washer/dryer units into my basement laundry room, scratching the outside of each washer & dryer with their moving straps. They hooked up my laundry but had no tools to deal with the dryer vent height difference (due to the pedestals). They also didn't recommend or adjust the dryer door hinge. So basically I had this fancy new equipment that was unusable. So much for their "installation services". The final kicker - they left their massive amount of packing cartons and styrofoam in the middle of my driveway rather than taking it back with them. Every other furniture delivery company takes their packing waste with them - but not Faulkner's I called their office to complain and have them pick it up, and was told they'd be back. They never showed. After 2 weeks, I still can't get rid of this waste through the City of Toronto (they keep refusing the pick it up so I'll be forced to visit Canadian Tire to purchase garbage bag tags. I'm tempted to toss it into my truck and return it to their store. My next appliances - WON'T come from Faulkner's.

A home inspection on our recently sold home uncovered a leaky bleeder valve on our old main shutoff valve. One can imagine how worried we were of our house sale falling through. After some research, I called two local plumbers (I always support local businesses) and Public Plumbing was the first to not overcomplicate or over-sell their services. Their free estimate was the deal clincher. Vlad visited my home, assessed the problem and offered some practical solutions and reasonable estimates. He didn't overcomplicate things and gave me some reassurances that we didn't have lead pipes (which could have required digging out the pipes to the street). Even when the City of Toronto messed up my street shutoff value, Vlad was accommodating and promptly returned when the City fixed their street shutoff valve (saving me from Toronto's 2x$75 shutoff fee.) I will be using them in my new home as I already have some jobs waiting in the wings.