Better Contracting Services

As a realtor, I come across many trades in different fields. I am ecstatic to say that my search for a top quality roofer is OVER. No wonder Mike Holmes holds Better Contracting in such high regard! I will definitely recommend these stellar roofers to my clients and colleagues. They leave nothing to chance, are thorough in their inspections and possess and excellent work ethic.
Thanks to Mike Graves and the whole crew for an incredible job.

Desmond came around, at the time specified to do the estimate. Estimate included complete eavestrough replacement on a 2300 sq foot home, and included gutter guards. Price only slightly higher than other contractors that did NOT include gutter guards! No complaints there!

Took them about 2 weeks before they could give me an installation date, and it was the next day. They lose marks there on scheduling - they should be able to set up the date with a bit more notice.

Installation team was competent, and explained a couple of installation quirks. Cleanup was OK, although there were a few small metal shards left around. Given the scale of the job, I'm not surprised they missed a few, so this was not a problem.

I liked the fact that an inspector came around the next day to see the job. They obviously take some care in quality control. He fixed up a minor item that the installation crew could not handle; they had run out of downspout, and so could not run an extension away from the house.

Overall - I'm quite happy.

Of course, like many other naive homeowners I hired these folks because of the good work I saw on Holmes on Holmes. So, first we had them replace our roof, which was actually a decent job. Unfortunately, we found that they forgot to attach the smart screen (only found out after I noticed water pouring over the gutter due to clogging two weeks later), left garbage all over the place, and left a considerable overhang of shingles over the gutters (over two inches). After the some of the roofing deficiencies were corrected we had them return to do our siding - big mistake. Apparently, they sub-contract their siding jobs rather than taking the responsibility themselves. The siding people left a considerable amount of waste behind and did a terrible job on the flashing around our windows. Not only that, but they didn't even fasted the siding to parts of the house and didn't even finish the whole siding job. Despite several phone calls, an email to Holmes on Holmes, and several return trips, many of the problems originally noted still exist and I've run out of gas trying to get them to return. So, all-in-all, I have to honestly say that their roofing work is decent (though not as good as they like to advertise), but their siding division is just terrible.

If there is one contractor that has tarnished Mike Holmes' reputation for me, it's Better Contracting Services. The only thing that this company does "Better" is taking your money and never being accountable for it. I have withheld my comments for almost a year now, patiently waiting for BCS to turn it around, but they have only disappointed each time. I signed a contract with Murray Collins on October 16, 2009. Work did not start as promised, but was delayed until the week before Christmas. The crew left a mess on the property, with shingles and a glove hanging out of the front gutter. I called Murray and someone returned to half-heartedly do a cleanup. I spent a weekend in the spring sweeping and picking up roofing nails. With the storms this past summer, I noticed water overflowing from the eaves on the S/W corner of the house. Called Murray in July, with no response. Called multiple times again in mid-August including his cellphone, and finally got a hold of him. He seemed surprised that nobody and addressed it and said it would be taken care of - mentioned that Sue would schedule the work. Still no response for two more weeks. Called and left messages but no one returned my call. Drove to BCS office on Sept 3, 2010 - spoke and shook hands with Jan (co-owner) and Mike Graves. Both seemed genuinely upset and appalled that no one had addressed my issue yet. "We can't do anything about the storms we've been getting, but we can certainly give our customers a better response." I believed them. I gave them my contact info as they promised that they would send someone out and have Sue schedule the work. Still nothing. I called an eavestrough contractor to come by for an estimate b/c I couldn't wait for BCS anymore - they found that the downspout was clogged full of shingles and debris from the crew last year. Meanwhile, my neighbour's backyard has been flooded with the overflow from the eaves and his lawn destroyed.

I chose BCS b/c of Mike Holmes and I have come to regret it. If you are reading this review, please save yourself the grief and choose another roofer. BCS has received an overwhelming amount of business b/c of Mike Holmes, but they have failed to adapt - they neither have the resources nor management skills to properly run their business. There is a good reason why the Better Business Bureau gives them an "F" rating: http://www.bbb.org/kitchener/business-reviews/gutters-and-downspouts/better-contracting-services-in-york-on-1038717. You might luck out and have no problems with them - but if you ever do, you won't be able to count on them to come back. Don't take that chance, it's NOT WORTH IT!! It cost me $4000 to find out, you don't need to make the same mistake and pay for it.

The company had very friendly workers. The workers were very clean, quick and efficient. They were very clean throughout the process and cleaned up their mess in the end when the project was complete.

Our old Victorian house had 3 layers of roofing, including the original slate. Total weight was 7 tons that came off! The pitch of the 3-storey house was a big factor in prior patch jobs and the excess weight ended up costing more than the average roof. We had several quotes. Better Contracting removed all the layers and did a great job. The roof looks fantastic.

We had our eavestrough, soffit, facia and siding replaced. We had three previous quotes and Mike from Better Contractors came out and his quote was very competative so we decided to give them a try after hearing great things about the company. The following week Sue called to give us a date and the crew arrived on time and completed the job in a couple of days. We are very satisfied with the look - thanks Mike for helping with the colour choice - you were right, our house looks wonderful! We would recommend Better Contractors to anyone for their service and quality of work.

Better Contracting is an exceptional company to deal with. From start to finish Mike and his crew showed up on time and completed the work in one day despite the overwhelming heat. Very pleased with the final result, keep up the good work guys.

This company was hired to redo my roof in May, they showed up May 11th. They came to pick up the cheque within 2 day...I had noticed issues and relayed them to Sue..who took pictures and told me they would be out to fix it..nothing, I called them almost daily, nothing...they then told us they would send the crew out to inspect, they were apparently there, but nobody told us even though we had asked to be present when the workman showed up to ensure the work was done..we then noticed further issues worse then our original complaint and called them again..nothing. Got a hold of Paul who came out and looked at the roof..with my husband up there with him and he said it was a bad job..and reading other reviews, he apparently does this often, good cop bad cop I guess...he said he would put in a work order...nothing...I continue to call...no response, nothing again...I finally get a call from Sue, once I wrote Mike Holmes a 4 page letter, which I encourage all of the unhappy customers to do...I received a call from Sue...may have nothing to do with the letter, I was just happy to get the call..she claimed that there was indeed a work order and that they intend to fix the job..that the manufacturer supplied them with a less than perfect part. There were several e-mails..and it was left that they would call me prior to sending out a crew...that was over 2 wks ago..the saga continues, still waiting..I will only wait so long and then its court. Again, I encourage all of you to do the same..we can't let this type of crap continue...taking hard hard earned dollars and then not living up to their contract, it is disgusting. My rating may change, depending on the next 2 wks.

Still waiting and still very unhappy at 15 Shangarry Drive, if anyone wants to come and see the mess...feel free before you hire these folks....honor the contract Better Contracting, I have given you more than enough time.

We initially contracted Better Contracting Services to conduct extensive repairs on our house in April 2008. The work was conducted during July 2008.

Some months thereafter, upon witnessing the first severe rainstorm, we noticed the new eavestrough at the rear of the house was not working properly; water was flowing behind the eavestrough and down the side of our house.

When we inspected the problem area more closely, we noticed several problems. The eavestrough was installed with insufficient grade to properly remove rainfall from the roof. The eavestrough was attached to rotten wood which should have been replaced in accordance with the contract. There is a significant open gap behind the eavestrough exposing our attic to the elements, thus allowing moisture, rot etc to develop in the attic.

There is rotten plywood left at the corner of the roof which has lifted away from the main structure, creating another problem area for moisture and the elements to enter the attic. When we phoned the sales representative, Murray Collins, to inform him of these problems, he came to the house, inspected the problem and agreed that our complaints were valid and assured us that he would endeavour to have it fixed.

After several promises, no-one showed up to conduct the repairs. After repeated phone calls to Murray over the course of several weeks, he eventually handed me over to Sue who is in charge of scheduling, as he told me he could provide no more assistance than what he already had done. This was approximately July 2009.

Since then, we have contacted Sue on numerous occasions, and on every occasion she has promised to send over a team to inspect and conduct the repairs. Several times she even gave a firm date as to when the team would show up. We are still waiting.

Our overriding concern is that my roof is rotting at an accelerated rate due to the exposure to the elements since the original repair. During the last phone call approximately 2 months ago, we agreed to pay for materials if they would simply agree to come and finish the repairs. This was not even enough to get them to live up to their promises.

At this point, it seems obvious that Better Contracting Services is simply hoping our phone calls will eventually stop and that this problem will simply go away. We have been treated completely unprofessionally, obviously due to the fact that our original payment was paid in full (and in fact in advance of this repair) and they feel we are no longer a priority. It is clear that repeat business from former customers is not in their business plan.