Carick Home Improvements

We love our new kitchen! Thank you Joel and the Carick team for your valuable suggestions, hard work and professionalism. We had an awkward kitchen layout and you were able to redesign the layout to its full potential, it's more than we ever dreamed of. Special thanks to Slava who was very courteous and went the extra mile to make our renovation run as smooth as possible. We will definitely be back when we are ready to renovate the bathroom.

We were very relieved that Carick Home Improvements agreed to complete a project started by another renovation company. Dealing directly with Joel, he was able to clearly explain to us the work that still was required. He gave us an estimated timeline to completion (he was only off by 4 weeks, amazing for a construction project of this size) and a fair price to complete the work. I use the word "fair" and not great because there are probably other companies out there who may have given us better pricing but less expensive is not necessarily better.
Joel made us feel comfortable with our decision to hire his company. He is a straight-shooter. He did not try to paint an unrealistic picture of the work that was required. He listened to what we required and understood our priorities. He gave you a sense that he cared for you, the client, and the quality of work supplied. Joel is extremely knowledgeable as far as construction concepts and design trends. He offered suggestions, many which we incorporated into our layout. If he did not have an adequate answer to our questions, he would obtain the answers from his trades and relay them back to us so that we could make informed decisions.
The finished product is terrific. We are thrilled with the results and expect to enjoy many years in our "new" home.
Bottom line, we found Carick came as advertised. They are a reputable company delivering quality work. They are professional, accountable for their work and treated us respectfully. We feel that we got good value for our money and definitely felt that Carick was a company that you can trust. We highly recommend this company if you want your renovation project done right!

It has been a pleasure working with Geno Scopelleti of Carick Home Improvements and his crew of two Andys who were assigned to our job.
We have a 90-year-old home in North Toronto and it needed some work on a number of areas of the home such as two bathrooms, a deck, the wooden pillars on the front porch, front porch steps and the insulation of the basement furnace room.
Geno and the two Andys tackled these projects during this summer (2012). The results are excellent and exceeded our expectations.
Geno has been most diligent in monitoring the work and updating us on the progress of the job. The two Andys were always obliging and helpful. They were clearly committed doing the best job both structurally and artistically. They also cleaned up carefully at the end of the day.
In the light of all of this, Gordon and Sonita would be happy to recommend Carick. We feel that we have established a long-term relationship with this contractor and will be calling on Carick if we have any future projects.

Buyer Beware! Carick Home Improvements is a bad choice for a major renovation. Look beyond the slick marketing and don’t believe anything unless it’s in writing. Carick’s estimate was higher (by at least 30%) than the other contractors but they sold me in April 2012, with their promise of quality and professionalism and overall management. But 19 weeks later, all Carick supplied was bad planning, inactivity and endless excuses.

Carick had a lot of other renovation projects on the go this spring and summer, which is apparently why they didn’t do any planning or scheduling for my whole-house renovation. After 4½ months, they didn’t even complete the gut-out!

My renovation involved completed updating the main floor with an open concept living area and making a new basement suite and front entrance. The house was emptied and vacated at the end of April, with Carick agreeing to oversee the whole project and work with the two other companies (masonry and HVAC).

Carick’s foreman, George, made only a few brief visits over 19 weeks. The most time George spent on the job-site was at my first meeting with him and that was because we had to wait more than 90 minutes for his plumbing subcontractor to show up! After they all laughed and chatted together for a few minutes, George left without a word to me. I can count on one hand the number of times he was at my site after that.

The plumber did the rough for the new basement suite and ignored the leaking 50-year-old ball valve main water shut-off. When I called Carick about this, they agreed to send the plumber back and I paid the City to turn off the water to the house. The valve was replaced and a month later, I realized the pipe and valve would have to be moved because they were in the middle of what was going to be the living room floor of the new suite! I called Carick, paid the City again to shut off the water and they sent their subcontractor back.

Glaring evidence of bad planning was when Carick installed new windows on the main floor and then closed off the front entrance before doing the gut-out. Weeks later when the demolition began, all the debris was thrown out via my new window. I asked for and was promised a demolition chute, which was never provided. You can imagine what throwing old flooring and drywall out the window by the bucket and shovelful did to my new window. The only reason for sequencing the work like this appears to be the $10,000 progress payment for the new windows. The demolition lurched ahead over many more weeks. Sometimes there was no one there for over a week. Other times, one kid who clearly needed supervision was there by himself for a few days per week. This kid secured the house by dragging a box spring and mattress across the hole for the new back door. After some time, raccoons move in and started using the master bedroom as a toilet.

In September, when there was still no planning and little work done, I realized that Carick either could not or would not provide the quality materials and services that Joel promised and his excuses for the inactivity were no longer even remotely credible.

Before hiring Carick, Joel was fully aware of and agreeable to working with the mason doing the concrete work. (The mason has been in the trade for 30 years and gets all of his work by word-of-mouth referrals from homeowners and other contractors). The original plan was to underpin the foundation but due to a high water table in this area, the engineer deemed it prudent to drop this from the plan and simply install new weeping tiles, drains and sump pits. This actually resulted in the concrete work in the basement being done faster than it would have been with underpinning but after the fact, Carick is trying claim this is why they couldn’t do any work. I never heard this flimsy excuse before I pulled the plug on Carick and doesn’t make any sense, since Carick was telling me how they wanted to the mason to schedule his work.

No one is perfect and something will likely be missed or messed up in a major renovation. But Carick missed even big stuff because they devote the resources needed to manage this project.

As I became more and more concerned about the pace and lack of planning, I also had to worry about the quality of materials that Carick was using. Three-quarter inch plywood was specified for the new subfloors but half-inch was delivered. The last straw was Carick saying they needed an additional $5,000 to install 16 ceiling joists (24 foot 2-by-10s) instead of a beam. This is something that became evident after the existing ceiling was being taken down and Carick is now trying to say that these “design and layout changes” also delayed them.

My down payment and their payment schedule ensured that Carick Home Improvements was way ahead on the money, paid more than double the value of the work and material provided. (If you still want to hire Carick, have your lawyer review everything before you sign, including the payment schedule.) For 2 months, Carick ignored my complaint and request for a refund of money paid for services that were not delivered only to say they are not going to give any of my money back, but they “hope there are no hard feelings

Geno and his team were fantastic to work with from start to finish. Geno had some great ideas and the team worked with me to make sure our customers weren't disrupted. They did whatever they needed to to make it happen on time and it looks amazing! And the other great thing...it cost what he said it would! Thanks Geno and John! I will call you whenever I need any work done!

We cannot say enough about Geno and the Carick crew. From beginning to end, it was a pleasure to deal with everyone from Carmela in the office (thanks for helping me with my tile picks) to George, Tomas and Sebastien on site. Their patience with our endless questions, constant communication and quick resolution on a defect on my new kitchen faucet made for a low-stress renovation.
Geno and his team just want to do a good job and do it right - and that is exactly what they have done for us.

Carick = honest + professional + hard working

Used Carick previously at previous home to convert a tub into a walk-in shower... fantastic job... washroom even made it onto TV! Now at new condo, and had kitchen backsplash done and slate put around fireplace. Looks great. Also had some painting done, which was OK. Looking forward to next job - likely another bathroom conversion.

When we looked to find a company to work with to build an upscale garage, Carick home Improvements showed a genuine interest in the project with suggestions to improve on the original engineering drawings ( i.e. roof pitch, insulation, heating, window layout),. Carick did an excellent job working with us to work with the challenges of this project due to the size, complexity and the grading issues. They are trustworthy, professional, and accountable with the final price exactly as quoted. Our company Seniors Repair and Maintenance Services, Division of The Bannerman Group Inc. will continue to call in Carick home Improvements with great confidencein their ability to exceed customer expectations.

Paul Wheeler

I have used Carick Home Improvements for over twenty years for a number of renovations required on my early 1930's home. I have never been dissatisfied with the quality of work. Geno Scopelleti is always a delight to work with. Pricing is fair and with Carick there is no concern about work not being completed properly and professionally. Geno insures that the job comes in both on time and on budget. Carick has worked on everything from a total renovation of my basement to my lastest project which required the rebuilding of my backyard garage. This included a new foundation, straightening the existing structure and new stucco on three sides. Because the garage is in the yard, at the end of a long drive and very visible, it was important to me that the completed job replicate the garage's original tudor style, also in keeping with the style of the house. I am extremely pleased with the work. Carick Home Improvements has my complete and unqualified endorsement.
Brian Golden

Thanks to Geno at Carick Home Improvements, our home won the 'Home Builder's Association' Best Renovation Award for an incredible job of transforming our old fashioned 1950's house into a beautiful new French Style Chateau and featured in 'Reno & Decor Magazine'.

Without exception, from Andrew the Architect, to all the crews working under the guidance of Thomas the foreman, they were of the very highest caliber in workmanship and professionalism. They all went above and beyond to make sure my husband & I remained comfortable while continuing to live in the house.... even when the roof was off! They never let us down once, and more important, they were there working EVERY SINGLE DAY for months.

This was a huge job, and after all the horror stories we'd heard about home Renos, we were very careful to interview several companies before starting. We selected Geno @ Carick, because he was a genuinely nice man who made everything so easy for us. His attention to detail and his constant presence on the job, gave us a complete feeling of confidence.

The price was not the lowest, but it wasn't the highest either and Geno came in right on time and especially right on budget.

We highly recommend Carick to anyone who needs any type of home building or renovation, from the smallest job to a complete home renovation like ours.

Thank you again Geno, you're a fabulous builder & I'm proud to call you 'My Friend'.

Sincerely, Vanda King-Bartlett