Pla Ni T Builders

We recently had our basement developed by PLANiT Builders. From the star with the plans,designers etc to the final walk through,We are very pleased with the experience and the finished product. We had a few minor issues that were taken care of in a very fast and effiecient timely manner .Any questions or concerns that we have had were always addressed in a timely manner by Clifton, the project manager. He excells in professionalism, genuine, very friendly and always went above and beyond to ensure that we were pleased with the job as it progressed and when it finished .The communication level with everyone from PLANiT Builders was excellent. Thank you PLANiT Builders, we are truly enjoying our beautiful basement including our twins and our Dog. Everyone is happy now that we have more space in our home. Thank you again :)

We have renovated many homes and understand all of the issues that arise, hence we were neither bothered nor surprised by the hiccups that did occur. We were extremely happy with our site supervisor Mark - he even helped us drain water out of our back yard - great guy! However, we found the planning part misleading (the sales person convinces you that you only need x although you want y to get the price where you want, then while you are in the process if you want to change it costs extra), the design person was unhelpful and uncreative (sorry Arnold - you may be nice but you need to up your game - help ppl design their basements give them ideas and suggestions such as storage , door placements etc), framer couldn't figure how to frame our fire place properly so my husband had to do it (luckily he is capable), mudding and taping - good (not superb), paint job adequate, huge miscommunication with tile layer - it turned out great but it was stressful. In general the ppl that work for Plan it are great - it is the sub trades that are very questionable, (everyone that works on your house is a sub trade - be aware). This is a fact of living in Calgary, it is very hard to find high quality trades people in a timely fashion. I believe we somewhat over paid for what we received, however, this is another joy of being a Calgarian. In closing we are very happy with our basement, Mark was very aware of our wishes, when the error occurred with the tile - he offered to tear it out and redo so I truly have no issues. I would never give anyone a 10 out of 10 - that is just not realistically attainable.

Oh yes one more thing - a comment to the company management - the site supervisors have too many houses under their supervision at one time - it is not fair to them, nor the customer.

My wife and I chose to have our basement developed by planit builders because they appeared to have a good reputation online as well as with the better business bureau and because they have a good warranty in place for their work. I had a few quotes done and their quote, although not the least expensive was not the most expensive either. Now that the development is complete I can say I am very pleased with the final outcome. It wouldn't be a project if there weren't a few bumps along the way but any issues or concerns I raised to the project manager Patrick were dealt with in a timely manner and he was always available.

Very friendly staff from the architect, the designers to the project manager. The take you though all the steps one by one to the very end and finishing touches. I really recommend this company to anyone short on time to plan a renovation on their own and also if you need someone to lead you though the process. I'm very happy with the way everything turn out. Is the little thing that makes the stand out from the rest. Thank you.

We had this company do our basement 2 and half yrs ago. One issue was that some of the things I was told I would get for the price, i did not because it was not specified in writing in the contract. Such as a maple hand rail, that apparently meant maple coloured. But I was told it would match the one upstairs and it does not. The contractors they higher tried to take short cuts. My dad is a painter so he did most of the painting except for the base and door. The painter who sprayed the door the first time must have done it in a very dusty area because the door felt like sand paper so my dad told them to do it again. My dad was at the house during most of the reno so he could monitor the progress and I was out of town with the kids. Ever since the reno my vacflow lost suction. So they came back to fix that and apparently on of the guys put to many elbows in around the furnace bulk head so they took some out. Still never worked great so we bought a new more powerful one, nope didn't help. I finally called them again and they sent some one out and he said there must be a leak in the pipe but that could have just happened over time due to vibration the guy from Planit said so they would not fix it. however all my problems started right after they did my basement. Now I have a great vacuflow with 20% suction that I cant use unless I want to pay to cut a hole in the roof to get fixed. I now have been having problems with the electrical in my bathroom. initially you would turn on the lights and sometimes it would flip the breaker and no lights. then the plug smelt funny one day and there was no lights or power from the plug. The guy from Planit came and looked at it said t=they need to figure out which electrician did the wok and get back to me. Well 2 weeks later still no one has got back to me and my house guests have a bathroom with no lights. My next call is to a city inspector to get this electrical checked out. There has been other issues too I will just leave it at this though. For the price I expected better quality.

First off, let me state that I have gone through renovations in my home on several occasions, one of them a major renovation, and I have never been treat as badly by any of my other contractors as I have by Planit Builders. Planit Builders turned me away the first time I approached them as they explained they do not do Basement Suite renovations. I accepted that and was on the look for other Contractors. I received a phone call by Sonny near the end of January, and he stated that they did do the kind of renovations I was looking for. Mr. Belanger and another young man came into my home on January 29, 2014 and proceeded to do their sales pitch. We came to an agreement and I signed a contract with this man, with the understanding that before demolition on my basement could proceed, they needed to renovate my master bathroom to
accommodate a separate washer and dryer. After 3 separate estimates were done (prices were outrageous for what I wanted, and I have 2 full custom designed bathrooms in my home that cost me the same amount as what they initially wanted to charge me.) I did some compromises on the way I had originally wanted the bathroom done and we finally came to an agreement. ( I am so glad that I insisted on the bathroom being renovated first, before demolition to my basement, or I would be in even a bigger mess than I am now.) The problems started with the plumber and proceeded from there. I found out only after some of the renovations were partially done, that they dictate how they paint and what outlets they use. ( These were only two issues that I encountered about how they do things, can't imagine what other ones would have cropped up in my basement) Now I have a white round electrical outlet that does not match the existing outlets in my bathroom(both are rectangular and beige)my walls and ceiling are all one color (my other ceilings are white as that is my personal preference.) I had choices with my past contractors, but apparently, I don't have the same choices with these guys. That is what they use and how they paint, period. I don't have the right to chose, even though I am the one paying the bill at the end. Who would have thought. The biggest concern I had was after the subfloor and Lino was installed. I picked up right off the bat that my floor behind my toilet was higher than the rest. All of my concerns along with the fact that my door trim was not going to match the new (was told by Beau Nyncha that I told him not to touch the door, guess the trim on the inside of my bathroom is part of my door) were discussed with Clifton Adams the site supervisor and completely disregarded. I felt that since my concerns were not being addressed, especially with and where the unevenness of my floor was, and the way Planit Builders chose to handle my concerns. I stopped the work and called in a separate contractor to inspect the bathroom to either confirm or put to rest my issues and concerns. Well, it turned out I was right about the floor and a few other issues came up with regards to the installation of my toilet with this inspection. No Names were given to either party.
I informed Planit Builders of the new concerns that were brought to my attention along with the solutions and the problems that would be caused by the solutions. Planit Builders have now decided not to finish off this renovation as they say that it is not up to my standards and it falls within the guidelines of the Alberta's New home warranty guidelines and they trust the work that their subcontractors do. What Rubbish, they got caught and they do not want to fix the mess they made. All I am and have been after is to have the renovations done right and properly. I also learned from the other contractor that my basement did not need to be completely demolished, to have the basement suite done. Wow, I just saved my self a whack of money and a whole lot of misery. These guys might be right for all of you who have unfinished basements and who don't mind having no say in the finished project. But if you want to have freedom of choice in what you want in the end and for your dollars, then rethink this company. One other thing I learned along the way, (and only after the problems started) Read and re read the bad reviews first. They will give you food for thought. These bad reviews gave me a preview of the problems that I am now going through, and I ignored them Do not rely only on the good. So another suggestion is to get a list of their subs before you start and check the sub out also. That way you will know what to expect. These guys definitely do not like you to monitor their subs, and you do have that right to ensure that these guys are doing the job properly and the right to ask questions if you feel something is not being done right. If they refuse to give that list to you, then have second thoughts. I will be going back to my other contractors to have my basement done. FYI, my basement renovation was going to cost me $70,000.00. With the other contractor $38,000.00 to 45,000.00. With the money I save I can take my grand babes to Disney world and have a good Holiday. Think Twice and then think twice more about this company.

I recently had my basement developed by PLANiT Builders. From the very first meeting with the plans, to the final walk through, I am very pleased with the experience and the finished product. Any questions or concerns were always addressed in a timely manner by Clifton, the project manager. He was very professional, genuine, and always went beyond to ensure that I was pleased with the job as it progressed. My communication with all of the people from PLANiT Builders was a positive one. Thank you PLANiT Builders, we are truly enjoying our lovely developed basement.

Your basement development is probably the single most expensive investment you will make as an addition to your home. I would like to share my Planit builders experience. I see a lot of 10 score reviews on here and I hope that after reading this review people actually go back and check the quality they have or are paying a premium for. I used the reviews on here as a bench mark, I wish I had not, I actually wish I had taken the next most expensive quote and bought a hot tub with what I would have saved. I paid for a top quality (as sold by the salesman) professionally finished basement, I did not in my opinion receive what I paid for. I took my complaint to the BBB but because Planit builders offered to come back in and try to repair the NEWLY FINISHED BASEMENT the BBB was obliged by its own guidelines to accept and close the case. Question is, would you let them back in to your house? Especially if Ryan and Patrick had stood and told you it would not look as good as it does now?? They did offer a $1500.00 payment instead of repairs for problems that they estimated it may take up to a month to fix, I declined this offer.

I have out of level ceilings/door frames, bendy walls, lop sided bulkheads, out of square door frames, lump in the ceiling, out of square corners, base boards with gaps in the corners, cabinets with extreme trims to hide variances, paint finishes you can see through, you can see through the door shut in one picture in to the bedroom, WITH THE DOOR CLOSED, the door frame to the bathroom is coming away from the ceiling in another picture and so on. They offered to repair the bulkhead or give me a $350 credit as you will see in one of the emails attached to this review, this was after both of the owners had come to see the basement. Please note that everything was acceptable to them and within ANHW guidelines....They are not members of this program!! I understand they let the framer who did my basement go, wonder why?? Was he not up to the job?

On one of the pictures hopefully attached you will see the first page of my estimate, 610sq ft with a charge of $25,528 after it. This is the cost of materials and labour to complete the sq footage, look further down, you want a bedroom? Thats another $1800, second page, You want a bathroom? Thats $6500 more and so on and so on. Everything is an extra all 7 pages of it.
Do I use my basement? Yes.
Am I happy with the quality? No.
Was it worth what I paid? Definitely not.
Are there cheaper and better alternatives? Yes.
Would I use again or recommend Planit? No.
Planit offers everything when the salesman is sitting with you, there are lots of certificates (you will see them all), they can get you the perfect basement at a cost which is fine by me if they can deliver, they did not.
People, go down stairs and look closely at what you received/ are receiving. You are paying a premium, expect premium.
Thanks for reading, good luck.
Steve.
I would like to thank Chloe for her response and Planit did indeed complete the BBB correspondance which included offering to 'repair' the BRAND NEW BASEMENT DEVELOPMENT. Simple fact is that they went for sign off in the condition that is obviously sub-standard, couple that with the fact that I tried very hard to work with Planit but when the guys who would oversee the repair dont feel the repair would look as good as the original job it makes you very cautious about doing anything with them. I stand by my original comment that there are better value higher quality (first time) contractors available.
Straight, square, plumb and level, basic building quality expectations. Expect better for the premium. #PlanitFail
Steve.