K H Davis Engineering Consultants Ltd

I contacted K H Davis when we needed drawings for permits to move the windows in our basement. Mike from K H Davis was on time, knowledgable & professional. He knew immediately that we would not be allowed to do what we wanted, but he had a suggestion for a different plan that would work well and follow the city rules.
Mike was easy to get a hold of and returned calls and emails quickly. We got our permit within days of submitting the drawings. I would recommend K H Davis to anyone who needs drawings for
permits.

Over a year ago a dubious contractor left me in a situation where the underpinning and waterproofing system they did for my home was not up to code. With Ken Davis' engineering expertise and guidance I took on the job to correct it myself. Ken Davis also created detailed drawings to reinforce my back staircase, which was also questionable until corrected by his engineering practices. I can now say that my home has passed all standards to code and this was only possible with the experience and knowledge that Ken was able to provide. He has high standards but is very approachable. He is truly a professional, sincere and honourble person. Having met so many people in order to complete my home I have to say I did not meet anyone as honourable in the construction field. It is no wonder that so many people agree with me that he
truly scores 10 out of 10. Review by Filomena in Richmondhill

I hired KH Davis to do all of my structural designs including underpining the basement and incorporating an existing enclosed porch into the house. They prepared all of my drawings based off of existing drawings I had (saved me money). They also helped walk through submitting my own drawings for the permits which was extremely helpful! They have also been very accessible for required site visits for the permit. Overall, they have provided the exact service I needed and for a fair price. I would definitely use them again and I would recommend them to a client or friend.

Ken is a great guy, and an excellent engineer. He took a very messy situation, in which the neighbour who's a developer was trying to push me out by using the city as a tool to put an order on me to prove my place was 'safe'. Unlike other engineers, he had the relevant experience in Toronto to understand what needed to be done and put it in an easy to understand report so that I could get the matter resolved with the city. In addition, understanding my budget he was looking for cost effective solutions that made sense, overall the best experience I could have hoped for out of a muddy mess.

Mike at KH Davis was great. Friendly and punctual from the start, they came quickly to take measurements and helped make recommendations for changes to optimize the structure of our house as well as do drawings to bring an old staircase up to code. He gave us an approximate completion time that included the length of time to recieve the permit from the city (they submitted this for us at an extra but nominal fee). His approximation was bang on. Highly recommend! Thanks for everything.

Mike did a fantastic job preparing the engineering drawings for our main floor and basement renovation. We're having extensive work done in our basement, including underpinning, structural beam work, and new walk out. Not only did Mike provide a sound engineering plan for our basement, he also worked with us to create a new basement floor plan that suits our family needs and maximizes every single square foot of our urban small basement. As for the City permit approvals, Mike over delivered in every way! He was able to get the permits approved in one day, including approval for the contentious new windows for our living room. Overall, we're extremely happy with K H Davis. Mike is great to work with, is attentive and goes above and beyond to help his clients. We highly recommend K H Davis.

My previous contractor made a critical error; rather than call in a structural engineer when needed, he followed his own instincts putting the integrity of the staircases in my 3 story house at risk. When it became apparent that the stairs/landings had become significantly out-of-level, I went to homestars.com for help. I found that Mr. K H Davis, a structural engineer who specialized in old homes like mine, had the best ratings and reviews, and booked an onsite consultation.

It was apparent from the start that Ken was an expert. Following a long and informative onsite visit, he provided a very detailed and helpful report including his recommendation to give it some time to see if it stabilized or got worse. When the stairs/landings continued to shift, I contacted Ken again hoping to hire his company to fix it. Ken took the time to further analyze the problem and explain exactly what was needed to stabilize the structure, but then suggested I find someone else because their schedule was full and they wouldn't be able to get to it for months. So, I got other estimates to put in a “cranked beam” and build two new staircases. When the new contractor repeatedly failed to show up, I called Ken again, almost begged him to do the work, and he finally agreed. Although H K Davis is by no means a bargain operation, his quote for the work was about two thirds of what the other guy wanted to charge.

Ken then had an idea that would save me even more money. Rather than build two new staircases, he suggested trying to rebuild the old ones using the original stairs as much as possible because they were oak with a lovely patina. It was, as he put it, “a labor of love.” While I was prepared to pay between $25,000 - $30,000 for the cranked beam and new staircases, in the end it cost only $17,000.

Unfortunately, while my project was underway, Ken injured his back and was temporarily incapacitated. Yet, things proceeded nicely throughout the project because Ken appears to have the talent for hiring excellent staff. I’d like to take a moment here to mention that project manager Luis was amazing. He was on site daily making sure that I was happy with each detail — and there were many details! While’s he’s clearly very knowledgeable and professional, his full commitment to the project was apparent from the start. In fact, on at least two occasions I text messaged him on a weekend night and he answered both texts that same night. He wanted to take care of whatever I was concerned about so that I wouldn’t worry about it over the weekend. I think that’s pretty rare.

There were, however, a few times when I wanted Ken onsite to help work through a particularly complicated problem. He never failed to show up, and,despite his obvious back pain, Ken maintained full focus while finding creative solutions to some of the more quirky problems.

My stairs are now level, safe, and look beautiful. I also find it a comfort knowing that this structural issue has been properly corrected, and enthusiastically recommend K H Davis Engineering Consultants Ltd without reservation.

KH Davis Engineering Consultants Ltd. were quick in their response to my enquiry, an appointment was made in a very reasonable amount of time to attend and provide a site inspection. The report that I received and the follow up after the site visit was both thorough and efficient. This company has a real grasp on communicating with their clients and ask all the right questions all the while providing a response to each of the clients concerns. I would definitely recommend KH Davis Engineering to anyone that I know.

After a slow start and many delays with another firm, I contacted K H Davis Engineering to do drawings and submit applications for several renovation permits from the City of Toronto. Mike answered the phone and promised permits within 3-4 weeks and he made that happen. They also submitted a HVAC design from another company on our behalf. We are very pleased with the outcome, would highly recommend K H Davis Engineering, and will use their services again. THANKS!

I contacted KH Davis after finding them through a google search. We are removing some of the walls on the ground floor of our house, and didn't want to pay the high fees of an architect / design firm. Luis and Mike at KH Davis were super helpful - they sent someone to the house to make the drawings, and then after a few emails and phone calls produced the necessary plans. We also hired them to submit the plans to the city, and they got our construction permit super fast. I would highly recommend them.