Penguin Basements

Overall the work was done well. I would definitely recommend Vince and his team. We had to struggle a bit to get to the end result as there was a lack of communication at first. I know they are working to correct this. Our kitchen and bathrooms look great.

Very professional, the site manager and crew are very courteous. The office staff was very helpful picking up the decor. I strongly recommend them to anyone who wants to get to basement renovated.

We began our journey into creating a space we had put a lot of time into designing. So we needed someone who would respect of much this meant to us. We needed someone we trusted to get this project done and we could not have asked for a better company and most importantly, project manager, Vince. Vince made sure we were able to reach him any time with absolutely anything we needed. He was always there. This process of renovating can be a stressful one, but I can tell you, because of Vince, it was the smoothest transition. Vince made sure to always stick to his word, and not only was he working and demonstrating his work ethic, he built a relationship with our family which made us feel as if it was family taking care of us. Every contractor that was brought to us through Penguin all demonstrated professionalism and great quality of work. Our overall satisfaction with our new basement can not be measured on a scale. We are beyond happy and so excited, all thanks for the work of Penguin which was guided by Vince. He put in the time and his word and always came through. For all of this, our family thanks you. He was truly amazing through it all.

Very happy with the build and service, from the start of the process to day of completion Josh the project manager has been on top of everything. He has kept us in the loop when it comes to date changes and even with the winter weather the job proceeded quickly.

We are very satisfied with the results as penguin met all of our goals in completing the basement.

When our dog had injuries himself and we had to delay the start of the project, penguin was very accommodating and was more interested in accommodating our needs than trying to take our money.

From prep work to clean up penguin took care of everything with minimal interruption to us.

I would highly recommend giving them a cal if you are interested in having your basement renovated or finished. They will not be the cheapest quote but they did give us great dollar for value as we never had to chase down contractors and the project moved forward quickly

Overall my wife and I are really satisfied with the work Penguin Basements has done. With all of the horror stories you hear about renovations, it turned out to be a mostly smooth and rewarding process.

We started out with Rick giving us some amazing designs to choose from. It was a detailed and informative meeting that gave us peace of mind knowing that everything would be done correctly, with permits and necessary inspections.

One of our biggest concerns was the schedule and timing, with a newborn at home and Christmas around the corner. We were concerned with sticking to the agreed to timeline. Permits caused an initial delay but Josh (our Project Manager) and his team were great at accommodating our project and minimizing the lost time. Using the buildertrend app and having access to Josh and the schedule was very helpful. It made it much easier to plan with our dog and newborn at home.

Our basement has gone from an original 1960’s basement to a modern day masterpiece. While we knew issues came with an old basement, they did a great job of overcoming and maximizing those challenges through design and construction. It is a much more efficient use of the space and in a cost effective way when it came to where to place bedrooms and having egress windows, etc. We now have two bedrooms, a large open common area, a bathroom, a laundry room, and a functional storage room.

Josh, Kyle and supporting crew were friendly and accommodating to work with. We had a side entrance to our basement so at times we hardly noticed they were working; At other times they made sure to update and coordinate with us while they were there.

They turned something I particularly thought would be stressful and painful experience into a process I could handle. Now we have a basement we’ll love for a long time and that is ready for our growing family! The kids will have the best parts of the house!

We are very happy with our new basement from Penguin. As with any major renovation there were some ups and downs. The cost negotiation was a bit stressful as there were things that were promised that ended up not being included in the work order. We had to remind them about and provide emails from sales. The tricky part was that we had to speak to many different employees from the company at the beginning and that meant things were lost in translation. I'm happy to report that everything was settled and we agreed on the job and the financing application was very simple and straight forward.

Once the renovation began, it took approximately 3 weeks to complete. This was advised up front and accurate. We were very happy with our Project Manager Josh. Whenever we had questions or concerns he was very forthcoming and available. Since this was our first major renovation we had some concerns but he was able to fix them all and not make us feel like we were bothering him. We are thankful for Josh helping to make this an exciting renovation that we are happy to show off! We have had other contractors come in since the job who have told us that they did a great job :)

We were apprehensive about the prospect of a complete condo renovation. The first step was finding a contractor that we felt could deliver a good product on time at a fair price. Penguin best met our expectations. Condominium renovations take time. First there is the need to obtain permission from the Condominium Corporation Board. That takes a few weeks. The project did not start until the cabinetry arrived, about 6 weeks later. Construction was limited to Monday through Friday from 9-5. There was always competion for the elevator and onsite parking was often a problem. We were told that the project would take 5-6 weeks from the start of demolition. Penguin delivered and the project was completed in 42 days. Vince was the site project manager. He earns a 10/10. We expected the renovations to be stressful. They were not, thanks to Vince. He was patient with us. He took us through the process. He reassured us. Often. Every once in awhile a change was requested or required. No problem. We were in daily contact by phone, text, e-mail and most days on site. Vince was always receptive.
The team that worked with Vince were all professional and respected the job site. Particular mention goes to Andrew and his team of electricians.
Communication through Buildertrend was not ideal. Some staff were comfortable with that platform. Others were not. The tried and true method of text, talk, e-mail worked better for communication. On the other hand this platform was excellent for sharing documents and for invoicing.
There was no upselling by the company. We knew the costs up front. Any additional costs were due to change orders such as additional painting and plumbing that we requested after the contract was signed.
The quality of the products was determined by our choices.
In summary we are delighted with the finished product and look forward to the move into our renovated condominium. If you hire Penguin ask for
Vince.

We are very happy with our decision to use Penguin Basements and specifically Josh and his team to finish our basement. When we received quotes from other companies, Penguin's quote was the definitely on the higher side, but despite the higher price we chose Penguin because of their full disclosure, everything is written down on paper and signed, no surprises, by the book approach to how they do things. There was no miscommunication as to what work was to be done. There were no hidden costs. What they said it would cost is what we paid and what they said they would do is exactly what they did. I know that sounds like these things should be a given but they are not. We have had other work done on our home and we have had issues in the past with what we told the contractor we wanted and what was done and what the cost was would be. Yes there is a lot of paper work to read and sign that you may not have with other companies, but if you want a headache free project with no surprises, I would highly recommend Penguin Basements and specifically project manager Josh.

From start to finished I was very pleased with the overall experience with this project. All stages were transparent (the company uses a project app) and the contractors worked efficiently and with respect to my home.
The project manager was experienced, remained in good contact with effective communication and was meticulous about finalizing the project, cleanup and returning things back to normal. Pleasantly surprised and impressed overall and would recommend! Well worth.

We hired Penguin Basements to renovate our 1960s basement (the dungeon) because it had too many small rooms, was dark and really ugly. They gutted our old basement, removed a load bearing wall and created something light, spacious and beautiful. I smile every time I go downstairs.

We interviewed many companies at the Home Show and invited some into our home for a quote. One company offered to skip getting city permits and another gave us an estimate based on square footage without knowing what we wanted. Penguin took time to understand what we wanted and even gave us a proposed drawing of the basement. We felt very comfortable with the process from the start with Lance. He spent a long time with us to work out the vision of the project and draw it out.

We've seen enough home improvement shows to know that they rarely go as planned. When they do not go as planned, the communication makes a difference. This is where our PM Josh really shines! He is personable, professional, easy to reach, easy to talk to, and incredibly patient. We were a little demanding but he worked hard to make us happy. He dealt with every issue quickly, appropriately and professionally. He's a great communicator and problem solver and an all around great guy!

The most significant challenges were early on in the project when they opened up the walls. We learned that the vision we originally had for the layout was not easily attainable. We were disappointed, but Jon and Lance came back to our house with new ideas for the layout and we settled on one that we are very happy with. We did remove one load bearing wall to create a more open basement.

Penguin uses the Buildertrend app to schedule, communicate and coordinate between all the trades and us. It is really convenient and useful. You can access information about the schedule (which tradesperson is scheduled), send messages to your team, see all documents related to your project, approve/decline any changes, etc. On a few occasions I had to ask that the calendar to be updated but the office staff (Angie and Rifat) are friendly and helpful.

We would also like to highlight that the crews that came to our home were knowledgeable and professional. A shout out to Roberto and his crew on framing, Andres and his crew on drywall, Alex and his crew on electrical, Oscar and his crew on painting, Garfield and his plumbing crew, and Anto with his crew on structural. These guys did a great job!
Be prepared to make some decisions on the spot with the crew eagerly awaiting your answer so that they can execute it. These crews are very efficient.

Some of the hardest won praise for the work that Penguin did was from my Dad who "supervised" for us on a few occasions. He is a retired old-school general contractor with over 30 years of experience. He approved of the work that Josh and the crews did at our house. Great job!

We would not hesitate to recommend Penguin, and have already recommended them to our neighbours and friends. They will work hard to make you love your basement again. Josh, you and your crew are welcome back to our home for espressos any time you are in the neighbourhood!