Penguin Basements

Our project was finished November of 2018. It has taken me awhile to get the nerve to post this review. I was extremely happy with the overall finished product.
The quality of products and the trades people were very respectful and courteous. I want to break down the experience with you....
From initial meetings, which were very long brought forth a very expensive finish. When asked for time to think they sprung on the show home discount. And we bite the bullet.
I'm not a handyman and still have people saying I spent way too much.
From delivery or products and scheduling a start date was very time consuming. But when I finally got the start date the trades men were underway. I had a complete understanding of codes and bylaws that were followed. Communication was very scarce at first. Got better with time. I had Fabio as my project manager and his communication about items and deadlines were good. As the project progressed I noticed that all contractors were not employed by Penguin as I was told that you dont use anyone you dont employ. It was a selling point. Half of the contractors were sub contracted. Mo worries as they were all respectful and did the job right.
My overall experience were stressful and almost perfect until the final walk through with Fabio. He wrote down all the items that were to be completed. And one item was a vinyl floor board that was cracked. That was left as the last item to be completed at the 30 day mark. When the contractor came to fix it they damaged the one next to it. Fabio was told by my wife that if it was damaged be your contractor then it should be fixed. He said it's nothing and it cant be fixed. When I talked to him he gave told me exact opposite he told my wife and that she agreed with him and not me. I wasnt going to be called a non truth teller. We was shrugging me off to have to project closed. That was the last I heard of him. When I called the main office the lady on the other end told me the project was already closed and I had to put it in as warranty work. I did that and two managers accompanied the contractors three days later and came to fix it. I was please with the quick response by the managers. Overall the job was done right by code and rather quickly. Unfortunately I never recieved the apologies for the wrongful conversation. He could have told me its closed and to put it in as warranty work. That wont spoil the overall impression of the company. They are good and fast and quality is impeccable. Unfortunately the cost are very high. But I have three boys and they are loving the extra space.

I would highly recommend Penguin Basements to anyone who is looking to renovate their basement and doesn't have the time or want the hassle of management all aspects of the renovation process. I found all the individuals that I dealt with at Penguin Basements to be very professional, honest and trust worthy. I am very pleased with the quality of work of the renovations completed by Penguin Basements.

Overall, we are very pleased with our basement renovation that was completed by Penguin Basements.

The initial sales meeting around our dining room table was not a pleasant experience. The meeting was very lengthy, 4 -5 hours long, far longer than it needed to be. We were impressed by the materials that are used by Penguin, especially the fact that they are water resistant. However, we felt a great deal of pressure to sign without having been given the opportunity to review the costs!!! Things did not seem transparent which made us uneasy. This was very near a deal breaker for us as things felt quite disrespectful. Costs do seem high, and it went over our budget, so we had to trim back on our initial wants to get it back in line. However, it appeared to us that the quality of workmanship was going to be very good, at least in the materials that were being used, so perhaps warranted the premium price.

With respect to the selections for the finishings, we found most of the base offerings to be quite dated and not many to choose from. And to upgrade, you have to be prepared to pay a large premium.

The weeks leading up to our start date were a bit frustrating. We had heard from previous clients and through various reviews that communication was very poor and we were prepared for this. However, we had some upfront questions and it was very frustrating to send emails or messages through the BuilderTrend app, with no response as we wanted some answers to our questions before our start date. Without the answers, we could not sign our change orders. We did not know what was happening.

We would highly recommend that Penguin do a review of the selections and the job requirements face to face a couple of weeks before the work begins to do a final check and to be sure we were all on the same page. A lot of time goes by between the initial meetings and the start date. ( in our case, we had asked to push the start date out from the original date and Penguin was very gracious about this). We discovered that some of our requests were not included in the contract that we thought were there. Also we requested a square sink for the bathroom and got oval. There was no indication of this in the selections, and unfortunately the designer we were dealing with had left the company. So nothing to go back on. That was disappointing.

Once the job got underway, things ran pretty smoothly. We appreciated the fact that all the trades were scheduled on BuilderTrend and that they stuck very closely to the timetable. We knew who was coming in when, and everyone showed up when they were supposed to. For the most part, all the trades were respectful of our home. Sometimes the crews worked very late into the evening to stay on track which we would have appreciated knowing in advance.

We really appreciated having Walter as our project manager. He kept things running smoothly and he kept us informed. He made us feel that ours was the only job he was working on. Communication with him was excellent and he was very responsive. Any concerns we had were dealt with quickly and to our satisfaction. He wanted us to be happy with our finished basement and because of him, we were.

We would recommend Penguin. They may be a bit of a premium cost, and despite a bumpy beginning, in the end, you get an efficient process and a high quality job .

Many thanks to Walter and all the crew for our lovely basement!

Overall, we are very happy with the awesome basement. We needed it completed in 3 weeks before we went away and Josh made it happen despite the almost week delay by the Town's permit dept.

Why we went with Penguin:
We were sold on the mold free/resistant materials and the project management tool and communications, and selected Penguin after reading the reviews. It was a lot more expensive than we expected and so we had to cut down on our original plans to get it within budget. In the end, we felt we would be getting a premium service and so would expect to pay a bit more.

Initial Roadbumps :
This is probably where we were the most uncomfortable. The hand off post signature to the start of the project was not smooth. We weren't sure exactly what the next steps were. We were sold on the project management tool and great communications however, during this stage the tool did not have any thing scheduled and the communcations were non-existent. We would get things scheduled incorrectly, then when asked what they were, we wouldn't get a response. We wasted about 3 weeks trying to schedule an appointment with both myself and my wife, only to find out that we really didn't need both of us.

Project Management and Construction:
After we got past design and selections, we were able to schedule the start of our project. Josh was our project manager, and he was great. Since the beginning of our project, he has ensured that we were kept abreast of any delays, issues and when ever there was some thing that wasn't quite right, he personally saw that it was made right. It was at this point that the project management schedule was finally used. It was fairly accurate, with only 1 day where I expected people to come and no one showed (it was updated the morning of).
The construction crew was incredible. The number of people that were in the basement and how quickly they got things done was amazing. This is the second basement reno we've gone through and this is where going with a bigger company makes the difference. Despite the delay in getting the building permit, Josh was able to get a crew in the minute it was issued and we were back in business.

Timing and end product :
Josh knew we were on a tight time frame and he did everything to ensure that our deadline was met and it was. We're glad he was our PM and would recommend him to anyone.

Overall, we are very happy with the basement. It turned out as we envisioned. The workmanship is good. Maybe not as perfect as the 3 man crew we had before, but then again, it wasn't completed in 3 weeks. If you're looking for a hassle free experience and a company you can trust, go with Penguin.

** if you're wondering why I only gave 9/10 overall, it was due to the initial back and forth post sales and prior to the start of the project. I think we rushed into signing, thought things were included when they weren't and as a result, probably paid a bit too much for the change requests. Not entirely penguin's fault but it wasn't a seamless experience.

I signed a “contingent” contract with Penguin Basements in September, 2018, and terminated them in July (losing my $2,000 deposit). The project was months behind schedule. The contract was hastily generated by Dave at my dining room table using software and never refined or finalized. Some things were not included (the contingencies – stair, underpin/re-pour, HVAC, staircase rebuild) and change orders were not forthcoming. A project manager, Allen, was assigned but I never dealt with him and we never discussed the project. At a site meeting in late June between Dave, Allen, and the HVAC technician, which I was told not to attend, the technician was not properly briefed and he ended up installing the replacement furnace against a wall that was slated for demolition. It had to be moved again at considerable bother to the technician during his busiest time of year. And the technician could not even prepare a quote anyway without meeting with me in person. It turns out Penguin will not subcontract under-pinning, so I had to deal with the underpinner myself. But then they would not subcontract the HVAC either! I wanted Dave’s estimate to include a quote for brick restoration and some pargeting. Instead he insisted on quoting for drywall and kept assuring me that the cost is about the same, which is absurd. Dave could not even give me a clear answer on whether retaining exposed brick in a basement was allowed under code, and I had to do the research myself (it is). Everything was a “wait and see” situation, or a future meeting or conversation, etc. Dave said several times that he did not want to make money on the job and only wanted to be able to take pictures of the final product for promotional reasons. Well this turned out to be consistent with the level of attention and diligence the project was given. Part of his response when advised that the services of Penguin were no longer required was that there was “no end game in this” for the company because they were “not even going to build walls”. Thanks for telling me ten months after signing me up. If the contract was not a good fit for Penguin it should never have been entered into. Altogether a very frustrating and negative experience.

From our first meeting with David and the day to day operation with the site super Fabio, we were very pleased with the communication, professionalism and craftsmanship. Fabio was very patient and understanding when it came to issues/concerns that can arise with any project. The sub contractors they used were courteous and respectful to our family and home. The job was completed in a reasonable amount of time and each step of the work was outlined on Buildertrend app for tracking. We would highly recommend Penguin for your home renovations.

My renovation project with Penguin Basements involved the demolition and reconstruction of three outdated rooms downstairs in my home to serve as a self-contained apartment where I could recover from hip replacement surgery.
After meeting with and receiving project cost bids from five different vendors, I chose Penguin to do my reno job even though they did not tender the lowest bid. At my first meeting with Penguin's regional sales manager Dave, he impressed me with his forthrightness, honesty and responsiveness. I also had faith in Penguin's computer-based specification and cost-estimating system and their on-line customer communication and project management system called Builder Trend.
My initial faith was borne out by their very prompt response to beginning my project once I had awarded the job to Penguin. They only had six weeks in which to do the design work, demolition, framing and drywall, electrical installation and inspections, plumbing rough-ins and final finishing touches...so good project management, quick delivery of materials, work crew scheduling and client communications were key requirements to getting the project finished on time and within the agreed upon budget limitations.
One overall project manager, Josh, was assigned to my project and he did an outstanding job of coordinating all aspects of the required work to be done as well as keeping up with my additional requests and changes as the project progressed.
Pentagon's design specialist, Eric, helped me to finalize my selection of fixtures, flooring and colour scheme and also did a fine job of capturing my ideas for a convenience kitchen area in final blueprint form on his CAD system and then ordering the cabinetry directly from the carpentry supplier in Montresl.
The electrical sub-contractors and plumbers employed by Penguin were top-notch professionals who went above and beyond to make sure that all aspects of their work met current local building codes and passed the necessary inspections.
Although we faced a number of hiccups along the way, every part of the job was performed in a very responsive, pro-active and professional manner by Josh and his associates at Penguin as well as various sub-trade contractors.
The job site was kept clean and safe...and a final professional crew came in twice to clean up all the inevitable dust and debris created during the construction process.
I also appreciated the extra little touches that were offered to me by Penguin---like a discount on ready prepared meals delivered during the construction process, access to a delivery service for doing laundry while my utilities room and washer/dryer were inaccessible, and the warranty on all the materials, fixtures and workmanship supplied by Penguin which I received at the end of the construction work.
In short, I have been very pleased with how Penguin handled my renovation project from start to completion, under a very tight deadline and with courtesy to my medical condition and special requirements.
I would not hesitate to hire Penguin again for another phase of my own ongoing home renovations, or to recommend Penguin to other potential customers.

Walter the project manager was fantastic and helped with every question I had. Because of his quick responses, (even on Sunday night at 10:21 pm) I did not worry about the renovation progress at all. The Builder Trend program clearly and thoroughly outlines the contact people, pay schedule, blue prints and building schedule.

Water leaking into the basement caused the need for the basement to be completely gutted, leaks repaired and a rebuild to occur. During that time, we also had the old and very outdated fuse box to be replaced with a modern electrical panel. We had two rooms with closets built, stairs repaired and recovered...with incredible results. The crews that were sent by Penguin Basements were awesome with all the work they did. Vince, the project manager went above and beyond what we ever expected.

Vince was an excellent project manager. He was up front, honest and accurate with everything that he told us.