Penguin Basements

We have recently decided to increase the space in our house and finish the basement so that our youngest son can have dedicated space to study and work. We have hired Penguin Basements to do the job. We have not bee happier. The Penguin team is nothing short of professional, organized group of skilled and friendly people. We were impressed with how efficiently everything was done, right from the initial consultation on site, to the meeting with interior designer, and finally to construction and final beautifully finished space. Our space was roughly 700 sq. feet and with the help of very experienced space planners and architects, we ended up with a spacious modern one bedroom apartment. The whole project was completed in short 3 weeks as promised. All materials were provided by Penguin. We had considerable flexibility to choose from builder finishes, which were great by the way. We even had good options to upgrade few things at the very reasonable prices. Once again, can't say enough great things about the entire crew at Penguin. We highly recommend this company from quality, value, process and experience perspectives.

My wife was pregnant and about to deliver; Penguin was willing to work around the schedule. Even more, they were ready to do whatever necessary to have the basement completed before her coming home. It takes confidence, competence and experience to deliver on such a request. I love the one-stop feel of the project. I love that everything is above board with no side deals; "if you want to pay less, we can do this without a permit". I love how they wanted to make it happen and make it a surprise. Finding contractors and having any degree of security that the job will get done right is daunting, in fact, foreboding. Not with Penguin basements, Penguin has an organised system that prevents all of the dead-end researching for reliable contractors. Every project starts with a design consultation followed up with a visual rendering of how the basement will look. Permits, measurements, contractors and timelines all fall under the watchful care of your Penguin representative. It gets done right, within budget and on time.

Was very impressed overall with Pengiun. It was a great team to work with and we were amazed at how quickly and efficiently the work got done. Any concerns we had were taken care of and there were no hidden costs. There was even a pre-existing issue discovered during our build and Penguin was able to bring in the right contractor and get it dealt with affordably and without negatively affecting the overall schedule. We are very happy to be using our new living space!

We had Penguin do a full gut and re-finish our basement. The design process was easy with the designer's expertise and suggestions. All of the workers and tradespeople were respectful of our family and our home throughout the renovation. We are very happy with our new and improved bright, open-concept basement.

Where to begin.. a six month horror story of a previous renovation that left a family with more repairs to do by others, very upset and mostly disappointed in themselves for hiring who they did and utterly scared to make the same mistake again for another renovation. The question begged to be asked … Do we do this again or do we move? Along came a global pandemic.. the decision was made, we stay and we renovate once again to keep us living together happily. Does this story have a happily ever after ? It sure does !!
First impressions are everything. Our initial meeting was with Matt who listened to our original horror story and figured out very quickly that we would need a lot of reassurance and communication. The plan was explained thoroughly and laid out for us to see - the job was sold.
From there, we were given the opportunity to clear out 20 years of stuff (quite the undertaking) and then…The selections process (Virtually - I must say how amazing was that!!). Permits were obtained and then truly a whirlwind of work by many trades working together but apart. Our home was treated with respect, the work was done cohesively, well and communication on what was coming up was daily. Each contractor that came knew the other trades and the word “family” came up a lot. Everyone from the garbage bin delivery to the demo crew down to the finishing folks were professional, happy to be hard working, on time, and respectful of our family.
If you look up the meaning of the dream symbol for Penguin – it says “Penguins are harmless and non-threatening creatures. They reflect a person’s honesty, positive attitude and cool headed nature.” This company resonates these traits.
What do you expect from a contractor you ask? A plan of work, trades properly coordinated, materials set up and available (a challenge in a pandemic), a tight knit crew that is respectful of each other and your family, a respect of your home, a ton of communication and at the end of the day – value for the money that you have saved and spent with these people to come up with an end result that is more than what was expected. Our first clue should have been Town Inspectors showing up knowing the company and leaving satisfied that things were going well and being done right! Penguin is all of these things.
We would like to thank everyone that was part of the team that turned a 20 year dumping ground of a basement into an amazing living space that added not only value to our home but gave us the happy space that was so needed! A heartfelt thank you to Matt, Rodrigo, Roberto, Robert, Lisa and especially Vince who went above and beyond to ensure this project was a success – words cannot express enough the gratitude of our entire family.
Was there construction dust.??. Oh yes there was.. Was there a cleaning team at the end of it that cleaned up everything left behind as they walked out the door – ABSOLUTELY YES and a BIG thank you ladies YOU ROCK!!
Are you considering doing your basement? You need to hire Penguin – if you don’t, well, moving is also fun !!
Respectfully,
The Jenkins Family

Penguin Basement carried out or renovation in a professional, timely manner. The work was beautifully completed.

We are satisfied with the work and we will recommend Penguin to our friends and colleagues.

After evaluating many contractors for my basement renovation, I finalized with Penguin Basements. The team understood my requirements and suggested the most functional design within my budget. They followed all building codes, approvals from respective authorities and most importantly - COVID protocols. The team which came onsite was professional, courteous and highly efficient. They finish the complete job in less than 2 weeks (while the expectation was set for 3 weeks during design phase). I highly recommend Penguin Basements for renovation.

We were very satisfied with all phases of the work. Each team was efficient and extremely courteous. The timeline from start to finish was as expected. Everything was cleaned up after each day's work. With the "Finish It Yourself" option, it gave us the ability to do the painting and flooring which has saved us some costs. We highly recommend Penguin Basements. They are true professionals!

We were impressed with the professionalism and attention to detail of the Penguin team. From signing the contract, picking our selections and executing the project our expectations were exceeded. Honorable mention to Robert (designer), Roderigo (Project Lead), Roberto (Framing/set up), Electrical (Brodie) and Justin and Vince for finishing. We appreciated the prompt communications and scheduling from Lisa. All of the tradespeople were easy to detail and addressed our questions.

I would like to start by saying that Penguin Basements Inc is a unique company. This company performs and gets your job done. They have designers on staff, but I had a hybrid situation in which they assisted and put me in touch with the right designer to obtain proper permits for completion of my 2 bedroom basement apartment.

Their initial assessment showed where additional work was required although I did not really want to hear that I needed to spend more money, but it was the hard truth.

They have a team of professionals who are highly skilled in the required trades and their subcontractors are equally good.

We had some setbacks with a break-in over one weekend and they picked up and resolved the resulting problems without any hesitation.

As any project moves on, concerns and issues naturally arise. These were corrected in a timely manner and did not cause undue delays.

This company deserves to be in business and I have no hesitation in recommending them for your basement suite or just even a kitchen renovation (other work they did for me as well in another apartment).