Pro A & R Renovation Group Inc.

Pro A&R Renovation Group took a poorly designed and constructed basement bathroom and turned it into something beautiful. They were a pleasure to work with from the estimate to completion. Their work was meticulous. They explained things throughout the process and cleaned the area at the end of each day, not only at the end of the job. We are thrilled with how the bathroom turned out and would definitely use Pro A&R again and would not hesitate to recommend them.

Very a professional, willing to make changes, team who kept the work area very clean. They worked quietly and efficiently and respectfully, knowing I was working from home. I come from a background in construction and have done many renovations in my lifetime, and the quality of work is the best I have ever seen. The finishing touches were impeccable. Just beautiful. I love my basement.

Contractor was flexible as to requests made after work had been started. Work was conducted professionally with excellent results, and completed on time. Will use his service again.

Hamid and his team were fantastic as always. This is the second time I have used his services and was not disappointed. The attention to detail and quality of work is great. What I appreciate about his team is the input I am allowed to make along the way with slight adjustments or changes within the job. Thank you again for a job well done!

Three years ago, I hired Hamid to perform a full bathroom renovation based on his reviews. This decision turned out to be a regrettable one because it was nothing but a horrible experience dealing with him from start to finish. Recently, some of his work had to be redone, which is why I can no longer in good conscience remain silent about him.

Just a few days prior to the contractual start date, Hamid notified me that there would be a starting delay due to being unable to complete his current project on time. He reassured me the delay would be no more than two days and that he would make up the lost time on the weekends – He refused to amend the contract with new start/completion dates because he claimed that he was going on vacation shortly after the renovation. In the end, the starting delay turned out to be three days and Hamid never bothered to make up any of the lost time. To make matters worse, two additional days were lost during the renovation due to poor planning and trying to end early because he wanted the final day off for unknown reasons. To put things into perspective, the total days lost accounted for more than 40% of the allotted time for the renovation.

Due to Hamid’s self-imposed time constraints, corners were cut during the installation of at least one building material (cement backer boards). These backer boards served the purpose of holding up the heavy shower tiles and I could spot the corner cutting because I had installed them myself in a past DIY project. When asked to correct his deficient work, Hamid threatened to void the workmanship warranty on the installation. This spurred me to call the backer board manufacturer to settle the dispute. The manufacturer confirmed that Hamid had not installed the boards in accordance with their installation guidelines. They told me that if left improperly installed, they would not honour their 30-year warranty on the boards. They also made me aware of some issues that could potentially arise down the road due to his negligence, such as the shower tiles cracking or popping loose. Angered by my unexpected call to the manufacturer, Hamid gave me an unfair ultimatum and made the demand that I not periodically check up on his work.

I believe that Hamid tried to squeeze my project in between two of his other projects with no intention of starting on time and working to the completion date. I am convinced that he knew well in advance that he was not going to work for the agreed upon time and that his work was going to be rushed and second-rate. I have come to this conclusion based on the following: (1) when I questioned his helper about the late start, I was told that they did not fall behind schedule on their previous project, (2) when it came time to reviewing the contract, Hamid tried to pass one by me that did not include provisions for workmanship warranty, liability insurance and worker’s compensation coverage. I had to ask for the respective coverage terms to be added into the contract. However, I was never provided the requested proof that he was, in fact, insured and (3) he did not include a physical address in the contract or in any of the paperwork. I made the mistake of believing the address that was being displayed on this very HomeStars page, at the time, because of his reviews (see pictures). It turned out that this address is an incomplete one for a high-rise apartment unit. I have also included a picture of a receipt issued by one of Hamid’s own building suppliers, from the time of the renovation, that shows that he gave them the same address without a unit number. This lack of transparency is the only reason why I complied with Hamid’s ultimatum and gave in to his demands – I feared that I would not be able to locate him in the event that he walked off the job. My situation was greatly exacerbated by the fact that the only full bathroom in my home had just been demoed. Moreover, he had been paid 40% of the labour costs upfront.

For the remainder of the renovation Hamid was unapproachable. The few times that I would try to discuss the project with him, he would rudely take a deep sigh to let me know that I was bothering him. Towards the end, he began making executive decisions in an effort to save time. For example, he decided to tile the shower niche and walls in a different layout than I had wanted. In his haste, he also installed the toilet crooked, damaged the bathroom door while shortening it and chipped several shower tiles while banging them into place (see pictures). These are only a few examples to give you an idea of the hurried pace at which the work was being carried out. Since Hamid was still not working diligently and was unwilling to fix any part of his work, I fired him and hired another contractor to complete the renovation.

I would have left a review a long time ago if it were not for the bullying and intimidation tactics that Hamid employed to deter me from posting one. Do not waste your time, energy and money with this contractor. You have been warned.

REPLY TO HAMID’S RESPONSE:

You ask that I show some understanding about the 3-day starting delay. That is utter nonsense. If I was not understanding about the delay, why did I agree to let you make up the lost time on the weekends? You are clearly trying to shift the focus away from the real issue at hand. That is, you chose not to make up the lost time, but instead decided to cut major corners on the job. Interestingly, not only did you not address the corner cutting, you conveniently neglected to address many of my other accusations. What is equally telling is that after spending some time “analyzing” my review, you could not provide any reasoning/evidence to support your finding that it is “inaccurate and false”.

What is also revealing is that out of all the shoddy work shown in the pictures, you only address the damage to the tiles. You try to justify this damage by erroneously pointing out that the size of the grout line is 1/18 inch. In doing so, you understate its size by a factor of 2.25, which makes the damage seem much less severe. The actual size of the grout line is the standard 1/8 inch. The fact that you even reference the grout line to gauge whether or not the damage is acceptable, speaks to the quality of your work.

What I also find disingenuous about your response is that you imply that the start/completion dates for my project were flexible when, in reality, they were fixed. Your intent here is to confuse the issue to cover up the fact that the late start was a breach of contract. This breach of contract was one of the reasons why you did not contest your termination. It is also one of the reasons why you resorted to bullying and intimidation tactics – you did not want it, among other things, made public. Now here you are, once again, trying to sweep this contract breach under the rug, but this time, by creating a false impression of the facts. I hope prospective clients are taking note of your deliberate attempts to mislead, the evasive nature of your response, and your dismissive attitude towards your poor quality work. These things say a lot about you as a contractor.

This contactor was very professional, excellent work, the end result was even better than I imagined. I like the fact that Hamid is detailed oriented, and willing to accommodate a few changes I had in the process.
I will definitely use this company for my future project.

In the course of owning a rental property I have had to deal with numerous contractors and I can confidently say Hamid is the only one I have actually liked and fully trusted. Hamid and his team performed a partial basement renovation on the property related to waterproofing work performed by another contractor - the scope included demolition and rebuilding of the basement stairs. The work was performed efficiently and competently, they were respectful of my tenants and the cost as quoted was exactly what we paid. The end result was even better than I had hoped it would be with extra care shown in finishing touches by the team. Hamid was communicative and present every step of the way and I never felt like I was bothering him if I reached out. I would 100% use this contractor again for future work. Thank you for a pleasant experience!

We definitely recommend Pro A & R. We renovated 2 bathrooms in our home in cabbagetown. Hamid and his team were on site every day until the job was done. They took the time to explain everything and made adjustments to accommodate our wishes. His attention to detail is what sets him apart. He not only held himself to a high standard but also any sub-contractors like the glass installers. We are very pleased with the finished product. I would definitely use them again.

Very professional company. We were very satisfied with the work that was done. When there was an issue it was discussed first before fixing it. I would highly recommend them for any Reno project and would use them again.

After two bad renovations long ago (very mean contractors and one that could not stick to a timeline) we were very vary of starting a new project. After meeting with Hamid (after interviewing 5 other contractors) he was the only one that seemed to treat the basement like his own place and with reasonable pricing. Best renovation team in our entire renovation experience hands down. Hamid and his team worked diligently, punctually, and always treated the place like it was his own. His suggestions and ideas were always valuable to us. We initially just wanted a small update to bathroom and kitchen in basement and when we kept wanting to add on new things to renovate (essentially the entire basement) he always accommodated and was very easy to bounce ideas of and never complained about anything. Excellent service I cannot recommend them enough. I will always use them for future renovations. I would give them more than 10 stars.