Tall Basements

I hired Kevin and Tony to turn my turn my leaky, decrepit, low-ceilinged horrowshow of a basement into someplace great where my family could hang out. They did exactly that, and more. Their work was neat, efficient, and speedy. Their crew was hard-working, respectful and friendly. But what was more important to me was that they worked with me to make the very best use of the space. I tossed my own plans for new ones we came up with together, and I couldn't be more pleased. They made very smart and helpful suggestions on everything from the size and placement of rooms and storage, to building an incredibly efficient utility closet (go Tony!) so I could maximize my space. They had great ideas on how to accommodate a plumbing and electrical retrofit on the upper floors, and worked to make it happen. Their guidance was instrumental. The in-floor heating they installed has worked flawlessly and is very pleasant underfoot (I recommend it highly). The framing and finishing they did was top-notch, and other tradespeople commented to me on their good work. No reno is without nasty surprises, and I'm very happy Tony and Kevin were there to help deal with the few we encountered. But the proof is in the pudding -- five years on, my basement has been dry as a bone, even when many of my neighbours were flooded by the big storms. No hint of moisture or the old mildew smell. Just a nice space. I have recommended Tall Basements to friends and colleagues with no regrets and will do so again.

After posting my initial review [5/10 dated October 2015] on the challenges of getting personnel from Tall Basements to help close off the build permits with the City, Kevin reached out to me to begin the process to get a final inspection.

Kudos to Kevin for taking the corrective action for assisting with this. He got in touch with the engineering firm to provide revisions to the document that the city inspector had requested. Kevin also put together a package of documents (drawings, plans, reports) to ensure the final inspection went smoothly.

On inspection day, Kevin was kind enough to move a previous commitment and do the walkthrough with the city inspector on my behalf.

I really appreciate the all effort put into getting the build permits closed and finishing what we started together in a collaborative manner.

Tall Basement run by Kevin told me they required a $5000 deposit for work to be conducted in the "next several months". They kept postponing until 11 months later. When I got my date, they did not show up. Finally another month later, they said "we will be ready in 48 hours". This no longer worked for me. I would call weekly and they would only respond once a month. Finally, I just asked for my deposit money back due to their unprofessional. They now are refusing to give the deposit back. It has been three weeks of them jerking me around. Now I have to go to small claims court to get my money back.

I found out about Tall Basements by word of mouth when I stopped in to talk to a homeowner on a neighbouring street who had the Tall Basements sign up on their lawn. Our home is a century old and the basement had very little head room (6 feet), so we were looking for a reputable contractor to underpin it and create a nice family living space. After reading about the houses that collapsed the past couple of years while undergoing a foundation underpinning, we wanted to ensure that we went with the right company that had experience and expertise in the trade and an understanding of the soil conditions in our old Toronto neighbourhood. We called and set up an on site meeting with Kevin (Robinson) and Tony (Esteves) to discuss our plans. They surveyed our basement, discussed our plans and took the time to explain the steps involved in underpinning. We were impressed by the professionalism and the technical expertise of both Kevin and Tony. They really took the time to translate a lot of the "construction speak" to language that the educated home owner could understand. After a week of thought, we entered a contract agreement with Tall Basements to have the work done. Our basement is around 650 sq/ft so the plan was to target a new height as close to 8 feet as possible (finished). The underpinning portion of work took about two months with either Kevin or Tony on site each day to manage the crew. They also made themselves available to myself and the adjacent neighbours to answer any questions related to the scope of work being done. All city permits and their respective inspections were managed by Kevin which was great. Kevin got us with a very reputable engineering company (K.H. Davis) for all the structural drawings. I was presented with an insurance certificate (covering the work), a draw schedule which explained when payments were due and frequent email/text correspondence for project updates and design changes. We were impressed by the customer service provided and having the level of support provided by Kevin and Tony helped alleviate the stress of a major renovation. We were so comfortable with Tall Basements that we agreed to have them work on our next phases of our renovation (New Addition and Interior Finishing) which I will review separately.