Balm Built

We had engaged with Alex in July of 2021 to help prepare drawings, designs and submissions required to obtain a building permit from the City. The scope of work was to include:

- Arrange for permits on behalf of the owner

- Act on behalf of the owner regarding any and all matters having to do with the work

- Prepare required documentation for formal submission to city planning

- If required, prepare Committee of Adjustment documentation

- Prepare final working drawings needed to obtain building permit

From the start of engagement there was significant delays in moving forward. Weeks at a time where there would be limited contact and lack of response by email/text/phone. We were given some reasons/excuses that delays were due to personal situations but things would be back on track once they were sorted out. Things progressed although slowly.

When receiving drawing drafts and reviewing them as well as providing back comments to update, the time in between revisions took between a few days to a few weeks. The final drawings were completed in Oct approx 3 months after engagement. There were also things we had to ask for twice, that he said was changed but then the drawings were not actually updated. Not to mention trying to get the files sent to us were a pain as well as they always seemed to get "stuck in my outbox".

We were told the building permit application went in promptly thereafter but did not receive anything further until the end December - for an authorization form with the city which was provided back from us Jan 2nd, 2022.

Later we found out the City only received the permit application on Feb 16th. They had committed to provide comments back before End of March, and they did. It has now been almost 2 months since then and we cannot get a hold of Alex to even let us know what needs to be done next. Many many calls and emails and texts have been sent but he is unresponsive.

The architectural work was sub-contracted by Alex to someone, who was on the permit application, and in communicating with them it seems Alex is not even responding back to his own sub-contract trade either.

Our payment agreement specified 50% up front, balance on completion of permit ready drawings. Drawings which we did receive, therefore payment has been made in full. However, we have no permit, and are stuck without the ability to keep moving forward. The Job that we hired Balmbuilt for was to obtain the building permits based on the design specification. This has not been completed.

A complaint to the BBB has already been submitted as well. Next step will be to file a claim in SCC. Terrible experience.

Our expectations are that professionals will deliver to their word, and if for any reason they cannot that there be some acknowledgement and compensation.

We hired Alex and his team to complete a complete renovation of our new home. We were always informed of the status of the project. the crews were friendly and very accommodating to our changes throughout the project. the quality of the end result is top notch. We are so happy with the end result.

Balmbuilt has just completed our dream home. They completely overhauled the interior with a 3 story addition on the rear. We are extremely happy with the end result. These guys deliver quality and professionalism. Thank you guys!

We are so happy with the transition to our home. We hired Balmbuilt to completely gut our home and add a 500sqft addition to the rear of the house. They walk us through the entire process from drawings/permit/construction. The total experience was amazing and the quality is above our expectations. We highly recommend these guys to anyone!

We would Like to share our wonderful experience working with Balmbuilt. We hired Alex after a friend had referred us to him and his company. We had purchased an older home in the east end of Toronto and wanted to create a space of our own. Alex was able to walk us through the entire design/build process with patience and professionalism. The permit process was delayed due too the pandemic and the closure of the permit office. However, once the permit was issued, the team delivered on all fronts. The team is comprised of true professionals and we are so excited with our new home. Thank you Alex and team.

My husband and I have lived in many homes within the city. We decided to move to be closer to our family in the east end. We bought an older home and decided to have it completely renovated. Alex and his crew transformed the house into a masterpiece. Thank Alex and crew, you were a pleasure to work with.

Our family had a very tragic accident and we had to convert our home to be completely barrier free. We hired Balmbuilt to complete the work. The professionals at this company were patient and understanding given our new situation. They were very knowledgeable on the requirements and how to ensure that my family would be comfortable for the long term. We are extremely grateful to have Balmbuilt complete our new requirements.

We hired Balmbuilt for a design build service. Alex and his team walked us through every stage of the project with professionalism and compassion. We are thrilled with the outcome of our new home and would not hesitate to recommend their services to anyone.

I engaged with Balmbuilt after meeting with other contractors for a complete renovation to my new home. I am so happy that I chose to work with Alex and his team. Alex has extensive construction knowledge and his team of trades had delivered exceptional quality. I will work with them again in the future.

In September 2020, we hired Alex and BalmBuilt to do a home renovation and two story addition to our house. The contract agreed that BlamBuilt would create all documentation and drawings and provide them to us, would apply for the needed permits, go through the committee of adjustments with the City of Toronto, and any other needed actions to obtain permits. In November 2020 Alex confirmed that he submitted all the final documentation to the city for a permit and accepted our final payment in full (~$19,000). Throughout November 2020 to January 2021 upon our asking for updates, Alex confirmed several times that he submitted the documentation for permits and we were just in a holding pattern, and he could not provide a confirmation/submission number or any other updates. However, in late January upon us contacting the City of Toronto we discovered Alex was deceiving us and never submitted any documentation to the city, and never created or provided us with final drawings for which he accepted payment in full.

From late January 2021 to late February 2021 Alex was hard to get a hold of and stopped replying to texts, emails, phone calls, etc. each time we tried to reach out and find out what was going on and to receive an official confirmation. It was at this point where we decided to post online reviews of our experience.

After the reviews were posted in late February 2021, Alex and Shanon (we had no interaction with Shannon before up to this point) reached out immediately and told us to take down all reviews. Furthermore, Shanon and Alex informed us that they would only provide us with the services which they accepted funds in full for once we complied with the demand of removing reviews.

In an effort to resolve the situation and move forward we took down all reviews with the agreement that they would provide all documentation to us no later than March 5th 2021 (a deadline date that Alex and Shanon suggested and said they can get things done by). On March 5th nothing was received and Alex requested another week. On March 12th (the new deadline) Alex informed us again that he does not have anything and requested another week (March 19th). After not hearing from him or receiving anything we reached out on March 22nd at which point Alex responded that he still has nothing and will get us the agreed to work by March 26th. That deadline, like the several before that came and went with Alex providing nothing. Since then Alex has not reached out and we have not received any of the work that he agreed to.