Paul in Courtice

We have a large mature oak tree growing over our house. It's a beautiful tree but our deck was becoming unusable with dropping acorns! UTS gave us option of major trim to keep the tree. The crew came in November and cleanly removed several large branches. Tree still looks good. Nothing fell on house. All cleaned up after. We've used UTS on other jobs and they continue to be our go-to arborists.

Needed three cedar garage doors sanded and restained. Michael of Lakeview Painting got the nod. There was a one day delay in getting started, but Michael made up the time. He is very careful, and takes the time to do the right prep so that the actual staining went quickly. We would call him again.

I've been using The Sprinkler Company for a few years, since they helped me restart an old existing inground system when we moved into this house. We've kept them coming each year for startup and shutdown, and they've progressively updated the system. We recently had an underground leak and they were able to quickly identify and fix the issue. In our experience, they have been prompt to respond, on time with visits, and do a professional job.

Our 20-year old Beam central vac started making loud noises in the motor unit. Spoke with Brock Builtin on the phone; they advised me on how to unhook it so that I could bring it in myself and save time/cost for technician. At the store, they confirmed motor was shot, and gave us options on repair vs new Beam. We went with the new unit. Installed easy and we have a vacuum again. Staff were pleasant and easy to work with.

This year was our third with TWG. We've been working with them on various projects around our yard, to update landscaping, replace timber stairs with stone, replace timber walls with brick, and re-lay a large area of pavers. They do good work. We recommend them.

This is our second project with TWG. We had two long exterior stairs upgraded from timber stairs and timber retaining walls to stone, plus some driveway paver relay, plus some yard cleanup and tree planting. Work was done well, it feels solid and looks good. We are planning a third project with them in 2023.

Called Doyle's Electric to take care of various home electrical work that had accumulated, including adding GFI circuits, replacing potlights, adding dimmer, and putting some spliced wiring from prior renos into proper junction boxes, including in attic. Plus run wire and install EV charger. Chris was able to provide quote within a few days of call, and his crew of Aaron and Adam did the work within a week. ESA inspector came to review the charger; he was satisfied from a short look and from confirming that the work had been done by Doyle Electric.

We had Apex Window Films install security films on 20 ground level windows, and frost films on 3 windows. Install was done cleanly. As expected on installation, there were several small bubbles. However they all cleared as expected within a month or two, except one spot in an obscure window of no concern. I am providing this review one year later, to report that the films are still in excellent condition.

We moved into a house recently with an old irrigation system that had not been used for some years. We did not know the irrigation companies in our new area so tried reaching out to a few. Surprisingly two did not respond or did not show up for appointment. Sprinkler Company gave us a date and showed up. They were able to get most of our system up and running (thanks Nic and others!), and to give us advice on options to consider for improvement. The technicians were able to come up with good solutions within the constraints of what was working. We would definitely recommend them to others.

We had moved into a house this January, with no window covering on many of the windows. We had good experience with Hunter-Douglas shades in our previous house, so were looking for similar products here. Plus some custom side drapes. Wilma of Sensational Seams was recommended by our local real estate agent. We were able to select a quality product for our windows and they were installed professionally a few weeks later. The rooms look much better now with proper window coverings.

I was having a problem with a keyless lock in a home we had recently moved in to. Thought I needed a locksmith to come and sort it out. Our new neighbours recommended Al & Gord's, so we gave them a call. They walked us through the fix over the phone on the spot. No charge. Definitely a company I would call again if service was needed.

Recently moved into a "new" house. Called Pro Handy to check out the fireplace and chimney and clean them, as we did not know the conditions left by the previous owner. Dan and Shay were quick to respond, worked cleanly and efficiently. Identified and fixed cracks in bricks, in addition to the chimney cleaning. Lit a fire at the end to ensure we knew all was in working order.

We hired Viktoria to move our household goods including piano from Mississauga to Courtice. Maria came to house to prepare quote and provided useful information. We chose to do our own packing, and have them disassemble and pack the larger furniture. We ultimately chose them because they were focussed on completing the move in one day. They were also willing to move some large house plants, although without any guarantees. Original quote was 4 crew, two trucks and 13 hours. Crew arrived on time on moving day, but with 6 persons. They were polite and professional, and followed Covid mask precautions. Final cost was 6 crew, two trucks and 9 hrs, and was about same as quote due to less hours and lower rate per person for 6 crew. We were told at payment time that the reason for the 6 rather than 4 crew was that it was a cold day (which it was!) and because we had requested a one-day move. The latter was true, but an odd reason for the crew change since that was actually the Viktoria proposal from day one and not something we had insisted on. Anyway, work was completed to our satisfaction. Maria called to check in one week after the move. We've found a few small scratches but nothing major. One ding was in our old home, which we only noticed during our final inspection and were able to quickly repair. We would use them again.

As part of a home inspection before selling our house, we had identified that we needed a GCFI outlet installed in kitchen. Small job but we wanted to make sure it was done by an electrician. Tony responded to our Homestar posting, and came by within a week to install. Work was done quickly and cleanly.

We found suspicious black shading on part of our attic inside roofing as part of a pre-home-sale inspection. We wanted this remediated before we were on the market. Found Templar on HomeStars, and called them up. Robert came by the next day and gave us a quote. He was able to schedule us one week later. Work was done in a half-day. We are happy with the results.

We've been in this house for 30 years, and thought the exterior could benefit from a cleaning, the soffit in particular was looking somewhat grimy and was out of our reach. Called up Shack Shine for a quote for various external cleaning from windows to soffit. They were on site within 3 days and work completed. Courteous staff, no problems.

We had a 30-year old central vac that had stopped giving much suction, even after the bag was emptied. Javid came within a few days of our call and checked the pipes, clearing out some debris with his equipment. He listened to the old motor and recommended replacing it. We agreed. Job was done quickly and cleanly.

We hired Marc to install an electric car charger, and to upgrade our electrical panel at the same time. Marc was punctual, worked with us to ensure the timing for the panel power outage and ESA inspection was convenient, and the job was done very professionally. We asked for a routing of the power cables for aesthetics reasons that was somewhat less convenient for him, but Marc was very obliging.

We had a persistent damp spot develop in the concrete slab floor of the garage, after 26 years of living in the house with no issue. We were unable to identify the cause. Gemil from Nu-Site came within a few days of our call and diagnosed the problem. He gave us a range of possible solutions, including Plan A which required some labor on our part but no costs and might be sufficient. We very much appreciate the diagnosis and honest advice from Gemil. We are going to try Plan A, but if it does not work we will definitely follow up with Nu-Site.

Shower faucet cartridge broke. Not a DIY repair job. Called Mister Plumber as we have used them before on another small job. They were able to come within a few hours, which was fine as it was not an emergency. Repair was completed promptly and cleanly (within the time and budget estimated) and is working fine.

The stain we had applied ourselves to our recently updated cedar deck did not survive the winter. So it needed to be sanded down and re-applied from scratch. This time we thought we'd use a professional. Although there are many deck installers who will also stain, we were looking for an outfit that focused on the staining rather than the carpentry, and would provide a guarantee. We found Sina Deck Staining on the internet and asked them for a quote. This is a small outfit. The owner, Selim, came by promptly and we liked what we heard. The work was completed within two weeks (the weather was cooperative) and looks great. We recommended him to a neighbour, who has since also contracted with him.

Our 21-year old cedar deck needed some upgrading. Roy replaced what was needed, and kept what was still good. He gave us advice on what was currently in style with railings, which we accepted. Work was very professional and high quality. Roy is a pleasure to work with.

We discovered a leaking hotwater pipe Friday supper time. Plumber arrived within two hours of our call and fixed the pipe. We were charged exactly what was estimated over the phone. Plumber was courteous and clean.

We called the company to clean our fireplace chimney. First time we had done this since we had the fireplace insert installed a year ago and started to use it. The Tech came on time. He was knowledgeable and courteous. Pointed out two other issues that I was not aware of, in particular a problem with the chimney top tile breaking. He gave me a detailed explanation of options, we accepted the work and the repairs were completed. Looks good.

Silver Cross installed a stair lift system at my parents house two years ago. They offered a used system, which saved considerable cost and looks fine. It involved two stair lifts to cover the full flight of stairs. Installation was on time, work was good quality, and work area was cleaned up. The stairlift stopped working within one week of installation. Technician came out promptly once called. He said that we had drained the battery down and it had to be replaced, for an added cost. Fixed the problem, but I was never clear what exactly was wrong. Stairlift is still working fine after 2 years.

Work was agreed with Don in April, to be completed within a "couple of weeks". Don was professional and courteous, price was within my expected range, and timeframe was convenient. However, I then heard nothing from company for several weeks. After several calls I was finally given date of 8 am, Saturday July 2 (long weekend, date was given to me on Thursday at 4 pm). This is my parents house. I assumed work would take couple of hours so arrived about 8:30. But they had come with large crew and work was all done. I briefly inspected and the big ticket items had been done and all nicely cleaned up. So I paid the foreman and they left. But then I went and checked more carefully and found several places where they had missed items. At that point, I did not want to deal further with company.

Standard job to remove old shingles and install new shingles on a relatively uncomplicated roof. Quote and information was provided by Allan, courteous and informative. Work was undertaken within two weeks, we were called ahead about dates and were able to delay it for our schedule. Work completed within one day. Looks good. Site was cleaned up nicely. We had some simple plastic eavestrough leaf guards that were lost during the process, but C&C came back within a day or so of our call and installed an equivalent system.