Murray Brown in Toronto

2nd Floor Insulation ($7,300 approx for walls and ceiling) We contacted Mark in early February to provide us with a quote to insulate our 1930's home in the Woodbine and Danforth area. He inspected our house, and provided us with a quote with several options - aircrete and cellulose. He also spotted several issues we had with our ductwork as we were not getting any air into our bedroom due to improper installation. This was something he did not have to do, but took the time to do so. We had it fixed according to Mark's instructions and we no longer have an issue. Mark's team did our house in two stages - ceiling with cellulose and the walls with aircrete. Within hours of the installation, we noticed a huge difference. Mark's team tarps everything to protect them from debris and they did a really good job cleaning up after they were done. Besides insulating our house due to the lack of insulation in our home, we were doing it for the Home Energy Audit Program. Mark referred us to an Auditor, who was fantastic! Mark also patches the holes that they make to apply the insulation, which will need to be sanded and a second coat of patching done - nothing unexpected. Electrical Service Update ($1075.00 approx) We had a problem with our lights flickering and it was brought to our attention by Toronto Hydro that our previous electrician failed to update the outside service when updating the knob and tube inside. After Mark was done insulating our home, we discovered he was a master electrician. Mark updated the service for us and his price was very reasonable. He did it without having to move our panel or make any new holes in the side of the house. It looks really good. Kitchen Electrical ($1,500.00 approx) We decided to renovate our kitchen in April, and again called Mark back to help us moving outlets, switches adding a plug here and there, etc. What was supposed to be simple moving of receptacles turned into Mark having to almost rewire the entire kitchen! The previous electrician did such a terrible job that Mark had no choice but to fix everything. Before he did anything, he showed me what needed to be done and he did a great job! Mark is probably one of the most honest contractors I have ever dealt with. He shows genuine concern and very passionate about his profession. He has made our lives much easier as he is always available whether by phone or email to answer any questions or concerns you might have. When we renovate the bathroom next year, we will be contacting Mark once again should we need additional electrical done. We are also considering insulating the first floor of our home and will call Mark for that as well. I highly recommend Mark for any insulating or electrical needs.

I began to renovate my kitchen by taking down the cabinets, hoping to leave the walls up. I live in an 80 year old house and the walls are plaster, so the walls had to come down. I had no plan to dispose of the plaster and planned on using my pick-up truck and make trips to the dump. After gutting the walls, I discovered that I would be spending more time making trips to the dump then working on the kitchen, so I needed a solution. I called Bin There Dump That at 8.00am that morning, they a bin on my driveway by 11:00 as promised. The price for the bin was very reasonable and when we were done we made a call, and it was picked up the next day. When requesting a bin, you provide them your credit card, they weigh the bin, charge your credit card accordingly and that's it. It was the least stressful thing about my renovation...which is still going on...and it's been 3 weeks! I will be using Bin There Dump That again in the hear future!

We contacted KNT Electric to provide us with a quote to completely update the wiring of our house in June, 2011. The original quote was $8,500.00 plus HST. At first, we were quite pleased with the progress of the job, until it was done. The total amount was around $11,000.00 because we added additinal outlets, potlights, etc. There was also a few things missed when we were quoted, which was not a big deal. The patch job was not the greatest, which was tolerable, until we began to paint. They used some form of caulking when patching the holes that we could not paint over it. We were given an excuse that it was there previously, but we knew it was not. We had to pick it off, and re-patch and repaint several times. Shortly after we moved in late June, we noticed the lights began to flicker when an appliance (ie the vaccuum, A/C) was turned on. I called Bill to come to our house to figure out what the issue was. His reasoning was Toronto Hydro uses surge protection where the power is reduced a bit to avoid any power shortage. I accepted this reasoning for the time being, as I had no reason to disbelieve him up to this point. Our major issue with KNT came during the blackout in August, 2011. When the power was restored after 25 hours, only half of the house's power returned. I immediately contacted Bill, who was too busy to take my call, and advised that if only half the power came back on, it was a Toronto Hydro issue, and not a KNT Electric issue. I did not accept this, as we drove around the neighbourhood and everyone seemed to have full power. I contacted Toronto Hydro and asked if full power was reached in our area, and were told yes. Toronto Hydro sent out a truck within 3 hours. When Toronto Hydro reached my home, the first thing they ask was whether or not we recently updated the wiring. When we advised yes, we were then asked if the electrician did anything on the outside, and I said no. He immediately told me that that was the incorrect thing to do, and that if the service was being updated on the inside, the outside service should have been done as well. I was told that the service coming from the City was 200amp?, the house was running on 100amps, but the connection between the City and our house was only 60amp, and that it was a fire hazard I contacted Bill about this issue, and he advised that he "checked" the service coming into the house and it seemed "fine." I did not accept this, as this is a serious issue. I contacted Toronto Hydro again to find out what needed to be done, and was advised that the service from the City should have been updated at the same time as the service was being updated on the inside, and that the electrician should have determined this. I later contacted the ESA to find out how they would have passed KNT Electrics work on the inside when the outside was not proper, and was informed that the outside work was a separate permit, and the ESA would not inspect it because a permit was not pulled. I think this is quite scary. I sent Bill a report about what work needed to be done according to Toronto Hydro and he said he did not agree with what they said, but would not challenge Toronto Hydro, and advised that it would cost about $1,500.00 plus HST to update the service. Up until recently I did not have an issue with everything until I conducted a Home Energy Audit. Our auditor is also a home inspector, and he advised me that this was a serious issue and should have been dealt with from the beginning. I also recently had insulation put in my house and was advised by the insulator who is a master electrician that from looking at the side of the house, he could tell that it was 60amp, maybe even 50amp. The reason why I took so long to write this review is I was trying to give KNT the benefit of the doubt, they were very nice people, however, this is my first home and if there was a fire, my insurance company would not have covered the damage, because we were all under the impression that the electrical was ok, which it is not. We did not expect to have a quote as high as $1,500.00 to do something, that should have been done in the beginning. I'm not asking not to pay, but it should have been included, back when we had more money to spend, as further renovations have depleted our savings.