Alex in Toronto

Our general contractor installed a window for us, but then the contractor he had lined up to finish it on the exterior bailed. I put out a request on homestars and Andy called the next morning, and arranged to come by and do some measurements and get a quote and time estimate for me. He measured it up on the Tuesday, put in a call to get the materials, and said he anticipated it being about a week, dependent on materials. He called Friday morning to say the capping was ready and he could install it the next day. Within an hour the job was done, the window neatly capped and sealed, the workspace tidied up like he was never there! (He was also very lovely with our toddler who came to inspect his work, which always gets bonus points in our book!) we will definitely use him again.

We had a great experience with Icy Reno & Igor's team and I couldn't recommend them more highly. We got a quote from Igor back in 2020 to underpin our basement, and didn't go ahead with it at the time because we couldn't face the disruption while working from home. Fast-forward to 2022 and we knew we weren't going to be going back to the office permanently, so I asked Igor to come back and go over the 2020 quote, assuming that prices would have increased. Surprisingly, the adjusted quote came in pretty similarly to the 2020 quote, so we got our drawings and permits sorted and they started work in April with a few week's notice. The team who worked at our house were outstanding: not only did they work incredibly hard every day on a job with limited access that required manual wheelbarrows down to street level, but they kept a clean worksite, they were sweet to our two year old who loved watching them work, and our neighbours kept commenting on how courteous and hardworking they were. Neighbour drama was our biggest concern during the work and the Icy Reno team completely alleviated our concerns. When we ran into unexpected issues, such as crumbling foundations, Igor quickly informed us of what was necessary to resolve the problems and he was direct in his opinions when we were maybe making an ill-thought out decision. We ended up with an excellent large window opening at his suggestion and adjusted our drawings to make better use of the space. Igor also was transparent when he thought that something wasn't worth spending money on - I appreciated this as he left the decisions with us but pointed out that certain things would just be money makers for him vs a sound investment! I'd hire Icy Reno again in a heartbeat. The job was finished in the initial time frame despite needing to do a few extra things to the foundations, and we've had other contractors in since who just don't compare to the Icy Reno guys in terms of their hard work and results.

We had a hit and miss experience with Peg. It started really positively and ended just...meh. The work itself is nice, and we're happy with the kitchen. It just took a lot of effort to get to the completion stage, and the miscommunication that happened throughout was off-putting, and we wouldn't use them again. Positives: initial walkthrough good, clear timelines and line by line proposal, nice contractors who were respectful of our space. Negatives: poor communication as the project proceeded, inconsistent handoff between contractors and the office staff who managed the project, which included misquoting costs Our initial walk through was great - we got a lot of work quoted from them and Allan was very detailed in his assessment of what needed to be done. We had a kitchen planning session at Ikea, where Allan provided measurements for the countertop and adjusted our plans. We were happy to proceed from that point, and we had a lot of back and forward after that with Michelle to identify the work we were going to prioritize, and the timelines for that. We scoped down the project to just do the kitchen to get it done by the holidays and agreed we'd revisit some of the other work before signing a contract. I'm really glad we did that instead of committing to doing our kitchen, bathroom, and stairs with Peg. As the work commenced, there was some disconnect between the initial conversations we had with Allan, and then with some of the contractors who came in to do the work, and it took a lot of conversation to ensure we were all on the same page. The electrician and the countertop person had to come multiple times because they weren't scheduled at the right times, the countertop that we'd had an initial quote for based on Allan's initial measurements ended up costing double, because Allan's initial measurements weren't passed on to the countertop company at the time of quote, the cabinet people didn't install the cover pieces we'd discussed as noone had told them to do that, and when the drywall people took down our old architraves and door trims, we were asked if we wanted Peg to replace them, said yes, and then this just didn't happen until we chased it. For the first 4 weeks we got lots of communication about any changes to the schedule or the timeline and had a lot of back and forward about the above details. As we approached the end of the project, that communication faltered. I found myself having to chase up answers and updates. The majority of the work was due to be completed the week before Christmas. I had a conversation with Michelle on the phone where she said she was trying to get someone out to do the last bits of work before the holidays, and she'd get back to me. Then I had radio silence for two weeks. Noone answered the office phone, emails, there was no out of office message saying they were on a holiday shut down. Then there was no acknowledgement or apology that they left us hanging and ignored all my voicemails and emails. The work finally got done, 4 weeks after it was supposed to, but even that wasn't smooth as between our initial walkthrough and the final finishing touches, Peg forgot what we'd agreed and had to redo the work. We didn't have a final walkthrough on their work before final payment, and by that point we were just done with them and a few small details, like poorly applied sealant and misaligned trim, we have dealt with ourselves to just call it a day and be done.

We chose Olimpiu to do our bathroom renovation. His initial visit inspired confidence in us - he told us what he could and couldn't do, and advised what was worth doing for our money and what would cost extra that he didn't think was worth it. He contacted us in advance of starting the job to make sure we had everything ready to go and recommended places to pick our fixtures etc. On the first day, he did a thorough walkthrough with us and Mike, his colleague, to ensure we were all aligned on what they were going to do. Mike did most of the work, and each morning, he and Olimpiu did a walkthrough of the work and checked in with us on any details they wanted to go over. Mike and Olimpiu were so considerate. They were so tidy and diligent about cleaning up at the end of each day, tools stacked neatly. The attention to detail of the work itself is amazing, and there's not been a single thing we've had to question. They've been meticulous about everything, sourcing tile trim that would match our hardware, ensuring everything is installed in the right place and double and triple checking before doing anything. Olimpiu had suggested it would take 15 days, and they've finished in 9 days! This is the best experience we've had with a contractor, and we really wish we'd found Olimpiu and Mike before we did our kitchen and some of our other projects. We're already making a list of future projects that we will want to use them for!

We hired Ross and his partner to install laminate flooring on our ground floor. We had holes in the subfloor that needed patching, and on the phone and in person, Ross said they would patch the floor with plywood subflooring before installing underlay and laminate. The job took 2 days, and on the 2nd day when the job was complete ross gave us a walkthrough. All seemed good until we moved some piles of materials and furniture the next morning. The hole he was supposed to have patched, he hadn’t. He had put laminate down over the hole and when you stepped on it, the laminate pressed against the water pipes below. He’d cut sections of the flooring badly, so our closet had a hole in the flooring that went through to the basement. Ross came back that day to “fix” the issues, and after putting some loose wood underneath the holes in the floor from the basement, declared it fixed and started to rant about how in 15 years no one had ever challenged the quality of his work. After refusing to complete the job we had paid for - patching the flooring before installing it - I requested he leave my home as he got aggressive and shouty and as a lone female in the house I felt unsafe. I would absolutely not recommend working with him.