Tracy McQ from Toronto

We got Mike’s contact from True North Underpinning, the company that we used to underpin our basement, after we had some very inflated quotes to do the finishes in the basement. We had numerous contractors come through the house and Mike was by far the most reasonable quote. Immediately we had a good feeling about Mike and his partner Aldo and after reading his Homestars reviews we felt confident hiring him. From day one we were happy with our choice. Mike and Aldo have built an impressive roster of tradespeople and every person who entered our house did a superb job. From the start, Paul (the HVAC specialist) did an impressive job with our rad lines and was able to provide guidance on how to proceed with the reno with limited detriment to our aging boiler, Alex (the painter) did a remarkable job – I have never seen such clean paint lines. Mike and Mark (The electricians) were extremely accessible when I had questions about the work and the carpenter (name?) was a bit quirky, but his work was top notch. Aldo was at our house almost every day making sure everything was going smoothly and he has a memory like an elephant! I would make the smallest suggestion or request and Aldo would remember and deliver within days. The team was also so good about managing our ever expanding scope and was able to help us with odds and sods outside of the basement renovation for a very reasonable price. We went a bit crazy with our bathroom tile and Mike did his due diligence and made sure we were aware of the cost overruns before we went ahead with the purchasing. My only real complaint was the timeline. We were expecting baby number 2 and really wanted the work complete before she came. Unfortunately we were running 2 months later than expected, but at least the super messy part of the reno was complete when the baby came. All in all the quality of work is impressive and six months after the project is complete I am still thrilled with the result. I would absolutely recommend Mike and Aldo to anyone looking to do a basement reno.

I called Altas care because I was looking for a reliable company to service my 15 year boiler. The boiler is still in good condition with at least 10 years left in it. I decided, after talking with the customer service team and technicians to purchase the service package for my boiler which costs about $300 (tax included) and includes a maintenance visit. I had the maintenance visit last week and unfortunately no sooner had the technician left did my boiler no longer work! By the time I realized that I had no heat it was a couple hours later and the Altas Care office was closed. Since I purchased the service pack which boasted emergency service I was not worried. I called the emergency service and a technician called me only to tell me he was the only person on duty that night and could not make it to my house, but he told me I would have someone at my house the next day first thing between 7:30am-8:00am. Fine. I packed both my children (2.5yo and 6mo) into our bed with extra sheets thinking that someone would come first thing in the morning. 8am rolls around and no one at the house. I repeatedly and when I finally got through I was told that no note was left about my discussion with Altas Care after hours the previous night and they would have to wait until 4pm to have someone at my house. Needless to say this was unacceptable and after speaking with a manager I was able to get the appointment moved up to and 11:00am-12:30pm appointment. When the second technician shows up I am surprised to find out I have to replace a very expensive part on my boiler (~$300). A part that I replaced less than a year ago with another company, a part that was working just fine until I had my boiler maintenance visit. When I called Atlas care to discuss this very coincidental repair I was put in tough with Nimo, the customer service manager. Once I vented my story we were able to reach a workable solution to placate my otherwise frustrating experience with Atlas Care So after all this why would I rate them so highly? Well since living in my house I have had a problem with my boiler almost every year (why I got the service pack from Atlas Care) and I have dealt with many heating companies in Toronto. I know an unbelievable amount on the mechanics of my boiler because I have had so many shady companies try and get me to spend outrageous amounts of money to replace parts that aren’t broken. Of all the companies I have dealt with, Atlas Care is miles above the rest. First, the technician who came to the house to do the repair with very competent and knew exactly what needed to be replaced. He didn’t fuss around and make up issues and more importantly he didn’t drain the system, which is messy and expensive. Moreover, Atlas Care was able to deliver the part to my house rather than the technician having to leave and get it (huge plus). No unnecessary labour time was used and I didn’t have to wait for hours for the technician to track down parts. Second, the customer care was exceptional. During my day with no heat I was not easy to deal with and everyone I spoke with sympathetic to my situation and did what they could to expedite a solution. The manager Nimo could have dismissed my case as a ‘one-off’ but instead he worked with me to come to a workable solution that I was happy with and mended the relationship. Because of this I am very confident in recommending Atlas Care, and to paraphrase Nimo “even great companies have bad days, but it is how you deal with the bad days that make the difference”

We hired Daniel and his team based on a recommendation from our neighbours. We were not sorry. He was very attentive and exceptional at keeping me in the loop of the project progress. We ran into quite a bit of issues as we had initially hired Daniel to redo our concrete floors and install a flush mount beam, but ended up underpinning the whole house once we found structural damage on our brick walls. We own an old Toronto homes and as expected we ran into all kinds of issues with are archaic plumbing and old heating system. With every problem, Daniel was able to present an affordable solution and although the project scope and budget creeped, we were happy with our upgraded utilities. Daniel was also very helpful in recommending a contractor for the basement finishes and worked closely with the contractor to coordinate the installation of our pex radiator lines and heated floors even though our contractor wasn't scheduled to start work until after the underpinning was complete. All in all even though we ran into all sorts of issues when we went into the walls of our house we had an excellent experience working with Daniel and his team. I should also commend his Project Manager Josh and his Foreman Edgar. Two very stand up individuals who were on site every day at 7am and were very respectful of my property and accommodating to my young toddler. I would highly recommend True North Underpinning and believe their services are worth every penny.

I called LB heating and air-conditioning because they were the company the previous owners had used. My house is currently under renovation and the boiler had shut off for an unknown reason. The technician they sent was very rude to me and would not answer my questions right away. He spoke down to me and kept asking if my husband was around so he could explain how the furnace works...like me as a woman could not understand the mechanics. He told me that multiple things on my boiler would need replacing and that I would have to drain my entire system. I had told him that I was getting an HVAC specialist to redo all my pipes in a couple of days and he still drew out the service call even though the safety switch was tripped by the construction. I later discussed what happened with the HVAC specialist and the safety was tripped by a negative airflow in the basement redirecting exhaust fumes. It was a very simple problem with simple solution. It took him three minutes to explain this to me and it took the technician 1.5 hours plus a diagnosis for more work. I called to complain after and the owner was very defensive and justified the technicians behaviour as being a consequence of his age and upbringing. Not acceptable. Needless to say I would not recommend this company

We called Amosite during the demolition stage of our basement reno. We had found some asbestos insulated old radiator pipes and we had to get rid of it before demo work could continue. I called Amosite and they were at the house the same day to provide a quote for the work. They cam back two days later and had everything gone in no time. The crew they sent was very professional and were even kind enough to help me when the disposal bin was being removed from my property (with all the demo garbage...not asbestos of course). I would recommend they to any one. Very happy with the work.

We hired The Small Project Company to build a fence in out backyard. From the beginning we had problems. The person who did our fence had clearly never done such a project before. The posts he installed were too short and he had to glue extensions on the top. The nails he used were too weak and could not support the wood...and this was only the beginning. The workmanship was so poor we had to ask them back SEVEN times to redo the work. The person we were dealing with was cordial but took no ownership in this poor workmanship. A year later we have to replace the whole thing because it is falling apart. It was a huge waste of $2000

We hired Matthew to install custom closets in our older home in Bloor west village. From the moment we engaged Matthew we were impressed with his honesty and professionalism. He gave us three options for designs and we were able to select the option that best suited our budget. We also had a baby on the way and he worked well within our short timeline. We have had the closet for over 6 months and I am still in awe over the quality and extra space the designs he created. We are already thinking of our next project with him. I would recommend Matthew to anyone looking for any custom built in work