Scott from Ottawa

My name is Scott. When my wife and I originally bought our house we assumed we would have plenty of space for the family we were planning to start. As our family grew in number, and the kids grew in size, we quickly outgrew our space. We love our home, and for us moving was not an option. Having a bungalow with a large unfinished basement, a basement renovation was the obvious solution to expanding our livable space. In our search for a contractor to help us move forward with our project, we were fortunate to find OGC online. We had never dealt with OGC before, but based on the many positive reviews we found online, we decided to contact them through their website. Very quickly someone from OGC called us back. They listened to our renovation objectives, and explained how OGC could work with us to quickly turn around a project proposal which would include a few different options along with detailed budgetary quotes. We were especially impressed with the organized and formalized process used by OGC to take a project through the proposal, design and build phases. For us this was a big differentiator from other contractors we had spoken to. Going into the design process with OGC, we had a fairly good idea of what we wanted to accomplish with our basement renovation. We knew we would need a bedroom, bathroom, family room, play area and an office. We also wanted to open up our staircase leading down into the basement. The first step in the design process involved a visit to the house from Brent, who was the OGC Design Manager assigned to our project. Brent spent a lot of time with us; listening, asking questions, and taking measurements of our basement. Within a few days of that visit, Brent contacted us to invite us back to OGC’s office so that we could review the floor plans and 3D model for the proposed design. During the design review, Brent walked us through the proposed design for our new space. As we reviewed the design, we were able to propose minor changes (extend a wall, move a door, add some custom bookshelves, etc.), and Brent was able to quickly and skillfully incorporate these changes into the 3D model. Instantly, we were able to see 3D visualizations of proposed changes, and quickly make a determination as to whether or not a particular idea worked well or did not work at all. This helped to make the design review, and the ensuing exchange of design ideas, an extremely efficient and highly collaborative process. By the time we were finished with that review session, we felt very confident that we had the design we wanted. At this point in our renovation project (after completing the design phase and just starting on the build phase), our experience with OGC has been an extremely positive one. All of the OGC staff we have dealt with has been very professional, and genuinely invested in making our project successful. I would definitely recommend OGC to anyone looking to start the design of a home renovation project, and would definitely engage with OGC again myself, for any future design projects.