Amy in Davisville

We hired JSpec to replace the shingle on the front part of our roof. We have one of those 1920s Toronto semis with a flat roof at the back and a slanted roof at the front. We had hired JSpec to replace the back part a few years ago (they did a great job) and then we put off doing the front until it started leaking this winter. Justin replied quickly to my panicked midwinter email, and he and the crew were here to do the repair as soon as it got warm enough (before the hyacinths even sprouted). They did everything in a day and left my front yard tidier than it was before they got here. The roof looks great and Justin is a pleasure to work with. If I had any more roofs to repair, I would hire JSpec again!

I ordered a prefab shed from Outdoor Living Today through Home Depot. OLT recommended the Shed Installer Guys to build the shed. Matt called back right away in response to my email with a very reasonable quote. Matt and his two builders were respectful and tidy, and they did a good and careful job building the shed. They also installed a rail tie foundation for the shed (they also offer concrete pad foundations), trimmed a tree branch that was hanging over the site (with my permission), caulked the shed roof to make it waterproof, installed a cedar lattice skirt to keep the critters out, and, finally, they did a great job cleaning up the site when they stopped work. All in all, I am very happy with their work and would not hesitate to recommend The Shed Installer Guys.

We had a windowsill replaced ($500) and tuck pointing done ($1500) throughout the main floor exterior of our 90-year-old house. The workers were polite and friendly, and the work was done within a day. They left everything very clean and removed the old windowsill and almost all the dust.

Our 1920's semi still has the original floors, and they have been sanded down and refinished so much that there isn't enough wood left to sand them down again. They were getting stained and worn, but we're not ready to replace them, so I called TipTop for a consultation. Andrei came by the house to have a look, and he said they could clean off the old finish and put on a new coat of polyurethane without sanding down the wood at all. He also said it would be possible to only refinish the high-traffic areas, and not worry about the floors which are covered with rugs or heavy furniture which we never move. That made me happy because I didn't want to have to move all my furniture to who-knows-where for a day! We just shifted stuff from the floor onto the carpets for the day. The day of the refinishing, Andrei and the guys helped move some of the bigger furniture before we left. Andrei texted me to let me know when they were finished, and what time it would be safe to come home the next day. When we got home the floors looked fantastic - clean and even and shiny. There was hardly any dust, and it didn't smell too much. There's a bit of a new-house smell, but I'm still kind of enjoying it. (Better than old-house smell!) The only drawback is I've turned into one of those "take your shoes off!" moms. I'm still really happy with the floors. I've started walking around in bare feet so I can enjoy my beautiful floors with all my senses!

My neighbour was getting her basement waterproofed by Royal Work, so I thought we should as well. They gave us a little discount because the houses are so close together (so they could do both houses with one trench). Anatoliy was polite, explained the job clearly, and provided a professional quote. The team was punctual and polite and they left the site tidy and clean. Anatoliy also helped with the paperwork for the city reimbursement for the sump pump. So far the basement is dry, and we're ready for the next big storm!

When I woke up in the morning I heard a Niagara Falls-like sound from outside. Hoping it wasn't coming from my house, I investigated to find that my hose faucet pipe was gushing water under my deck (where it then leaked into the basement, but that's another problem for another contractor). I tried and failed to reach another plumber, and finally tried DrainWorks at around 12:30 pm. The person who answered the telephone was friendly and efficient, and she arranged for someone to come to my house between 2 and 4. Chris arrived on time, quickly diagnosed the problem (burst pipe due to freezing, although I don't know why it waited until June to finally give up the ghost) and the cause (no inside shutoff valve to the hose faucet, shoddy plumbing when hose faucet was installed). He gave me an estimate to fix the burst pipe and also install valves on that and my other hose faucet so this wouldn't happen again. He even gave me an instruction sheet on how to shut off the faucets in fall. The work was completed quickly and (so far as I can tell) correctly, and Chris left everything clean and tidy. He was friendly, good-humoured and patient with my four-year-old's questions. All in all a very satisfying end to a stressful day.