Terry L in Toronto

Budget Blinds of Southeast Toronto provided and installed roller blinds and drapes for our condo. I was completely satisfied with the product and service. Karen made very helpful suggestions. The blinds were a bit tricky because the windows were not perfectly square, but the installation team (Ephraim and TK) arranged for the necessary adjustments. The hardware used for the shears is impressive, they glide effortlessly.

Purple Properties renovated our condo over the summer of 2021 and we are extremely pleased with the results. We initially intended to just renovate the kitchen and both bathrooms, but ended up replacing the flooring, all doors and handles, baseboards, door frames, levelled the popcorn ceilings, painted throughout, and finishing touches (new electrical plates, etc.) As a result, the job was quite a bit more involved and costly than originally planned, but I am very happy that we did everything we did because the end product has a fully finished look that is both elegant and comfortable. The PP team did an excellent job of synthesizing my tastes with the recommendations they brought to the table based on their expertise. Rowan in particular has a gift for seeing opportunities, such as raising the kitchen ceiling that transformed a tiny kitchen into just a lovely space that is not the least bit claustrophobic. Aesthetically, all the proportions of things throughout the condo are spot-on, and at the same time the space is remarkably functional. I had some idiosyncratic design needs, partially related to getting on in age and the need to maximize storage, and Rowan and his team made them work beautifully. PP staff consulted me regularly to make sure my needs were being met despite being under tight time pressures. Our job had to be rescheduled after being delayed due to covid shut-downs in our building, but Rowan made us a priority as soon as we got the go ahead despite PP’s other commitments. Rowan and all his staff worked very hard to meet the time limitations set by our condo management, and throughout the project the whole PP team were courteous, professional, resourceful, and very attentive to detail. All were a real pleasure to work with. So often in the past with smaller jobs and other contractors I have found over time that corners were cut, but, in contrast, I keep finding little things that show the extra care that was taken to ensure a high level of quality. I would recommend Purple Properties without hesitation. We never imagined living in such a beautiful home, thanks to everyone at PP!

I regret having to leave such a poor review because the sales person was excellent, and the installation team we had the first time that we dealt with Omega was great. But the lead installer this second time was very rude and caused a lot of damage to our property. He had an attitude from the moment he arrived, maskless in the midst of the pandemic, and said if he could not find parking he was leaving. We live in the city and were not asked to arrange parking, all other tradespeople we have hired have faced the same situation and always found an easy solution. We had cleared more than ample space for them to work, but they somehow managed to get caulking on our bedframe, leaving quite a mess. Outside, there was caulking in several locations on our expensive natural stone patio, obviously no tarp had been laid to avoid damage. They also turned on a radio outside without asking permission, and blared music even when they were nowhere near the radio. The behaviour of the lead installer seemed motivated by a desire to be as obnoxious and belligerent as possible. Had we not been in a difficult position (our house was about to be put on the market) I would have asked him to leave. For the benefit of Omega windows, the second installer was fine, and tried to compensate for the lead’s rudeness with courtesy. With respect to post-project customer service, I contacted the company at their request to confirm being their customer, provide the name of my contact, and discuss my complaints. I also provided photos of the damage. My contact person there suggested that I should have contacted him at the first sign of trouble so that they could send a different installer. I think the company would better serve their customers by acknowledging complaints as opposed to suggesting the customer is somehow responsible.

We needed to move the furniture we had left behind for staging from our house to our condo after the house sold. It’s all been said before - Anna’s so good-natured and great at organizing everything pre-move, and the day of went off without a hitch. Our estimate was for 7 hours but it only took 4, so we were only billed for 4. Hire these guys and leave your worries behind at your old place!

Service provided by Protection Plus was excellent. Steve who came to assess and provide estimate understood exactly what I wanted and had straightforward, practical solutions that I could easily understand. I was in a hurry so they provided Saturday service. Jason who did the installation and taught me how to use the software was terrific. He persevered through difficulties associated with the Saturday installation and was good natured throughout. Both he and Steve exemplified professionalism and expertise while being friendly and patient. I recommend them unreservedly. Everything they installed works perfectly and I have full confidence in their work as well as peace of mind. Price was also very reasonable for products/services provided and competitive compared to the other quote I received.

Kiya responded promptly to my service request and came the next business day to complete the work. He is competent and very easy to get along with, honest, affordable, and was patient when an unexpected problem popped up. I would recommend him and hope to have him do work for me again. He even provided me with a referral for some renovation work I need done. Thank you Kiya!

This is at least the fourth time Peter has repaired an appliance for me. He is reliable, honest, highly competent, and reasonably priced. It is always a pleasure to deal with him. This repair took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, and Peter took all recommenced precautions to ensure our mutual protection, once again demonstrating genuine respect for his clients.

We needed to replace our kitchen counter and backsplash, nothing too fancy as we will be selling our house in the next couple of years and it will likely be torn down for a new build. Gord and Glen came up with practical and affordable solutions. The finished work looks really great, workmanship is excellent. We have no hesitation in considering them for the more extensive and complex kitchen and bathroom renovations we will need in the condo where we’re moving. They are great to work with, easygoing, honest, good problem solvers. They show up when they say they will, and came in well within timeline and budget. A pleasure to work with!

Although parts are no longer available for my 30+ year-old washing machine, Peter kindly agreed to come and have a look. He had serviced my dryer a couple of year ago, so I already knew him to be very experienced and professional -- obvious expertise, courteous, reliable, etc. But he outdid himself this time by actually building a replacement for the broken part out of materials I had on hand, and the washer is running great! He's got a real knack for problem-solving. I'm sure he won't be able to do that in every instance, but it was quite impressive, as was the extra effort he put in to provide exceptional customer service.

Daryl and his crew cut up and removed an enormous tree branch which a wind storm brought down in our back yard. They did an extremely prompt and professional job. We recommend them completely. John and Terry

I had 3 wooden porch pillars I wanted taken away. After using Homestars to request quotes from 2 junk disposal companies I was prompted by Homestars to use their automated feature to send my request for quotes to similar businesses (I didn't have to choose them individually) and it worked very well. I received 4 quotes and this company was the most competitive. They came at the agreed upon time and their staff were friendly and professional. I am happy to recommend them.

The work was completed in the agreed upon timeframe, although installers more often than not arrived several hours late or not at all on a given day. The carpet installer did a good job of cutting the carpet to the somewhat irregular perimeter of the rooms and over rough concrete that was not very level in some places (the installation was a “loose lay”, we wanted to easily lift the carpet in the event of basement flooding). The vinyl proposed for the thresholds (into the first room and where the 2 rooms met) was very flimsy and in one case was too short for the width of the doorway. At $125 for these I declined installation. In fairness, Tony the owner did offer to have the installer come back and put in a metal threshold for free, but by then I was tired of waiting for people to show up and thought I was better off leaving well enough alone, I found there was opportunity for misunderstanding when communicating with Tony. Another concern regarding the carpeting was a $95 charge for "Template the size" (separate from the installation charge). When I questioned this charge, Tony tried in a roundabout way to justify it, but ultimately withdrew it and further reduced the overall charge by $25. The young man who installed the tile floor in the bathroom was very well mannered and well intentioned. But this company boasts "expert installation" and I would suggest that he has not yet reached this level of skill. He did not use spacers, so there is some minor misalignment among the tiles. The overall look of the job is diminished in my opinion because both the tiles and the grout are white (giving the floor a painted look, and in places the terra cotta sides of the tiles show above the white grout, creating a problem that could have been avoided with darker grout). I asked for the white tiles but not the white grout, I thought he was going to use a darker colour, and when I questioned the colour during installation he said it would dry darker. Tony suggested darkening the grout using a sealer, but I pointed out the grout used was supposedly self-sealing. He also suggested scraping away the top surface of the grout and topping it up with a darker colour, but again I worried this might make things worse as opposed to better. The most unfortunate aspect of the installation is that the tile is about a half inch too low for the toilet. I asked both Tony and the installer several times if they knew how to level the tile to the toilet fixture, and they assured me they did, but something in their tone told me they were not sure, and my fears were confirmed. I gather from the plumber who re-installed the toilet that you want to err on the side of making the tile a little high as you can easily increase the size of the gasket. But since the tile is so low we have had a hard time shimming it so that it doesn't rock. Had I paid a bargain price for this work I might be more forgiving, but I actually think the price was high.

DrainWorks replaced 45’ of deteriorating clay drains under our basement floor with PVC pipe, and made several smaller plumbing improvements (replace kitchen stack and bathtub trap, add kitchen stack cleanout, etc.) We had put this work off for years (and spent a lot of money clearing tree roots from our drains) because we thought it would be a big inconvenience. But DrainWorks completed this work (which involved digging trenches in our basement, replacing the pipe, and filling the trenches with concrete, plus the additional smaller improvements) in less than 2 days. They were very committed to inconveniencing us as little as possible and our water use was only interrupted for a couple of hours. They left the work area as clean as anyone could reasonably expect. Everyone we dealt with was courteous and professional. Armando was the lead person on the job and I very much appreciated feeling I could trust him to make any additional repairs he thought were appropriate. He communicated the details of the work clearly and everything went pretty much as we were told it would. Also, my house is very old and sometimes contractors moan and groan about the challenges of working on such an old house but there was none of this with DrainWorks. The cost, relative to other home repairs I have had done, seemed very reasonable given the scope of the work. It’s only been a few days, and I am no plumbing expert, but everything looks great. I recommend this company without hesitation.

Peter replaced the parts in my 20 year-old dyer that were starting to wear out and it is running like new. Peter is very knowledgeable, courteous, professional and reliable. The cost was very reasonable for the service provided.