jc in Toronto

Connected with Jocelyn finally and made a date for last Thursday to do the work. Boys were on time, the locate was fast and easy, and the coffee was hot. Now, I looked around and got some other quotes, and they're all about the same. This tells me it's not an uncommon problem, and that these firms can pretty much tell what needs to be done just by looking. But you can't know what's under there until you start digging - some jobs will go easily, some less so. I guess it all works out in the end, moneywise, so happy to pay the "going rate" as it were. Well, I think mine was one of those jobs where things went a little tougher than normal. Getting through the driveway concrete was job one and that took almost a half day. Scribing the punch-out with a grinding blade wasn't sufficient, and they needed to call in a big gas-powered diamond blade to get things going. After that, it was pretty smooth I think, but the job went into Day Two. That was a Friday though, and the weather stayed good; everyone was relaxed and worked smoothly to get 'er done. Nice to see safety culture and good safety behaviours followed through the job, too. Backfill went quickly and the gravel top has settled only a little bit. We knew we'd need to patch this somehow ourselves, so looking for any reccos to get that done (?). Pictures tell the tale here, from start to finish. Good crew, good clean-up, top-class attitude - fun to have these guys on the job.

in 2009 (yes, three years ago), Chris laid up the squirrel elevator after the'd come through a neglected/failed power roof vent and set up house. Whole family. Made a mess. Chris was on time, nice and tidy, great job, not a peep from a critter since then. Rather than just pop in a new power vent and call it a day, he urged me to consider a honkin' big mesh BOX over this vent. Big I-dunno-what-gauge wire, fashioned into a cage-shaped contraption and screwed into the roof over the vent. That'll do 'er. Well, we're a few years on now, and my son just told me he's hearing things *upstairs*. We don't have an "upstairs" if you know what I mean. Are they back? Standby until morning..... Post-storm UPDATE: got up there before the rain and wind, cleaned out the gutters, and had a look-see at Chris' work - still going strong. So, if we've got critters, they got in some other way. And, if we've got critters, I'm calling Chris again!

Home from a vacation - laundry, showers, life re-starts. Seemed our drain line had other ideas and we were on the phone at 8pm, Labour Day Monday. First to the City. They came out pretty quick in fact but declined to help. (Their tree sits 10 ft away and we've seen this before, but the City needed a clear determination before they'd do a thing.... OK, fine, but credit to the fellow for coming out quickly on a holiday). So, the next call was to New Canadian - the one with the kid on the trucks!! By this time, it's 10pm. Tech (Jocelyn) was here within in the hour and we were back in business an hour later. Above and beyond the call I should add. A real pro who figured out the problem quickly, but solving it required a couple of snakes - one inside the house at the stack - then a look-see with the camera. Sure enough, the fix we needed, but just temporary. We'll hopefully be having New Canadian back to do the full job as soon as we can. Clean, tidy, polite, took the money and very well-earned it was. Let you know how Part II goes...!