Angela

The faucet in our bathtub failed unexpectedly one morning. I found Strong Plumbing on Homestars and contacted Valentin on the strength of his online reviews. Am I ever glad I did! Valentin got back to me right away, asked for pictures via text to help clarify the issue, and then spent quite a lot of time trying to source our original fixtures to see if they could be repaired rather than replaced. When it became clear they had to be replaced, he then thought of a creative solution that meant we didn't have to break the tiles in our shower to install the new fixtures. He arrived exactly as scheduled, carried out the work in a careful and professional manner, and gave us some very helpful advice on a couple of other issues elsewhere in the house. The price for the work was very reasonable. We were truly impressed with Valentin's care and commitment to his work. We have found our 'go-to' plumber and will never call anyone else. We recommend him most highly!

I found Luc on Homestars, and the glowing reviews encouraged me to contact him about our roof. The reviews are not exaggerated. We were so impressed every step of the way with Luc, Ben and their crew. Luc is very easy to reach (including via e-mail). I was also highly impressed with his speed of response- a number of other companies didn't return our messages for days, or wouldn't bother to show up. Luc was able to turn up within a day of my first getting in touch with him. He provides detailed quotes, with absolutely no surprises, and the price is very competitive. He will talk you through the entire process and answer every question. His son, Ben, and his crew do the actual roof replacement- it was another vote of confidence to know from the beginning of the process who would be in charge, and to know that this was a highly experienced crew. They kept us informed about when the work would start, and how it was progressing. They worked quickly and efficiently, and the new roof looks fantastic. They also took exceptional care with our gardens. We were away when they finished the roof, and looking at the ground you would never have known they'd been there when we returned- the yard was spotless. On top of everything else, Luc and Ben are just really lovely people- very friendly and true professionals. Replacing a roof is a major investment, but we feel confident that we made the right choice. We will be recommending Luc and Ben wholeheartedly to all of our friends and neighbors, and if we ever need a new roof again, we won't call anyone else.

We needed someone to look after our gardens while we were overseas for four months this summer. I contacted a number of companies on Homestars. Darla was very quick to respond, happy to be flexible with number of visits, amount of time spent in the garden, what to prioritize, etc. She was more than happy to try to work within a prearranged budget, and the hourly rate was very competitive. We hired The Garden Girls and went away. I was a bit nervous to leave the gardens because we landscaped the front in 2011 and it is still getting established. There is a lot of bindweed in the front and we really needed it to be kept at bay. I really shouldn't have worried at all. Darla kept in contact with me, sent us photos of the garden after some of their visits, and was extremely understanding when due to our not-entirely-observant house sitter I thought they had missed a visit. The garden looked immaculate upon our return- better than it ever had when we're in charge! Darla also managed to keep under budget, which was greatly appreciated, even while waging war on the bindweed (and it is really bad). I can say with confidence that we would recommend The Garden Girls to everyone we know, and we're already planning to enlist their help for when we're overseas again (for a shorter time) next summer. Thank you so much, Darla and the other Girls!

We had a horrible Manitoba Maple in our back yard that looked like a Medusa- branches sprouting everywhere. It was leaning on our shed and was close to our roof. We contacted Shady Lanes originally to get an estimate (they were recommended to us by a friend who works in landscaping and groundskeeping). The process of getting the estimate and organizing the permit to have the tree removed was very easy. They kept us informed of the progress of our application and once it had been approved, they called to schedule an appointment to have it removed. A five-person crew came one day to take it down, and then a two-person crew came on two other days to do the stumping. All crew members were punctual and professional. We are overjoyed to have this nuisance tree removed and would absolutely use Shady Lane again in the future.

In April 2012 we discovered that we had slow water seepage in our basement along one wall. We contacted Clarke Basement because of their reviews on Homestars, and we paid them to give us an unbiased assessment. Originally we were not planning to give our business to the same company that gave us the assessment (as we were worried about a company upselling what we needed) but Clarke's solution turned out to be the one that was recommended by other companies as well, their quote was very competitive, their approach was very professional, and they spent an enormous amount of time (two+ hours) one day explaining to my husband exactly what the problem was and how it could best be fixed. Making an appointment was easy. They turned up when scheduled and worked very efficiently. They helped us through the process of getting a rebate back from the city for the sump pump installation. In short, their service, work ethic, professionalism and knowledge was nothing short of stellar, and we would wholeheartedly recommend them to any of our friends (although we hope we have seen the last of our basement woes and won't need their services again!)

We needed some wood as an emergency backup for the winter. We found Glenn on Homestars. He was very easy to get in touch with, explained all of our options, and delivered the wood quite quickly. His prices are higher than what is currently listed on Homestars, but we would definitely use him again.

We contacted Aubrey because our dryer was leaving scorch/rust marks on our clothes. Aubrey was able to diagnose the problem and did a thorough repair and service, even though the dryer was in an inconvenient location. The only reason I didn't rate this service as a '10' was that it was very difficult to get from Aubrey an estimate of the actual cost of the repair/service. That said, he did a great job, and we would definitely use him again.

We recently renovated our basement, and needed to carpet two rooms. We initially contacted Mark because of the strength of his reviews on Homestars. We were very impressed with Mark's quick response, his willingness to come and see us, and his knowledge of what would be the best options for our basement (which already had tiles laid down). We were under some time pressure as the birth of our first child was fast approaching, but Mark was able to arrange to get the job done in time, and was willing to change things at short notice should that have proved necessary. Al did a great job on the installation, and the basement looks great! We would definitely use Mark again for any future carpeting/flooring decisions.

We were very pleased with the job done by the Duct Cleaning Specialists. We found the company on Homestars, and when I called Paul he was able to give me a very clear sense of what the process would involve and how much it would cost. We were able to make an appointment for a few days later. Paul and his associate, Steve, turned up on time and worked quickly and professionally during the entire job. They took great care to keep an eye on our cats and left the house as neat and tidy as they had found it. Our ducts had been cleaned before we bought the house, in theory, but they had been badly neglected, and the amount of detritus Paul and Steve removed was truly astonishing. They also cleaned our dryer vent and our downstairs bathroom fan for free. Paul also made sure to point out to us a couple of problems with our furnace and hot water heater (one quite serious), which we would never have known about otherwise. In short, it was a wonderful experience working with them from start to finish, and I would not hesitate to recommend them to our friends.

We found HotWire on homestars, and were impressed by their glowing reviews. It was very easy to request a quote via email, and Hanna got back to us almost immediately. We were able to book the technicians to come out to our house within a few days of first contacting the company. They arrived on time and did a great job- efficient and tidy. Everything was exactly as expected- no surprises, and they were very good about touching base with us about our expectations to make sure the job was done as we wanted it. We will definitely use them for any future electrical work.