Kat in Edmonton

We hired Red Seal to build a fence, two gates, a small deck and a trellis. I can't say enough terrible things about our experience. To this day I don't know why we had such a different experience from others who have reviewed them. Whether you agree with this review or not, if you choose to use Eddy I STRONGLY recommend that you get a written CONTRACT with timelines, deliverables, materials to be used and consequences for missed timelines. Since he is taking deposits on work, he is a prepaid contractor and it is his responsibility under City of Edmonton regulations. Please read up on prepaid contractors. I also strongly recommend that you are present onsite when work is being done or watch through a camera to make sure errors can be caught AS they occur, if you have problems like we did. Once the wrong fence posts are cemented in, it's pretty hard to undo it. :) On to our issues ... We put down a non-refundable deposit on our job, which tied us to Eddy. Once he had our deposit, we started to have problems. Our start date was slipped by months, and once it started the crews were only present intermittently (it was a pretty small job, should have taken 1-2 weeks max once started). Overall it took over a YEAR for the work to get completed - and by complete I mean we literally GAVE UP on getting what Eddy was originally hired to do. Just a few of many examples of the issues we had: - They installed 4x6 fence posts instead of 6x6 posts (!!) - They installed fence boards side-by-side instead of overlapping. When we called to resolve the issue, we were told by Eddy that we had asked for that, even though our quote clearly stated "to residential specifications provided" which we had sent to Eddy as an email attachment. They did eventually fix this. - We asked for a certain step design. Holly insisted that it wasn't possible and that "Eddy had confirmed it" (even though it was what we had originally agreed to). After I spent a weekend learning about step construction to prove it was possible, and asked for them to fix the steps, Eddy pushed back and implied I was being a problem client. - Holly forgot to install a gate insert that we had reminded her of on multiple occasions (we even left it out in the yard to remind her). When we told her she had to fix the issue, she CUT THROUGH THE GATE SUPPORT to install the insert, affecting the structural integrity of the gate. - All gates are crooked. Eddy never fixed them. - The concrete posts set by Holly for the trellis were so poorly done that we were able to EASILY push one over using one hand. We ended up resetting two out of five posts and finishing the trellis ourselves. - Our deck started to sag after a few months, and another contractor found that it was missing lag bolts needed for support. The 2x4 railings have only one screw at each end rather than so they twist. I could go on and on. The worst part was the gaslighting, the transparent excuses and the clear disrespect. They crews can't come because it's raining. Then a week later the crews come in the rain. Saying "you asked me to do this" when I clearly didn't. Too cold to complete work this season ... you will be our first client in the spring ... we don't see them until late June ... We felt like either Eddy underbid the project and therefore was treating it like an afterthought, or there was a personality conflict that caused them to treat us so unprofessionally. Our neighbours were equally unhappy with Eddy's work (they paid for their share of the fence) but Eddy never returned their calls either. We did end up filing a complaint with the City since they weren't following the requirements of a prepaid contractor, and this was the only recourse we felt we had (Eddy simply stopped replying to texts or phone calls). Please just make sure you get everything in writing, and if you feel like you're being gaslighted, you probably are ...