Home Improvement People Inc.

If you are looking for people who answer their phones, stand behind their work, do everything to code, and smile as well - call The Home Improvement People. I and more importanly my wife were so please with our front hall reno. The design, ideas and workmanship were just terrific. We will definitely be calling them again and telling family and friends. Thank you to the crew who worked in our home. I think i still have one of your tape measures. Come get it and have a beer.

Hi Dan,
My basement in Toronto was recently finished by the Home Improvement People and I wanted to thank Elia Touma and his crew for their excellent work.

My wife and I were quite scared to hire a contractor after hearing a lot of horror stories about jobs that were not done correctly, took forever to complete or were not completed at all. I was surprised the very first day when supplies were delivered and framing started right away. This certainly gave me confidence with the Home Improvement People.

As the work continued, Elia was there every step of the way to answer questions and/or deal with any problems we had. He was extremely accommodating to all of our issues. He even return our call on a Sunday!

The trades were very professional and did a great job. I especially like the fact that there was an expert in each field coming in to do the job, not just one person doing everything. The Plumber, Tile installer and Carpet Installers were fantastic. The Painter and finishing person did a great job and is an extremely hard worker. One day he had started at 8:30am and did not leave until 10:30pm!

I was very impressed that Elia himself with the help of his crew actually helped to move my freezer and washer and dryer back in place. That certainly shows the dedication that he has to his job and to making the client happy. Also, I appreciate the extra things Elia did for me, such as mounting my TV bracket and removing the patio stones from the side of the house.

Elia always either answered my phone call or called me back right away. That certainly gave me confidence that I hired the right company.

The basement looks fantastic and my wife and I are very pleased and we look forward to doing more business with the Home Improvement People. In particular, we will be calling Elia. Well done!

For those interested, here are some comments about our recent experience withe The Home Improvement People (THIP):
- the kitchen renovation (including removing a wall, new cabinets, an island, new countertops and new flooring) ended up taking over a year to complete after signing the contract. (For some reason still unexplained it took over 3 months to get the building permit from the City.)
- project schedule, tasks and timing were never provided (despite repeated requests)
- status updates from the contractor seemed to be limited and generally were responses to our requests for "what's happening?"
- understandably, work was performed by different trades who appeared to be sub-contractors to THIP, however not all of these trades appeared to take pride in their work (e.g., sinks improperly installed, cabinets dented / dinged, floors uneven and glue tracked liberally over floor etc.)
- we had to spend an inordinate amount of time pointing out unacceptable defects in workmanship (which I thought would have been caught by the contractor)
- when pointing out deficiencies we were told that we were making THIP jump through hoops to get paid (there was a pervasive attitude that THIP should get paid for work that was poorly done)
- although promised before the contract was signed that any issues discovered during the renovation would be THIP's risk, this turned out not to be the case (we were asked for more money once demolition had been done)
- mistakenly, we thought drawings of the kitchen cabinets (part of the contract) would be adequate - in hindsight it would have been better to have complete design drawings created (this would have highlighted some of the missing design elements, e.g., no handy power plugs on island)
- it would have made sense to clearly articulate make/type of all products to be supplied and used by THIP rather than the "standard builder's samples" referred to in the contract (e.g., had never heard of Embassy Hardwood and was a little concerned by spelling mistakes on the packaging)

On our renovation, we spent, what is for us, a great deal of money, only to have a kitchen that (admittedly) looks nice but on further review is below expectations (e.g., floors that are un-even and squeak more than before, a "Caesarstone" countertop that sits on plywood that is clearly visible etc.). More troubling is the feeling we ended up with that THIP were much more focused on their money than on understanding our requirements and delivering a quality job.

So after our renovation would we use THIP for further work in our house - absolutely not.

I would love to tell the world that my experience with the Home Improvement People was absolutely great! It totally renewed my faith in being able to complete home renovations without worrying about hidden costs, unreliable contractors, and projects that take forever to complete.

I have a beautiful kitchen now that I absolutely love! Anyone to whom I've shown pictures can't believe how great it looks, and that it was completed on budget and on time.

I would definitely recommend the Home Improvement people to my family and friends.
Thanks again!