Hsg Consulting Inc.

We hired HSG Consulting to renovate our main floor ( kitchen, dining room and living rooms room, including stairs to the upper floor), our main washroom, and to create stairs to access our basement.

We spent well over $100 000. For that kind of money, one would expect the high quality workmanship they advertise. The consultation part started in November 2013, work started February 2014, more then 6 months after the the start, they refused to honour and complete our contract. We had to hire a lawyer, something we had never had to do before. They will probably say we expected too much. We expected what we had agreed on and the quality of work they advertise.

Since we had withheld the last payment, on the advise of our lawyer, we kept part of that amount to cover the costs of having professionals finish what they had refused to complete.

We would not recommend their services to anyone.

After a great start, we had to face the fact that we would uncover mistakes on a almost daily basis.

We will list some of the mistakes below. Even today, we still have to hire people to correct the poor workmanship.

To anyone getting renovations done, get a clause added to your contract that "all work has to meet or exceed building codes." Assuming that a contractor would do so is not enough
Glad we did that.
Also, it should be stated that the contractor is responsible for "any collateral damages".

And take pictures of everything that is being done. Best proofs you will ever have.

Confirm every detail and complain by email.
We had to print some when we were accused of changing our mind on things that had been agreed on.

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List of mistakes... Only documented ones will be listed to avoid defamation lawsuit.

Regular drywall was used instead of fireproof. Had to be completely redone.

Pot lights had to be moved at least twice after the ceiling was completed because of poor measurements.( cabinets were going to cover some of them)

Kitchen island had to be moved off centre to compensate for faulty measurements ( and plumbing extended to fit the new placement)

We paid extra to get the inside of our cabinets done the same finish as the outside... They were going to leave the inside of the doors white, they had to be redone.

Made the cabinets around our fridge to small to properly incorporate it. Our fridge is a standard 28" deep. They argued the fridge was too big, and door would not open until we showed them otherwise. Part of their solution was to "tape" the water pipe to the wall to gain space behind the fridge.

They refused to install a railing for the basement stairs they created. That left the stairs not passing inspection. ( we had the city inspector come again to confirm) They wanted extra $ despite their drawings and our contract.

Some walls had to be sanded and painted 3 times because it was never done to satisfaction.

Hardwood floor was installed with scratched, stained and split boards. It was also installed leaving gaps between planks. They refunded the full cost of the floor instead of correcting the work.
To fix some of the gaps in the floor, they used a light brown putty on a dark floor.
When we said it was unacceptable, they took the putty out with a needle and used a black marker to cover scratches that were done.

They changed the full shower system. 4 bodysprays, hand held shower and rain shower.
It now has to be redone as none of the plumbing was properly secured in place. That left us with knobs pushed inside the wall and bodysprays popping out the wall. On the same system, some of the components shoot colder water then the others and they blame the water pressure. A problem we did not have with the previous system.

By contract they were supposed to match our existing mosaic border in the washroom but did not.
Again by contract, they were supposed to match the existing granite in the washroom but did not (did not even get the edges cut to match the existing granite)

We resized a window, by contract they were to match the exterior house siding but did not.

They added support 2X4's in the basements, damaged the ceiling and carpet doing so and refused to fix their damages.

There is more, but we are sure those give a pretty good idea of what we had to go thru during our two months renovation that took six.