True North Underpinning

To make use of the basement in our 1920s era home, we needed to have the floor lowered. Among the three contractors who came in to give us estimates, only Daniel from True North took the time to walk me through the options (underpinning, benching, doing half the basement), explain the process (getting engineering drawings, getting the building permit, what they do with the existing sewer pipes, where the excavation waste would go, underpinning insurance), identify possible problems and follow up within days with a detailed estimate. We also got the chance to visit a job in progress before signing a contract.

Apart from a couple of small extra costs that came up as the work progressed, mostly related to extra depth to accommodate in-floor heating pipes in the new concrete and and insulation blanket, the estimate was spot-on and the work was finished a few days ahead of schedule. The crew from True North (headed up by Leo) were at the house early every day from the first to the last day of the job and always worked a full day. Daniel from True North was available to answer questions and co-ordinate his company’ s work with the HVAC work done by someone else. He referred us to an excellent stonemason who enlarged our basement windows and installed new stone sills. He was also willing to speak to another contractor who later came in to polish the new concrete floor after it was laid.

This final comment is not a criticism of True North but is only a piece of advice to anyone who is planning on polishing a newly laid concrete floor: take more care than we did to ensure that the concrete is the best type for polishing. Daniel from True North made it clear that he had no experience with his floors being polished but after his conversations with the floor polisher, it seemed that everything was in order. As it turns out, even though the floor was fine for use with the usual floor coverings, the concrete was not optimal for polishing and this limited our options for the finish we could achieve with polishing. It will all turn out well - that will be another review of another company - but we should have been more involved to ensure that the concrete mix used was better suited for polishing.

But this does not detract from the excellent work that True North did and I give them the strongest possible recommendation.

These guys really helped us out of a jam. We just bought and gutted a 1910 home and discovered that the whole weight of the house had been sitting on floating joists for decades. To make matters worse, the first contractor we hired took 50% of our money and did very little work over 3 weeks time - at which point we fired him - about 15% of the job done. Daniel from True North received our SOS call Dec 22nd, called us back within hours and had an appt booked for the next day. From the start, he put our fears to rest. Already a little burned on trusting contractors, he walked through the job site, answered questions and explained how it all needed to work and why. He really knew his stuff. He pushed other work back in order to fit us in because of the situation we were in. His quote on job and timeline never increased, in fact it actually ended up coming in under. His guys were pleasant and professional and treated the space as if it were their own. They took a lot of pride in their work and even fixed little things here and there that went beyond the scope of work quoted. All in all, an excellent experience. True North helped us enjoy our holidays instead of obsessing about getting ripped off by a sleazy contractor. I would recommend these guys in a heartbeat.

We recently needed some major underpinning/foundation/basement work done on our 110 year old home. Daniel was recommended to me by one of his previous customers. After checking the reviews on home stars, I was confident that True North would do professional and precise work. They did not let me down. In fact, after having tried to arrange for a contractor to do the work for many months, Daniel was the only one who provided prompt and clear answers to my questions. Their customer service and professionalism is superb, and they were very honest and open about what needed to be done as the job progressed. They provided great solutions to any problems that came up (as tends to happen with foundation work on old homes). We have further work that needs to be done, and I am happy to have True North complete the job, as I know the work will be done by specialists that I can trust.

We hired True North Underpinning to dig out and underpin the basement of our 100-year-old semi. We were very pleased with the level of communication, quality of the work and the positive attitude of all crew members.

I know that our job was particularly challenging as we are on a water table which made for extremely wet, difficult conditions for the workers. Daniel and his crew also discovered a surprise structural issue caused by a previous renovation and quickly offered a satisfactory solution to the problem.

Despite these issues the job was completed on budget and took just a week longer than initially estimated.

Josh

I hired True North Underpinning to lower my basement and can¹t say how much I enjoyed working with them through the whole process.

BEFORE

Before we got started I appreciated how quickly I got the job quoted ­
Otto knows his stuff and helped me sketch out my vision and get a quick (but accurate) sense for how much the job would cost.

We quickly received a full quote which had lots of detail on budget
numbers and I was very pleased at how closely the budgeted costs tracked our final invoice.

I also appreciated how the team showed up to work ­ they started on the day we agreed and had a full team show up every day to work a full shift. I never wondered where they were and always felt confident that my job was priority #1 for the team.

DURING

Daniel and the team are very hard workers but also very courteous ­ any time they needed to shut off the water or electricity they came up to ask permission and kept us abreast of the project as it progressed.

When changes (which are inevitable) arose Daniel was always available to talk (even late at night) to explain what was happening. We got few
surprises during the work but when we did I always felt comfortable about the level of detailed information I received and a full accounting of cost changes (in my case there was a small change that actually led to a cost saving ­ they were upfront about the money saved and were honest about deducting it from my invoice).

Underpinning a basement can be messy work and I really appreciated all the extras that they did for me and my family during the
Project.

The total project was supposed to take 7 weeks, and it ultimately took 7.5 weeks due to the inspection process, not due to Daniel¹s team. I really appreciated that they showed up to work hard every day and finished virtually on time.

Financial milestones were very clear and they never asked for money when it was not appropriate ­ they made sure that I was comfortable with everything before asking for the next payment installment.

AFTER

I often think that the true character of a contractor shows once the job
is done, the money all paid, and something comes up. There were a few unrelated items where I had asked Daniel for help. I felt very happy that he came to my rescue, on numerous occasions, and then wouldn't accept any payment for his help.

Bottom line: if you are thinking about underpinning your basement you need to talk to True North Underpinning. I have given my name as a reference to them and will happily answer any questions ­ that's how good I feel about their services.

True North was prompt, helpful, and professional in every way. Honesty and integrity seem to be hallmarks of the company. Otto answered any and all questions we had, and helped us think through what we actually needed. Daniel was on site frequently, and available by phone every time we called. The crews who worked in our house were friendly to us and with one another. We appreciated hearing joking and laughter coming up from our basement while they worked. They were prompt and efficient, and did a great job. I've already recommended them to others, and would hire them again if I had any more basement left to dig up!

The crew working on our basement underpinning were professional, respectful and finished the job in a timely fashion. They responded to emails quickly and were good communicators throughout the process. We really appreciated their commitment, and attention to detail - they even came out to check on our sump pump on a holiday when we thought there might be a problem! They did their best to clean up our backyard after the work was complete, which was a big plus. We would definitely recommend them.

Daniel and Otto do good work and they are straight shooters. Their friendly and respectful crew were efficient and got the job done on time and on budget. They always welcomed my questions (and there were a bunch) and offered an honest assesment of the work to be done and a number of options to persue. I got quotes from a number of contractors and these guys fell in the middle. I'd hire them again and I reccomend them highly.

We hired True North to do the digging and underpinning of our basement. Their quote was very competitive and Otto was thorough about explaining what needed to be done and how. It was a large job and we wanted to do it well so that we could have an 8 ft height. A week after they started to dig, Otto called and said they'd found out our foundations went down to 7'6 and if we wanted to leave it at that height, the job would cost us much less because they wouldn't have to underpin. We decided to do that, and we were blown away by how honest and upfront Otto and Daniel were about this. Everything about True North was fantastic. I can't imagine a better company to do the job. They were all very professional, and so nice too. They started and finished exactly on time and did over and above what they had to do in terms of clearing up and making my neighbours happy. Daniel, Josh and all the men who did the work were knowledgeable and courteous and I felt completely at ease letting them do their own thing without having to be on top of them. All in all, True North turned what we imagined would be a headache project into a smooth and painless job!

I would, and have, recommended True North to anyone doing an underpinning job. The company is professional and well run. Daniel and the crew were professional and easy to work with, and endeavored to cause as little interruption as possible to our daily lives. The fact that True North specializes in just underpinning is a big plus as they have seen any issue that may come up and are able to deal with them in the best possible way.