Elizabeth in Toronto

Everyone is polite, efficient and competent. They came when they said they would, it was finished when they said it would be and everything proceeded smoothly. It's why we always use Hoerner. In 26 years we have neve had a bad experience.

Ross and Eric were a delight to work with -- prompt, courteous, efficient and, above all, knowledgeable and competent. They fixed a number of problems in my home in only 4 hours; I had set aside the whole day! I was very pleased and will turn to them in the future.

I have just had my second excellent experience with the English Painter. In the fall, they painted downstairs. This week Gareth and his assistant Dylan did a wonderful job painting the living room. I only regret that I do not have more rooms to paint! His wife Carol takes care of the business angle and she is fast, efficient and provides a firm date for doing the job, taking into account the home owners needs (I had a set date for hardwood installation and wanted the painting done before then). Gareth is delightful to work with and took on a few extra things that he noticed when he was there, such as unplugging the bathroom sink drain and fixing the floor where the new and smaller baseboard heater left a gap. The work was done on time and on budget. Everything was cleaned up at the end of each day. And yes, the painting itself was done wonderfully. I recommend the English Painter without reservation.

Bob Beal, owner of Artisan, is an accommodating, helpful and knowledgeable contractor. I contacted Bob with a very narrow timeframe for the renovation of the bathroom in my one bathroom home. I had 3 weeks when I would have an alternate bathroom that I could use. Bob told me up front that it would probably take 4 – 5 weeks but he would do his best to ensure that I had the necessary facilities. He took pains to finish shower area by the end of the third week. Even more wonderfully, I was only without a toilet for one night. For various reasons I did not have time to do as much research as I would have liked and Bob was very helpful by bringing me samples, taking me shopping and making some very good suggestions – including recommending the perfect paint colour when I was waffling over colour. He and his crew took steps to protect the carpet and the rest of the home and did excellent clean-up each day. Bob even brought me salt when it could not be had for love or money after the ice storm!

We have been relying on Hoerner ever since we were novice homeowners with a plumbing problem. And now we would not willingly turn to anyone else. Over the years Hoerner has been to our home for a variety of problems big and small. They have always responded promptly and fixed the problem with no fuss, no muss and pats for the cats. Occasionally we have needed to co-ordinate with other trades and Hoerner has always gone out its way to meet our needs and timeframes. I called at 8 a.m. the other morning with a very tight timeframe because the water heater was leaking. Dylan was here half an hour later to move the laundry tub to give access to the water heater company. They have always been pleasant to work with, regardless of whether we had a serious leak in the ceiling or just needed a toilet handle replaced. I recommend them unreservedly.

I had a lot of trouble finding a flooring company that would install both underfloor heating and laminate flooring in the addition at the back of the house. Then I found Naser at Oakland Flooring. Naser explained his underfloor heating product to me and was very helpful in selecting appropriate laminate. He took full responsibility for co-ordinating the electrician and the installers which took some doing. He was very responsive to my requests and a delight to deal with. The laminate is beautifully installed; I am delighted with both it and the underfloor heating The only reason that this rating is not a 10 is not really Naser's fault; both times the electrician came he was extremely late with no real explanation, and this delayed completion of the project. If I have flooring needs in the future, I will definitely go back to Oakland Flooring.