Wayne in Ajax

Over 4.5 yrs we've had one issue after another. On two occasions circuit boards in the Hydromate needed to be replaced. We have had three issues with leaks where the liner has holes cut-out for the jets. The tub itself expands somewhat over time due to age and weight of the water; however the vinyl liner doesn't expand, causing it to pull away from the jets. Softub Canada has been totally unhelpful - unwilling to honor the warranty, claiming water chemistry issues without even any actual inspection of the tub. However PH, alkalinity and chlorine have always been carefully monitored and maintained. Our original $6000+ purchase (including accessories) is now ready for the landfill.

We're very pleased with Kurt and his team's work on our new front yard hardscaping project. Kurt was able to take our initial ideas and build on them to come up with an attractive design and quality materials. One the work was underway the Distinctive Designs team worked efficiently and got the job done as promised. Kurt is indeed focused on conceiving and delivering distinctive designs and we would recommend them to anyone looking for a landscaping contractor that is committed to delivering standout work.

Dan recently repaired the deteriorating crown on our home's chimney. Not a big project, but Dan did a through job and the work was well done. Communication was good and the work was done on schedule.

Wilson Paving did an excellent job in early fall of 2009 with our asphalt driveway replacement project. They removed the old asphalt, added necessary foundation gravel. After a few weeks of settling they returned to repave the drive. After about six months the drive is (so far) in good condition. Their paving work was well done and exactly as promised. Sept. 2010 update: The driveway is a year old now and is in fine shape. No cracks, settling or other issues.

We decided on Tai Shan to replace our roofing after they did several neighbouring roofs and it was clear that they had done a good job and knew their business. Their price was superior to other quotes we received. Their quality and workmanship was good. They worked quickly and efficiently - completing our job in around 7 hours (with a team of five workers). They did a good job with cleanup - leaving little trace behind that they'd been there. Our only complaint is that, in their haste, they dented a highly visible section of eavetrough and left some noticable scratches on the top of a recently installed air conditioning unit beside our house. We were not pleased with this minor, but annoying, collateral damage.

We first visited the Pro Stone office in mid June '09 looking for a supplier for a granite countertop for a kitchen makeover. We were impressed with the granite selection at Pro Stone and appreciated being able to view full slabs instead of only small samples. Also we liked Pro Stone's use of thicker material than many other suppliers. Girish was helpful in our process of making a granite selection. Our countertop was installed in late July and we are pleased with the result. The installation was flawless and the fit was perfect. Our only concern with Pro Stone was the fact that we needed to follow up several times after initially signing our order in order to get in touch with their Templater and have him come to obtain measurements. Also on the morning Girish originally committed for installation their install team was a no-show. We had to phone Girish and he had to check internally to find out what was going on. The install team did end up coming later that same day and completed the install without issue. However we were left with the impression that they'd had a scheduling screw up internally and needed to fix their scheduling last minute. Overall however we're pleased with our pruchase and would recommend Pro Stone to others.

Last fall we decided to replace almost all the windows in our home. In late Sept / early Oct we got quotes from four dealers (Brock, Empire, Platinum and Consumers). All the dealers were Window Wise certified and presented reasonably well. The four quotes we received were fairly close to one another. We decided to go with Brock, partly they offered North Star windows and our research led us to the assessment that the North Star windows were superior in terms of quality, appearance and energy efficiency. The folks from Brock did a good job with communications and our windows were installed about eight weeks after being ordered, in late November, as committed. The installation was handled well overall and the two installers worked efficiently over two days to complete the installation. Our one disappointment was the sloppy cleanup after the windows were installed. We had to do quite a bit of sweeping and vacuuming ourselves after they left. Our new windows have been in place for over three months now and we are very pleased with the installation and with the windows themselves.