Rob & Victoria: Etobicoke (Sunnylea)

Well, On September 24th it will have been a year since Dule and all of his crew arrived a day earlier than expected to begin demolishing our roof. We had decided that we were tough enough to weather the reno-storm in the basement. As it turned out I realized that my wife and kid were the tough ones in the family. Despite the care and apparent acceptance of our presence afforded by the entire crew (with the exception of a couple of their sub contractors), Plaster dust and the occasional nail and formed little piles in neat diagonal lines on the basement floor where it made its way through the sub floor boards. This type of thing went on for far longer than it took them to frame and shingle the entire house, which was completed by October 8th. This amazing fact was a product of not only the modular process which had our walls and roof trusses prefabricated with siding and windows installed weeks before we’d even seen them, craned in and assembled all in one day, but also due to the astounding work ethic and effort of the framing crew. As with any job this size it had its problems. Deficiencies were almost always brought to our attention by Modular rather than the other way around and rectified. We were also given some very good advice by the project manager and owner. While one of the specialties of this company are build and break through second floor additions, It became apparent that the energy savings and grants that we could claim by demolishing and updating insulation in the entire house would be well worth the effort, Something I strongly recommend to anyone considering a similar project. Modular uses subcontractors for specific trades like heating and A/C and plumbing….and so on. These are generally guys that take on a job with a general contractor for slightly less but make up for it in the amount of work that they get from being associated with a productive company like Modular. Most of the subcontractors chosen by Modular were, like their own crews, excellent, with few exceptions. The exceptions are obviously short sighted individuals who are reluctant to do as a customer asks because it would cost themselves more, and are very stubborn when it comes to correcting their own mistakes because they are not being paid for every hour that they are there performing rework. They tend to have forgotten where their bread is coming from and who is buttering it. This is why I do not give the company full marks. You as the potential client must be absolutely bull headed when communicating your specific desires to the subcontractors and ensure that miscommunication cannot be used by them as an excuse. Because if it can, or if you “waffle” under pressure the project manager will not be able to defend you in further discussions with the subcontractor. On two separate occasions we were forced to settle for a configuration of utilities that we would not have chosen. Enough said about that. Modular brought us to a finished exterior and sub-floors and unpainted drywall inside when we very amicably parted company with them around March or so. We have undertaken the rest of the work ourselves or have chosen our own contractors. Because of this Modular cannot lay claim to the entire job as they would have like to do. We saved a lot of money in doing this but it has taken a lot longer than it would have if they had finished. Probably as a result of this, Modular has been slow in coming back to fix certain deficiencies. No doubt about it though, they are a service oriented company that cares about their clients and they have to date addressed all of our concerns and I'm confident that they will continue to do so. The project managers still drop in to say hello to ask if everything is ok if they see a car in the driveway. The finished product......Nothing short of amazing. From the moment the new structure began to take shape people were stopping traffic to take in the spectacle. We have had offers to sell, people asking about Modular, and who designed it. Modular's in house Architect came up with 3 initial designs. The designs were limited to specifications dictated by the modular construction but you would not know it to look at it. It appears to be a custom build and is very attractive and functional. For the most part it is built to our needs and wants and we are very pleased with it. In the words of one previous client of Modular in his glowing referral of the company, “I can barely believe that it’s my house" as he described how he never thought he could afford such a property. I feel the same now. It’s a good feeling that I mostly attribute to the company that produced it. I invite you to explore the possibilities and give that “modular feeling” a chance. In conversation, this is exactly the way that I describe my experiences with Modular to friends relatives and people considering a similar project. Sorry if it is long winded but I hope it is helpful to Modular in their future dealings and to potential clients. Regards; Rob.