BrandyHumes

We hired Odd Job to do some odd jobs - recaulk a tub, fix a faucet, build shelves, some deck work, etc. While they were quoting us, we asked if they did larger jobs - like installing a wall and pocket door. They said yes and proceeded to quote us on our small reno job as well (we had already done one large and one medium reno, so this wasn't our first time through this process). They were the more expensive but we wanted high quality, we wanted to NOT WORRY ABOUT THE JOB, so we picked them - but not before confirming that they had done walls, trim work, installing pocket doors, etc. before, and didn't just do odd jobs. Yes yes and yes. The project started fine enough and there was a great two days of work. Once the odd jobs were done, they set about the wall and door. And it quickly became not fine. And then it turned bad as it became very apparently that they are not skilled at larger jobs. The screws started popping out of my drywall immediately in multiple places. The tape/mud job needed to be touched up post-paint twice (and still wasn't great in spots). There was paint all over the wood flooring. But the thing that killed me was we asked them twice to "not purchase the cheap store brand pocket door kit at Home Depot as we understand there to be a big difference in performance" - so they bought the store brand kit at Lowe's instead (!!!). We have 5 other pocket doors in the house, all installed on the non-store brand kits. So Odd Job installed a crappy cheap kit (which had only negative reviews online) and when challenged on it, defended the product as being a good one, something a professional in the home improvement business should know better about. They also installed parts of it incorrectly - and then tried to tell me this is how it was supposed to be. Looking at the picture on the guide rail package clearly showed how it was to be installed. They had no idea what they were doing. And we didn't know this till after the door was installed, dry walled in, painted, trimmed, etc. The door drags, marring the paint on the door within a month. It is 110% unlike my other 5 pocket doors, all the same door material. We had 2 other contractors working next door come over and comment on the job before we paid the final invoice and they both said we would eventually have to open up the wall to reinstall the door. That day has come. One year almost to the day, after dragging and dragging and dragging, and the door has fallen off it's track. I have 10 year old pocket doors in my house and they run smoothly, no drag, and certainly have never fallen off the track. Unlike this work done by Odd Job. Justin was endlessly defensive, became combative, and tried to shift the fault to us. We negotiated a discount on the bill for this and other issues experienced, b/c I didn't want them in my house anymore to b/c each time they came to fix something, something else was 'broken' (for ie - they came to fix the mudding, but then got paint on the floor). Justin felt that the discount was not justified - but the headache for a project that went 4x other timeline, in addition to remove a portion of the wall and reinstall the door is more than the $1000 or whatever discount he gave us. In a world where time is money, I wish so much that I could turn back time and not select Odd Job for this reno. I have documentation for all of my claims as I was going to go to small claims court over this. Feel free to get in touch for pictures, emails, etc. This dude should stick to odd jobs and leave the big boy jobs for the professionals.

We decided rather last minute to repaint the main floor after the floors were refinished. WOW was able to get someone on the job within 4 days and had the job done in 10 hours. 100% happy with the paint job, with the exception of the floor trim / quarter round as it was not a 'clean' finish I had expected. But overall, a great experience!

I ordered an umbrella, stand, and lights from Deck and Dock and were given a date when the products would be available. A week after that date, I called to be told that the umbrella would be delayed - but that they could offer me a 'loaner' umbrella until mine arrived. Very reasonable compromise, I thought. When the loaner arrived, which was the same dimension of the one I had ordered, I realized that it would be too small for our deck. This was a custom ordered umbrella so I were pretty sure they wouldn't exchange it when it did eventually arrive. But I asked anyway, just in case. As it turned out, Deck and Dock were happy to sell our smaller umbrella in the store and order a larger one for us. This type of flexibility and customer service is rare these days and I wanted to commend Deck and Dock for being so accommodating and professional.

We received a few quotes for our back deck project and Master Deck was half the price of the others and had endless postive references (via HomeStars) that no one else could match so we went with them. Alec and his team were amazing from start the finish. They started on time, worked full days, finished on schedule, and were courteous and friendly. It was somewhat shocking to work with a contractor that lived up to his word. Alec worked closely with us during the building process to work out some of the finicky details of our deck as we were doing a horizontal board design and not the usual vertical design. While this was surely a pain for him, he seemed genuinely committed to helping us achieve our vision even if it was more of a challenge for him at the time. I cannot recommend Master Deck enough. I know that the glowing reviews may seems too good to be true (that is what I thought at the beginning, anyway!) but I assure you, they live up to every great word written about them!!!!

After the company who originally agreed to do my walkway did not show up on the previously agreed upon day of work (after we demolished the existing concrete path, leaving a mud path) and sent us a rude and drunk text message at 1am that morning, we decided we should find someone else. I logged onto Homestars and called the top 6-7 rated companies. I knew it was a long shot - it was late May and I was well aware how busy landscapers were. Daimon was only 1 of 2 people who called me back. I asked if he could squeeze us in as it was a small job. He agreed and sent over a quote that day. He was very communicative with us, and gave us the heads-up that he was coming a couple days in advance. He showed up when he said he would, was exceptionally pleasant, and very professional. He left the job site cleaner when he left than when he arrived. He completed the pathway in a day even though his saw broke late in the afternoon and he had to go rent another (instead of just calling it a day). The end result is amazing! He made style and design suggestions to us that were very smart and greatly improved the look of the walkway. I asked him to draw up a quote for our back patio while he was there so would definitely work with him again and would definitely HIGHLY recommend him to others!

I had 500 sq ft of reclaimed pine floors installed and sanded on my second floor (from 100 year old logs reclaimed from the Ottawa River) by another company hired by my contractor. They were done very poorly - clearly the company had no experience with pine and sanded improperly resulting in undulations or waves from end to end. They looked terrible. I tried to find someone to fix them but the other two companies I met with said, one, it was the result of the wood, or two, that it was my house's structure causing the undulations. Both of these seemed unreasonable as I have seen old growth pine installed elsewhere and they did not look like this. I finally found Jeremy, someone who has experience installing reclaimed wood floors, including pine. He re-sanded and sealed the pine floor (using a low-VOC hardwax) and it is now perfect. We also had him install and finish 350 sq ft reclaimed birch flooring on the another floor, as well as sand our kitchen maple floors (which had been stained red). These floors are also now perfect. Jeremy and his team was professional, on time, courteous, and very knowledgeable about ecological and non-toxic alternatives to conventional building and renovation products. I would work with them again in a heartbeat!