Reviews

10/10

Return customer. It's always a pleasure to deal with this family run company. Natallia was amazing with the communication and planning.. Sergey went out of his way to measure off-hours because of a tight timeline. Shout-out to the installers (CJ + their fabricator who stepped up to help with installing too - sorry I forgot the name) who broke their backs with those heavy slabs, minded the walls and floor, took their time and did things carefully, and did things with accuracy. If replying would Rockstella mind naming the installers? Thanks again team. Will be in touch again...

Approximate cost of services:
$2,500.00
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Company Response

Tim, thank you so much for your review and for the late response! Second Installers name is Harry, and thank you for mentioning their hard work. It truly means a lot to us to know that someone actually appreciates not only counter-top itself, but all the effort and hard work involved in installation! Thank you again, and we are looking forward to your next project! Natallia

Rockstella Stonery Inc.

https://www.rockstella.ca/

10/10

Shane was an absolute pleasure to deal with. Great communication over a multiple day long job, great care and skill for such a job that has a lot of nuances with dealing with old plaster walls. He's on the speed dial and referral list for future projects that's for sure. Thanks so much!

Approximate cost of services:
$2,500.00
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Company Response

Thank you for the positive review Tim!
It was my pleasure, I'm looking forward to doing your upstairs renovation as well.

Take care

10/10

Maple Leaf Garage Doors were a pleasure to work with. Steve is organized, professional, and knowledgeable. I wish more projects were as smooth as this one. He and his assistant performed a quality install and answered any questions and concerns along the way. Steve is an all around nice guy and a pleasure to deal with. Thanks again!

Approximate cost of services:
$1,950.00
What could this company do to improve their services?
Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
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Company Response

Thanks for the kind words Tim,
Steve

10/10

Pine Removal: $750; Tree of Heaven Removal: $500; Stump Grind of Pine Tree: $150. Dealt with Peter for this particular job. What a breath of fresh air having a contractor that responds to every phone call and question. Peter is thoughtful, well organized, and transparent. Prompt estimate, and prompt planning. His team was also prompt/organized. They did a fantastic job of the removals and the grinding, and left the area well cleaned. Very nice group of guys. Could not recommend more.

Approximate cost of services:
$1,400.00
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Company Response

Thanks for the great review! Derek

1/10

[INTRO] I will remain factual in this review, and lead any subjectivity with "in my opinion" as I want the review to be useful to others. I consider myself good at putting myself in others' shoes, so I will do my best to be unbiased, though as a dissatisfied customer you will be the judge of that based on my facts. I found August's (it's not August "Mason") ad on craigslist; it appears to be consistently at the top there when searching for concrete. The last title was "MASONRY AND CONCRETE: EXPERT REPAIRS/REBUILDS OR CONSTRUCT NEW". The location being around Evans Ave and at the current time, the phone number can be cross referenced with this business profile in Homestars. August was very polite, and well organized (contractually). He showed up to give a quote, and was very responsive to email. This is the quote of work agreed to verbatim with spelling mistakes: --- Rear Verandah Repair -spot fill significantly deteriorated surface areas -re-cast broken/braking face areas & coat whole linear face anew -replace spalled blocks anew price: $300.00 Rear Verandah Guards & Stair Rail -remove existing & dispose -remove trellis if requested (no extra money) -construct cedar anew to common references price: $1050.00 Rear Stair Construction Cedar -demolish & dispose existing -construct open stair with stringers & treads price: $475.00 --- [On my Grape Vines] On day one, August's team completely lopped off all minor stalks from my 50yr old grape vine without permission. This was done at the time they were cutting down the metal trellis. I was at home and they should have consulted with me before doing something this drastic and inappropriate. The way it was chopped, I cannot see it growing back... and if it somehow does, it will take another 10 years to reproduce what was cut away. They are not pruned; the major branches are severed. [On Concrete Work] I have no issues with the concrete work he had performed. It appears functional, and to spec. [On Cedar Railing Woodwork] In my opinion, this work is amateur and unacceptable. They are extremely wobbly and secured via tapcon screws into the top face of the veranda (not lag bolted to the face of the structure - which there is ample room for). They were so wobbly they were required to be secured to the house (typically not code, but required in this case). There is a long span of 8 ft from post-to-post (should be half this) for one railing. August supported this with a block under the middle of the bottom ledge despite my request to follow code and insert another post. [On the Original Cedar Stairs] His initial set of stairs were built with a short run resulting in each tread to be lower by 1 5/8" at the front than the back. Four wooden steps each at 8 inches tall, the top step up to concrete veranda at 9 inches tall. Constructed with a completely unsafe slope (see comparison pic). August deconstructed the stringers at my request. We agreed to an additional $300 to redo them with a proper slope and safe steps. He wrote a new project change notice (amendment to concrete) though he vehemently refused to record the fact of each tread having a 1 5/8" front to back height difference. In my opinion, he completely screwed up the first set of stringers and made me pay for his second try. Despite this, I obliged this request since I understood the materials were costly and there was a slim margin of profit for this work. Literally trying to be nice and move things along so the project would not get stuck and more complicated. [On the Second Try of Cedar Stairs] Amateur and wobbly. - The ledger is secured to the veranda by three tapcon screws only. - The stringer at the top is split/broken. - The lower posts are not secured to the ground and are floating above the ground and only attached to the stringer - The stringer was shimmed with a triangular piece of wood screwed into the side of the stringer. - Stair guards do not include railings (i.e. only flat 2x4 running up the side of the stairs so they are difficult to grab and are also rough lumber) I will have to redo or secure this work myself. I wish it were possible to attach video to show how wobbly this structure is. [Some things August told me] In my opinion these are things as I remember them that stuck with me: - When voicing my displeasure for the dangerous original stringers, August told me he was the designer, and he decided what I got. He deemed them fit. Later on in the conversation he also referred to the term "you get what you pay for". - When telling him that his posts were not meeting code, he went into debate with why my suggestion (code) was inferior to his workaround of blocking underneath. - When I said "I feel like I am being asked to pay for something that was your mistake", he shot down my openness with "Well I feel like it's sunny outside, I feel this.. and I feel that" and called my statement meaningless. [My suggestions are] - call him for concrete which is his specialty - do not contract him do woodwork - contractually obligate him to meet code - do not expect to argue the quality of his work. If one plans to argue against code and against unsafe structures it's not a meaningful debate. All in all, it felt like a shady experience. Please see my other reviews. I am a reasonable person that is quick to give credit where it is due. [EDIT 20150612] 1. Removed HTML tags for <P> and <BR> that didn't format this review to make it easier to read. 2. Pasting the official response from this business in my own review in case it is deleted by them. It reads "FEDERAL CONCRETE AND MASONRY has never -ever- contracted with anyone to do the work described above. This tale is a malicious publication. We deem this a trespass with intent to damage private property." 3. My followup comments to the business' response: I was contacted by Homestars and provided full contractual proof of the work done by this company which includes August's name and full business information and signatures. Homestars unfroze the review and it is back up. You can be the judge. Fully denying involvement of such poor work is an expected response from a business.

Approximate cost of services:
$2,125.00
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Company Response

FEDERAL CONCRETE AND MASONRY has never -ever- contracted with anyone to do the work described above. This tale is a malicious publication. We deem this a trespass with intent to damage private property.

10/10

Such a pleasant experience with Rockstella.. From the organization and order placement: Natallia was amazing - helpful, honest, and very open to the cost (slab sizes, installation, etc). She provided multiple quotes and not only gave us what we asked for, but did a great job in providing different scenarios/costs based on our countertop choices. She understood our budget and tried to show us the most relevant options. When we placed our order and it turned out there was a backlog of a particular countertop, she jumped through hoops to make sure we were happy with an alternative (same material, different thickness/mitered edge). From an measuring and installation point of view: Sergey was on time, very polite, and very accurate with his measurements, taking the time to note our strange wall (old house). Sergey and his team's installation went very well. Calculated, accurate and with care. Thanks so much everyone!

Approximate cost of services:
$2,200.00
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Company Response

Hi Tim, thank you so much for taking time to write the review, it means a lot to us! Im glad we were able to find a solution for you that met your expectation. Thank you for understanding and being open to different alternatives. We are so dependant on suppliers and sometimes run into issues because of that, so thanks again for understanding! Enjoy your counters and please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns! Natallia

10/10

Alex and his team were amazing. They showed up on time, worked until the job was done and arranged with the city when requiring a drawing for the external service. He stuck firm to his quote despite the job being a lot more work than they had originally thought. Alex went above and beyond and also provided multiple documents required by my insurance to prove we were working on the Knob and Tube upgrade when the city delayed us a bit and my temporary K&T insurance was reaching it's date. Could not recommend more. Alex is a reasonable and honest person. His crew was the same (Tyler, Ken, Sergio)

Approximate cost of services:
$17,500.00
What could this company do to improve their services?
Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
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Company Response

Thanks for taking the time to write this review.

9/10

A long overdue rating. Work was done in Dec of 2013/Jan of 2014 or so. Igor and Vlad came by early to estimate my series of jobs and provided what I consider a very reasonable quote. Despite going on vacation, Igor took all necessary steps to ensure his crew was well informed of the work at hand. The crew doesn't talk much, but they're hard workers and were there each day working their butts off - Pavel, Rost, Igor and Andrew. Igor was well organized and provided the permit and all of the city forms to receive a rebate. Would definitely deal with again. One con - these guys are super busy, so they may not have time to call you back for smaller jobs (like when I tried to call to cap off some copper pipes for me). Would only recommend to a friend if they had a big job.

Approximate cost of services:
$5,500.00
What could this company do to improve their services?
Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
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Company Response

Hi Tim, thank you for your review on HomeStars.