KF in North York

I live in a 30-sumthin' year old condo in North York and we're currently undergoing a massive window replacement project. Needless to say, sills need to be removed and things need to be prepped in order for old windows to come out and new ones to be put in. On a Sunday afternoon we removed our California shutters and banged up the existing tile that was underneath. We found some stuff that looked suspiciously like black mold. Then we took down the curtains from the bedroom window and after banging up those tiles, we found what was most definitely black mold. I headed straight to the interwebz to search for a local mold removal company, landed at MoldGuy.ca and then looked for reviews. I read the ones here and on that same Sunday, put a call in. Monday at 9:30am, Kay called to schedule an inspector and see what was the what. Inspector Drove stopped in at noon the same day and we looked at the living room area. He said it didn't look terrible but that he'd get some guys in to double check. Then we moved to the bedroom. Drove looked. Drove said "Yep, that's a problem. Don't worry, we'll have guys out and we'll get this taken care of by Friday at the latest". He billed me the $150 for the inspection and explained that it would come off the total of the actual remediation. I said "cool". He said "It'll be $1400 for all the things and they'll email you a quote and we'll go from there." The email came through and I was "Sign! Sign!" Then Kay called to set a date for my dudes to come. She said "if you're flexible, we can get a team out there tomorrow (Tuesday) at 2pm." I was all "I work from home so I'm SO flexible that if you look up flexible in the dictionary, there's me!" We set the time for 2pm. Kay called me back a couple hours later and said "we have a space that opened up at 8am tomorrow and I know you said you're flexible but.. " I said "Yes! Gimme! Let's do it! But, um, they can't start destruction until 9am because those are the condo rules". Kay said "That's okay. Just let them know when they get there and they'll set up and be ready for 9am demolition." So I called and left my message on Sunday afternoon, spoke to a human (Kay) on Monday, and today is Tuesday and I'm mold-freeeeee!! It's a beautiful day! My 2 remediation dudes (Phil and Justin who are both 100% adorable) showed up on time and were both insanely polite and professional. They explained some stuff, did some stuff, made some noise, ripped some stuff out, used some big machines, sprayed some stuff, cleaned some stuff, and 3 hours and 8 giant bags of trash later, they were done. Done like finished. And everything is sparkly clean and there's not a single speck of that dastardly black mold in sight. There's no drywall dust from where they cut the walls, no chips of paint, no bits of insulation on the floors. There's no evidence they were even here except the clean insides of my condo walls (and of course the giant areas where there's no more drywall.) And more amazingly? My Dy$on Air Purifier is humming along nicely and telling me there's no longer any junk in my air. I know, right? Amazing!!! Super amazing! I can't say enough good things about the way The Mold Guy(s) handled this whole situation. Yes, I know it's their job, but sometimes people surprise you and are exceptional at what they do. If I can recommend this company to you because you're looking for assistance with a mold issue, consider them recommended. I'm telling all my neighbours and I'll tell anyone who needs a mold guy that they need to go to the Mold Guy. 5 stars. All the stars. I'd give them 10 if they'd let me give them 10.

Cadillac Shutters was recommended to me - not inexpensive but I went with them anyway. Their product is beautiful but my installer was so incompetent that during his second trip, I asked him to take his things and leave. After the initial installation, several problems came to light so he returned to "fix" them. I specifically requested someone else come to fix them but was told that he was the installer so he would be responsible for making it right. Most (not all) of the problems were fixed on the second visit but my installer (Jay) was unable to do the finishing work properly and was somehow unable to run a clean line of caulking on the trim - it was lumpy and bumpy and ugly to look at - he thought it was fine - he really did. I finally just asked him to leave and said I would finish the job myself. He was either extraordinarily lazy or incredibly incompetent. Instead of taking the shutters off and doing it right, he tried over and over and wasted both my time and his with his trying to take shortcuts. Not cool. After his initial visit, there were screws sticking out and most of the screws in the hinges weren't countersunk so they dented the inside of the frame. He didn't offer to clean up and left screws and bits of caulking stuck in my carpet and strewn over my furniture and floor. He didn't even offer to sweep even though my broom was propped right there in the corner. On the second visit, there was one last piece of trim to be applied and stunningly, he just cut a small piece of wood and stuck it directly over a gap in between. I wish I had taken a picture. I told him that was unacceptable and that it had to be redone so he reapplied the strip from top to bottom and it was completely bowed. I asked him to do it again, and on the third try, he finally figured out how to do it right. It is SO not my job to stand over an installer and show him how to do his work properly. He might have been able to build a square box to hold the doors but anything other than that seemed to escape him. He filled gaps with unnecessary and bulky pieces of trim instead of filling them properly with caulking. I ended up with trim across one section and no trim on the rest - I don't know how that was okay in his mind. He left screws sticking out, and my shutters didn't function as they're supposed to. Unbelievable. Really unbelievable. The day after his last visit, I opened my window and found the shutters still hit the window frame when I go to adjust them. I have not and will not call the company back to have them come to adjust it for fear they will send the same installer (especially since I requested someone else the last time and was told no). I did, however, place a call to the owner to enquire about the warranty if I take the shutters off and do the finishing work myself. Thankfully, my warranty will remain intact so that's what I'll do. I'll finish the job myself after paying the full $3300 for the product and installation and taking two unpaid days off work. It's a shame, really. Their product is quite lovely but the installer killed it. If you could be sure not to get the guy who did the work in my place, then I'd say go for it. If not, I'd certainly stay away.