Home Improvement People Inc.
Home Improvement People Inc. reviews (573)
Review from HomeOwner Review left on 18 Jun 2010Rating: 5 out of 5We had The Home Improvement People do 2 bathrooms for us. I am amazed at how well the process went. From the first meeting until the final paint touch up - the professionalism and workmanship were just incredible. They came through on everything they said. We paid slightly more than a competing estimate. But, it was worth every penny for the job to be done correctly the first time. I have had friends and relatives who have done renovations and were literally brought to tears by the process. My experience could not have been more the opposite. It was a great great experience and we look forward to doing our basement in the fall. I would enthusiastically recommend them to anyone and everyone.Review from HomeOwner HomeOwner
Review left on 18 Jun 2010Rating: 5 out of 5Full Reno
As promised - here is my review. sorry it took so long. A short note to say how happy we are with the renovation done by the Home Improvement People. Mein and his crew worked extremely well together. The entire process was well co-ordinated and moved along quickly. They worked in a professional, conscientious manner, always waiting to please us in every detail. With Christmas holidays fast approaching, Mein understood the importance of having a functional kitchen as soon as possible. He sacrificed personal time by working on the weekend so that the cabinets could be installed earlier than scheduled. We are thrilled with the new dark look of our kitchen cabinets and to have it before Christmas is a real bonus! In addition, they placed a new laminate floor in the basement and transformed an old dingy room to a warm and welcoming family room. We just love it! It has given the room a much fresher cleaner look. We are certain that from now on it will be used to its full potential. Finally, I would like to thank Sylvio for suggesting at the outset of our meeting, the sanding and staining of our living/dining/hallway floors. The new backsplash in the kitchen looks fantastic. I’m not sure if I want to sell my house now as I really love the fresh new look and feel of it. Great job….well done! We would not hesitate to recommend the Home Improvement People to my family and friends.Review from HomeOwner HomeOwner
Review left on 17 Jun 2010Rating: 5 out of 5Front Hall
If you are looking for people who answer their phones, stand behind their work, do everything to code, and smile as well - call The Home Improvement People. I and more importanly my wife were so please with our front hall reno. The design, ideas and workmanship were just terrific. We will definitely be calling them again and telling family and friends. Thank you to the crew who worked in our home. I think i still have one of your tape measures. Come get it and have a beer.Review from HomeOwner HomeOwner
Review left on 16 Jun 2010Rating: 5 out of 5Basement
Hi Dan, My basement in Toronto was recently finished by the Home Improvement People and I wanted to thank Elia Touma and his crew for their excellent work. My wife and I were quite scared to hire a contractor after hearing a lot of horror stories about jobs that were not done correctly, took forever to complete or were not completed at all. I was surprised the very first day when supplies were delivered and framing started right away. This certainly gave me confidence with the Home Improvement People. As the work continued, Elia was there every step of the way to answer questions and/or deal with any problems we had. He was extremely accommodating to all of our issues. He even return our call on a Sunday! The trades were very professional and did a great job. I especially like the fact that there was an expert in each field coming in to do the job, not just one person doing everything. The Plumber, Tile installer and Carpet Installers were fantastic. The Painter and finishing person did a great job and is an extremely hard worker. One day he had started at 8:30am and did not leave until 10:30pm! I was very impressed that Elia himself with the help of his crew actually helped to move my freezer and washer and dryer back in place. That certainly shows the dedication that he has to his job and to making the client happy. Also, I appreciate the extra things Elia did for me, such as mounting my TV bracket and removing the patio stones from the side of the house. Elia always either answered my phone call or called me back right away. That certainly gave me confidence that I hired the right company. The basement looks fantastic and my wife and I are very pleased and we look forward to doing more business with the Home Improvement People. In particular, we will be calling Elia. Well done!Review from HomeOwner HomeOwner
Review left on 15 Jun 2010Rating: 1 out of 5Kitchen Renovation
For those interested, here are some comments about our recent experience withe The Home Improvement People (THIP): - the kitchen renovation (including removing a wall, new cabinets, an island, new countertops and new flooring) ended up taking over a year to complete after signing the contract. (For some reason still unexplained it took over 3 months to get the building permit from the City.) - project schedule, tasks and timing were never provided (despite repeated requests) - status updates from the contractor seemed to be limited and generally were responses to our requests for "what's happening?" - understandably, work was performed by different trades who appeared to be sub-contractors to THIP, however not all of these trades appeared to take pride in their work (e.g., sinks improperly installed, cabinets dented / dinged, floors uneven and glue tracked liberally over floor etc.) - we had to spend an inordinate amount of time pointing out unacceptable defects in workmanship (which I thought would have been caught by the contractor) - when pointing out deficiencies we were told that we were making THIP jump through hoops to get paid (there was a pervasive attitude that THIP should get paid for work that was poorly done) - although promised before the contract was signed that any issues discovered during the renovation would be THIP's risk, this turned out not to be the case (we were asked for more money once demolition had been done) - mistakenly, we thought drawings of the kitchen cabinets (part of the contract) would be adequate - in hindsight it would have been better to have complete design drawings created (this would have highlighted some of the missing design elements, e.g., no handy power plugs on island) - it would have made sense to clearly articulate make/type of all products to be supplied and used by THIP rather than the "standard builder's samples" referred to in the contract (e.g., had never heard of Embassy Hardwood and was a little concerned by spelling mistakes on the packaging) On our renovation, we spent, what is for us, a great deal of money, only to have a kitchen that (admittedly) looks nice but on further review is below expectations (e.g., floors that are un-even and squeak more than before, a "Caesarstone" countertop that sits on plywood that is clearly visible etc.). More troubling is the feeling we ended up with that THIP were much more focused on their money than on understanding our requirements and delivering a quality job. So after our renovation would we use THIP for further work in our house - absolutely not.Answer from pro:
Derek, I am sorry that you feel this way. However, your version of events is inaccurate and is duly unfair and harsh. We wish the job didnt take the length of time it did. Ours never do. But, the reasons it did were due to items out of our control. Firstly,the job didnt take a year as your posted. As per the agreement, it wasn't scheduled to start until weeks after you signed. Secondly, we do not control how long the City takes to grant a permit. You are an intelligent man. You know this. Thirdly, you kept us waiting a month deciding on a stain color for the island. We patiently awaited your decision. The tiles you chose for the backsplash werent in stock at the place YOU ordered them from. We patiently waited another month. YOU had a flood in your home (completely unrelated to the work we were doing). This cost us more time while you sorted that out. Again, we patiently waited. All of this is logged. All of this is noted. All of this is fact. Our trades take immense pride in their work and would be offended to see your comments regarding that. Feel free to contact me and I will come to your home with the trades in question and discuss any issues with the workmanship or their pride in it. We dont control the spelling of other people's hardwood products packaging. I dont even know how to respond to that. "More troubling is the feeling we ended up with that THIP were much more focused on their money." - Again, I dont know where that is coming from or how to respond to that. We awaited for final payment patiently for months due to the items listed above which were beyond our control and effectively cost us money due to the delays. You admit that you are happy with the kitchen and I am proud to say that we overcame all of these irregular obstacles to deliver. I wish you and your family well and I hope you use your kitchen in good health and to host memorable events. All the best.
Reply created 16 Jun 2010Review from HomeOwner HomeOwner
Review left on 3 Jun 2010Rating: 5 out of 5Kitchen
I would love to tell the world that my experience with the Home Improvement People was absolutely great! It totally renewed my faith in being able to complete home renovations without worrying about hidden costs, unreliable contractors, and projects that take forever to complete. I have a beautiful kitchen now that I absolutely love! Anyone to whom I've shown pictures can't believe how great it looks, and that it was completed on budget and on time. I would definitely recommend the Home Improvement people to my family and friends. Thanks again!Review from HomeOwner HomeOwner
Review left on 7 Dec 2009Rating: 5 out of 5Basement finishing
I had the pleasure of meeting Elia in August, just a month after we moved into our two-year-old house. The basement wasn't finished and we wanted a recreation room for us and our three-year-old, plus storage space and an exercise area. We were also considering adding another bathroom, possibly with shower, where the rough-in exists. The first thing Elia did was talk us out of the bathroom as we already have 2.5 baths in the house. He saved us $6,000 and that enabled us to put the space to better use. Elia listened to what we wanted, gave suggestions and the benefit of his experience, and we all came up with a workable plan. He estimated the job would take between four and six weeks. Work started as promised on November 2, finishing on Dec. 4 -- five weeks. The workmanship was great and the few times we ran into minor challenges, they were quickly resolved to our satisfaction. Everyone was very friendly and respectful of our home. They even felt sorry for our dog whom we had barricaded in our bedroom to keep him out of their way when were weren't home. The price was exactly as quoted, not a penny more. We would absolutely not hesitate to recommend the Home Improvement People to family and friends and plan to use them again in the next few years when we have other home improvement projects.Review from HomeOwner HomeOwner
Review left on 13 Oct 2009Rating: 5 out of 5Bathroom
No Regrets Home renovations and horror stories unfortunately go hand in hand. We have little experience in renovating, but from our first telephone call to The Home Improvement People we knew the right decision was made. Our call was answered by a real person, and soon thereafter Ben himself returned our call. Ben was courteous, fair and pleasure to do business with. Our contractor Jerry was amazing! He was punctual and in our home on a daily basis, focusing on us 100% until the renovations were complete. Not only was Jerry polite and efficient he provided us with exactly what we had asked for. The quality of his workmanship was second to none. Right from the Home Improvement People's receptionist to their contractors and everything in-between, we would definitely call Ben a second and third time. We would recommend Ben to anyone looking for quality renovations at a fair price. Thank you for a wonderful experience and cheers to a beautiful renovation! Brad & Christine CampbellReview from HomeOwner HomeOwner
Review left on 10 Sep 2009Rating: 5 out of 5Basement and Electrical
We had the Home Improvement People come in to finish our basement. The job was done within the timelines Dan initially estimated. The crews arrived when they were supposed to and stayed until the job was done. Nick and his crew were AMAZING as they really paid attention to detail and quality of workmanship. The tilers did a fantastic job, especially considering the uneven surface they had to work with. The crews cleaned up after themselves each day. Everyone was friendly and respectful of our house. Larry was right on top of things and extremely responsive. This combination made our experience an excellent one! We have had many contractors come through our house as we have been renovating floor by floor. The Home Improvement were the best by far. We wish we’d used them from the beginning! And, their rates are very competitive! We love our finished basement and are very grateful to The Home Improvement People!!!! We would tell anyone looking to do any type of reno that with The Home Improvement People you will definitely get a quality end result and will actually enjoy the experience! How many renovators can deliver that!!!!!! Olga & Chris Forgot to mention the electricians...see, too many good things to say! The electricians that wired the entire basement were excellent. They came up with great lighting solutions for us and really helped us highlight the right things while also ensuring the light controls were convenient & functional! Ok, that’s it from us! Bye...O & CReview from HomeOwner HomeOwner
Review left on 8 Sep 2009Rating: 5 out of 5Basement Reno
Dear Danny & Mike I want to express my appreciation to you and your staff for the renovations done at my home throughout June 2009. The workmen arrived punctually each day and conducted themselves in respect and professional manner at all times. The quality of the materials and the skill of the workmanship were exemplary and I am quite delighted with the results. I have proudly shown my new basement to family and friends, all of whom have been impressed. Their comments are filled with praises which echo my sentiments exactly. Please convey my gratitude to everyone involved for making experience positive and thank you once again for exceeding my expectations. Muriel Wilde