What we had done:
Basement:
Install engineered hardwood flooring and sub-floor, build a stone fireplace, install gas fire, new ceilings, lighting and integration.
Main Floor:
Remove old flooring and install new ceramic tile and hardwood. New custom design kitchen. Sand and skim ceiling in Family Room to remove popcorn. New lighting and integration. Full refit of Powder Room.
1st Floor:
Totally refit both bathrooms, with a redesign of the Ensuite bathroom.
Also, house fully repainted.
Our experience:
This was our first renovation, so having a company that could offer an ‘all-in-one’ service (project design, suppliers to source materials from at discounted rates, project management, city permits and sub-contracted labour), with a fixed guaranteed price, was very appealing to us.
Initially we were going to move out for our reno (as apart from the bedrooms the whole house was being worked on), but we were told it would only take 3 months, so we lived in. Sadly 3 months ended up being 6 months (not all because of OGC) . I will add that this was the summer of 2017, after a Spring of flooding in the Constance Bay and Britannia Beach areas, therefore, most construction companies were over committed on projects. Being a stay at home Mom with a toddler and 2 dogs, I found the 6 months of living this reno 24/7 very stressful. I strongly recommend that people do not live in on large projects!
The work started well, and we were happy with our fixed price as some of our materials were more than the projected estimate. Our first hiccup was when OGC invoiced us for ‘change orders’ for work that was ‘missed’ on the scope of work. We felt that these were unfair and the charges extortionate, so we disputed them. OGC (Brian and Allan) quickly resolved this dispute by agreeing to a reduction in the extra we were to pay.
Our work was carried out by sub-contractors and on the whole they were pleasant to deal with, worked hard and did a good job. The weakness was we had whole weeks where no-one was on site and only one trade was on site at any one time. We also found that each trade had no respect for another trades work, at one point we had our nice new hardwood flooring damaged because another trade didn’t protect it when working and drywall was allowed to dip/fall on our new kitchen and countertops.
Our Project Manager (Allan), was a great guy and worked hard……too hard!! At the time of our reno he had too many projects as OGC were short of project management staff. Therefore, he was not on site as often as we were promised. That being said, if ever we flagged a problem he quickly dealt with it. We found his knowledge of the trades to be excellent. During our reno it was our Daughter’s 3rd birthday and Allan showed up (outside of work hours) with a card and present for her on behalf of OGC; small gestures like this go a long way!! Also, when we had a problem with one of the sub-contractor’s volatile attitude and I asked that he not return to our home, Allan dealt with this immediately and showed empathy for my negative experiences.
At the end of our project we did have a couple of things that needed repairing under the 2 year warranty. These were dealt with very quickly and with no quibble.
In conclusion:
Having a company like OGC that offers an ‘all-in-one’ service is great. Their weakness is they use sub-contractors, so they are only as good as their subbies. We liked the fact they offered a fixed price and that materials could be purchased using their 40% trade discount (with no mark-up by OGC). We love the end product of our reno, but the work and timescale were stressful. OGC were great to deal with but their overall communication could be improved.
I would also like to mention Cutwell Kitchens and Urban Stone who helped give us the kitchen of our dreams, thank you.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $85,000.00