David R. Smith Design Inc.

David is knowledgeable, patient, very responsive, and always available.

There was a time when we spoke several times a week. It was often me asking the same questions or bringing up another "what if" scenario, and David was always happy to calm my nerves during an exciting and anxious time.

We went through several iterations of design. David was exceptional at combining our needs/wants with his experience and what was possible.

From the day after our C of A hearing right through to the OMB hearing, David was compassionate, helpful, encouraging, and the most trusted advisor we had through the whole process.

We had to do a lot of preparation for the OMB. David dealt with the city zoning team on short time lines, made crucial design adjustments, and found some details in our planners work that had to be revised.

We are anxiously awaiting our decision from OMB but are confident that with David's help we have done everything we can.

Through it all, we are grateful to have had David on our side and we can't recommend him enough.

UPDATE: We are happy to report that we were successful at OMB and now we can build our dream home. David, as expected, as already started the next steps! Thanks again!

David is one of the most professional, friendly individuals I have ever worked with. Extremely knowledgeable, always willing to go the extra mile, he helped turn around what had been a bad experience due to the prior architect on the file, into a great experience. My fiancée and I are now back to being excited about our new home! I can't recommend him highly enough.

Design discussion, plan presented, revision process, permit arrived for the build; David offered and provided me this professional service, stress free. David is knowledgeable, timely and personable. He managed the entire process with helpful ideas. My experience working with David was A+.
David was recommended to me by a friend who had contracted his services for a home extension.
Further details, my permit process also included: a submission to the Committee of Adjustments, neighbour objection, CofA meeting postponement, producing a new survey, CofA hearing, successful result.
The CofA hearing was anticipated, the rest was not. David managed each and every step seamlessly. He took the stress out of the process.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with David on planning a new addition for my home. I had a lot of trepidation going into the project. Right off the bat he had to deal with the confines of the space and my budget. It was his winning combination of skills in customer service and design that made it very easy for me.

A little knowledge is dangerous. It must have been a pain in the kiester for customer service during the planning process of a renovation. Despite the number of the hours I spent watching home shows on TV or Tiny House videos on You Tube, there was a steep learning curve in finalizing a feasible plan. David responsive and patient manner walked me through the process, which included a lot of UNlearning and the ugly work of managing (my unrealistic) expectations.

David extensive experience shined when he offer ideas that were game changers and demonstrated foresight. In my case, the game changers were relocating a washroom that would save a bedroom and consolidating the mechanical utilities of the house in the main unit of the property. As a landlord, I know his proposals will directly improve cashflow and the maintenance of the house. Lastly without prompting, David offered a design that could improve the resale of the property by keeping options open for the next owner down the line. Again it was his experience and creativity in finding solutions that brought specific and practical foresight. I truly appreciate he was looking out for my best interest.

I hope this feedback is helpful in your consideration.

We found David R. Smith Design Inc. on Home Stars and were immediately impressed with the consistently raving reviews. We can now say they are absolutely well deserved and want to add our story. David was always very professional, technically knowledgeable and very helpful in guiding us not only through the design of our house (after a frustrating experience with another professional), but also during a quite complicated and stressful process with the Ontario Municipal Board after our neighbours appealed a favourable decision of the Committee of Adjustment. David was extremely resourceful and helped us keep calm during the long ordeal that ended up halting the construction of our house for months. We are finally on the verge on concluding the construction of our new house and I would certainly recommend his services for anyone that is planning a new build or a renovation.

Friends of mine suggested David when I decided to underpin and renovate my basement, as they'd used him for the same project at their home and had nothing but good things to say about him. Allow me to now add my own words of praise: David is thoughtful, patient, and very creative. He kept in constant contact with me, answered dozens (and dozens) of questions, and stuck to the timeline and budget we'd agreed to. I'm excited about the space he's created for me and can't wait to see it. He was the perfect partner for this initial phase - I hope the rest of them go as smoothly!

We hired David to design a new home for our growing family in Leslieville. Upon our initial meeting, we felt David was very attentive and patient in explaining the process to us. This was our first time undertaking such a project and we were unaware of all the steps and potential set backs that could occur. Subsequent correspondences and revisions were timely and reflective of what we wanted. We thought David did a great job - Thanks!

I give David a 10/10 star rating based on his knowledge, skills and how he interacts with us. Very understanding and gives sound advice on what's better, cost effective and the right contractor for you. Keeps us well updated on how the project is progressing. He is always there during and after process. We are so happy we met David and will highly recommend him to friends and family for their future major home projects. Thumbs up for David.

Hi David,
The experience of working with you has been fantastic - x 2. Thanks for your diligence, your attention to detail, and your incredible creativity. I think I’ll have to go out and buy another “tear down” just so we can work together again.

Send your invoice and we will pay it promptly, with pleasure.

Sincerely,
Dan

I would not hesitate to recommend David. He was reliable, respectful, timely and had lots of time to answer any and all my questions about the process. The whole process was pretty painless!