Calico Design & Renovation

Great experience, awesome experience, great price. Communication is key and they get it right. I highly recommend this company to anyone. Will use again for my next bathroom

I spent about 4 weeks just interviewing several other Reno companies in and around Edmonton before settling on Calico Designs. I had read far too many horror stories online to just jump in with any company.

From start to finish, Roy and his team were punctual and honest with me which is why I decided to go with them. They were straight-up with me on what they could and couldn't do, and in the end the result looks far better than I would've hoped. Bravo

Working with the team and professionals at Calico Design and Renovation is always a pleasure. A kind, professional, and prompt team. So far, I've had nothing except positive encounters. Thank you for all of your assistance. Thank you very much. Roy

Give me an new design and finished their work timely. I will take this service again if I need.

Amazing service and value. Project was done in the estimated time. The owner had great communication skills and was always available to answer my questions!

We contracted Calico Design and Renovation for a total condo renovation - a relatively big project touching every part of our place. Flooring, counters, cabinets, railings, ceiling, plumbing, fixtures, and some minor structural changes on top. They delivered everything on time and on budget, which was very impressive considering the entire project happened during the pandemic, and supply chain problems were starting to kick in near the end.

Right from the beginning they were straight forward with us, letting us know some of our ideas were probably impractical, but quickly offering up alternatives. They also asked far more questions than other contractors we talked to, talked about their business process and timelines, and were generally open and transparent about everything right off the bat. They had us meet directly with their suppliers across town to pick out every little piece we needed, and everyone we dealt with was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and more than willing to answer our questions.

We moved out to give them full access to our condo unit, and fourteen weeks later, we had a brand new place. They were quick to alert us to any issues throughout the process (the building is only from the 2000s, but still old enough there were some surprises of course), and gave us updates (or encouraged us to just pop in) whenever we needed. Their team, and all the trades they brought in, were friendly and helpful, and everyone did a fabulous job. We asked a lot of questions and they were very patient with all of our inquiries, though obviously it is hard to get a firm answer sometimes with multiple groups all involved in some decisions along the way.

We'd definitely recommend Calico Design and Renovation for any projects - big or small - you come across. They were amazing at every step and we would happily use them again if we ever needed more work done in our place.

I had Calico designs come and quote some repair work. I had a leak in my bathroom that destroyed the drywall ceiling in my basement. They came to quote the same day and started work the next business day. They finished all the work within a week and the work was completed very well.

Roy is really good! We finished our full house renovation and he was there to support us through the process. He is fair, great problem solver, very open communication, proactive and above all super committed to make sure all trades were on time and delivered with quality.
We couldn't have finished our renovation on time without Roy.
If you want an amazing project manager to look after your renovation he is the guy.

We decided to turn our basement into an industrial loft with an exposed painted ceiling. Roro (who refers to himself as Roy) is not as professional as others have written. He was friendly and seemed genuinely into his work however, he does lack framing skills. My husband said the basement framing job was unprofessional with huge gaps (upwards of 16” behind frames) so that Roy could cut corners and go around drains to avoid boxing them out. Windows have a minimum of a 4” gap from the frame. At one point, when I brought it up with Roro, he seemed to get upset when I told him I don’t want all that wasted space behind a wall. He said, well, you’re only going to get a couple of inches... (more like 12” extra). The framing around the circumference walls are a mess that has to be corrected and apparently, now that Roro has his payment in full, he has simply fallen over the edge of the planet. There shall be no corrections by him. Zero communication now that he has the money in his pocket. We overpaid him for the kind of work he did. He’s a one man show (where are people getting this Roy and his team from?). We only ever saw one other kid (maybe 17 years old?) when he hand bombed the 2x4’s into our basement window (and charged us a $300 delivery fee) and then another guy for the 4 hours they framed out a bathroom and a single wall. After that, it was all Roro. His days never started before 12. Usually he arrived closer to 1pm and would leave around 4 or sometimes 6pm. It took him a week to frame. Some frames he pushed back tighter against the basement wall after I insisted but overall, his work quality is poor and lazy. He did not want to cut short any pieces so if an 8’ board went beyond a corner, then he made the other side join it so both are far from the walls. A lot of wasted space. And he just kept on and on about how he was going to bring the drywall in. At that point I had decided there was no way I was going to pay him $5500 labour to drywall and pay on top of that for material (which would have made it $8000). HE DOES NOT HAVE A CONTRACTOR ACCOUNT WITH ANY HARDWARE STORE and so we ended up paying full retail price for whatever materials he used. Seriously, that is so ridiculous. He even rented a ramset tool then tried to pass it off in his receipts for me to pay for. He charged me HST but I do not believe he has an HST # and he won’t provide me with one. I did look up his company for reviews and they all seemed dandy. From what we experienced first hand, we find it hard to believe he as achieved 10 star reviews. Everything that has ever been written or said are not what we have experienced. No team. Just him. After he was paid (big mistake - thought the job was done) - he absconded into darkness. Our electrician commented about the ‘lazy’ work. One bathroom wall is 6” away from the wall. Another wall is still 10” away. We have hired another company to drywall. Their price includes all materials - $3500. A far cry from the $8000 Roro wanted. However, because of the ridiculous framing (no drywall boards line up to any studs - so reframing had to be done), it now cost us $4500 to drywall. There are no supports above any of the door frames. He also does not clean sweep after he’s done. He left a pile of sawdust, and over 600 pieces of cut wood. I think the photos speak volumes. Just look at the patchwork. In one photo you can see a long screw that barely touches the ceiling joist (guess he cut the wood too short for that one and left it) and in another you can see there is absolutely no stud attached to the joist to hold up the framing. For this he charged us $5000 to frame??? *The photo of the ceiling with the round vent behind the frame is in the bathroom. He was too lazy to frame around the vent in order to push the frame back against the wall. So instead I have a 6” gap there. I also have 5” of gaps between the window and the framing. Additionally, some of the walls are crooked as you can see - we placed a 2x4 against a ‘framed wall’ and you can see the huge gap in the middle. As well, while having the flooring installed we were shown how every single wall is slanted! There are zero square corners.

There wasn’t a trade that came in that did not comment about the framing. They all said the job was worth maybe $2,000 but the way our basement was framed, they said they wouldn’t have paid a dime. I asked Roro to fix what he did and he refused.

Roy was professional, efficient and did a great job. Communication was thorough and delivery of service was excellent. When services are needed we will use again. Thanks.