Sophie in Toronto

After doing some research on HomeStars (by reading endless reviews) to select a company to finish our basement, we narrowed down our choices to 3 companies. In the space we had to work with we envisioned a small home gym, a bar for entertaining, a family room, guest room, and bathroom. We hired Ideal Direct because Edward stood out from the other contractors and explained or pointed out the following: 1) Explanation of HVAC adjustments needed by code 2) Using WOOD Studs for framing (which is ideal and strong enough for hanging large screen televisions, shelving, and pictures. 3) Quality of his work and experience 4) Reviews from other clients Well, let me tell you how meticulous Edward really is. He is a perfectionist, his attention to detail is effectively executed, among his vision of creating and sharing ideas and options for our basement. Prior to the contract start date, I won a beautiful dark grey kitchen cabinet set at an auction. We knew these cabinets would be perfect for our bar area. Edward customized a bar for us and incorporated the style of the Shaker cabinets around the main bar area. We wanted the base cabinets more than the uppers because we did not want this area to look like a kitchen. Edward mentioned that he could customize them into bases for extra storage. Well, we ended up using 11/14 cupboards placed them along the wall in the home gym. Thank goodness, because they are absolutely necessary for extra storage (which I think everyone needs) and by doing this our money wasn’t wasted (since we used almost all the cupboards) it was well spent. Edward was great to work with, I may have watched a little too much because I was curious about the process and excited to see it come to life. He became like family, our 5 year old cried when the job was done because he was so used to Edward being there. In the end, our finished basement has exceeded our expectations. Everybody loves the space, it’s our new hangout in the home, and we seem to be there more than the main floor these days. Everyone who sees our “new floor” and loves it and can’t believe how beautiful it is. In the future, we would definitely hire Ideal Direct for any new home improvements, great craftsmanship, by the book, and attention to detail, by far the best choice for your next home improvement.