J. L. from Waterloo

Since starting with Hometurf Lawncare 3 years ago, my lawn has quickly changed from a poorly maintained weed garden that the previous owners left to a proper grassy lawn. At the time, I had used Homestars to find the company, and from my experience, they have lived up to their high rating. I have already signed up again with Hometurf for the 2019 season at the same great price I've paid the last two years.

I previously had Clera in to replace some old windows on the upper level of the house, and this year I had them replace the remaining windows. While my first experience wasn't ideal, they did work it out with me. This latest install went by completely smoothly without any concerns. It took a little longer to get my windows due to the complete mess caused by the new Ontario government canceling the GreenON program. Clera wanted to make sure as many customers who had ordered the GreenON windows were able to get them installed before the sudden deadline hit. (My windows were not covered by the program, but were within a few hundred of the ones that were after GreenON discount) I'd have been out an extra $2000 if they had been the GreenON windows and we missed the install deadline. In the end, I was relieved that I had opted to use the same model I used upstairs.

After the wind storm we had, it was hell trying to get any roofers to reply., even well after the storm had passed. I had some loose shingles that needed to be taken care of, but thankfully no exposed wood, so time wasn't a big deal. I called AM Roofing to see if they could do a repair. They had quoted $4xx + HST for repair and up to one bundle of shingles. Not the cheapest quote I was getting, but it was the only company that was actually responsive. Just in case, I had mentioned that I had some spare shingles from a previous repair if the repair was going to be more than a bundle. The lady at the office made a note and told me that it would be at least a week before they could get to my roof. The repair date came (though there was a miscommunication as far as when they'd get to my house) and thankfully I was home when the roofer showed up. The roofer was about to put whatever he had in his truck on my roof. (A much lighter brown shingle that would have been an eyesore on my dark brown roof). Not wanting to end up with mismatched shingles, I pulled out my spares and had him use them instead. Overall, the repair looks solid. I haven't had any problems with the roof since, so they did a good job. However, I am very disappointed that despite me giving them the exact make / model of shingles, I still ended up having to provide my own shingles, with no discount on the final price. Had they brought the correct shingles on their own, I would easily have given them 10. While pricey, they remained responsive and got the repair done in a reasonable amount of time. However, the fact that I had to provide my own shingles with no discount on the final price coupled with the fact that they would have thrown whatever they happened to have in their truck that day had I not been home does not sit well with me.

When you stumble across a company that has a perfect 10 rating on this site, it's easy to be skeptical. But in this case, Mike at Purisoft deserves each and every one of them. My basement has a configuration that I wasn't even sure would be able to fit a water softener, but after an on-site quote, we were able to come up with a workable solution that would give me easy access to the brine tank and tuck the water softener out of the way. Mike was very knowledgeable about his products and was able to answer all of my questions. He presented all options equally so that I was able to make a fully informed decision, yet was not pressured to choose one model over another. The install was fast (~1 hr), and he was on time for the time we had scheduled. All in all, well deserving of his perfect 10 star rating.

Was looking for a provider to eventually replace all above-ground windows in my house. All of the windows were original, and many of the windows on the front of the house were showing signs of condensation, making them impossible to look through. This first order was for all of the upper floor windows; 2 large bedroom sliders, one bedroom casement, a bathroom slider, and 2 large windows above a U shaped staircase, with 2 quarter-rounds above them. All windows were replaced stud-to-stud. No retrofits in this case. Of the windows purchased, the quarter-rounds were a good chunk of the price, as they would need a bit more work to make. Nothing I wasn't expecting based on quotes that I had received from a number of companies. Ultimately, I had chosen Clera as they had a price that fit into my budget, they provided an itemized quote (I had one company give me the equivalent of "back of the napkin" during this process. Not professional at all.) and the HomeStars rating was favourable. During the quote process, one of my concerns was with having to paint the trim around the quarter-rounds, which are easily 10 feet above a staircase. I had explicitly asked the salesperson whether the trim that they'd be using would be white, or if I would have to paint it. They assured me that all trim that they use is primed white and that this would not be an issue. Overall, the installation went smoothly. Had a few small places around the new bedroom windows where I had to fix the paint afterwards, but I had spare paint available and have no problems patching walls, so this was not an issue. However, after the big windows in the hallway were finished (they were done last), I found out that the curved pieces at the very top of the windows were not primed at all. So now I had trim that was white everywhere except for the curves at the very top, the specific pieces I was concerned about having to paint. (I live alone, these pieces are 10 feet above a staircase, so if I were to fall off the ladder, there would be no one to call for help) I made my concerns clear to the installer, that I was told that the trim on all pieces would be primed white. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that he could do; all pieces are pre-made for the installation. He put me in touch with the manager, who provided no constructive solutions to the issue: None of the custom trim is primed, and I'll have to paint it. The installer was aware of my concerns and while he could not offer to paint the trim himself, he did give me ideas on how I could reach the pieces that I thought I would not be able to reach. Ultimately, he was much more helpful than the manager on this matter. Shortly after posting this review, a district manager called me to discuss my concerns. We had a productive discussion about my concerns and he will be following up with his teams to ensure that there is no further confusion during the sales process about whether or not custom trim will be primed or not, especially when it comes to areas where customers may not be able to safely reach on their own. It's too late to address the painting issue, as I've already taken care of it, but I'm confident that the manager will be ensuring his team learns from this lesson. That being said, I would advise future customers that have concerns about the finish of custom trim work (basically anything that is not straight) discuss details about their expectations on the trim with the sales person, and to have these details written into the quote so that there is no confusion during the installation. Overall quality of the product seems to be good, installation was good. Post-sales experience due to the trim issue was rocky, but eventually they came through.

Sales process: Scott was very helpful and presented a number of options, giving me all of the information I needed to make an informed decision. Prices were very competitive with other providers in the area. No high pressure tactics or up-selling here. (I quoted in January but didn't install until May) Installation: They quoted a day and a half for both a furnace and AC replacement. Furnace was installed the first day with a few hours to spare, and the AC was installed the next morning. No mess left over and the install looks very clean and professional. They provided a full tour of the new system after installation. No astroturfing here, these guys have clearly earned the 10-star rating that got me to call them in the first place.