Reviews

7/10

Ill start by saying Im a picky homeowner. I know that and if Im spending over $10k I should be allowed to be. Presales Julian was great, very responsive, fair pricing. Ken and his crew did good work, they were super respectful. I was reasonably happy with the job. Durham loses stars with the post job experience. Not everything that was agreed to was completed and I still experience significant noise and pops on multiple stairs. None of which existed before yet Julian claims that it isnt his fault and the only way to avoid this is by reinforcing the stairs on the install. Of course this wasnt brought up prior to the job. Plus when I had to highlight things that were missed from our agreement I was accused of being petty. My only advice is get everything in writing, highlight any issues with your existing stairs ahead of time and make sure if youre doing a full recap that he fully explains that he will not guarantee there wont be noises on your stairs after.

Approximate cost of services:
$14,000.00
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Company Response

Hi Shane,

Thanks for the review, albeit quite a few months after we had completed the work and spoke several times afterwords in regards to your existing noise issue on the landing.

We never, ever, accused you of any name, nor called you by one, this is dissapointing that you even took anything we said in this context, no one certainly ever called you petty, this is unfair to claim to our reputation.

As per all our agreements, and the one you signed, you held 50% until the end of the job and end of the last day, and happily paid, and we're pleased with all the work and the team, all the modifications and large amount of work that was completed in the 2 weeks we were onsite.

The stairs were not making any noises when we came back post job completion, it was your landing which was not part of our scope as your flooring guys were doing this work, however it was clearly explained that any subfloor materials for stairs and landings can not be guaranteed to not squeek with other natural materials, one would need a brand new staircase and landing installed from scratch, versus the remodeling you were doing.

I realized you are a discerning client when we spoke for a month prior to starting and the other trades you had spoke to me outside your home about their difficulties on their work with you, we appreciate your feedback here however dissapointed due to the large amount of what we feel is misinformation portrayed and discrepancies, Sir.

If there was work 'incompleted' then you would not have completed the payment one would believe, which you had held 50% in full of, and perhaps not waited from May til now to post a review without reaching back out to us, sir?

As we mentioned in person after me and the guys came back to help secure the squeek on your landing, which did remedy it at the time, and also we were not scoped out to install the wood on your landing as you had your hardwood installers hired for this portion of the work. You had texted once after this after you had your landing flooring layer by your flooring guys to say there was a squeek noise again where I reiterated what we discussed in person when we came back to rectify it ex-gratia, as it was there when we started, even if it was not before the old flooring was removed, and again wasn't our scope and homes age with usage and natural crwaking noises are quite common, again as explained before starting.

Wish you all the best!

10/10

I found Kris through homestars when my original painter fell through. Kris was very responsive, his team was super respectful and most importantly he did an amazing job. Kris saved my Reno with his ability to work to the time sensitive deadlines I had. Immediately I knew he was genuine and trustworthy. He did quite a few finishing drywall areas for me in addition to painting. I cant recommend him enough. Plus hes a cool dude to have working in your home as opposed to many other trades out there! :)

Approximate cost of services:
$6,500.00
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Company Response

Thank you for the review:) I'm glad we were able to help you get your project completed and that you were happy with our work! Looking forward to working with your family again in the future.
Thanks,
Kris Grundy

10/10

I posted a small job on homestars and Javid responded immediately. He gave me advice along the way through text and phone (even before hiring him). When I was ready for the job he came promptly, kept the area clean and I couldn't be happer with the outcome.

Approximate cost of services:
$300.00
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Company Response

Thank you

10/10

I couldn't be happier with Miguel and his team on the work they did. I contracted them to demo our main floor and I was thoroughly impressed. Miguel and all his team were extremely polite, very hard working and took great care in my home. From the initial quote to communication along the way, Lu was amazing. If you have some demolition needs I wouldn't hesitate to recomend them. Thanks ML Rhino team!

Approximate cost of services:
$4,800.00
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Company Response

Thank you for taking the time to recommend ML Rhino!

We deeply appreciate the trust you placed in us to assist you in the demolition phase of your project. We have no doubt that your main floor will be transformed into a great family space with all the improvements you are making.
Please know that we remain fully committed and available for any future assistance you may require.
Once again, thank you!

8/10

We initially stumbled across Penguin basements through an open house that they were doing in our area. We went to see the work and the quality looked great. The initial consultation was really long (3 hours). A lot of education on the right way to build basements and why Penguins materials are superior. I can totally see how it’s important for the company to highlight this but maybe it can be done in 20 minutes. It was meant to impress us but the consultation almost lost our business for Penguin. There is also an opportunity here to bring sample of materials such as baseboards to this meeting. Not having seen what a “standard selection” was prior to signing up….I was disappointed during the selection process at what the “standard” turned out to be. With 2+ hours of superior materials being thrown at me I assumed that it also applied to the finishings. Amy in the design studio was great to work with. We aren’t the easiest customers (due to the standard selections) to work with but she was a trooper and put on a smile throughout some of our issues. Guy was also very accommodating here and we appreciated it. The construction started very shortly after and the first step was floor and wall protection. I was impressed with the care they took and the materials used to protect my house. Well done here. The phrase “too many cooks in the kitchen” is appropriate for the next couple of weeks. Robert the design guy, Eric the construction manager, Juliano the project manager, Seth the electrical guy and then Roberto the Finishing manager (Roberto is amazing and more on him later). I found it difficult to know who I should speak to when an issue came up. Communication between everyone was very poor. I often had to direct the “managers” to the buildertrend app to clarify what I paid for and was supposed to receive. The buildertrend app is also either not being used properly by Penguin or not very useful overall. It was pitched during the initial consultation as a great way for me to communicate and know what is going on in my house at all times. A schedule was loaded when we started but is was static and never changed. Over half of the time the schedule was wrong and when there were days off scheduled trades still showed up to work. This proved to be a problem as I specifically asked to be notified of when the floor was going to be laid so I could ensure it was cleaned prior. The trades treat your house like you would expect at a mass production home builder. Some showed your house respect and others not so much. Painters and framers were awesome. The drywallers and carpenters were not. The construction process itself went fairly smooth. However, there were many little things that happened during construction that in isolation aren’t big issues but combined they were significant. My internet was unplugged on two separate occasions, the furnace was turned off, the hot water tank unplugged, my central vacuum not installed correctly, heaters left on all night, disgusting food scraps left everywhere that I had to clean, cans of paint delivered and left on my driveway for 3 days until I decided to move them into the garage, wall stone not delivered. It should be simple --- if you need to unplug something, plug it back in before you leave so I’m not calling Seth at 7:00 wondering why I have no hot water or my furnace isn’t working..…It became comical where every night I was wondering what I’d have to call Juliano or Seth about. There were two larger issues that we encountered: 1. At least a dozen of my husband’s beer were drank from our fridge and the empties left for me. It didn’t bother us, it was hot and I’m glad they enjoyed them. Some people may have issues with someone going into your fridge and taking your beer without your consent. 2. I paid for upgraded tiles however the tiles used were the wrong ones and and they were also laid in the wrong pattern I selected. The finishing manager Roberto was amazing. Penguin needs to clone him. He was always available for questions, took accountability for everything and in general just knew how to get stuff done. He wasn’t all talk. When I called him about the wrong tiles he even offered to come to our house at 9:00 in the evening to tear up the tiles before they set. We can’t thank him enough. Penguin is truly lucky they have someone like Roberto! Overall, now that the basement is 99% completed we are very happy with the finished basement. Penguin has nailed the finished product. Throughout the process I was always confident that Penguin would resolve anything that went wrong. Would I recommend Penguin basements? They are definitely more expensive than other contractors and aren’t afraid to tell you what makes them so good. Because of this, my expectations were high and until the finishing stage I would have said No, I wouldn’t recommend them. The value isn’t there. You can’t have so many mix-ups and at the same time charge a premium price. Roberto restored my faith and we’ve ended the project on a very positive note.

Approximate cost of services:
$0.00
What could this company do to improve their services?
Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
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Company Response

Thank you for the fair and very balanced review. We think, at the very least, we owe you a case of beer ;-) We share these with the team to ensure we keep progressing as a company. And believe us, we wish we could clone Roberto as well. We are happy your project ended up being a positive experience in the end, and we hope you get many years of enjoyment out of your basement.