http://homestars.com/forums en-us 60 HomeStars Forum - Where you can ask questions and share your knowledge with fellow homeowners to make your next home improvement project better <p>Good evening Nick,</p> <p>My name is Jodi, I am Homestars <span class="caps">CTO</span>. Nancy shared your correspondence with me. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us and for bringing this important issue to our forum.</p> <p>We are entirely in agreement with you. For that reason we have been capturing and storing Pre-Sale Reviews. What we haven&#8217;t figured out is out to present them. We have a great number of projects on the go and this one ranks highly.</p> <p>Trust is Homestars number 1 value. This isn&#8217;t lip service, this is indeed the case. You raised that since we take $$ from companies that places in an uncomfortable position. This may seem to be the case, but I can tell you that homeowner trust weighs above every other priority. To ignore trust for sake of revenue would be foolish and this house would fall. Here are a couple of references to show you how serious we are:</p> <p>1. Earlier this past year we celebrated the best companies on Homestars. After handing out the awards this year we discovered one of the winners had paid for people to invent reviews. We immediately took away the award and investigated every review they received in 2011.<br /> 2. Review Transparency &#8211; This <a href="http://blog.homestars.com/archives/2011/03/10/transparency-to-review-approval-process/">blog post</a> is a good overview of the things we do to increase the trust of our reviews<br /> 3. the Fraud banner discussed above has been used for companies both paid and not</p> <p>I&#8217;m sure I&#8217;m missing some other key trust initiatives we&#8217;ve undertaken over the past year &#8211; perhaps my colleagues will pipe in.</p> <p>Trust is as a journey not a destination. Pre-sale reviews are another way &#8211; and we&#8217;re stoked to get this into homeowner hands</p> <p>Jodi</p> Sun, 27 May 2012 20:24:27 -0400 homestars.com:2:22284:16793 jodi from douro http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/22284-babus-electric-aks-a-j-electric-and-homestars?page=1#posts-16793 <p>I&#8217;d like to find someone to do an inexpensive repair on my backyard flagstone patio. The cement that held the stones in place has dissolved/crumbled in some places, so I need someone to fill in the smaller gaps and also replace the stone (I&#8217;ve saved most of it) and re-mortar it into the larger holes.<br /> I don&#8217;t think I need a mason necessarily, but I do need someone who works with cement and can do a good job of it. I live close to U of T and Chinatown in downtown Toronto. Any recos?</p> Sun, 27 May 2012 16:57:53 -0400 homestars.com:1:22377:16790 Ilona in Downtown Toronto http://homestars.com/forums/i-am-looking-for/topics/22377-flagstone-repair?page=1#posts-16790 <p>I need to install some type of strong wire or mesh netting (not the home depot bird netting)for my balcony to keep my pet safe. I live in an apartment building on the 18th floor. Would a handyman or carpenter do this type of work? Do I need to buy the materials myself? If anyone has had this type of work done, please share your experience as I&#8217;m not sure if I should try to do this project myself. Thank you.</p> Sun, 27 May 2012 13:41:23 -0400 homestars.com:1:22367:16784 Anne in East York http://homestars.com/forums/i-am-looking-for/topics/22367-balcony-proofing-wire-or-mesh-netting?page=1#posts-16784 <p>We met Peter Glaw of Premier Quality Renovations and evaluated some of his work a few years ago. It is excellent work. I cannot find him on this site.<br /> I found his website at<a href="http:// www.premier-renovations.com"> www.premier-renovations.com</a>. Has anyone on this site used his services?</p> Sun, 27 May 2012 12:22:15 -0400 homestars.com:2:22364:16783 Carol Ann Burgmann in Mississauga http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/22364-renovator-not-listed?page=1#posts-16783 <p>hi the job will cost approximately $1,200 once the vinyl is removed there will be some damage done to the wall and that will need to be fixed the rest speaks for it self<br /> Thanks<br /> Gianni</p> Sat, 26 May 2012 21:36:06 -0400 homestars.com:1:22221:16780 giovanni from gc tiles http://homestars.com/forums/i-am-looking-for/topics/22221-need-to-install-tiles-on-the-kitchen-wall?page=1#posts-16780 <p>you either waterproof the inside or outside.If you have money to burn give it to me and ill waterproof both lol!<br /> thanks <br /> GC tiles and reno</p> Sat, 26 May 2012 15:25:42 -0400 homestars.com:2:22337:16776 giovanni from gc tiles http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/22337-waterproofing?page=1#posts-16776 <p>Is it necessary to water proof inside and out, or can you just do one?</p> Sat, 26 May 2012 14:30:28 -0400 homestars.com:2:22337:16775 Christine on Lauder http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/22337-waterproofing?page=1#posts-16775 <p>I live in a semi-detached home and have an issue when the neighbor is cooking the odor is coming into my house through the kitchen vents and upstaris in the washroom vent and return air vents. What could be done to solve this? I called the builder and home warranty and they say they cannot do anything about this. My next step maybe getting a contractor. Any suggestions would be appreciated.</p> <p>Thanks</p> Sat, 26 May 2012 13:42:00 -0400 homestars.com:2:22330:16774 Ray in Brampton http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/22330-odor-from-semi-detached-neighbours-travelling-through-vents?page=1#posts-16774 <p>Some background information first:</p> <p>I&#8217;ve had a frustrating experience with Babus Electric (aka A &amp; J Electric). John Babus came to my home for a quote and after walking through my house and explaining how difficult the job was going to be (it was swapping out a fuse panel for breakers and removing a cheater box) he sat down to write up his quote. As he was finishing up his quote, he stated that his estimates cost $50 and that we &#8220;should pay him now&#8221;. I was shocked because after talking through the phone and through email numerous times he never mentioned a fee for his estimates. He claimed he forgot but did not let it go. We asked him to leave our house. I felt like we were being conned out of $50 and even the claim that if we hired him he would take the $50 off the price felt manipulative. I know charging for estimates is common practice, but so is being upfront about those costs. I would not trust this company.</p> <p>I posted this review on his company page, but it was taken down because of Homestars&#8217; rules about there needing to have been money exchanging hands for a review to be valid. After talking to Gerry at Homestars he told me that if I had paid the $50 my review could have remained on the website. In other words, if I had gone against my judgement I could have let others know the truth.</p> <p>Don&#8217;t other people want to see <span class="caps">EVERYTHING</span> relating to a company before contacting/hiring them? I want to know how they handle their estimates and which companies don&#8217;t show up for a job. How do these companies handle themselves when money isn&#8217;t directly changing hands? To me, that is critical information that needs to be included and should have been included from the beginning.</p> <p>Homestars states that they are developing a way to include pre-sale reviews but I feel that this would be a easy fix if they were serious about it. They could add an icon and/or colour code those pre-sale reviews.</p> <p>I have taken up the cause with Nancy (the CEO) who has begun emailing me and I am hopeful that she can help ensure that Homestars is completely transparent.</p> <p>I am interested to hear others&#8217; thoughts.</p> Fri, 25 May 2012 18:18:18 -0400 homestars.com:2:22284:16760 Nick S in Mississauga http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/22284-babus-electric-aks-a-j-electric-and-homestars?page=1#posts-16760 <p>Some background information first:</p> <p>I&#8217;ve had a frustrating experience with Babus Electric (aka A &amp; J Electric). John Babus came to my home for a quote and after walking through my house and explaining how difficult the job was going to be (it was swapping out a fuse panel for breakers and removing a cheater box) he sat down to write up his quote. As he was finishing up his quote, he stated that his estimates cost $50 and that we &#8220;should pay him now&#8221;. I was shocked because after talking through the phone and through email numerous times he never mentioned a fee for his estimates. He claimed he forgot but did not let it go. We asked him to leave our house. I felt like we were being conned out of $50 and even the claim that if we hired him he would take the $50 off the price felt manipulative. I know charging for estimates is common practice, but so is being upfront about those costs. I would not trust this company.</p> <p>I posted this review on his company page, but it was taken down because of Homestars&#8217; rules about there needing to have been money exchanging hands for a review to be valid. After talking to Gerry at Homestars he told me that if I had paid the $50 my review could have remained on the website. In other words, if I had gone against my judgement I could have let others know the truth.</p> <p>Don&#8217;t other people want to see <span class="caps">EVERYTHING</span> relating to a company before contacting/hiring them? I want to know how they handle their estimates and which companies don&#8217;t show up for a job. How do these companies handle themselves when money isn&#8217;t directly changing hands? To me, that is critical information that needs to be included and should have been included from the beginning.</p> <p>Homestars states that they are developing a way to include pre-sale reviews but I feel that this would be a easy fix if they were serious about it. They could add an icon and/or colour code those pre-sale reviews.</p> <p>I have taken up the cause with Nancy (the CEO) who has begun emailing me and I am hopeful that she can help ensure that Homestars is completely transparent.</p> <p>I am interested to hear others&#8217; thoughts.</p> Fri, 25 May 2012 18:15:52 -0400 homestars.com:5:22283:16759 Nick S in Mississauga http://homestars.com/forums/site-questions-and-suggestions/topics/22283-babus-electric-aks-a-j-electric-and-homestars?page=1#posts-16759 <p>It is sixth day, the roof has not been finished. no one shows up. Considering sue the company for the damage of the roof.</p> Fri, 25 May 2012 15:28:02 -0400 homestars.com:2:19242:16757 Calvin in Calgary http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/19242-stronghold-exteriors-ltd?page=1#posts-16757 <p>Give emco plumbing suppliers a call they might be able to assist you with your troubling plumbing issues good luck . Davis from powerhouseplumbing.net</p> Fri, 25 May 2012 15:07:32 -0400 homestars.com:2:22256:16755 Davis from Powerhouse Plumbing http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/22256-plumbing-parts?page=1#posts-16755 <p>Hi</p> <p>I have an older bathtub faucet which I do not want to replace because I do not want to have to tear my whole shower wall out. It is manufactured by emco. I am looking for the following. Handles that are made out of actual metal, and not cheap plastic crap with little inserts that are designed to strip off after 5 uses. A shower arm that is made out of metal and not some cheap plastic that cracks and leaks water behind the walls. Does anyone know where I can get these kind of parts?</p> Fri, 25 May 2012 09:30:35 -0400 homestars.com:2:22256:16741 Lynda in Mississauga http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/22256-plumbing-parts?page=1#posts-16741 <p>Residential vinyl windows have some important advantages such as: they are energy efficient, require no maintenance and they also cut the noise considerably. Even more, if you are concerned about the environmental impact of construction waste you will be happy to know that vinyl windows are recyclable.<br /> Vinyl windows are created from a plastic named polyvinyl chloride, also known as <span class="caps">PVC</span>. This material has a high R-value, meaning the amount of insulation it can provide. And that is why these windows are the popular and economical alternative to aluminum, wood, and fiberglass.</p> <p>These Ultramaxx Fusion-Welded Residential Vinyl Windows are not only beautiful, but their heavy-gauge, fusion-welded vinyl sash and mainframe structure makes them incredibly strong and tough. Years of operation and harsh weather won&#8217;t diminish their quality or performance. And they offer superior resistance to the elements and to air and water infiltration. If you decide to go with these residential vinyl windows, you&#8217;ll see how they will pay for themselves through lower energy costs, freedom from maintenance and increased property values and the best part is you can see your home in a whole new light-inside and out-with these windows.</p> <p>After I searched the web for some reviews. here&#8217;s what I found about these Ultramaxx Fusion-Welded Residential Vinyl, based on customer&#8217;s ratings:<br /> Pros:<br /> Attractive(8), Glass sealed securely(7), Good insulation(8), Opens/shuts smoothly(9)<br /> Best Uses:<br /> Decoration(3), Energy conservation(7), Lighting(5), Ventilation(5)</p> <p>Ultramaxx Features:<br /> -Exclusive triple lift rails make operation easy<br /> -Full-capture sill protects from air and water infiltration<br /> -Quad 4 weatherstripping at the header and sill<br /> -Triple barrier weatherstripping at all sash points<br /> -Hidden screen track produces clean lines</p> <p>Options Include:<br /> -ClimaTech® insulated glass package<br /> -Standard, contour or brass grids<br /> -Colonial or diamond grids, grooved glass patterns<br /> -Light oak, dark oak and cherry wood grain interior finishes<br /> -American Brown exterior with white or beige interior<br /> -Beige exterior with an optional white laminate wood grain interior<br /> -Full fiberglass screens available<br /> -Obscure glass</p> <p>Before you decide on which windows you are going to use you should search the market, compare prices and beneffits and then choose the best alternative for you.</p> Fri, 25 May 2012 06:59:04 -0400 homestars.com:3:22255:16740 clearchoicewindows in W jordan http://homestars.com/forums/everything-else/topics/22255-ultramaxx-fusion-welded-residential-vinyl-windows?page=1#posts-16740 <p>hi Felicity GC tiles will be glad to work on your project email me or contact me at 647-231-0066 to set up a day to see the job<br /> Thanks Gianni</p> Thu, 24 May 2012 21:42:39 -0400 homestars.com:1:22221:16730 giovanni from gc tiles http://homestars.com/forums/i-am-looking-for/topics/22221-need-to-install-tiles-on-the-kitchen-wall?page=1#posts-16730 <p>hi Marion my name Gianni ive been in the reno business for over 10 years i have a great team and the work is done to your satisfaction and budget give me a call if your interested 647-231-0066 thanks<br /> Reference upon request</p> Thu, 24 May 2012 21:39:05 -0400 homestars.com:1:9918:16729 giovanni from gc tiles http://homestars.com/forums/i-am-looking-for/topics/9918-condo-bathroom-renovation?page=2#posts-16729 <p>Chris is a Master Carpenter with over 20yrs exp. who specializes in wood work. He also work with a very reputable cabinetry company. Feel free to call 6478364457.</p> Thu, 24 May 2012 21:34:42 -0400 homestars.com:1:16368:16728 Chris from XTC Carpentry http://homestars.com/forums/i-am-looking-for/topics/16368-modern-kitchen?page=1#posts-16728 <p>try calling Chris @ 6478364457. master carpenter with over 20years exp. very reliable and affordable.</p> Thu, 24 May 2012 21:25:47 -0400 homestars.com:1:9918:16727 Chris from XTC Carpentry http://homestars.com/forums/i-am-looking-for/topics/9918-condo-bathroom-renovation?page=2#posts-16727 <p>hello there,<br /> i would be very interested in submitting a proposal to you.<br /> our <span class="caps">ONLY</span> business are condominumns. we provide services to condo managers and unit owners through out the gta. we can also provide a design services to you, if you need help with that.<br /> please review our web site and current client review on home stars.<br /> i can be reached at <a href="mailto:corpbruno@bellnet.ca">corpbruno@bellnet.ca</a> to arrange a meeting.<br /> thank you and look forward to hearing from you</p> Thu, 24 May 2012 19:01:36 -0400 homestars.com:2:22092:16725 Corpland Contracting http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/22092-condo-renovations?page=1#posts-16725 <p>We need to put tiles on the kitchen wall &#8211; total of 50 sq feet. The cabinets will be removed before starting the project. Also need to remove currently installed vinyl tiles (glued). We will provide the tiles (options exist)</p> Thu, 24 May 2012 16:07:32 -0400 homestars.com:1:22221:16719 Felicity Art http://homestars.com/forums/i-am-looking-for/topics/22221-need-to-install-tiles-on-the-kitchen-wall?page=1#posts-16719 <p>They have been working on my roof for almost 5 days and have not finished yet. It made the base wood on my house roof expose to the rain due to their slow progress. They seem do not care my house. I did not get any respond after several email and phone calls. I am really frustrated.</p> Thu, 24 May 2012 14:16:38 -0400 homestars.com:2:19242:16713 Calvin in Calgary http://homestars.com/forums/i-have-a-question/topics/19242-stronghold-exteriors-ltd?page=1#posts-16713 <p>Toronto Maids cleaners are trained to deal with worst unhygienic conditions and provides rejuvenated and clean environment for good health of your staff or family. For more information please visit: <a href="http:" />Toronto Maid</a></p> Thu, 24 May 2012 08:02:02 -0400 homestars.com:1:22175:16704 torontomaids in Rutland http://homestars.com/forums/i-am-looking-for/topics/22175-toronto-maid?page=1#posts-16704 <p>Some home security systems provide free equipment along with a monthly monitoring contract, while others charge hundreds of dollars for installation as well as monitoring services. The best*home security systems are flexible with or without home phone line requirements. Are these Home security systems worth gaining or simply provides warranty and lowest prices? Which is better either the one which is nearer to our native place or the one which we will buy online through free shipping and door delivery? Please produce some more attachments for the more detailed view.</p> <p><a href="http://hulksecurity.com/&amp;gt;burglar alarm systems nyc"></a></p> Thu, 24 May 2012 02:46:25 -0400 homestars.com:3:8618:16699 Sniphaj in Anchorage http://homestars.com/forums/everything-else/topics/8618-faqs-on-home-security-systems?page=1#posts-16699 <p>Some home security systems provide free equipment along with a monthly monitoring contract, while others charge hundreds of dollars for installation as well as monitoring services. The best*home security systems are flexible with or without home phone line requirements. Are these Home security systems worth gaining or simply provides warranty and lowest prices? Which is better either the one which is nearer to our native place or the one which we will buy online through free shipping and door delivery? Please produce some more attachments for the more detailed view.</p> alarm systems nyc[/url] security systems nyc[/url] Thu, 24 May 2012 02:43:51 -0400 homestars.com:3:8618:16698 Sniphaj in Anchorage http://homestars.com/forums/everything-else/topics/8618-faqs-on-home-security-systems?page=1#posts-16698 <p>Hi Saeid, <br /> You can give our project manager a call at 647-212-8005</p> Wed, 23 May 2012 23:12:43 -0400 homestars.com:1:21924:16693 Seaside Pools & Landscaping Inc http://homestars.com/forums/i-am-looking-for/topics/21924-back-yard-needs-to-be-flat?page=1#posts-16693