Home Renovations

shanekingsley

shanekingsley

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Just bought a house in Mississauga. It's a good home with some cosmetic things we would like to change. Neither of us has the time to do this ourselves so we are looking for honest and reputable contractors in home renovations who have good attention to detail.

We are thinking about taking out a wall or two and changing 3 carpeted rooms and a hallway to some type of wood flooring (not laminate). Knocking out the walls involves rerouting electrical, an air conditioning vent and so on. We are also looking for someone who can help present us with different options based on our basic needs. Essentially we want to open up the kitchen and dining rooms with perhaps a breakfast bar or something like that.

Any suggestions? It would be nice to have one person/team do the whole job, for a fair price and do it reasonably quickly.

I'm about to start browsing Homestars and Houzz.

Thanks!
 
Paulhv1 said:
Call my buddy Mark tell him Paul Hughes gave you his number, here is his website
http://threeleggedhandyman.com
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How come his website states he no longer takes residential jobs?

Anyway, I am in the same position as OP... I have a bunch of things to be done that are beyond what I want to tackle myself, and am also in Mississauga and would appreciate good contractor recommendations.
 
shanekingsley said:
It would be nice to have one person/team do the whole job, for a fair price and do it reasonably quickly.
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What colour is the sky in your world?


Diesel said:
Anyway, I am in the same position as OP... I have a bunch of things to be done that are beyond what I want to tackle myself, and am also in Mississauga and would appreciate good contractor recommendations.
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sos6r4.jpg
 
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Its too bad you live there. I have a great network of trades that I work with.
But I am pretty sure the cost to do work an hr or more with traffic away would add a premium to your bill.
I could help you out with the flooring however.
 
Diesel said:
How come his website states he no longer takes residential jobs?

Anyway, I am in the same position as OP... I have a bunch of things to be done that are beyond what I want to tackle myself, and am also in Mississauga and would appreciate good contractor recommendations.
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To be honest I don't know, maybe he got out of it. I know he used to do a lot of residential.
 
PM if you need your stairs done i know a good company.
 
I would avoid having one person/team do it all. As a former electrician I can attest to the hack jobs that get buried by johnny-contractor and the fire-fighter side job! And HVAC, if not balanced/done properly will be ineffective. And insist on permits - they are there to protect you the home owner. A good contractor should be able to quote you on the contracting work and know of good tradesmen to bring in for additional work.
 
You're dreaming with one guy unless you want to hire one guy and he'll get the support he needs.
The wall removal depends on what's inside the wall and could be an easy job as well; else you could require an electrician, plumber and general contractor.

Although: floors are easy enough to do yourself. Hardwood isn't much more difficult than laminate: especially if you're removing walls. With a nailer, chop saw and air compressor: you could easily do a single room in a couple hours once you get the hang of it.
 
Thank you for the suggestions, advice and referrals.
I don't think it's unrealistic to have one person do all the work, do good quality work and for a reasonable price, because I do know an excellent home renovator who has done very similar work for some of my friends. Unfortunately he only does work in the east end (Beaches area). But I also appreciate that people like him are not the norm.

Well we are just finalizing the mortgage details and pretty soon I'll know exactly how much we can afford on a project like this.

After living in a condo for the last 5 years, I'm happy to be living on the ground floor again with a garage, a yard and a basement.

On a side note, that website Houzz is awesome for ideas.
 
Finding a HVAC guy that is also an electrician and possibly a plumber is pretty unlikely. I'm sure you wouldn't be happy with the work that one person will do. The best work is mostly always a general contractor with hired in subs. Make sure to pull all permits and keep a close eye on everything.
 
I agree with budgetracing. My buddy also was recently going through a major reno at his home and he ended up finding a general contractor from a local builder site, and the guy brought in the trades as he needed them. He's done a lot of the work himself (buddy) as he wanted to save some cash (built the stairs, install hardwood, etc.)

If you'd like I can contact my buddy and ask for the contact info.
 
Slick_Steveo said:
check to see if they are loadbearing walls first. Your costs may increase significantly if you have add structure (i.e beams columns)
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This x 1,000000000000000....

You will also likely need a permit for structural changes to your house. |I would get it (it's also there to protect you) and if it's required and your contractor says you don't need it, I would be wary. Very wary.

Also, Homestars is a good place to start but take it with a grain of salt.
 
Anyone have recommedations for framers/drywallers in the Whitby/Durham area? Im looking to finish my basement, but dont have the time to do it all myself, so if i can get someone in to do part of it i can finish the rest.
 
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