COLLVIN Home Renovations & Contracting Inc.

PLEASE READ: I employed the services of Collvin Home Renovations and Contracting Inc. to renovate a bathroom, small kitchen and install a tile floor for a basement apartment I am renting. From the beginning of the project I expressed to Gavin the importance of adhering to a reasonable timeline. Throughout the projects different stages I kept checking with Gavin on the progress of the project and he kept on assuring me that; "It should be almost complete come next Friday". Well next Friday came and went for over 9 weeks and project was no whereas near finished. Yet every Friday Gavin was looking for me to get paid and yet the project was not progressing.

I learned quickly that Gavin is very good at telling a client what they want to hear as long as he can get money. I learned that he up charges the client whatever materials he needs for the job. I found him to be a dishonest person, let me explain, one Friday evening, (week 3) after Gavin was done working for the day he came asking for $5,000 to go purchase the IKEA kitchen cabinetry we had talked about. When I asked why $5,000, the cabinets are $3,000, he quickly added that he needed to pay himself, even though the week before I had paid him $2,000 as a deposit. I agreed to $4,000 since he told me he was going that weekend to purchase the kitchen cabinets. He never did purchase the kitchen cabinets instead he kept the money. He did go to IKEA a week and half later designed the kitchen layout plan himself and tried to sell to me for $225.00, telling me that he paid $250.00 for it when IKEA only charges $129.00 for them to do it. When I asked him why he had not purchased the cabinets and when he was going to? He sarcastically remarked, "When you give me the money". We both knew I had given him the money specifically for the kitchen cabinets and in the end he never did purchase the kitchen cabinets, I had to go to IKEA purchase them, its what I should have done in the first place. He kept the money for himself, his justification (in his mind) I am sure being its payment for the job.

After that experience with Gavin, things seemed to just get worse and worse. The project seemed to slow down even more, on a day-to-day basis I kept checking with Gavin to find out how the project was moving along and he would always assure me that everything was fine but that wasn't the case. He took on another client, at least one that I know of for sure, while still not finished my project, which further delayed completing my project.

By week 9, I had enough and fired Collvin Home Renovation and Contracting after several conversations with Gavin I realized nothing was improving and he wasn't adhering to a reasonable timeline. I was left with an unfinished bathroom only drywall and a partial shower installed, a kitchen with exposed studs, no drywall, no plumbing completed and only a partial tile floor grouted.

My personal opinion of Gavin is that he overplays (embellishes) the whole idea of how much work is involved in any project and of course all the materials he is going to use and time to complete the job, which in the end costs the client more money. When he finally does provide the client with his quote he comes across as if he is doing the client a favor by showing the client how low his cost is to them yet there is so much work to do. Don't kid yourself he knows full well where to hide his profit in any project. For example for the glass corner shower of 3.5ft X 3.5ft he charged me $1850.00 for material of which I supplied shower tile, shower floor, plumbing fixtures and that cost did not include the labour cost charged in finishing the shower and bathroom. $1850.00 for a Shower door and glass?

If you do go ahead and decide to hire him I wish you the best of luck and I would suggest that you obtain receipts for materials purchased for your project and that you hold on to your wallet a little more tightly then I did. I wouldn't recommend this contractor to anyone.

This contractor did an excellent job with the kitchen floor tiles. He did not rush to complete the job and worked very hard to install the tiles into a diamond pattern. He took time to finish the job but I am satisfied with work. He has done what ever I requested him to do to make me happy. He is calm, honest and punctual. Some days he worked upto midnight to finish the job. He has expensive power tools to do the job. He is very professional to work with. He listens to the customers requirements and works accordingly. Overall I am very satisfied with the work.

I am a perfectionist and Gavin's work was above my expectations. He does amazing clean work at reasonable rates. He has a great attitude and is very easy to work with.

I found Collvin Home Renovation company on TrustedPros after putting up a request for a contractor to do my kitchen. In came Gavin Bentham from Collvin and right from the start he had wonderful ideas about how to make my dream kitchen come true. He was a warm and very friendly person and despite having gotten quotes that were either cheaper or on a faster timeline, we choose Gavin because there was an instant trust factor established. He showed us plenty of samples on floor tiles, counters, cabinets, etc. We made all the decisions together and he was very accomodating on our tight budget. He gave us ideas to cut our cost and we ended up buying our own cabinets/hardware, floors, backsplash and paint. Once the work got started we hit many obstacles with electrical phone lines, rewiring etc. which Gavin dealt with professionally and as best he could. He was in constant communication with the phone/cable companies and with myself and we were able to find solutions despite the time delay ( 2 week delay at that point). I must point out that this was a heavy reno with multiple walls coming down ( in a condo!!).

Around that time, Gavin took up other reno jobs and unfortunately I felt that he did not work as hard to finish up my kitchen and it took much longer than our contract agreement ( almost 3X longer). I understand this was because of many design problems that arose throughout my reno but I would of liked more foresight on their part. I had to spend more money to fix some changes which I wish I didn't have to and many calls I made were not answered.

Overall though, once my kitchen was done, Gavin had added a new foyer and a new ceiling and paint in my living room to match my beautiful kitchen. Despite all the hiccups which I was told by many to expect during such a large renovation, I must say that Gavin did a good job and everyone is impressed with the final product. I also have not changed my first impression on him: he is a very kind and wonderful person and I can vouch for his trustworthiness, character and his place on TrustedPros!

This is long overdue, Gavin from COLLVIN Home Renovations & Contracting Inc. worked patiently and diligently with my husband and I to remodel our master unsuite, guest bathroom and our main floor powder room and we would like to say thank you for the great work you did on our washrooms. I must say given our budget and their reasonable price, they managed to provide us with exactly what we've asked of them. Gavin offered his professional opinion, involved us in any decision needed to be made and fixed things that were not up to his standards. We would gladly recommend him to family and friends.

Thank You,

Melissa and Reyaz

Collvin did our kitchen and bath reno from November 2014 to January 2015.

What I liked about Collvin was that they were very courteous to deal with, prompt in answering my questions about our job, prompt in responding via email or phone, and had no problem redoing things if it wasn't to my liking or needed touchups.

What I think could be improved is timeliness--being on time when stated, as well as estimating the time length of our job in lieu of other jobs they may be working on around the same time. There were some delays in starting our job and it also took longer than anticipated--at one point, I wasn't sure when it would end, but when I voiced my concerns to Collvin, all efforts were made to get it done, which was good. Overall, I would recommend Collvin to anyone looking for a contractor to do their reno.

I was very happy with our choice in Collvin. They very knowledgeable and did a good job of our job.

Excellent work, on schedule, for reasonable price. Would definitely recommend contractor and would use this contractor again. Very courteous to deal with!

We would definitely recommend Collvin Home Renovations to anyone looking for work to be completed.

Collvin renovations was hired to renovate our kitchen and did so within our time frame.

Honest,reliable and would go the extra mile to consult and repair beyond his quote.

Please feel free to contact Collvin renovations to get your work done hassle free.

Great job!

Very professional staff , excellent work , very tidy workmen who stayed within budget and communicate changes in a timely fashion. would have no hesitation using the service of Collvin Home renovations and Contracting Inc. in the future.