Degruyter Home Improvements

We contracted them, after looking at some of their other work, to do a large addition. Two years later we had to redo parts of the work that was done completely wrong to the tune of $15,000. Roofing leaked, deck installed wrong and railings not to code. Tried to have them redo The work themselves and they stopped answering calls and didn't answer registered letters. Completely incompetent workers and irresponsible business people. Im worried about what else we'll find. I wanted to sue but they more or less disappeared. Would give them a zero but it's not available.

I was approached by Jim from Degruyter Home Improvements when I posted a project on Handy Canadian. Looking at the price range and flexibility shown by Jim compared to other contractors, I signed an agreement on November the 12th, 2012 for $22k. The project was supposed to be completed before December the 25th. Degruyters stopped working for various reasons cited early December 2012. By the end of November Jim had received $20k out of the total 22K. He used to give me regular updates which stopped the day Tim and Sherri collected the last checks. Jim signed the agreement. Time, his son in law was doing the work. Time expressed total ignorance of some to-do items (such as installing pantries) on the contract and totally avoided doing others (such as building a false wall on the outer walls of toilet for plumbing).

anyway, when Jim totally stopped responding to my emails around December 20 and then won't even let me know when they were going to resume the work, I engaged other trades to finish the work. However, I found that they person that they had engaged as a certified plumber was not certified at all. Fishing the plumbing issues cost me more than if I had done then properly in the first place. so was the problem with tiling, which Degruyters ripped and replaced twice and then we had to do it one more time when they stopped working.

The bottom line is that Tim and Jim were supposed to return to finish the outside work, because i took care of the interior work. However, there was total silence till April 25th, when I got in touch with Jim. After trying to find ways to avoid further work - even offering a "credit" of $20 for $16/hr for finishing the outside deck - Jim stopped responding to my messages once more. I am writing this review because I have now lost all hopes that Degruyter Home Improvement will ever return to finish the outside work as per contract.