Shield Renovations

1. Poorly installs floors

2. Errors....had to hire another contractor to correct the many errors

3. Poor workmanship

Stay Away

We used trustedpros to find contractors to remove a load bearing wall and install new kitchen. Raphael had the best sense of what we wanted and was the easiest to work with. We ended up doing more then initially planned. Kitchen, main floor pretty much gutted with new hardwood and tiles. Two bathrooms and fireplace. Problems were fixed without the usual excuses. Would be my first choice on any future projects.

What was supposed to be a 5 - 6 week partial renovation of our master ensuite ended up taking nearly 4 months.

We have hired Rafe in the past and were always impressed by his tiling work. That said, we hired him this time around even though I had heard some negative reviews from folks we know who recently hired (and in one case fired) him.

The scope of our work included:

- shower and wall demolition;

- relocation of plumbing for the shower;

- installation of ceiling fan including minor electrical;

- tiling in shower and bathroom floor;

- construction of half wall to replace wall that was taken down;

- installation of glass shower door;

- installation of shower fixtures;

- installation of wall niche in shower.

The demolition, which could have happened in a day, took a few days as the sub(s) that Rafe hired left to go to other jobs. And because they did not clean up afterwards we had construction dust always present throughout our house. Despite vacuuming regularly I ended up with an eye infection from the dust that was emitted from the open bathroom ceiling and the drywalling. This did not seem to concern Rafe.

One of Rafe's subs attempted to build a half wall that was a disaster from the start. This dry waller is not a carpenter and the wall was a mess. A second attempt was an improvement but he miscalculated the angle of the shower door and had to curve the wall creating an eyesore. Rafe added insult to injury by adding skim coat compound to try and smooth things out. My husband, who has some renovation experience, ended up removing the crumblig compound and built it back up with the appropriate material. Thank goodness my husband was able to repair it otherwise it would have been a major distraction from my long awaited renovation.

The tiling work was well done and handled by Rafe's uncle. The wall niche, however, was a mess. This was completed by Rafe who rushed it and did not measure twice, cut once. The result is a wall niche that is too tall (18 inches) and not wide enough (5 inches). The point is to be able to place shampoos and soap out of sight. I can barely fit my shampoo/conditioner and have to put a bar of soap on its side.

The finished product looks really good but is mostly because of the tile work and the finishing completed by my husband (window door trim, floor boards, paint, lighting). I ordered a vanity from Toronto Vanity (actually suggested by Rafe) which my husband installed.

I am hoping that Rafe will read this as he needs to understand that you can't treat customers like this. His communications style is deplorable and most of the time we did not know who would be showing up to work and when. Sometime Rafe would tell us that he would personally be coming over and then wouldn't show. Fortunately my husband works from a home office otherwise it would have been a serious inconvenience. I get that Rafe is trying to build his business by doing multiple jobs at once but this will only contribute to dissatisfied clients and zero referrals. Rafe is capable of so much more but has made the decision to value quantity over quality.

I gave Rafe a poor for courteousness because he never replied to my e-mails (3 e-mails in total) where I expressed concern about the delays and issues. He would only communicate with my husband.

We are always pleased with the work done for us by Rafe and Sheild Renovations. Good work and a real effort to make sure we were happy with the job. There were some delays but not unusual during busy reno season. Trustworthy and conscientious.

I hired Shield Renovations a few years ago to do a bathroom update. Raffaele was recommended to me by my hairdresser as she was very pleased with his work. I admit I found him amazing. He was always on time, and helpful regarding choices of materials etc. His workmanship was top notch and the job site was always left as tidy as possible.

He always responded quickly to any phone calls or messages I left him, and came back promptly to take care care of any requests. He is knowledgable, friendly and courteous.

The job did take longer than expected, but I did add a few other projects to his list which probably accounted for that.

I will be happy to hire him for any other renovations that I may want to do.

We cannot stress enough how well Raffaele and his team have performed for us. From our first meeting to completion of the project Shield has exceeded all expectations.

Of the 6 contractors that we invited to quote our job, Raffaele was one of only two who identified that we required permits. His professionalism in dealing with all aspects of the project has been outstanding.

Matthew, his primary worker on the job, has worked very hard and has always focused on quality not speed. He cleaned up every night before leaving and always maintained an organized job site.

The plumbing and electrical team did an outstanding job of re-routing the services and used high quality components.

The components used by Shield are all high quality and it shows in the final result.

If you are looking for a contractor that follows all codes, uses high quality components with skilled labour then we highly recommend Shield.

My bathroom renovation experience was a positive one, all work was completed with excellent quality of workmanship and on schedule. Variety of finish options were many and also of good quality. Thank you Shield Renovations, I love my new bathroom and will definitely give you a call when it's time for a kitchen update.

Raffaele provided creative ideas and solutions with regards to our kitchen renovation. He was readily available to problem solve the unforeseen challenges that arose.Raffaele has an excellent sense of style and suggested various options with the numerous individual elements of our project. We now have our dream kitchen that the entire family can enjoy.

The work quality is very good; materials and workmanship provided were also top notch. Work started on the agreed date but it took longer than expected to finish it. Rafaelle is very knowledgeable and very helpful. One of his crew guys (Allen) is also extremely good. My only constructive feedback is related to the timing of the work completed. I feel that perhaps too many jobs were taken at the same time and this impacted the timeliness of my job. But I am very satisfied with the final product.