Urbanest Construction

Marko and his team helped navigate us through a fairly extensive kitchen renovation. The initial design process was great and the final product turned out better than hoped. There were some time delays, as to be expected, but Marko kept us informed and moved the project along.

Urbanest saved us! We were at our wits end due to a permit issue that was caused by using a prior contractor. We got in touch with Urbanest and were thrilled with the process and the results. From start to finish they handled everything professionally by providing updates along the way as well as taking care of all the little details like making sure things worked with our schedules. Our experience has been stellar and we couldn't be happier.

Would not recommend. Was promised a 3-4 month job that took almost 2 years to complete, had sub contractors threatening me when they were not paid. Still waiting for the washing machine drain to be fixed as it floods every time the weather goes below 0 degrees. Lots of excuses with minimal follow thru.

We fell victim to Marko Furlani, Urbanest Construction. Signed a contract in Nov. 2020 (8 months into COVID) to renovate a 700 s.f. basement in 12-16 weeks. Were assured it would be a “turnkey” experience.

His workers are SUB-contractors whom he does not pay on time or at all. Several refused to return until they got paid and had nothing nice to say about him.

At 1 point we hadn’t seen Marko for 5 weeks. Gave us lame excuses. He’d regularly disappeared for a week or 2.

27 sub-contractors came to quote jobs. Marko was on site for 4!

Marko was paid in full for a new Furnace/AC unit prior to install. HVAC Co. was partially paid & rest paid the day we fired him (11 months later). We had no tag & A/C freon ran out in July.

We did MOST of the reno cleanup (shovelling dirt/debris, sweeping/vacuuming). Marko was always “sending” someone to clean, but no one EVER showed up!

Our main stack got damaged. Flushing the only toilet in the house caused urine/feces to pour out of the stack into the trenched hole.

Crew toilet arrived 16 weeks INTO the project but was removed shortly because he couldn’t pay $500/month.

Plumber #1 made a mess of the plumbing stack & installed plumbing pipes in the wrong location. Plumber #2 reworked laundry & stack (still hasn’t been paid in full).

Steel beam was left hanging by chains (didn’t fit in the block foundation) attached to temporary 2x4s that were holding up the main floor. A small fire happened during welding of the beams.

HVAC Co. #2 cut 3 NEW wires, wrapped electrical tape around each & said they were fine. Marko agreed. Electrician inspected the wires. ALL 3 needed replacing.

Wrong vanity arrived from Winnipeg, sat on the driveway for a week until I arranged for pickup & reordered the correct one (lied about ordering it in Feb. 2021). It wasn’t ordered until SEPT (7 months later).

He told me not to talk to the workers. Sorry, if they are in MY house I will speak to them. We found out how other jobs were progressing, who was not getting paid & how he was mistreating other clients.

Our reno PAST 53 weeks, with 5 missed completion dates. Fast forward to Nov. 2021 (7 months past contract date) & still unfinished!

On Nov. 25 we finally fired him. He showed up after 2 weeks, started throwing hinges onto our new quartz countertop, because we asked what the delay was this time (a conversation we have had numerous times since March 2021). He kept saying he had “no money!" What did he do with our $83 000.00? We were disgusted with his conduct & aggression, told him to leave & not come back. He eventually left & started calling/texting us.

He is very quick to take your money AND if you don’t pay him he threatens that the project will stop & get delayed further. He has all our money except for the last payment (due upon completion). Tried collecting it. Inflated the invoice with extras (change order to a change order) already paid for & added more doors, pot lights than were installed.

He’s told sub-contractors he can't pay them because we didn’t pay him.

Lots of work still left to do & many deficiencies to fix. Since the beams were installed, we have stress cracks on the main floor walls and 1 in the upstairs that need to be addressed.

What a dishonest “General Contractor”, who thinks so highly of himself. He should be ashamed of himself, taking money from clients & breaching his contractual obligations. He should return moneys for the work he did not complete.

We DO NOT recommend Marko Furlani or Urbanest Construction for your home renovation needs.

Unfortunately, we had the displeasure of signing a contract with Mr. Furlani and were very dissatisfied with our dealings with him and his company. Mr, Furlani does not keep his promises or honour contracts.

We received a quote from Mr. Furlani at the end of January 2021 (which was 10 months into the Covid Pandemic). He advised it would take 3 months to complete the renovation project. Unfortunately, it was well past the 3 months before any progress was being made. He kept using Covid as an excuse, but we had 2 homes that were being built from scratch down our street. Both homes were completed before our kitchen was. He advised he misquoted our project and claimed he couldn't finish the job after we gave him a considerable amount of money that we agreed upon in the contract. We had numerous calls from his subcontractors for payment since he didn't pay them which he was hired to do. He installed a window and sink incorrectly. Because of his incompetence, we had water and rodent damage that needed to be repaired.

He took all our payments but DID NOT COMPLETE THE PROJECT. Unfortunately, at the end of September, 9 months into the project we had to fire him.

Urbanest Construction team helped us to navigating through city permits, and even represented us on community of adjustment. He handled all city inspections up to completion, also handling minor change requests arisen, coordinated soil inspection as per city request and even unforeseen challenges like our garage not having any foundation and requiring underpinning. Very responsive, always available for a phone call and prompt to solve any issue that came during the renovation. The finishings used in our house were outstanding and gorgeous. They mantra comes with "we want to make you happy" is followed by heart, and even though they were not able to finish the project on time, our house became so beautiful, it has everything we ever dreamt of. Thanks Marko and Urbanest to make our dream come true.

Marko and team provided excellent, high quality and professional consulting with regards to creating an at home office space. He worked with us diligently to bring our ideas to life with an custom design and speedy, professional installation. I can’t recommend highly enough