We found that working with Plansmart, pre-construction, made things so much more manageable for us during our renovation. Especially since both Pam and I work. Your method of sorting out all the details layer by layer, step by step made the renovation so much smoother than we expected. Now that weve moved in, we wouldnt change a thing. We love our house.

Mark Smith - (2 storey rear addition with basement underpinning and extensive modifications on all floors with all new mechanical upgrades, new windows and great improvements in the insulation and other healthy house systems)

I think that Plansmart helped us, in that we were very focused, everything was on a very strict schedule, and it seems we didnt have the experience that other people have that you hear about with renovations. In our case, the trades people always showed up every day, and every thing was done if not on schedule then very close to on schedule and we had a back up plan for what would happen if it was off schedule.

Paul Reilly - Interior gut with main and 2nd floor upgrades and modifications that corrected a poorly done and incomplete renovation by a previous owner.

The Plansmart process gave us a roadmap for both our budget and for a timeline and we stayed on it and we didnt have any change orders, which we know from following other renovations in our neighbourhood, is something that could seriously delay a project. Our renovation was completed in the six month time as planned. On budget.

Jim Downey - Bungalow top

We spent 20 years thinking about renovating. We raised three children in the house and somehow managed to make due with our tiny kitchen. We first learned about Plansmart at the home show. We met again because Joe and I were intrigued about the way that Plansmart would guide us through every aspect of our renovation. And we did this wonderful addition and now Joe and I couldnt be happier. Im only sorry that we waited all these years to do it.

Marilyn McMullan - Rear and side addition for family room and kitchen extension that overlook a chestnut tree planted nearly 30 years ago from a seedling brought over from Italy by Marilyns Mother.

I would certainly recommend that anyone who is considering doing a major renovation, participate in your method. With three school age children and both of us working full time, Plansmart really simplified and streamlined things for us.

D. Starkman - 3 storey addition and complete house gut with extensive landscaping to the front and rear yards including a pool, hot tub and lots of other toys.

First we found the neighborhood that was perfect for our family. Next we found a great location with an amazing piece of property. Then we had to figure out what to do with the house that we had just bought. So we needed someone to help us transform this outdated and impractically designed house into a home that would work for our very specific requirements. And you and your team did that without us having to take on more than we could handle. The other thing was that we moved into the house in time for the kids to settle into the neighbourhood before they started at their new school. That was really important to me.

Georgia Smith - Side and rear additions and a complete house gut the house now has tons of useable space for the kids and friends. And it also fits perfectly in with the rest of the street and the surrounding neighbourhood.

I felt like I was part of every decision, and that when the contractors were in my house I could talk to them. I didnt feel cut off from them so I knew exactly what was happening at each step.

Cathy Leary- Interior renovation and reconfiguration of main floor allowing for an eat-in kitchen with direct access to a beautifully landscaped rear yard. Cathy and her family lived in the house through their renovation.

What really impressed me most about the Plansmart pre-planning that we did for our project was that you were able to detect any hidden problems. The other thing was that during the renovation we didnt change anything.

Judy Cohen - Interior renovations on the main floor of a town house - requiring lots of attention to the intricate details of this well appointed home.

Our renovation went very fast considering how much work was done. We started in January and were finished in May. And when you consider that we gutted part of the house and we rebuilt the kitchen and built two new bathrooms and moved a stairwell, its amazing how much happened in such a short period of time.

Elliot Hill - Extensive interior renovation on main and 2nd floor with special attention and every measure taken to gaining as much natural light as possible.

Weve been back in the house now for seven months. And its exactly the way we want it to be. Exactly the way we planned it way ahead of time.

Ian Morris- Complete house gut that pretty much describes it. Only the outside walls were left standing.

If we were going to renovate again wed do it exactly the same way. We are both busy working and taking care of a family. We dont have time to dedicate to a project of this size. You need to have professionals to do it and end up getting the end result thats as good as we have today. The honest to god truth is I wouldnt mind it, some day, if we could find another house someplace else that needed work. I would do the Plansmart process all over again. I really enjoyed it.

Lori Downey - A complete update to a bungalow with a second floor and main floor gut you would never know that it was a top up.

As a real-estate agent I always feel confident recommending Plansmart to my clients. I never hesitate for a second. And I often bring people to my house to show them my house as an example. And when people are going out, and theyre about to buy a house and it needs some work, sometimes, you know, theres some trepidation, and theyre concerned about it. But seeing the work that Plansmart and their crew did in my house, this gives them the confidence that they can also get it done. They know theres someone out there whos going to do a good job for them.

Cathy Himelfarb- Rear addition and main floor renovations and upgrades that compliment what was already a beautiful home. A temporary kitchen was set up in the basement during the renovation and Cathy managed to keep her 3 kids well fed while the renovation was completed.

Part of my background is in construction project management for a large bank. Both for the corporate office and for the technical spaces that banking requires. When I found out about Plansmart online through a google search, I recognized right away that anybody who has a method and who shares their planning process with a customer was a good fit for my home renovation. I met with Bruce at his office and he was kind enough to show me how the Plansmart method worked. What appealed to me right away was that it was very transparent. I understood that I would be able to see everything that I needed to see, to make me comfortable with what I was investing in. It all made perfect sense to me.

Liz Rowland- Interior renovations with extensive upgrades that changed this house from a neglected rental into a real show piece.

We approached Bruce and Plansmart because of our frustration with a previous renovation. And right from the beginning, we felt very comfortable with this approach. I can say this now with confidence. Plansmart made such big a difference in our home renovation.

Michelle Mawby, interior designer - Rear basement and main floor addition with extensive structural reconfiguration throughout the house a beautifully designed, designers own house. Michelle and Scott lived on the 3rd floor of the house during the renovation.

Because everything was so well organized, there was always a stream of work going on in the house.

Blair Kennedy- New custom built home to fit the needs of a young growing family.

We built our new home following the Plansmart approach. We did all the budgeting and pre-planning up front. We had weekly on site meetings throughout the building of our house. And you know what? It really wasnt as stressful as we thought it would be. It was relatively easy as far as a build can go.

Diana Baschiano- New architecturally designed custom home what really is the ideal empty nesters home.

Somebody my wife works with recommended that we go to the Plansmart website because it sounded right for people like us, which I think means is kind of anal retentive. As you know, we like things to go in a certain order. And Plansmart did that for us. It was reassuring to be guided through each step in a professional, organized approach to something thats notoriously loose.

James Fleming- Stripped the exiting front faade of the house and rebuilt the exterior facing with an a Wiarton stone and cut limestone.

I guess what Plansmart did for us was organize everything. I imagine a lot of the problem that many other people experience in a renovation is that they kind of drift figuring Why dont we do this while were at it? So for us, the pre-planning helped us be buttoned down. We are generally relatively buttoned down, but we, like everybody else do get carried away, and you know while were doing this Oh now Im just thinking about maybe we could do that. So I think your way do doing this helped us think Okay, these are the things were fixing, this is what has to happen, and therefore we have the sequence so dont mess it up because youre just going to add time and cost and confusion.

Howard Moore- Main and 2nd floor reconfiguration and basement underpinning with special measures taken to deal with prior basement water problems. Howard and Jill bought the house, renovated and moved in after all the work was completed.

I would do it again. And I would do it this way because it made things so much easier than ever imagined.

Lisa Richardson- Main floor rear addition with basement renovations that now include a fully equipped and dedicated in home theatre.

If we were going to renovate again wed do it exactly the same way. There is no question in my mind Plansmart is the right process to do.

Howard Binder - Complete house gut and re-build that incorporated several outstanding architectural elements.

For us, the rigger of the Plansmart process kind of got us through the renovation in that we were both working, and we were busy, and we were living through the renovations so we were highly motivated to have this thing run as smoothly and quickly as possible.

Elisabeth Needham - 3rd floor renovation with dormer additions that needed to be cut out of the existing roof theres now a great view of the downtown skyline from a neatly placed 3rd floor window.

Knowing what to expect really gave me peace of mind. I was given a start date of December the fifth, and it was within the week of December the fifth to December the twelfth that the renovation work actually began. And there was no pause as it was executed. Plansmart got our renovation started on time and kept us right on time.

David Marks- Interior main and second floor reconfiguration and structural modifications. David and his family managed to keep it together rather well living through their renovation a few well timed getaways also helped.

For us what we wanted to do was to not have the experience that my in-laws had, and there are a lot of other people we know have had, where you hire the architect, and then the contractor, and then you spend the next year having them fight with each other about whos fault it is that the roof doesnt meet the walls. With Plansmart we didnt have that.

David Burton- Complete house gut the house was built in the early 1920s and was pretty much original when they bought it. Good bones but what a mess but youd never know it today.

We felt like we were being heard and understood through the whole project.

Randi Thompson- 2nd floor addition above the attached garage at the side of the house with renovations throughout 2nd floor that now capture much needed natural light

The one thing thats terrific dealing with Plansmart is that they were with us from the very beginning to the very end. And it saved us an awful lot of problems, because theyre there in the weekly meetings for every session. So if the architects on the site, so are the builders, so are the contractors.

And its very easy and quick to iron out all the problems. And most importantly, youve got to stake holder on the project who is in there from the very beginning to the very end. So you know youve got continuity of the project. And Im sure it saved us an awful lot of time. And I know it saved us a lot of money at the end, as well.

Doug Smith- Rear and side addition and extensive structural modifications throughout the rest of the house including an integrated in-law space.

After a disastrous time with our first choice of renovator we really appreciated working with a sincere, quality-oriented and honest firm. It was very helpful in working with Plansmart as your approach really breaks everything down into a piece by piece and item by item budget, which we felt very, very comfortable with.

We were able to know exactly what everything was going to cost. And not only that, but also paying for it once it was done. Your approach put us at ease when compared with what we experienced before when we received random invoices with out of control prices.

Margaretha Hedberg- Complete re-build of a semi detached home including rear and front additions and basement underpinning and extensive landscaping overlooking Eglinton Park.

After we had decided what we wanted and so forth, there was a timeline for the renovation of 13 weeks, and the project finished dead on 13 weeks. Which was sort of shocking to us because this was something thats very, very unusual to hear.

Joe McMullan - Rear, main and basement additions and side mudroom addition with direct access to the driveway making life so much easier for Joe and Marilyn. The renovations to the house were done through the winter so these active garden lovers lost no time in the spring.

We started the process of Plansmart, designs and permits and so on in April and we moved into the house the following April - three months ahead of schedule!

Rick Baschiano- Existing home torn down completely and the new house built through the winter months. Most importantly, Rick and Diana were in the house well ahead of Dianas 50th birthday bash!

When anyone asks us how we liked the experience or how everything worked out, the one thing that I always will say to them is , well let me put it this way, if we had to do the whole thing all over again, we would do it exactly the same way.

Stephen Pearson - Main floor and basement additions with basement underpinning and extensive upgrades through the main floor and basement it hard to call it a basement anymore the grading at the rear was changed so that it is now a fully accessible walkout only steps away from a garage at the rear of the property.

This was a great team of professionals for Randi and I to work with for our 2 renovations.

Ron Amber - Main floor additions with extensive modifications and a 2nd floor addition with master bedroom, ensuite and gym and complete facelift to the exterior of the front of the house including all landscaping this house went from a non descript almost not noticeable home, to a real gem.

Theres a real comfort factor knowing that youre paying for something thats actually done and done correctly.

Irene Porteau - Extensive interior and exterior renovations an emphasis on simple design using top quality materials reflective of Irene and Gaels European heritage.

This was the 2nd time in five years that we bought a house that needed renovations. We had a great experience with Plansmart both times and have recommended them to several people that Stephen and I work with.

Lisa Hubbard - Extensive interior alterations and upgrades including a 3rd floor re-build and 2nd floor Master Ensuite carved out existing space. Overall very interesting uses of space and design.

There wasnt a day when you would come by and there was nobody working at the house.

Mark Halpern- Extensive renovations through main and 2nd floor with structural and mechanical upgrades this job needed to be timed precisely to the day because of the expected birth of Mark and Lynns first child.

Its really nice to work with a group of professionals that has a lot of integrity that you feel comfortable with.

Bethann Levinson- 3 storey rear addition with an addition above the garage at the side and also a complete house gut

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