I am writing this review for Wellcore Corporation who completed our custom house (Scarborough images on their website) in June of 2017. This may be a lengthy review for some, but I feel it is necessary to convey our experiences with Wellcore over the course of this project. If you find it's too long, I've summarized the review below.
Summary
This summary is what you should read if you want the quick rundown on our experience. I've outlined some brief details below this summary. Overall, I would highly recommend Wellcore. They are genuine and caring and will ultimately ensure that you are satisfied at all steps of the project. It's honestly easy to hire a contractor and have them build a house, but the question that remains is what type of relationship will be built between the individual and contractor throughout the project and what level of quality is maintained throughout the project. At the end of the project, we developed a strong relationship with Wellcore. We are 100% positive that we made the correct decision and not because our house was built by them, but because we hired professionals that brought experience and quality to the table in a timely fashion. Right from the beginning, they outlined the steps involved in undertaking this project and reassured us that every step would meet our expectations. We know that the house is well built and will last just as long as our 93 year old house. As a side note, during this project we hired an urban planner in Newmarket for the permit phase (we found the urban planners thinking they would help us get the permits quicker; they were separate from Wellcore) who were deceitful. I want to bring this up to show that our project certainly wasn't without it's hiccups, so we've met individuals throughout the project that we would never hire again. During the lengthy time of trying to acquire the permits with the poor performance of the urban planner, Wellcore continued to back us up (help us acquire permits) and reassured us that we would be successful in acquiring permits. With Wellcore, we would definitely hire them again. Before I finish I would like to say that I've posted this review on multiple websites and that the level of detail of this review reflects what I think of the company. Furthermore, you should do your research and read reviews in detail before hiring anyone, we interviewed several builders and decided on Wellcore. Should you decide to go with Wellcore, you definitely won't regret it. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Pre-Design Phase
We've been wanting to build a house for almost 10 years, however the thought of demolishing our house and building a new house was always a stressful notion to comprehend. It was approximately 2 years ago that we decided to finally commit to building a house. We knew that hiring a professional would be instrumental in executing this project, but finding someone who was truthful, genuine and thoughtful would be difficult. We initially began our search by consulting home renovation websites which helped us narrow down a few candidates within our area. We interviewed approximately 5-7 construction companies with Wellcore being amongst the bunch. Some contractors were good and others...well let's just say, they did not convey the most appealing attributes that we were comfortable with. When we initially met with Alex he commented on updates that he could do to improve the house. I'll note that our house was 93 years old and in need of renovations. He began to discuss the prospects of building a new house instead and what it would entail. He discussed things like design phase, project costs, time frame, etc and gave us time to think about what we actually wanted. He never pushed us to commit anything on the spot and was never condescending in any way. He simply listened to what we wanted and told us that he would email us with a rough estimate of how much a project like ours would cost, which he did within the week.
Permits
We had a difficult time acquiring permits because of our neighbour, however Wellcore ensured that we would successfully attain them. They helped us through the entire process despite numerous road blocks. Furthermore they were patient during this time which we appreciated.
Build phase
When the time came to build, we were eagerly excited to get started, however before we started Alex briefed us on the entire process including possible issues that may arise. Since our house was older there was the possibility for unknown soil conditions (which wouldn't be found until we dug) and the presence of a septic tank. He was transparent about the costs associated with these items. The building process went smoothly, we interacted well with Wellcore throughout the entire process and was able to speak to Alex about any pending issues. One issue that arose was that one section of the front stone wasn't completed properly compared to the other areas. We brought this issue to Alex and he immediately addressed it despite being busy with other projects. One thing to note is that Alex and Nat are very responsive and caring of the quality of the work. This is especially seen by the quality of the indoor work. We are quite minimalist when it comes to design and appreciate clean lines without overly exaggerated designs. Wellcore definitely delivered on their end as the detail is quality. For example, looking at the installation of the baseboards to the tiles in the washrooms we can tell that everything was done with care. Furthermore, we appreciate that the electrical and plumbing were also laid out cleanly, which can be seen when looking at the electrical panels and the basement ceiling (at the time of this review our basement is unfinished).
Post-build phase
We noticed that there were minor things that needed to be touched up, mostly because of moving in furniture. When it came to these small items, Wellcore was quick to correct it. Although I can't comment on the warranty phase, I have no doubt that they will deliver on their end.
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