Can anyone recommend a decent contractor? We plan to sell and the place needs some sprucing up. Nothing fancy, just to take the "ramshackle-ness" away...

We need:

front lawn tamed
walk to front steps paved, tarmac'd or flagged
basement painted
some concrete poured (a pad for washer & dryer - very uneven basement floor)
stuff brought to dump if necessary
a few other bits and pieces.

Someone reasonably priced, timely and trustworthy.

Oh yeah, in Toronto.

bump

I'd PM Souvenir. He's dead good at this DIY stuff.

He says.

<seriously, why do you need a contractor for those things?>

Two reasons: I won't be here for a long spell, leaving the missus and two kids to deal with it all.

Secondly - it's a little too much for one person in the time scale that we need. I'm not a "do everything" guy.

Thirdly - why am I explaining this?

This is from the 'Holmes on Homes' web site which might help as a starting point.

http://www.holmesonhomes.com/contractors_details.php

Hope it helps

Even like the site says, you have to do your homework.

I'd love a referral - someone who's worked with a contractor and has had a good experience.

Word of mouth is so much easier and more reliable than digging for bones.

(but thanks anyway)

I have to admit, I'm puzzled as to that as well.

Ron. He's a printer by trade but does this stuff, up to complete basement renovations, on evenings and weekends. He does very nice work for a sensible, cash, price. I expect you can find him in the Feathers or the renamed O'Farrell's. Short guy but built, very tough, balding, beard, head on upside down look, piggy eyes, inky fingers, in the early evening he wears overalls handily embroidered with the name "Ron". If you can't find him look for his mate Al, big guy, Scottish, ex-army, ex-cop, listen for his distinctive cry "if there's one thing I hate worse than the Jamaicans it's the English".

whenever I've needed work done I've asked my real estate agent to put my in touch with a couple of guys for estimates based on what it is etc. At least then I've felt happy that the fixes were going to improve the resale value and be worth the money invested.

I'd suggest getting in touch with an agent and going from there - I think many agents have a couple of contractors they work with regularly.

Thanks for the replies.

We have a few names in the hat now.