Best in the West General Contracting & Home Renovations

02/11/2026

This is a garage we converted into a micro suite with a small one-piece kitchen including a cooktop, mini fridge, and sink, a full, stylish bathroom, and lots of closet space in the walk-in. A good example of what we can do to any free space on your property, such as garages, basements, or outbuildings. We can turn them into B&Bs or in-law suites.

02/11/2026

Full low ceiling micro basement suite build. 750 sq ft with a 7’ high ceiling average, two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, pantry, washer dryer. We managed pack this basement with all the modern amenities with style and elegance.

10/15/2025

My friend Scott from Greywater Excavating recommended us to this client after he had put in new perimeter drains around a two-story four plex and completely parged and sealed the foundation walls, because during heavy rains the basement was taking on water and the room we were tasked with repairing was dank and very mouldy, the previous property manager/landlord had started deconstruction but wasn't qualified or prepared for the enormous amount of work to be done and abandoned this project. The new building owner/landlord wanted us to clean it up, waterproof it, and rebuild it, as a tenant and her son occupied it, and because of the mould, it was a health issue. Upon inspection, with further digging and deconstruction, we revealed active maggots under the floor in the closet. Moisture is a breeding ground for bugs and the growth of organic matter and mould. There was no proper closet or insulation, and no vapour barrier, so it required a complete rebuild. We added some nice features to update its function and aesthetics.

10/15/2025

Part two of the Art Deco House Project. The deconstruction and rebuilding of this project was an extraordinary amount of work, but the finished product we did was nothing less than perfection. We hired Skytec Contracting to perform the necessary repairs to the torch on the roof and reflash all the drip edges of the previously repaired roof walls. They did a fabulouse job, and it's fully insured and guaranteed. The client wanted to keep the front doors' awning in stucco to match the character of the original look, so she hired a stucco professional to finish it after we rebuilt it and installed a new front door for her. I don't have pics of those details, but it looks fantastic.

10/15/2025

This is an Art Deco-style house built in the 1960s that belongs to an old client of ours. She had her garage converted into a separate suite by another contractor that unfortunately didn't properly inspect the structure, and ended up doing some very shoddy construction, including hiring a fly-by-night roofer, it all looked great right down to the finishing but the suite started to create a condensation issue that in turn caused lots of black mould only a few years after the renovation. We came to the rescue! We investigated all the weak points where water and moisture from the elements found their way in and began to rot the structure from within the walls. Granted, much of the damage was older than the renovation but as the saying goes “ the work we do is only as good as what we are working on top of” the first obvious issue was the new torch on the roof that hadn't been done correctly, letting water in through the week points, next was the old stucco exterior finish had failed. After investigating and revealing the extent of the damage hidden within the walls, our client decided to have us prepare for refinishing the exterior of the suite with white Hardie Plank Lap Siding, the first step was to remove the old compromised stucco, and rotten structures, repair the studs, top and bottom plates, and basically rebuild as needed including new sheeting and house wrap using passive tape and waterproof membranes to protect against further damage. Sadly, we had to deconstruct the poor work done by the previous contractor, including the new patio doors on both the back and front, as well as several new windows. You'll notice an old covered breezeway that the last contractor closed off between the main house and the suite, which was initially part of the old garage. This closure was also not done correctly. These pics are just the beginning; the next post will show more of our professionals and thoughtful reconstruction.

03/26/2024

This is the most recent bathroom renovation project we completed for Collen and Karl Goodrich. There are pictures down the line showing the pre-renovation bathroom and how it was very narrow, claustrophobic and challenging to navigate. Our clients are seniors who wish to prepare for the eventual possibility of potential immobility and health issues that may have been hindered because of the layout. We determined that it made sense to completely reconfigure the bathroom design by removing the long 19’x22” vanity with its unnecessary bank of cabinets and replacing it with a more modern and stylish conventional oak 4’x18” vanity, removing the old tub and alcove wall that divided the toilet nook, putting a new deep soaker tub on the window wall and shortening the depth of the opposing alcove wall allowing more room for a walker and freedom of movement without obstacles or obstructions. A new toilet was installed against the shortened wall, and we ordered a complete seat-mounted bidet system to keep it simple and the cost reasonable. We installed a beautiful oak wall bathroom cabinet above the toilet that matched the vanity. We used the Schluter systems behind the tile for all waterproofing, such as the orange Kerdi boards and Rondec Satin Nickle trim, to give the tile a finished and clean look and all of the valves and pipes were sealed with Schluter membranes and joints with Kerdi tape and thinset. We installed a new, wider 30” door, then laid a lovely woodgrain waterproof luxury vinyl plank flooring with baseboard and trim to finish. We gained an additional 1/2” on each wall by removing the unnecessary 1/2” plywood that was under all the old plaster walls which gave us a 1” length and width gain for more space. New Rockwool insulation, as well as soundproofing, was added between the studs along with a vapour barrier and fresh drywall and plaster, then primer and three coats of paint. A fair amount of the original, as well as past renovations, left us to correct some questionable construction, compromised studs, and some troubleshooting. Still, in the end, our clients were delighted with the finished product. The old medicine cabinet was removed at the deconstruction stage, and a custom three-pain bifold mirror is being made to be hung over the new vanity, as well as new towel closet doors and matching oak face to bring the whole design together nicely.

01/10/2024

Can of worms into solid gold! Our top plate form was poured, exterior sheeting applied, insulation and vapour barrier applied, electrical and plumbing done, temporary stairs installed, drywall hung, taped and mudded, New tub and wall panels installed, Trim and doors pre-painted, new back door and interior doors installed. At a later date, I'll post the finished project. Mike and I have a reputation for rescuing clients from worst-case scenarios and poorly constructed, rotten and severely compromised structural renovations.

01/10/2024

“Can of Worms” continued- I requested Engineered plans from McGill & Associates Engineering and acquired a permit from the city after a thorough inspection. I'm proud to say that 90% of our remedies, suggestions and concepts of repair were accepted as the best plan of action. The first few pics will give you a visual of how moldy and rotten the structural floor joists supporting the bathroom, hallway, bedroom, kitchen and laundry room were. You'll see how we had to cut holes in the laundry room walls just below the ceiling, then build and apply temporary beams with shore posts supporting the ceiling and roof so we could remove rotten rim boards, bottom plates and compromised studs, excavate below the crappy foundation (if you can even call it that) dig and trench out a footing for a mono pour. 20-ton bottle jacks were used to support the structural beams under the floors, allowing us to remove compromised walls, flooring and floor joists to replace them with better-than-original dimension floor joists with proper hangers and support. After the laundry room structure was lifted and safely supported, trenching was dug, and rebar was cut and tied, then forms were built, then cement was poured for footing under the bathroom and a mono-pour footing under the laundry room. The foundation wall forms were constructed and poured, connecting the new foundation wall to the footings. The new floor joists were sheeted with 1/2” ply and then 5/8” ply on top. The original cement steps at the back laundry room door were cut out to make room for the last form of the top run of the foundation wall.

01/10/2024

This may very well go down as one of the biggest can of worms we've ever opened! A couple who had recently purchased their first home by private sale requested that we come to estimate some water damage in their bathroom and remove the old jetted tub. To everyone's horror, it was much worse than anyone had assumed. Port Alberni has many old houses that were old Barrack homes that have been transported from military bases and pieced together on cinder block foundations and, sometimes worse, poorly formed cement foundations with no proper footings, questionable construction performed by amateurs and or non-certified tradespeople. We discovered that the majority of the subfloor plywood, structural joists and lots of bottom plates, as well as stud walls, were severely rotted and covered with black and white mold. We had noticed that the laundry room at their back entrance was shaking tremendously when the washing machine was on the spin cycle. After further inspection, we discovered that it was not only a poorly built addition but also had extensive rot, along with the worst foundation we had ever seen, poured haphazardly over loose fill and nowhere near hardpan. The extensive rott and compromised structural issues were carried over to their bedroom, kitchen and laundry room. The following post will detail the significant processes of repairing and rebuilding foundation walls, floor joists, studs, etc.

01/10/2024

01/10/2024

This is a bathroom modification and renovation we completed last June. We removed an old steel bathtub and replaced it with a large shower pan, waterproofed all wet areas, and tiled and installed modern, beautiful chrome shower heads and taps. Part of the most crucial design changes were to make it easily accessible for a senior couple and functional for some disabilities. We installed a very strong stud-mounted flip-up steal and cedar shower bench. We repurposed the existing cabinets and vanity that used to be an old-fashioned stained oak by oil priming and painting with a very durable paint. The flooring is a new style of waterproof click-lock laminate flooring that not only looks like tile but is grouted to finish.

01/30/2023

This is a stunning luxurious bathroom with lots of wonderful fine details blending both fashion and function to meet the many needs of our clients, Julie and Wilfred Atleo. For this upper-floor main bathroom to work, we needed to pack lots of storage into it so it could be shared with their two adult children. It originally had an old-fashioned style alcove jetted tub with outdated acrylic panel walls and ceiling. We needed to start with a clean slate by gutting the alcove tub/shower walls and structure out, then framing in a larger alcove for a beautiful new, longer deep soaker tub. Once again, we did the complete renovation, including plumbing, with the exception of electrical done by Alberni Electric. Custom-ordered mirror to fit the double sink vanity with cutouts for the vanity light and GFI’s provided and installed by Jason of Copper Mountain Renovations. Lastly, we had custom-made side cabinets built by our friend Mike Jones who did an excellent job of building to fit and finishing and installing these beautiful cabinets maximizing storage while keeping the overall esthetics elegant and equally functional. We used the complete Schluter brand system for waterproofing the shower with the Kerdi-Board system and the Ditra E Heat Kit for radiant heated tile. All of the stunning shower and sink faucets, towel rings, towel hooks and towel bars, and the 3/4 split tub & shower door kit were supplied by Andrew Sheret Splashes in Nanaimo. The Flooring Depot provided the tile and Schluter systems. Our Clients ordered the Ove Smart toilet with auto UV anti-bacterial, heated seat and bidet systems.