We hired David Annable's firm in the summer of 2022 to draft plans for a remodel of our cottage…read more He gave us an estimate of $2,143.84, which we paid. David came to our property on June 28, 2022 to discuss the project. We asked for the following: 1. A redesign of our second-storey master bedroom window to a larger floor-to-ceiling window system. 2. A redesign of our second-storey guest bedroom window to a larger bay and casement window system. 3. A rectangular, screened outbuilding with a porch facing the lake on which our cottage is located, long and narrow to fit the designated space. David made a great suggestion for an additional remodel of our laundry room. He took copious notes, and read back to us what we had asked for. He returned on July 18, 2022 and took measurements for these four designs. On July 26, 2022, David sent us a preliminary set of plans. They were virtually unrecognizable, consisting of (1) an extensive new roof system and screened-in porch for our cottage that had not been requested or discussed during the site visit; and (2) an outbuilding that was the wrong shape, with the porch facing away from the lake. Neither of the second storey window systems, nor the laundry room remodel, was included. We emailed him and pointed this out. On August 16, 2022, David returned a new set of plans. This one included a first storey screened-in porch for our cottage, something never discussed or requested. The second storey windows were included, but in configurations very different from what we had discussed. The outbuilding was unchanged. We asked David to put the project on hold. On April 26, 2023, we emailed David to ask for a call. In our conversation, I expressed our unhappiness. David told me, candidly, that his firm was extremely busy, and that he had turned over our project to his son, a junior draftsman employed in his firm, and given him his notes. The son had not referred to them in creating our plans. When David asked his son to fix this, the son had generated the revised set of plans, again without referring to David's notes. As a result of this and other substantial errors by the son, David had fired him. I told David that I appreciated his transparency and wanted to get the project back on track. In his next email of June 20, 2023, he terminated the project. He stated that "[w]hile trying to fit you into our already busy season, I have had my last Jr Designer recruited away from me by a larger firm." He wrote that "I am fully aware that the initial attempts from our office failed you, and now being unable to take on more work due to the short staffing issue, that we refund you some of the funds that were paid." He said he would keep half of what we had paid him - $1,143.84 - for his "time, expenses and completed the site visit and measurements." We replied on June 26, 2023 that there was no reason for him to retain any of what we had paid him, because his firm had never delivered any of the designs we requested. David replied the same day, stating that he was "not in a position" to provide a full refund. I replied: "You delivered designs so different from what we requested as to be useless to us. You should be embarrassed to retain any of the fee we paid you." David accepted our project and full advance payment, sent us plans consisting of designs we had not requested that omitted most of what we had asked for, drafted by his son who had clearly not read his notes and was fired for it. He terminated our project without fixing his firm's errors, charging us $1,143.84 for time and expenses to generate plans we cannot use. We now have to hire another designer to start over. This was terrible service. David may be a great designer. We have no way of knowing. We gave him every opportunity to correct the mistakes to which he admitted in writing. A reputable professional does not behave this way. We can only conclude that David is not reputable, and we would not recommend him to others.

Daniel Jones of Level 0 Architecture and Engineering without doubt the most skilled engineer we…read morehave yet to encounter in our business in the extended Ottawa area. He has gone above and beyond to ensure that our project was rapidly completed within budget and within timelines. Look no further!

From the owner: Level 0 Architecture + Engineering provides architectural design & engineering services, including…read morecomplete project design & drafting, drawing review for compliance, site planning, permitting, and project management. We are fully certified and insured, BCIN qualified (house, small buildings, and large buildings) and backed by P.Eng stamp. We are licensed to provide these services all across Ontario, and generally anywhere in Canada. Our goal is to guide clients through the design and building permitting processes, leaning on our experience and giving them confidence to achieve their goals.

In February 2018 we chose Stone and Pine out of Kingston, Ontario to be our general contractors…read more We agreed to pay a higher than industry standard for their General Contracting services (22%) as we were under the impression that they were a reputable firm and specialized in stone homes (which ours is). Issues started immediately with their billings. They tried to charge us for administrative duties for their company (i.e. charging us for creating the invoice to bill us). They had invited us to come and see work they had done on another home and then charged us for their time to do so. Every one of their invoices had to be reconciled completely. We are talking about errors that in one case was several thousands of dollars. They started demolition of an extension on our home that was not to code in March of 2018. To our utter surprise we received the following in an e-mail on April 24th from the township "we have no other alternatives but to stop the illegal work/demolition/construction being carried at #### Lakeshore as it clearly contravenes the Ontario Building Code and the Ontario Building Code Act". They were carrying out the renovation without first securing the required permits. They even tried to blame us for this situation as we had expressed that we wanted to be able to spend Father's Day in the house, we cannot understand their logic. As part of our GC agreement they were responsible for securing the permits as part of their fee (this is normal industry practice). They tried to charge us extra money for securing our permits. When we questioned this, they told us that there was more work than usual in issuing the permits, so they "hoped we would understand". Of course, we refused. One of the requirements for the issuance of the conservation permit was the installation of a new septic system. Stone and Pine issued us a change order for this work, and stated their fee would be only 20%. We felt this was a good will gesture on their part as the cost of the septic was going to be approximately $ 40,000 and they were doing very little work on this as the local septic company was taking charge of this part of the project. Once the septic was installed my husband and I took charge of the work to secure the permits (talking to the conservation authorities, meeting the mayor etc.). The permits were issued on August 10th. It took 3.5 months to secure the permits. On September 10th stating that they were sorry for the delay in getting back to us we received the following from Stone and Pine; we have the right to withdraw from the project due to extreme time delays such as this (section five)". A delay that was completely their fault. When we started the final reconciliation of their invoicing, we noticed that they had charged us 22% for their fee on the Septic Tank. We told them we would only be giving them 20% as our contract clearly states that a change order supersedes the base contract and the change order stated 20%. They refused to give us our money back or honour the change order they had created. At this point we decided that if they needed our money that badly they could have it. We wanted nothing further to do with them. We sent them a note asking for all the plans (architectural, engineering, surveys etc.) along with a few other items that we had paid for. Despite repeated requests they did not answer us for over 3 weeks. We finally had to engage our lawyer to get what was rightfully ours. They left the house uninhabitable, and dangerous (they left the gas furnace venting into the house directly which could have killed someone).

From the owner: Architectural and Interior Design and Staging…read more Established in 2001 Stone and Pine is an award winning architectural design studio specializing in custom home design and major renovations in the Northumberland and Prince Edward Counties, Kingston and the Thousand Islands. We design for your site's specific characteristics, such as light, orientation, views and terrain to develop the best possible union. Our designs include every detail on your list - from insulated reinforced concrete (ICF), to temperature controlled wine cellars and 35' vaulted timber frame ceilings with a tumbled stone fireplace to integrating the latest green technologies and efficiencies. This isn't our design, it is your design. We have extensive experience to prepare and manage all permitting, setbacks and zoning challenges that may present with your property and work with municipalities and committees on your behalf to achieve the approvals required to obtain a building permit and build. Services: Consulting, conceptual planning, architectural design of custom homes, renovations, restorations, additions, historic building conservation, site planning and orientation, kitchen design, lighting design, manage submissions of permits, zoning and minor variances with municipalities and committees, site supervision, home staging, spatial planning, interior design.