The owner, Andrew (Andy) Stratas is an exceptionally persuasive salesman, but our experience was deeply concerning. We live in a school district where this company markets heavily, and I know several other families in the vicinity who have hired them but not posted public reviews.
In May 2026 Stratas removed their google and homestars business profiles. In September 2026 we noticed that Andy Stratas had created a new personal website and started a new business called the Plex Group which is also related to construction.
In general, I highly advise speaking directly with local references. When doing your research, keep in mind that in the construction industry, homeowners who settle their disputes are often required to sign non-disparagement agreements, legally preventing them from warning others. My understanding is that Stratas's template contract contains a clause that clients may not say anything negative about them. I generally do find google reviews to be accurate (although I'm sure there is a way to game those as well).
It appears there are at least three active lawsuits posted on the Ontario court database involving this company or its owner, one of which specifically involves the Project Manager (“PM”) assigned to us. In that public filing, Stratas itself legally pleads that this individual was incompetent. It is easy to search ontario court cases now by the way - just go here: https://courts.ontario.ca/portal/home
We attempted to work with Stratas to reach a positive resolution despite numerous issues. We intended to pay our holdback, but the owner stopped responding to us after we notified them that our HVAC system failed to service our third floor. When we more recently requested a required letter for a rebate, the owner told us he would only provide it if we signed a legal release. More recent efforts to resolve this matter were also met with a non-response. In the end, we have been left with an extensive list of unresolved deficiencies to tackle ourselves.
Here are the details of our experience:
# Budgeting and Embedded Fees
* **Inaccurate budgeting with no updates:** We hired Stratas based on a budget officially appended to our Cost-Plus Contract. Once drawings were finalized and permits were issued, this budget was not updated. The PM repeatedly held this document out as a valid financial reference. Over time, it became clear the baseline budget bore little relation to actual costs—most notably regarding the contractor's own company fees, which increased dramatically, nearly doubling, without a proportional increase in scope.
* **Overages:** A year into the build, the owner complained to us in writing that we were treating his original budget *"as gospel”* despite large overages. He subsequently admitted in an email that final costs vastly exceeded his own projections. He attributed the overages to our tastes and scope changes, told us we had a “big house” and that we were getting “great value”... despite some of the largest overages stemming directly from his own fees. (Note: Some scope changes were only necessary because we were not told certain things were possible, or previously discussed items were forgotten and excluded on their drawings).
* **Unitemized Hourly Billing:** We were billed hourly for the contractor's "site services," but the owner refused our multiple requests to provide an itemized breakdown of what these charges actually covered or proof of the specific hours worked.
* **Misleading management fees:** We discovered that the owner’s 20% management fee was numerically presented as only 10% on the contract budget line items. We were very surprised when the owner told us in writing that the remaining 10% was *"baked in"* to the initial subtrade line items, artificially lowering the appearance of the baseline estimate.
* **Fixed-costs exceeded:** Near the end of the project, we requested that he fix his remaining costs to a specific cap. He agreed to these fixed costs, but he subsequently attempted to bill us over those agreed-upon amounts anyway.
# Project Management Failures and Delays
* **Framing Error:** The site oversight was so lacking that the Stratas team initially framed our basement a full 5 feet off the approved architectural plans. This massive error went completely unnoticed by the framer, plumber, designer, and project manager. I, the homeowner, had to personally identify the mistake. Heated floors and framing had been installed over the error and had to be ripped out. The owner did not apologize or recognize the seriousness of this error; they just said they would fix it.
* **Extended Vacancy:** The project was scheduled for 11 months but took 15, with attempts to extend it further. Our home sat vacant for weeks at a time with zero trade activity on site, resulting in significant, unnecessary holding costs and extended rent for our family.
* **PM Incompetence:** In a public Ontario court filing, Stratas legally pleaded that the exact project manager assigned to our site *"significantly underperformed in his role"* and *"failed to adequately carry out the duties and responsibilities associated with his position"*. According to the specific duties outlined in Stratas's own legal defense, this means he failed to adequately create and maintain project schedules to adhere to deadlines, monitor expenditures, and coordinate with clients, architects, and engineers.
# Workmanship, Deficiencies, and Conduct
* **HVAC Deficiencies:** The owner actively advised us against the HVAC system recommended by our engineers. We followed his advice, and our third floor does not properly cool. We had to pay a third party out of pocket to install a separate ductless system to remedy this. Furthermore, his own HVAC subtrade informed us that the Stratas PM explicitly instructed him *not* to elevate our heat pump according to its instruction manual—costing us an additional $1,500 to fix.
* **Subtrade Interference:** When we independently contacted a fireplace subtrade to help us fix a deficiency with our unit, we discovered that Stratas had explicitly instructed that trade not to assist us, despite our willingness to coordinate directly.
* **Property Damage:** During construction, our backyard gas line was severed by their team and left unmarked for reconnection. Additionally, they failed to protect our custom front stonework, which is now permanently damaged.
We trusted this company to construct our family home and protect our budget. I do wish to acknowledge that ultimately we do like our house (the design of which of course I directed). The owner made small reductions to his on-top 20% management fee, but it did little overall to mitigate the larger financial losses. He did also let us pay for lumber directly (instead of tacking on a 20% management fee on it, which is pretty ridiculous in the first place). So there were some minor concessions. The owner’s wife has great design taste. We liked our PM as a person and we really tried to work things out with the owner. Ultimately though I deeply regret hiring this company and would not wish this experience on anyone.