I hired Pinnacle Renovations to do a full renovation on a small office condo in Calgary, AB. As a general contractor, Pinnacle's job is to manage all aspects of a construction project, from start to finish. Their website indicates "Pinnacle’s Site Supervisor will be monitoring activity and quality control" and "after each trade and supplier has successfully completed their segment of the project, Pinnacle’s Site Supervisor conducts a Quality Control inspection". They market their services as "high-end renovations, meeting the highest standards and committed to excellence in every detail".
My experience with Pinnacle, demonstrated by emails below and the deficiencies detailed on this site, did not result in excellence.
did not manage sub-contractors
no quality control
poor design and execution
$216,042.80 paid to Pinnacle for 845 square feet
Not including light fixtures, appliances or window treatments
= $255.67 per square foot
see for yourself
Project management and quality issues
These emails illustrate how Pinnacle was not managing the subcontractors, quality of work, change orders or overall job.
Formal complaint
- March 2022: Renovation complete except for Murphy Bed
Office vacant until November 2022
- June 2023: Initial deficiencies identified
- November 2023: Additional deficiencies identified
- January 2024: Pinnacle on-site to address deficiencies
- September 2024: Continuing concerns with deficiencies emailed to Pinnacle
- February 2025: Complaint filed with Better Business Bureau
- May 2025: Unsuccessful mediation
Pinnacle did a complete renovation on my 845 square foot office - everything except exterior walls is brand new. The total cost was $216,000 (about $255 per square foot). While the cost of renovations can vary, $255 per square foot is broadly considered high-end. The cost of the renovation was more than half the purchase price and the materials were mid-range. The quality of work on numerous items is unacceptable.
After completion, I identified a number of deficiencies. Pinnacle's fixes were ineffective and in several cases actually created new issues. Over time, I identified additional deficiencies and I shared those with Paul Klassen along with my dissatisfaction with the fixes for the original deficiencies. I repeatedly asked Paul to provide proposed solutions over email and he refused. The emails from that discussion are provided below and explain how this website came to be.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in February 2025. Once again, Paul insisted on meeting in person even though both the mediator and I were fine with a virtual meeting and an in-person meeting would delay mediation for more than a month. When we attended mediation, Paul brought a “friend from church” who later revealed himself to be a lawyer but insisted he was only there to support Paul and not in a legal capacity. However, this “friend” repeatedly tried to speak during the proceedings causing conflict and disruption.
During mediation, we agreed to have a third-party inspect the work and Paul agreed Pinnacle would complete any repairs and the repairs would be inspected by the third party before being deemed satisfactory and complete. At the end of the meeting, Paul said he needed to confer with his friend and left the room. When they returned Paul said he had changed his mind and would like to schedule another mediation session.
At the second mediation session, Paul said he would not discuss any resolution until I paid the outstanding invoice with interest and took down the website. I declined to comply with those requests and no resolution was reached. But he did succeed in wasting more of my time and money.
I have now filed a complaint with RenoMark.
