"Everything was fixed so quickly, it was like it never happened."

Imagine moving into your new dream home and immediately discovering that a rupture had been doing thousands of dollars' worth of damage without your knowledge-and you hadn't even unpacked yet. That was the unwelcome realization that Elaine and Walter Langenbach, Falkins clients for over 25 years, had when they were helping their daughter move into the house they had helped her buy.

The leak was under the kitchen sink and water had been draining under the kitchen's hardwood floor and into the basement below. The damage all told was in the neighbourhood of $10,000-not an expense one wants within a few hours of taking possession of a new home.

"I called Gerry French at Falkins and went down to talk to him about it and he had it fixed up before we knew it," said Elaine. "Everything was fixed so quickly, it was like it never happened." The water lines in the house had to be repaired, the warped hardwood floorboards had to be replaced, a new laundry room ceiling and drywall were required-and all the work was completed within two weeks. Falkins recommended contractors and everything was taken care of as quickly as possible.

That's not to say that the resolution of the problem wasn't without its hiccups. The Langenbachs' daughter had just had a baby a few days before moving into the new house and the dust and noise from the renovations were bothering them. During that time they ended up moving in with Walter and Elaine.

"Gerry said if we ever had a problem, just to call him," recalled Elaine. "I called him about the expenses for the food, and right away he had a cheque waiting for me at Falkins. "Gerry was amazing. He was there for us the whole time. He called us all the time to see how it was going, he helped me with the contractors-he helped me with everything. He was just fantastic."

The renovations were taken care of as quickly as possible. The water lines were repaired, the warped hardwood floorboards were replaced, and a new laundry room ceiling and drywall were put in place.