Home maintenance is essential !

Youcef Fellahi’s company, Forlife Home Improvement, is a one-stop shop for all home maintenance needs, covering everything from roof and foundation work to walls and lawns.

Fellahi came to Manitoba from Algeria in 2018 with his wife and their two children (now three!) and launched the company in March 2020. Forlife Home Improvement offers a complete range of home inspection and improvement services, including everything from roof and foundation work to siding and lawns, and anything else needed.

“I see the house as a unit where all the parts are interconnected. I don’t just look at what the client is wanting to get done. I try to see the whole.” That way, the customer can make an informed decision. Indeed, fixing a problem in one place can create an imbalance elsewhere. Honesty is a key value at Forlife Home Improvement.

“It’s rare to find several trades in a home inspection company,” Fellahi points out. “You usually have to hire one company for the roof, a second one for landscaping, a third for the exterior, etc.”

Fellahi holds a diploma from the Carlson Dunlop Home Inspection Training Program based in Ottawa and is therefore certified to work as a home inspector in Canada. Prior to that, in Algeria, he worked in industrial electricity before retraining to become a certified Caterpillar machinery inspector.

He also started his first company at age 26 in 2006. “I’ve had the entrepreneurial itch since I was young. But starting a business in a new country at age 40 with a family is not easy, and there weren’t really any opportunities for me in electromechanical engineering in Winnipeg.”

“So I turned to the building construction field. A house is a whole, just like a machine, and I was interested in other building-related aspects and the possibilities with energy efficiency.”

While Fellahi personally oversees all inspections and follow-ups, before and after, he also subcontracts work to other experts.

“I don’t do installation or cleaning, but I supervise and inspect the work before and after it’s done. I also follow up on a regular basis afterwards, for as long as the family remains in the home, to check that everything is still OK. Especially in the winter, since houses shift because of the climate.”

“I also guarantee my partners’ work. All are certified in their respective fields. We don’t improvise or take risks. We make sure that Canadian standards are followed.”

In addition to offering a complete range of expert services guaranteed to last, through inspections, Forlife Home Improvement also offers its services in three languages: English, French and Arabic.

“I’m the trilingual person,” Fellahi explains. “The vast majority of my subcontractors aren’t trilingual, but I’m the one who deals with the clients. I’m the one who does the initial inspection and then explains to clients what I found and what their options are, and I’m the one who inspects the subcontractors’ work and reports back to the client afterwards. I also do the call-backs.”

“For me, it’s important to offer service in the client’s language as much as possible because they need to fully understand what’s going on and what the jargon being used means. Clients live in their homes and it’s important they feel safe there.”

Fellahi received help from CDEM to set up his business. “Upon arriving in Manitoba, I took CDEM’s three-day Business Start training. I didn’t have a concrete project yet but I knew I was interested in being an entrepreneur. I kept in touch with Joel Lemoine afterwards and he advised and encouraged me to set up Forlife Home Improvement.”

“I hope the venture will be successful, not only for me but also for the community. Home maintenance is essential and something everyone has to do, and I hope to be able to help as many people as possible, even those with limited means.”

Photo: Marta Guerrero