Sonoma Contracting

We hired Sonoma to undertake a basement renovation and they did a fantastic job. Mike and his team are great. From the start of the project until it was finished they not only met our expectations, they exceeded them. Mike was always good about communicating what was going on with the project and was always quick to respond if we had any questions. I felt that Mike and his team were very committed to our project and even had his guys in on the weekend at the end to get it all finished. The only extras above the quoted price were for upgrades that we chose (i.e., upgraded flooring). I would hire Sonoma again for other projects at my house.

This is the 2nd time we contracted Mike and his team. What a savior. After the new counter was installed from another company, I asked Mike to help with the backsplash and plumbing in the kitchen since I didn't have time to do it myself. Plumbers, so nice, professional and trustworthy. I did the demo work of removing the old tile and the tile we selected had long strips. Meaning it needed a perfectly flat wall. Most people know, removing tiles, well...you have to change the drywall as well. Mike had an incredible turnaround time and had Alex come by the next morning to help put in the new wall. Great job! And the backsplash job was fantastic. We are so glad of knowing Mike and knew that Mike can get things done right and reliably AGAIN! Very dependable and would call Mike again! Thanks Mike!

The transformation in our basement is amazing and it’s all thanks to the work done by Mike and his Sonoma team. They transformed our dark and underutilized basement space into a wonderful area that now includes a living room, a play room, a wet bar, a workout room, a washroom and ample closet space. Mike provided suggestions to maximize the use of our space and he is to be commended on his ability to provide quick answers to our questions and resolve any concerns. Mike has a special talent in how he manages his projects, always keeping the trades on track and on time. His team is top-notch – professional, friendly, and a pleasure to work with. Mike’s attention to detail is guaranteed to deliver outstanding results. We are ecstatic with what our basement has become – a welcoming environment for our family and friends. Many thanks to Mike, Aldo, Tony and the rest of the team.

Mike and his team at Sonoma Contracting are fantastic. If you are doing a basement renovation, i cannot recommend them highly enough. When we decided to excavate our basement to gain additional height and to waterproof, Mike was recommended to us by our plumber. The team dug down 2 feet, installed new drains and moved the main plumbing stack and boiler, installed weeping tiles and a sump pump, and framed and insulated the entire basement. Mike's estimate for the work was significantly lower than the other estimates that we had seen, and the work is excellent! The work all started and finished on time, and with the surprise issues we encountered during the process, Mike was easy to get a hold of and we resolved the challenges with no extra charges, and in a way that we were very happy with. His trades are also excellent. Before we poured the new concrete floor, the team recommended that we install in-floor radient heat (the house is all radient). It's one of the best decisions we've ever made. The basement maintains an incredible, consistant comfortable heat all through the winter, and doesn't feel like a basement at all. We've recommended Sonoma Contracting to several of our neighbours who have also hired them, and would definitely hire them again.

Mike and Aldo delivered yet again. They started the job when they said they would, the trades did great work and showed up on time. Any overage was discussed before work was done. Which means that the original quote was 100% accurate, a rarity in this business.

We used Sonoma for the start of a basement reno which included demolition, waterproofing, plumbing and a new concrete floor. It was a pleasant, efficient and hassle-free experience. They were knowledge about basements and the work required, they came when they said they were going to come, and they answered questions in a timely way. I’d recommend them for similar work and will seek estimates from them for additional work in the future.

I had my basement lowered and finished several years ago by a different contractor. That renovation resulted in the water meter being concealed in a wall in a very awkward position behind various services in my laundry room. Unfortunately this year the City of Toronto is requiring each house in the city to get a new wireless transmitter system retrofitted to the water meter. The City contractor (Neptune) could not access my meter for the retro-fit and instructed me to get it relocated. Otherwise the City could fine me.
My original basement contractor was unavailable. I got Sonoma in to do the job based on a recommendation from a friend. I thought the job would take a week but it only took two days (including evenings)! Mike from Sonoma was very punctual and responsive. The quality of the work (including plumbing, drywalling and painting) was very good and the clean-up was thorough. The price was reasonable given that four people (Mike as the prime and doing some of the muscle work to move appliances around, a plumber, a gas fitter and drywaller/painter) were required and the work was expedited.
I recommend Sonoma as a very reliable contractor based on the small fix-it job done at my house and my friend's positive experience with Sonoma on a much larger reno.

We hired Mike and his team earlier this year to complete the finishin work for our newly underpinned basement. From our very first interaction we were extremely impressed by Sonoma. Mike is an exceptional communicator; and very customer service focused. He was always quick to respond and was a very big help in assisting us with both trouble-shooting and in stretching our budget dollars. Of all the trades we have ever worked with (third major house renovated) Sonoma sets the standard that all general contractors should try to achieve both in ease to do business with AND quality of work. We especially appreciated the very detailed quote (which was managed on budget), the diligence to stay on schedule, and superior calibre of sub-trades. We would without any hesitation refer Sonoma for any basement renovation.

Basement was bare-bones. Still lots of issues for an old house. He diligently eliminated all the issues and produced a beautiful basement space, bringing lots of excellent contractors in. I would have Mike and his crew back for my next reno and strongly recommend them.

JD

We hired Sonoma Contracting to finish our previously unfinished basement of approximately 1800 sq ft. The work included demolition, moving and adding drains, leveling and repairing of the concrete slab, installation of a subfloor, spray foam insulation, tile and laminate floors, new windows, all associated plumbing/electrical/carpentry/painting. The work was completed to a very high standard and the company was a pleasure to work with.

Our positive experience began before we even hired Sonoma. We had met with almost a dozen other contractors and no one offered the right combination of price and “fit” for our project. Many quotes were too high, many contractors didn’t seem like they would be good to work with, and some didn’t even bother supplying an estimate. Then we found Sonoma on Homestars.com. Mike responded to our initial inquiry promptly and we met at our house a few days later. After reviewing the work that we wanted done, Mike was prompt in supplying a detailed estimate with a price that seemed very fair for the scope of work (compared to earlier quotes that we had received). After a few emails back and forth to nail down some details, we had a quote that we could live with (we should point out that Mike always responded promptly to our emails). Mike supplied a list of a half dozen recent clients and we spent a few days getting in touch with them. Without exception, they echoed the positive reviews that you can read for yourself on Homestars.com. So we decided to take the plunge.

The work began exactly as scheduled. We hit an unanticipated road bump early on (when we removed the builder-installed insulation, we discovered a multitude of cracks in our foundation wall that needed to be dealt with), but this did presented a delay of only a week or so. Mike took it all in stride and work proceeded steadily.

We had decided to use a subfloor product (Tyroc) that Mike did not have any experience using previously. Despite the novelty for Aldo, Tony and Mike, they did a great job of putting it down. Later on in the project, the same subfloor was not to the tile installers’ liking, but Mike took this in stride also and dealt with the problem promptly.

We were really pleased with the quality of the work that was done. Tony, a true craftsman who does all the carpentry and trim, was amazing at figuring out the complicated bulkhead arrangement and making everything work according to our plans. The trades that Mike brought in (electrical, plumbing, drywall, insulation, windows, painting) all completed their work promptly and well, and they were all responsive to any concerns we had. The only rough spot was the subcontractor who did the low voltage cabling (telephone, cable, network), who we felt charged too much for the work performed and was a little sloppy (most cables were just strung along the ground or wrapped around electrical wires instead of properly affixing them) – but this was a pretty minor part of the overall experience.

The work took a little longer than originally anticipated, mostly because of delays in obtaining things that we had ordered. Mike seemed to have little difficulty in arranging the work schedule around these delays, and even had some of the work completed on the weekend at the end so that we could get everything wrapped up.

Overall, we were super-pleased with this company and the work that they did. They were professional and proficient and very easy to work with. We would have no reservations in recommending Sonoma Contracting to anyone who is finishing a basement.