Sonoma Contracting

This was our first major renovation (basement) with Sonoma. We interviewed many contractors, including strong referrals from friends and family, narrowed down the list and re-interviewed, and Mike stood out on top every time. His quotes are extremely detailed and actually helped us to truly understand the extent of the job, which was very refreshing to see in comparison to all the other contractor quotes. Mike was very accommodating and flexible with some work that we wanted to perform ourselves and helped us to plan when we could start. There were a few minor issues, but those are to be expected. Mike handled it professionally, and ultimately to our complete satisfaction. Moreover, he provided solid (yet simple) recommendations to help increase basement height, and overall look and feel. His tradesmen are highly professional, and provide the same level of quality and customer service as Mike. We are very happy with the work completed, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend him or contact him again for other renovation projects.

When we decided to finally finish the basement of our 30 year old house, we went with a referral from a colleague who used Sonoma. Our basement had nothing started, with only builder drywall & insulation down to frost line (which Sonoma removed). We basically were looking to gain the extra living space for our family, including a workout room, and full bathroom (shower, sink, toilet), and plumbing for a wet bar (note: bar cabinetry was done by another contractor, only because of our pre-existing relationship). The plumbing locations were all changed also, which required breaking up the floor to move pipes, drains, shut off valves, etc. This area was something we were initially concerned with, but all was done perfectly to our satisfaction.

In doing a full basement renovation from scratch, we found our experience with Sonoma to be very positive from start to finish. They provided a detailed up front estimate, with no major surprises at the end when presented with the final invoice (only some upgrades which we made based on personal preference). The interim payments required were reasonable, so we were never out of pocket any money, in advance of the work being completed.

Our primary point of contact (Mike) was a great person to interact with, and extremely patient with all the questions we had along the way for him, while providing prompt replies or feedback to us. The project went along smoothly, with every step explained to us by him and his trades. The scheduling was also very good, with no major delays, and enough time between the various steps, so that we could gather our thoughts and make mid-project decisions (i.e. where to put pot lights? shower floor tiles to select?) without feeling pressured or rushed.

Mike, Aldo, and all sub-contractor trades (framing, electrical, plumbing, flooring, drywall) used by Sonoma were pleasant to deal with, and courteous in all our communications. They cleaned up along the way, with minimal disruption to our day to day living in the house. They were timely, as they always showed up when they were supposed to. In particular, Tony, who did our framing, doors, trim, etc. was at our house nice & early, which allowed us to talk to him before heading to work in the morning (to the point where our kids recognized him whenever he came to the door).

Our city inspectors even commented on the good quality workmanship of the project. We have also received many excellent comments from our friends & family who have been to our house since the basement was finished. Everyone, including us and our kids love the way it all turned out.

Thanks to Mike at Sonoma, and all the sub-contractors used.

We got four quotes on renovating our basement. Each contracting company had its own and different Basement Lowering Contractors. Sonoma's was True North. What allowed me to make the easiest decision was a combination of Sonoma's boss Mike with his creative instincts and True North's Otto the estimator for his decisiveness. When Mike came, he looked at our simple drawing of what we thought how the finished basement would be laid out with Living Space being least important, bathroom, laundry room and storage space being tantamount. Mike looked at our narrow basement and completely changed the layout we had in mind. He was the only one of the four contractors to do this and it impressed me. We ended up with moving our HVAC to a corner, having a great living space along with gorgeous WC, Laundry and storage area. By the simple act of re-arranging what we thought was the most economical and logical layout, we had our eyes opened up to new possibilities. Before True North's estimator arrived one evening, I had explored online, the possibility of Benching our basement instead of Underpinning. Otto had me do a test hole in the basement floor and we discovered 4 1/2" footings going around the whole perimeter. Knowing Underpinning costs were in the high 40Ks and up, I chose Benching which came in with plumbing work at 20K. Benching took three weeks to do with Daniel at the helm and Josh as crew boss. Those kids worked hard and long and gained us 7" overall in height to our original 6'3" basement. The benching was originally to be 8" in and 8" down, but our soil underneath was too beach-sand-like it was thought safer to go 12" in and down (5 inches loss to rock and concrete floor). The benching was the right thing for us. Sonoma came in during this work to move my HVAC and young Paul did a tremendous job getting us a new RUDD furnace and high quality hot water tank. His brother Marco the electrician also had to come in and lower our electrical panel from being surrounded by heating ducts; these two brothers, Paul and Marco are young and very smart guys who managed to solve all sorts of mechanical difficulties (ie. Cold Air return on Main Floor had to be moved and go against floor joists + electrical panel replaced and inspected by Hydro) and both jobs done at reasonable prices. Sonoma's tradesmen, i discovered as the work progressed over three months, are the best. That is Mike's trick and probably trademark: to use the best workers for each job of transforming a dank and dirty space into a beautiful and joyous playroom. His framers, Tony and Luigi, old school Italian craftsmen were fantastic. Tony did the finishing trims, shelvings, doors, etc. and proved to be a genius carpenter. Both Mike and Aldo have such fine taste in finishing, as they chose shoe or door molds instead of 3/4 round which gave the over-all finish of the basement a modern and sleek look. So with a combination of old school talent and new school high tech (plumbers, dry-waller, tilers and painter) did terrific work. Mike even has a specialist tradesman to install glass shower doors! And that is because Mike wants the best job done at each and every stage.
Now, caveat emptor (buyer beware): it is most crucial to keep watch on every stage of a renovation. Sonoma provides a budget for amenities like toilet, bathtub, sink, potlights, laminate floor, tiles and new staircase. For much of these it is basic stuff and if you need to upgrade to better materials, be ready to do your own shopping. Sonoma's part of the budget did not include the toilet suite we bought, some shelvings and the floor and wall tiles for the WC. Mike discounted those and charged us a very reasonable amount for the extras we had Sonoma do. In the end, the product was of such high quality that our Friend Danielle, who is herself quite talented at renovating and the harshest critic a contractor would ever want to face, admired Sonoma's work and attention to details (door stops, library shelving, shoe molds, etc.) that she will recommend as we will Sonoma to all and sundry.

We love Mike, Aldo and the team at Sonoma Contracting! He is very professional, and we will use them again. We were particularly impressed when there was a problem he changed it before I even raised the issue. The finish is beautiful. Any added cost was our doing - his quote reflected the price accurately. We like it that he quotes all the extras so one has a good idea on total cost.

We have done so well using HomeStars in the past that we did not hesitate to hire Sonoma based on their reviews. We were not disappointed. We wanted to have our basement dug down and underpinned and then finished. Sonoma's estimate was detailed and fair. We requested and received a quote without finishes and fixtures as we were interested in providing our own.
The underpinners that Mike recommended were excellent. Sonoma took over once the concrete floor was poured. The entire team worked very hard. We were impressed with Aldo's skill, helpfulness, knowledge and problem-solving abilities. Tony's carpentry and finishing work was excellent (and he whistles beautifully). The trades Mike works with were very able and courteous. We relocated our furnace, ductwork, plumbing and installed an on-demand water heater without difficulty. The work as done at a good pace with only the occasional small delay. I understand now that a basement requires the organizing of many different trades and that is something that Mike does very well. Towards the end of the project, all remaining details were completed without the need for reminders and a total clean up was done by Sonoma.
We are so pleased with how the basement turned out with a large living area and a very organized, efficient storage and working parts area.

Mike, Aldo and their team of trades were great! We are so happy with our basement renovation from Sonoma Contracting and have received countless compliments on the end product!

Overall quality of work was excellent, and all of the tradespeople that Mike and Aldo brought in were exceptional. The cost was in line with other quotes we received. All in all, they did a great job!

In terms of any negatives or areas for improvement, the budgets allocated for items (I.e. carpet, vanity, etc.) were quite low and in order to get the level of quality we wanted we had to go over budget for all these items. Also, we would have liked more advance communication along the way to let us know decisions that would have to be made to give us more time to make proactive decisions/choices rather than having to be more reactive.

They stuck to timelines well and any delays were due to the city's inspection process, not Sonoma.

All in all, we would recommend Sonoma for a basement renovation - we are so pleased with our new basement (which was completely unfinished prior to the renovation).

We have an older home and had the basement dug out last year to create more headroom. When we finally decided to renovate the space we spoke with several contractors about the scope of work and what we wanted to do and Mike clearly seemed the most knowledgeable, responsive, and gave us a good feeling straight away. He explained the full end-to-end process and what to expect and drew out timelines and everything fell into place as planned. There were some changes we made along the way (which was probably a bit of a pain for Mike) but he took it in stride and worked with us on ensuring we were happy.
His team (Aldo, Marco, Paul, etc.) were all fantastic to work with as well and we felt equally as comfortable working with all of them as we did with Mike.
Renovations can be messy but the disturbance was minimal. Even with new drywall and all the sanding there was very little dust.
I would highly recommend Mike to family and friends and would be happy to serve as a reference.

After a mess of a sewer back up, we stripped our existing basement apartment back to the bricks. After meeting with SEVERAL contractors, we found Mike.

Mike, Aldo and the rest of his team were able to transform a naked and poorly constructed space into a beautiful and "to-code" one bedroom apartment, including a new laundry room, adding more storage space, and eliminating any future sewer and/or water issues.

Mike and his team are total professionals. Their insight and expertise saw us through some interesting and frustrating challenges. It's important to note that these challenges weren't the fault of Mike or his team, but rather because of the stipulations and restrictions The City imposed onto the project. Any other issues that did come up were dealt with immediately by Mike and Aldo.

Mike kept in constant contact with us, meeting with us weekly, and was completely transparent when it came to price and layout.

The project took longer than anticpated (again, thanks to The City), but we were able to rent the apartment during the final week of renovations.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Sonoma Contracting for any project.

We got Sonoma to work on our unfinished basement, after checking quite a few companies and quotes. I wanted peace of mind on the work, and only wanted to do this once, couldn’t be happier with the end result.
Mike, Aldo, Tony and the rest of the trades are top-notch all the way from the planning phase to maximize space, framing, plumbing, electrical, insulation, stairs, drywall, paint, etc
Mike is great at communicating and planning ahead of time for all the trades to show up on time, and move forward with the work. The construction materials used are top of the line, and Mike even makes sure construction debris generated gets picked up on time.
The ugly, cold, and unfinished basement turned into another usable floor in our house, complete with office, bedroom, bathroom, laundry and lots of storage everywhere.
I do not hesitate to recommend Sonoma any day, for the excellent quality, the workmanship, and the awesome customer service from Mike & Team, Thank you!!!

We hired Sonoma Contracting to take out an unusable basement bathroom and put in a vent in the laundry room, as well as replace basement windows, and finish the two small rooms that now serve as a laundry room and a storage space. Though the small project took longer to complete than anticipated, we are very happy with the results. Throughout the project, Mike was very quick to get back to us when we had any questions, and his crew was professional and produced great results.