If you are like me, the thing you fear most about undertaking a big job is that your contractor is going to make your life hell, instead of delivering on your dream. From Day 1 Mike stood out as a guy that, above all others, was going to make our dream happen.
I contacted Mike and three other top rated folks from HomeStars. Mike was the only one that a) came on the day he said he would, b) got me an estimate when he said he would, c) provided an end-to-end list of all the work that was required without any "let's wait and see" bits. And all with a smile and a great attitude.
Mike, Aldo and their crew completely demolished our basement to discover that the previous renovation (a prior owner had dug out the basement) was a shambles and we were now going to need to underpin, get another permit and...completely re-wire our 2nd and 3rd floor. They showed me everything that was wrong and showed that it was very important to them that I understand. This also explained why we continued to get water in our basement even after waterproofing from the outside.
I tell you, I am so glad I chose Sonoma because they didn't flinch. In less than 2 days they revised the quote to include the extra work and after 2 days of being really nervous that this was going to break the bank, they came back with a quote way below what I was fearing. Even more, they actually started all this new work in a matter of days. Unreal. This could have been a disaster for our plans, but Mike and Aldo took it all in stride and made it all good..and smooth. This is the kind of peace of mind Sonoma brought through the entire project. After that, I had no concerns and knew that Mike was going to simply take care of everything and anything else that needed to get done.
Valerie wanted me to make a special point that Mike got our laundry machines up and running again very quickly after the initial demolition and had us doing laundry all throughout the renovation - even coming in on weekends to make sure the machines were all hooked up. That's the kind of attention we got throughout the entire job.
Mike made excellent suggestions to us along the way in terms of laying out the basement and made putting in floor heating, new windows, new wiring and removable railing as painless as it could be. The crew he works with was always friendly and did a fantastic job.
At the end of the day we ended up with a fantastic basement, and a great experience working with Mike, Aldo and the rest of the team. I just doesn't get any better than this. I can't recommend them highly enough.
Mitch and Valerie