Marcel Saumure in Toronto

Our small bathroom (5'x7') needed a redo. Mike Flamia and Sonoma did our whole basement last year and did such beautiful work, there was no else we could trust to it right. The bathroom brought up some challenging issues and troubles: you never know what is underneath until you gut. We purchased our tiles, grout, vanity and medicine cabinets ahead of the gut and that is when trouble started...a brick structure forced us to exchange medicine cabinets for something different that would fit. Regardless, even Mike thought our Reno was cursed from the start! After this and other issues, Mike always promised to find solutions and fixes. In the end the Reno was finished to Sonoma's signature beauty and perfection! Thanks

Metro Chimney' Chris Bowes has been servicing our chimney now for over 10 years. About 6 years ago, a mania swept over the city and that industry pushing liners on customers. Chris always inspects the chimney flue and walls during and after every cleaning. Ours was built around 1917 and showed no weaknesses or strains and Chris recommended yearly cleaning was good enough. No liner needed. These guys are honest and reliable, although I wish they would occasionally break out into a song and dance a la Mary Poppins...alas, we'll just have to watch the movie again.

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.

Got 3 quotes for underpinning 600 square feet of raw basement space. Having done research on both Homestars and On-line regarding underpinning vs. benching. 2 Quotes with mix of underpinning and benching but for only 400 square feet of basement at 43,000 and up. True North's Otto came one evening to estimate. I asked if the house had footings under floor to do benching...he thought not, told me to do couple of test holes over next couple of days...said to him, "hold on, do it right now!" grabbed a wrench bar and smashed through 1917 built floor and discovered 4 and 1/2" footings in and same down. "Well now!" said Otto, "we can do benching no problem, 8" in and give you 8" down". True North had a quick window of opportunity and I just went ahead and signed the boys on. At 18Ks (+ 3Ks for plumbing + Taxes) for benching, it was a bargain compared to underpinning. Daniel came in and introduced his crew, Crew Lead Josh, assistant Josh, helpers Joel and some other J-named fellaws...They start digging down and low and behold I have Jurrassic Beach sand below the floor instead of the usual soil or clay. In fact the sand is so fine and dry, like caribean beach sand, that 8" in and 8" down will not allow for safe and proper support of basement walls; Daniel and Otto suggest we go 1 foot in and 1 down to gain an overall 6" and a bit of extra height after floor is poured. Otto even mentioned that they could not have underpinned with the kind of sand I had there. So - Caveat Emptor - buyer beware - know ahead of time if benching rather than underpinning is right for you. Benching gives you smaller usable space but adding a higher framing behind where sofa will be, eliminates wasted bench space as that now becomes a shelf for lamps, photos, books, etc. The Main Bulkhead for heating ducts marries and frames one wall where TV will be placed, creative solutions abound when you bench a basement. We, through our creative talent Mike at Sonoma, made our space interesting and very much functional. The crew at True North were hard working, clean and efficient. That work is all about grunt and sweat as so much material was removed through a tiny side window using wheelbarrows and buckets. The crew are terrific. In under three weeks, I had a brand new bare bones basement. Dan and Josh returned recently to do a bit of brick-work, sealing a window. As Otto said once to me, we've done over a hundred basements and each and every one of them is unpredictable and will serve up a surprise curve-ball. Mine was the fine beach sand that lay underneath the basement floor; had the walls not been in such good shape (1917 poured concrete walls on footings to just above ground, then double brick on up) other surprises would have complicated matters. I recommend benching, if all you need is to gain a few inches of height, or a mix, as long as you pre-plan the divisions in your basement space. Thank you Daniel, Otto, Josh and the gang...really nice work!

Bob and one other of three quotes came very high...but our gut instinct was to take a leap of faith and give him the job based on how long and meticulously Bob took to inspect the job. We have a 1917 built single detached 2 story brick home: the plaster in the stairwell to the 2nd floor was ripe with wallpapered cracks & bumps, ceiling on the 2nd floor was peeling and parched for attention; and the process of selecting the right colours was itself a puzzle still to be resolved. Bob works alone, is an artist looking, not only for cracks on walls, but cracks in decision making as to what colours will best compliment the patient he is to operate on; what tones can be carried from room to room in order to tie in aesthetic continuity; Bob is no fly by night artisan as we've once experienced on our outdoor paint work...he is a true guilder artisan, an artist of colours and a cosmetic surgeon who in the end transformed our old and tired house into a fresh and happy sprite. good on you "Academic" Professor Bob PS. we will definitely be having Bob back for all sorts of excuses and jobs needing True Professional Attention