Gates Basement Finishing Inc

Good work; however, they under-estimated project complexity duration took 6+ months. They have talent, but it's a small time operation and Mike Gates is hands-off delegating to PM who may not appreciate his reputationa and attention-to-detail.

The gentleman was very professional, thorough, and congenial. He arrived at the schedule he promised and we appreciated that.

Installed half bathroom, wall framing and dry walling, ceiling, electrical work, plumbing new sump pump, painting, lighting, doors, and all required electrical work. Mike Gates and his team of professionals did an outstanding job. Communication between the crew and the home owners was flawless. Work hours and schedules were coordinated and the remodeling crew was very respectful of our needs and our house. Their attention to detail was very good and additional suggestions for construction changes were incorporated without difficultity. The work was completed on time as scheduled in time for our family gathering. The final touches and adjustments were scheduled at our convenience after the holidays in January. We couldn't be more satisfied with our decision to select Gate Home Improvement for our basement project.

We used Gates Home Improvement to finish our basement and also used them to remodel our kitchen. We loved the entire process. The entire crew was super friendly and very accommodating to change request. I would highly recommend them and use them again. I'll explain the entire process as much as I can. My wife and I were mainly focusing on remodeling the kitchen but saw this deal on Angie's list for half off a 300 sq feet finished basement, something I wanted done down the road (can you say man cave). So we contacted Gates to see how much the basement would cost. Our basement that we wanted finished was more like 550 feet, but after speaking with Les, and calculating the discounted price, I had trouble turning it down. Our kitchen was our main remodel that we wanted done but it was going to cost more than we originally anticipated with other contractor estimates. So we were going to wait and save up and make sure we got exactly what we wanted for the right price and not over spend, which is easy to do. So we asked Les if they could add remodeling of our closet pantry to a walk-in pantry, which would give us more space in our small kitchen. He added that to our contract and to finish our basement including a full bathroom. The price was reasonable considering we added a rough-in for the basement, and the pantry remodeling included some demolition. So we signed a contract and scheduled a date to start. So before the basement job was started we continued revising our kitchen remodel to try to fit our budget. Our house is not old but we didn't like how the kitchen was laid out (spec home). We meet Mike Gates and talk to him about our basement and our kitchen project. He tells us he can do the kitchen no problem. We told him we had a specific budget and didn't want to destroy the entire kitchen but mainly wanted to make it more open and functional. After some discussion about the project and making sure the wall we wanted removed was not load bearing. We worked out a deal to remodel the kitchen. Mike said they needed to complete the first project, the basement and pantry, and then after that was complete we would write up the kitchen project. The first project was done in about 4-6 weeks, including a small break due to a vacation in between. The kitchen took about a week! Can you say awesome job guys. Donnie, Aaron, Mike and his nephew are all terrific and I plan on calling them for our next project. They were very clean in the entire process including laying and hanging plastic to protect from dirt and debris throughout the house. So for the price of a kitchen remodel (most other contracting companies D. Fox, and others), we were able to get a basement finished and our kitchen done too!!!! My wife is happy and so am I.

Very responsive - Les Fearing called next day with pricing and ready to start project couple days later. We are really enjoying working with Gates Home Improvement.

Very impressed with their work and the accommodations made by workers with regard to requests made during the project. All employees were very friendly and dedicated to doing what we wanted.

I was very happy with the whole process. From the estimate process through the follow up. Les came out a couple of times and was happy to bear with us when we were deciding on how much of the original project we wanted to take on. He adjusted the estimate a few times for us. When Mike came out, we again adjusted a few things and it was no problem for them at all. Mike and his crew were very professional and very respectful. Mike even went a little further and provided some extra square footage for a bar area for me without adding to the cost. In addition, Mike also had a custom wood bar top built for me , and barnwood for the back wall of the bar area without adding to the original estimate. The overall price was more than fair. I am very happy with the results and would not hesitate to call Gates again for any other project I had in mind. I would most definitely reccommend him for any basement remodeling project.

We love our new finished basement. The process went as planned! They did an overall great job. We really love our new bar with custom counter tops and slate flooring. I will recommend them to everyone!

It was a GREAT experience working with Gates, Thay did a top notch job on my basement! Couldn't be any more satisfied.

Gates Home Improvement: Michael Gates Remodel was completed in May of 2011 Work to be done: According to the offer; $5,000.00. bathroom remodel General: We bought most of the bathroom fixtures, etc. because we wanted good quality, long lasting equipment. The agent told me they would buy the items but that they would be economy items (note the value of each item in the contract and compare that to your expected quality of the item). The workers did try hard to protect the carpeting in the home as they worked each day. We have absolutely no problems with their attention to keep the carpet clean. We had four workers on our job. Tear down (demolition) was ok, good work. The bath tub was removed and all the room walls were removed to the wall studs for the new walls. The concerns are: Insulation outside wall: The agent re-used the old 1960?s insulation that was in the wall: I asked for new but I was told the insulation is just fine to reuse. Company would not install new insulation on the outside wall. I even volunteered to go buy a roll of insulation. Floor heat: We requested the heated floor while the bathroom was being rebuilt. We paid the extra cost for the heating grid and installation. After it was installed, in front of the sink, the floor is cold on our feet: must use rug to keep our toes warm. We think the heat grid was not installed properly. The wiring was not dressed to my standard so I dressed the wiring after the crew left. Outlet: rewired to accept GFI except the wall was cut too large and now has a gap at bottom of the switch plate. Agent told me to buy a ?jumbo? plate to cover the gap. I can?t find a ?jumbo? switch plate. Molding at sink was not matched well with the wall panel. Shower floor pan has loud cracking sound when stepping into/out of the shower. We worry it will leak at some point in the future. Bathroom floor, under the tile, sounds like ?gravel? when you walk on the floor Tile soap dish in shower is tilted down so much the soap will not stay in the dish. I use a soap ?keeper? so the soap does not fall to the floor. Two tile shelves were installed in the shower; both are tilted to the wall so water will not drain. We must dry the shelves after each shower. In the shower, grout was not removed from the tiles. Agent told me to use a wash cloth and rub the grout, it will come off. I rubbed, four hours, and grout is still on the wall tile. One overhead light fixture is located directly above the sink. This location casts a shadow and I may have a second fixture installed more toward the center of the room. Summary: the $5,000.00 remodel of a very small bathroom in a 1960?s home would work OK for a rental unit or an inexpensive update to a bathroom. The time from demolition to ?finish? was four weeks. Read the contract and understand what equipment is furnished in the work. I took photographs each night and notes every day of the work accomplished. After completion, when the water line failed behind the wall, the company representative came out and fixed that at no cost. This is our retirement home and we wanted a quality, long lasting bathroom and while the room is functional, we expected a bit more from the remodeling company.

The basement was slightly larger then the 300 square foot that was on the deal. They took 6-8 weeks to finish the project which was longer than expected. They did not have any idea of when they were going to show up they would just come randomly. The end result was nice and the basement looks good. There was just a little lack of communication and there were additional costs that we were not anticipating.

We have an old home and the shower tile was cracked and water was seeping through. We had multiple people look at the shower and give us very high estimates that involved a lot of extra work we weren't interested in. We notice an Angie's List coupon for the shower tile replacement. I called the owner before purchasing the coupon and he said that if the work couldn't be done we would get a refund. We purchased the coupon and someone else came and looked at the shower and decided it would be tough but it could be done. We were responsible for choosing and purchasing all of the tile and the new faucet apparatus. The guy who actually did the work was Larry and he did a really nice job with it. We are extremely happy with our new shower, it looks great.

They were very responsive. They took care of nay issues we had right away for us. They have a great price for a reliable contractor.

Took longer than they quoted (working on to many other jobs at same time) fit and finish

We couldn't be more pleased with the result. Everything looks great and we have had no issues with anything.

The service took longer than we were told it would. I took off an extra day of work past what I had planned to be home during the job, then I still needed to return to work while the job was completed. The final results were sloppy, not complete, and overall unsatisfactory. The person who was there used my belongings (radio, hairdryer) without my permission. When I called the owner of the company, he responded promptly and fixed the sloppy work yet he brought back the offending worker when I indicated that I did not want him back. Update 10/7/13: I also requested that they seal the grout multiple times and I was told the work was not necessary. The grout is now cracking between the tile, 7 months after the work. I once again called the company about this and have still not received a response. Now, I cannot get the grout clean because they did not seal it properly.

Gates Home Improvement did a great job. They were very easy to work with and did exactly what we wanted done. We had a dark, depressing and unusable basement and they transformed it into a bright playroom for our children. We had Mike Gates' (owner) cell and were encouraged to call if there were ever any issues (which there weren't). After the job was finished, Mike (rather than call it quits) told us to "live" in it for a couple of weeks and see if we came up with a punch list for his guys to come back and take care of. This was but the latest example of the Gates teams commitment to customer satisfaction. One other thing worth mentioning: Gates Home Improvement is exceptional at what they do. But unlike some other contractors we've dealt with, they prefer to provide referrals for things outside the scope of their expertise (e.g., flooring). Though I wish Gates and team were expert in all things so that I could look no further, I appreciated their honesty and willingness to pass on opportunities to earn additional income where they were less than 100% comfortable that they could deliver. Highly recommended. Very focused on customer satisfaction.

Overall it went well they gave us a time frame in which they would start and started within the time frame. They finished the work sooner than we expected. They kept us updated on the progress while they were working and let us know what they were going to be doing each day. They tried to keep the work area as clean as possible. The workers were polite, on time and asked us each day if we had any questions. Worked with us to make sure that they were doing exactly what we wanted with the home office part of the project because as the work progressed we made a couple of changes. They crew was great to work with. I would use this company again and would recommend them to friends and family.

Overall, the job went very well. The supervisors and crew are all really nice people. We had a few times when the crew started to do something that was not what was written into the contract. Each time, they were willing to redo it to match the specs in the contract. I think that was more a communication issue, since the estimator/contract person is different from the guys doing the work. There was a week delay waiting to schedule a licensed electrician, but that wasn't a problem. They worked around my schedule, were professional, cleaned up after their work. All major renovations have issues that arise, but the things that came up on this job were resolved easily and to my complete satisfaction. I would use them again.

Great, Beautiful and a good price.

I contacted them over the phone to discuss the work. They sounded like they were not very interested in the job. I feel as though they would have been rushed with the work and would not do quality work. I requested a refund.

Very good work, excellent attention to detail. Responsive to customer questions/requests & professional job. Personal attention. Would hire again.

They were very good about coming to the house and talking preliminary plans and costs before we bought the Big Deal. They haven't been great at following up themselves, but always return my phone calls promptly.

Les responded quickly to my request for a quote, coming out within a few days to walk through the space. He seemed very knowledgeable and professional, taking measurements and completing a sketch of the basement. I told him what I was interested in doing and he explained in detail how they would complete the remodel. He also offered recommendations for ways to finish the basement which I really appreciated. in 3 days, Les provided a detailed quote via email including a sketch of the basement. The quote was about $2,000 lower than the other 2 quotes I received from other contractors I found on Angie's List. We previously had a terrible experience with another contractor that I didn't get from Angie's List, so I was nervous and wanted to make sure I had every last detail in writing. I marked up the quote with lots of very specific details, included a couple of small additions that were not in the original quote, and even changed the payment schedule. Les was very easy to work with, and agreed to all of my changes for no additional cost. Les came out a few days later to have the contract signed. I expected to wait about 2 weeks to get on their schedule, but was thrilled to be told that they could begin work in 4 days. Mike Gates arrived promptly at 8 am to begin work and explained what they would be doing. My wife is a stay at home mom and watches 2 other children, one an infant, so we didn't know how the experience would go. We couldn't be happier with how things went. Mike and all of his employees were fantastic, very friendly and engaging with our children who loved seeing what the workers were doing. They quickly framed the basement, ran the electrical, and installed the insulation and drywall in the first week. The next week saw the canned lighting, the ceiling drywall installed and the demo at the top of the stairs. The third week saw the finishing of the drywall and ceiling and the painting of the drywall. The fourth week comprised of installation and staining of the spindles and baseboard trim and all of the other finishing touches. The contract said that it would take 5-6 weeks to complete but they were able to complete it in four weeks. In addition to the work listed about, they also installed stair risers and built a corner unit to hide the water meter, house the electronics and the flat panel tv. Mike was very responsive and willing to make changes all along the way including adding additional framing to support the tv mount, altering the framing around the window to allow in maximum light, reframing the header at the top of the stairs to minimize the intrusion of the support framing, and rerouted wiring to place the light switches into an existing junction box on the main floor. All of the people that worked on our project were very courteous and respectful of our home and were happy to explain what they would be doing and answered our questions. As the project approached completion, Mike assured us that that would be complete on a specific day, which allowed us to coordinate having the carpet installed the next day. Mike and his team always lived up to their promises and were very willing to make adjustments to ensure that we were completely satisfied with the finished product. After the carpet was installed, the flooring height made the doors difficult to open so Mike sent someone out immediately to trim them down to work smoothly. They kept a clean work area and took all of the debris created with them, leaving our house clean and nothing for us to worry about. After having lived with the finished basement for over a month, I'm even more thrilled than when it was completed. All of the work was completed with great attention to detail and they have turned an unwelcome space into one that not only fits well with the rest our of home but is now one of the most comfortable rooms in the house. I would not hesitate to recommend Gates Home Improvement to family and friends and will definitely use them for any future remodeling work in our home. I feel that we not only got an expertly finished space but got a great value for the money.

They did a nice job and provided the a suggested layout of the basement with the quote. We did not end up doing the remodeling project (due to other priorities) but would consider doing business with them in the future.