Tonken Remodeling

We bought our house in August of 2010.  Prior to moving in, Ben repainted most of the interior, refinished the hardwood floors, remodelled a half-bath, stained our deck and installed a new furnace.  He did a great job and completed the project before we moved in.  Consequently, we have used Ben every year since then on projects large and small, all of which we have been very happy with.  He has become our go-to contractor whenever we need work done on our house, which he knows very well at this point.  On each of the projects, he has been very good about walking us through the process and managing our expectations.  His quotes have always been reasonable, and he has always stayed within budget.  He is very respectful of our house and employs workers that do their best to keep work areas clean.  The work has always been top notch.  The siding replacement, interior and exterior painting, the drywall, HVAC, bathroom and lighting installations, and electrical work have all been meticulously done.  Ben is very responsive, does great work, and will continue to be the first person we call when we have a new project.  I highly recommend him, and think he's tough to beat in terms of quality work at a reasonable price.  We look forward to working with him again on our next project!

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Ben and I went back and forth for a few weeks as to the scope of work I was hiring him to do.  We are doing a complete kitchen remodel, and though I considered hiring him for much more, I finally decided on the patio door work only.  He was the cheapest bid I had by 10% and I felt obligated given all the proposals for different jobs he sent me (3 separate proposals) and the time he invested.    
During the initial estimate, Ben suggested he wanted to get the project done in a day so we wouldn't be left without a door overnight, but that proved to be overly ambitious.  His mason arrived about an hour late the morning of.  I wanted to meet him but couldn't wait any longer, already being late for my job.  He cut the brick and built up a level wall to match the exact rough opening we needed.  Ben came by at some point during the day while I was at work and again that night.  He mentioned the sill would not be water tight unless re-poured, and that would cost $400 extra.  I said to go ahead.  He also mentioned I should secure the sheet of OSB the mason left covering the opening in the wall.  He did help me move the new door inside to protect it from the elements.  
The mason did the new sill the next day.  Ben said we'd need 5-7 days for the sill to cure before installing the door.  When I came home the second day, no one was there, and there was a large opening in the back of the house.  I had to secure it myself by scavenging around for materials that night.  Luckily, at some point later in the week someone came by to check the sill and Ben decided to install the door on Friday, 5 days since they started.  (versus going the weekend with no door).  He did the door install himself, and unfortunately a hinge was broken on the door, so he could not verify that it closed well.  It was otherwise water tight so I paid him in full that night.  I ordered the hinge from Jeldwen which took weeks to deliver. (I was responsible for the door since I ordered it myself through Home Depot, as he explained to me more than once)  
Upon receiving it, I replaced the hinge.  After adjusting the leveling screws, I still couldn't get the door to close perfectly.  There was and still is light coming in at the top corner when its closed and locked.  I let Ben know via email.  He said sorry to hear that, it wasn't the case when he was there and even if he could do anything, he'd have to re-install everything.  I said I wanted him to come look at it.  After two weeks, I still have yet to hear from him.
I rated Tonken Remodeling as an F for professionalism due to his lack of tact in communicating, his crew leaving my house un-secure and failing to take responsibility for it, and his lack of initiative in responding to my concern after receiving the hinge. Overall, I rated him higher because the price was tough to beat, the mason did nice work matching up our brick perfectly, and he was able to start the job much earlier than initially proposed.

We love our new beautiful kitchen!

Ben Tonken is a true proffessional. He was open to "on the fly" adjustments, and coordinated a few sub-contractors not in the original scope of work. His priceing was a bit higher than other quotes, but his workmanship and attention to detail made it worth it. Ben opened up the load-bearing wall between our kitchen and living room and in the process discovered numerous problems from previous remodels. He not only provided us with a full range of options to deal with each SNAFU, but was responsive in dealing with each. Ben also provided us with some on-the-fly advice for the portions of the remodel that we were doing ourselves. Without his help we would be significantly behind on our timeframe and above on overall budget. Ben is worth every cent of that extra couple dollars.

Hands down the best contracting experience I've ever had. Ben is incredibly honest and professional. He was always on time to any scheduled appoints or work. He provided accurate and reasonable estimates, as well as very thorough explanations of the work to performed and pricing. We live in an old house, so obviously any renovation can come with surprises. Ben was an incredible problem solver and was able to meet our goals within our budget. He was excellent at supervising any subcontractors involved in the project and overseeing their work product. The work that Ben performed was outstanding. He is a true perfectionist. I cannot say enough great things about his work.