Michael Sooby Carpentry

Michael’s work is quality, but the communication is lacking. He tells me after the broom closet was built (while I was at work) that he went ahead and bought «the cheaper wood». No price difference. Not sure why that was thought to be a decision he could make for our project. While the structure looks good, the texture of the wood (because of it’s quality) takes away from the overall finished product.

As with lots of small handy man operations, the communication and logistics can be frustrating. He initially was very responsive but when I said «ok lets move forward» I never heard back.
Then 2 – 3 days later while I’m at work he texts me and says «I’m here»
I was like… um ok…
Then that evening he was SUPER interested in me getting home so I could give him a payment. Called me like 3 times wondering when I was going to be home. I was like «I’m at work, your the one who decided to show up without talking to me»
I get home give him a payment for the little work he did and he says he will be back «first thing in the morning».
He shows up next day past noon… tells me «sometimes things come up»…at this point I’m wondering how the hell did this guy get any good Unilocal reviews.
However then he really got working and worked till dark and came back again for few hours to finish the job (small deck addition)
The work was great and I have zero issues with the quality or the price, but I guess I’m just wanting a more professional, responsive person to deal with.

Michael just extended my deck by double its size. He did an AMAZING job, removing the old railing, steps and rotten planks and replacing them with the new treated lumber. My concern was how the new deck would tie in to the old deck, my not wanting it to look like an «add on». Michael made the transition between the old and new deck seamless. He was not only reasonable but a perfectionist with his carpentry skills. He definitely knows what he is doing and kept to the budget we discussed. Will definitely use again and highly recommend him. Great job, Michael!

Michael built my fireplace surround. Mantle, hearth & legs & also framed my bathroom which I was remodeling. Very reliable. Fair pricing & excellent work.

When my pull down attic stairs broke, I thought it was going to be multiple trips to Home Depot, etc carpenters estimates etc. Michael Sooby came by, told me what I needed, I picked it up, Michael came the next day and did the job quickly and he cleaned up after he finished .His charges were reasonable. I absolutely recommend Michael and I will call on him again.

I was hoping to hire Michael for a deck project. We talked a few times by phone, and met in person once. At the end of the process, I sent him an email requesting a bid and specifying what I wanted. I said he would be responsible for the labor and costs of any permits needed, and asked for proof of bonding and insurance, as well as the phone numbers for the customers of his three most recently completed projects as references.
His response to my email gave me a couple of snippits of useful information (which is why I give him two stars), but he said «I have no interest in bidding the job any further… Permits, insurance, bonding, references, etc. I am not applying for a job».
He was personable, seemed to know his craft, and had a good rate, so I was disappointed. Perhaps he was overwhelmed with other work to do. If you are looking to hire someone by the hour, and don’t care about checking references, etc., he may be just the guy you want. For my project, however, he was a bad match.

Michael was one of three bidders on doing an extensive deck repair at our home. He does all of his own work, meaning he has lower overhead costs than larger operations. He did the work fast, but with painstaking detail to getting it done right. We found him to be highly intelligent, honest, sincere, personable, and flexible in dealing with unexpected issues that arose during the project.
My wife and I recommend Michael without reservation and with great enthusiasm. We believe anyone who hires his services will be most pleased with the outcome. He’s a winner!

I’ve used Michael for handyman work at my Austin apartment. He is prompt, courteous, capable, and reasonably priced. He knows his way around IKEA furniture — how to assemble, and even reassemble, and he approaches tasks that take figuring out with a can-​do, how to get it done attitude.

We moved into a house with a beautiful built-​in bookshelf, but the space for the television was not large enough for our television. Michael removed one column and figured out a way to add in more support while still keeping the design of the bookshelf. We absolutely love it, and Michael did it all in one day. We had a miscommunication regarding whether he would be painting the bookshelf as well, but Michael reduced the price that he charged (which was already reasonable) to account for that. I was very impressed and would definitely use him again.

It took us a few weeks to get on the same page for scheduling but once we did he came out and did a fantastic job and couldn’t be happier with it. Gave several options for repair and gave a very fair estimate. Boards were replaced in a garage that actually allow the garage to work again. Would definitely recommend.

We live in a small condo that needed some work done on the kitchen pantry. When we moved in, the pantry was built in such an inefficient way that anything you put into it would effectively disappear. It was pretty much a useless tiny closet.
We called up Michael with just a rough idea of what we wanted and he offered to come by that same day to take a quick look. After a courteous and professional meeting with great suggestions by Michael on how to most efficiently rebuild the pantry, he said he would get back to us on a quote. We decided to remove the tiny door, knock out the framing, expand the door opening, install new shelves, and build in install 3 pull out drawers. That evening, he contacted us with a quote, including an estimation on materials, that was even less than other carpenters quoted us for labor alone! Wow!
He expected the work to take two days. Had I not changed my mind on adding a forth drawer and custom faces on the drawers, it probably would have been exactly as he predicted. By the end of the 2^nd day, he mentioned that he happened to be available the next day and could come in for just a couple of hours to put on the finishing touches. Not once did he ask for additional pay for labor or anything of the sort. He made it a point that he believed in sticking with his original quote. We ended up tipping him for his time anyway, but that was never something that we felt was expected, only appreciated.
I bring this up because the thing I appreciated most about Michael was commitment to customer service and satisfaction. Even if it would make the build more complicated, he always insisted on building it in a way that would make us most happy.
Michael was very mindful about minimizing the inevitable dust from the build and was meticulous with cleaning up after each day. He was very efficient with his time and considerate of our space.
With service this good, I’m looking around trying to think of more ways we can hire Michael to improve the look, utility, and value of our home.

Called this gentleman to request some deck work for my home. Here’s how the call went:
MSC: «Hello»
Me: «Hi, my name is Storm and I have a home in Pflugerville that we purchased back in October, and I need some deck work done on my existing deck.»
MSC: «Uh, well, uh, that’s a little far out for me. I kinda like staying close to my shop for jobs.»
Me: «Oh yeah? I’m a little confused. Your Unilocal information said you have worked on ‘homes from Tarrytown to Georgetown, as well as having worked on several commercial properties throughout Austin…’. I figured if I’m in Pflugerville, since that’s obviously closer than Georgetown, we’d be in your service area.»
MSC: «Uh, yeah, uh I need to update that site. But uh, yeah that’s a little far out for me, and I won’t be able to do anything for you.»
Me: «Oh okay. Thanks anyway I guess.»
Yeah, he probably ought to update Unilocal so that I don’t waste my time wasting his time. Ugh.

Michael just finished a couple of projects for me and I am thrilled with how everything has turned out! He was professional and timely when he showed up the first day to give me estimates. The projects were very «different» in nature. One was an outdoor railing surrounding my patio and the other was to increase the height of the upstairs bannister with a wooden railing, for child safety reasons. Michael not only gave me a thoughtful and detailed estimate, but also came in close to it when he finished the work. It took me a while to get on his schedule, but I am very impressed with his work overall. He put in a lot of work, took his time and the end results are really very good! He also did some additional little things around the house for free. I would highly recommend Michael as a professional, skilled and meticulous carpenter! Not to mention, he is also very reasonably priced and discounts his hourly rates quite a bit.

I had a hard time finding someone to build an affordable, modern fireplace mantel with a floating mount. A friend recommended Michael and he made a custom, floating mantel including the mount and installation. He has great attention to detail and is very nice to work with. I’m very happy and will call him for other carpentry work I need in the future.

I hired Michael to come out and do some minor baseboard replacement in my home.
I was very grateful to find that even though it was a small job he was willing to come out and do it. Michael came and checked out the area that needed replacement and then he went to Home Depot to get the baseboards and paint. He came back and in less than 2 hours time had removed the old baseboard, sawed and cut the new baseboard (out in my driveway) to fit, replaced the baseboard, prepped for paint and then painted and caulked. He did a great job prepping for paint and didn’t make a mess. You can’t tell where the nails went into the new base. The new baseboard looks great and is real wood and no longer the crappy MDF builders use. I am very pleased.
Best part about Michael is the pricing – he is very affordable. He quoted me the price up front, gave me the receipts from Home Depot to show what the material cost was and then gave me a receipt. Everything from start to finish was handled in a very professional, honest and efficient manner.
He was telling me some great stories about some decks he had installed (decks seem to be a passion of his) so if you need any sort of deck or carpentry work done I would definitely recommend him.

I have been using Michael for about two months now for an extended remodeling project.
Michael is a highly-​skilled carpenter and he has also done several side projects that extend beyond carpentry. Michael is one of the very few contractors I have used that is so trustworthy, honest and reliable that I have given him a key to my property.
For my project, Michael has framed, sheetrocked, and completely demo’d a 3 – 3 condo. In addition, he designed and built a custom staircase for the upstairs, replacing an old and unstable spiral staircase — very impressive.
I can highly recommend Michael for any trim or general carpentry work you may need done. My understanding is that he also does decks and he is also a master at that! And, his pricing was way below other carpenters on Unilocal that I had obtained bids from.
If you need a trim carpenter around your house, Mr. Sooby is a Unilocal’ers dream come true!