Norse Construction, LLC

We attempted to have our unfinished basement finished in 2020. The project started in June of 2020 and was terminated unfinished in January of 2021. Total cost of the partial project was $75,771. Several issues led to the termination of the project. The primary was lack of actual project management and ability to take responsibility for errors by the contractor, which, in addition to being frustrating, contributed to the unnecessarily long project time of 7 months while still not being finished. Examples include: - An I-Beam for a heavy-bag track was to be installed on the ceiling. It was installed in the incorrect location and extremely poorly, to the point where flanges were overlapping. When confronted, the contractor stated that it just "wasn't finished". However, the correction required the complete removal and re-installation. Then the contractor claimed the issue was due to insufficient instruction supplied, even though all required information was in fact supplied. The installation crew was simply not competent and failed to install as instructed. - Wood panels were put on a large portion of the ceiling. Several conversations in writing instructed that there was to be no more work done after the initial paint as we liked the look as is. When painters were on-site for the walls, it was confirmed with them verbally that the ceiling was complete and not to perform work on them. However, they caulked and painted it anyway. When confronted, the contractor stated it was always known that this work was to be done. He also said it was only painted and not caulked, which was clearly not the case. Additionally, when shown texts and emails where we explicitly requested no more work done to the ceiling and that he also stated it was complete, he simply ignored it. - When ordering a vanity, he sent us to a shop to select one. However, when it came time to need the vanity, we found it had never actually been ordered. The contractor blamed us for not ordering it while at the shop, however the person at the shop later confirmed the hold up was the contractor not confirming the order. These are some of the biggest examples, but there were communication issues throughout the project. The termination of the contact didn't go any better than the rest of the project. We were told up front, in writing, that we would be billed for all services each week for the prior week. However, when we were settling up after the contract was terminated, there were many costs he was back charging for, meaning they were not billed during the week of work as the original contract stated. One of the items had no reciept. One of the bigger issues here was the painting. The painting cost was much too high relative to the original bid price based on actual work performed. When asked for an itemized bill for painting, it included painting work that had not been performed. The contractor ultimately removed the item for which he didn't have a receipt and reduced the paint cost by some amount. It was still not correct, but we agreed to pay to end the situation.

Bruce and his crew finished over 1000 sqft of basement for my family, including a wet bar, 3/4 bath, game room and family room. I cannot say enough about how great it was to work with them. From the minute Bruce walked in our house to give us an estimate, we knew he would be the one for the job. He had a great personality, understood what we wanted to do and was up front about cost, timing, any limitations, etc-- we could just tell that it would be easy to work with him. Bruce's son, David, did most of the woodwork. He did a fantastic job of duplicating the staircase from our main floor (we happened to also have leftover spindles). He also created a custom built-in bookcase as well as worked with standard cabinetry to make custom-looking bookshelves in our bar. We really trusted that if he said he could do something, he could-- and he did! What we really appreciated was the work ethic-- when they said they were going to be here, they were here. They were always here around 8/8:30 and put in a full day's work, unlike other contractors we've dealt with in the past. The sub contractors that Bruce works with (HVAC, flooring, plumbing, etc) were all punctual and responsible and were also here when they were supposed to be. Because of this, when quoted 3 month from start to finish, they were spot on! They started our basement at the end of April, and were finished mid-July. The project was not without its set-backs or errs, but whenever we brought something to Bruce's attention, it was remedied promptly and without question. All in all, for major construction, this was the most pleasant project we've ever had completed and would recommend Norse in a heartbeat.

Norse Construction exceeded all my expectations. Each day we knew what work would be done and who was coming. Bruce, the owner, is an excellent communicator and kept us informed daily. Work never stopped -- every day progress was made. The project was completed in a very timely manner and within budget. I've never had this good an experience with a remodel; Norse is excellent and I would rehire them in a heartbeat.

Bruce, Dave et al are amazing. They listened, worked with me and my timeline, and gave us such a wonderful, beautiful product; our master bath, and full basement remodel are gorgeous. Bruce is paid weekly based on the work his team does, itemized statement, full disclosure and no surprises. We are hiring them again to add a deck to our home, and cannot wait for the finished product. /Gail & Brett Gordon and family.

Just moved into a new house and was struggling with a few items. Bruce and David were extremely caring and took care of me immediately. The work was superb. Norse will definitely be my first call on future house repairs and remodels. Thank you so much!

They were always on time and they were quick and efficient. Neat, Tidy job and keep mess on minimum. Pricing was very fair and they call me back immediately and response with the pricing. i would recommend them.

It was great. Really good experience

We didn't plan on remodeling our kitchen, but things happen and we had too. We did not have the luxury of planning out ahead of time, this was all on the fly. But we extended our kitchen and it is just stunning. Norse Construction was extremely responsive and were able to find ways to save us money here and there. Over all it was great.

Completed very well.

Superb job done by Bruce and his crew. Took our bathroom down to the studs. Complete do over. Great work. Tile work is first class! On time and on budget. Work done as scheduled and when scheduled. No problems on this job. Very happy with result. Will use Norse again!

Norse construction reviewed and came up with a great plan for remodeling the master bathroom

Well. He gave a plan which I must get back to him to understand.

Bruce and his guys did a great job on multiple projects. They repaired the deck and three season porch, replaced damaged wood around the garage, installed siding, and replaced the kitchen counters. His bids are detailed, so there are no surprises, and the work is very reasonably priced. Everyone showed up on time and got the jobs done in a timely manner (based on past experience with other contractors, that is highly unusual!). I needed other work done that Bruce does not do, so he recommended another contractor That contractor also turned out to be excellent!

They were professional, punctual, and a pleasure to work with. We are absolutely happy with the end result. Bruce was in constant communication with us and open and honest about the whole project.

Bruce completed the plan quickly and produced detailed information. Now that we have an idea of what it would cost, we're looking at options on what areas we really need finished and how we might go forward.

It started off well, he was responsive and punctual. But he never emailed an estimate or design plan to me. He says he emailed it and I told him I never received it but never received it. Therefore I never got the final product (which was the estimate) that I paid for.

AWESOME. Bruce was a joy to work with, as were all of his "crews." Everything was done on the schedule that he had given me (actually finished a week early), within the price he had quoted. He responded within an hour to every email/call, and even accommodated my changes as we went along :) I have 3 more re-models/re-dos to my house over the next year, and there is no doubt in mind that I will be using Bruce for every one of them. Tusen Takk!!

TERRIBLE HOMEOWNER EXPERIENCE 1) Concrete cutting was done terribly and ended up causing home to be completely coated with thick and sickening layers of concrete dust. Norse construction did provide HEPA filtered vacum cleaning and air cleaning machines to deal with immediate mess that they caused, but not clear what the long term implications are for family health. I also need to hire a company to inspect and clean out all the duct work and filters which will be additional cost. 2) Second egress window was a mess and resulted in multiple (close to 10 separate incidents) sequential floodings of basement causing additional damage to existing finished bathroom and potential mold or other damage to concrete floor may result due to the multiple floodings. Norse construction unable or unwilling to find the root cause of the water filling up the window well (see pictures attached) and flooding the basement and kept blaming previous work on the home as not being done properly. We reminded them that the prior window had never leaked water into the basement for the 12 years prior to their working on it so whatever was done previously was working. At one point basement was flooding for over 3 days before Bruce came in with a temporary preventative measure. Bruce now has indicated that he will be charging me a daily rental for the pump and for scrappy tarp that was used to cover the outside of the window well to try to prevent flooding, none of which were authorized spend.. Unbelievable. Pictures attached showing both tarp and pump which have not been removed from my property even as at this time. 3) Scheduling challenge with plumber unable to gain access to property. Norse construction called me at work. After some initial communication back and forth as we could not understand why plumber could not access property i took an excuse from work and advised Norse I was on my way back to property to let plumber in. Norse advised that there was no need to return to property and that we would abandon that attempt. A few weeks later i receive a $500 bill pass through from Norse for plumber not being able to access property. Bruce Jovaag refused to take any responsibility in that situation and the following is an excerpt of email from him: "As far as the plumber’s bill is concerned, it is the homeowner’s responsibility to provide adequate access to achieve said scope of work. This was not the case and as such the additional billing was incurred. Let it be known that NO additional work will be provided by Norse Construction on this property until such time as the account is brought current." - no acknowledgment that homeowner was on way back to figure out access and was told not to. 4) Attempted to get a face to face meeting to discuss and try to work through issues from a request dated June 17th but kept getting excuses like too busy meeting new clients, taking a day off to catch up etc all communicated via email and text and I finally arrived at conclusion that my business was not important to this contractor and requested a city inspection of work done so I could move on with a new contractor. My city inspector was surprised to find out that the contractor had put up all the stud walls without starting or completing the code required vertical and horizontal fire blocking to sill plate with drywall. As this is required I now have to have another contractor take the studs down to put the fire blocking up or use another material for fireblocking that is significantly more expensive. I hope this contractor will do the right thing now and refund for work not done and for any subsequent damage from flooding without my having to take legal action. Attached is one of the invoices paid for electrical work but as you can see from my basement pictures no electrical work was done. I know the electric subcontractor that was given the work and they never performed any service yet this contractor has refused to refund this amount and other amounts for authorized work invoiced and paid. 5) Additionally city issues 6 month permits. My permit just expired. The job failed to be completed in that time frame but I am sure this contractor will find reasons to blame everything else for why we were unable to complete a basement remodel in 6 months. I could go on and on about my disastrous experience with this contractor but my hope is that this reference and the pictures shown tell the story. I hope this inspires him to return the money paid asap. I will definitely be filing for help with the Better Business Bureau and taking legal action as is necessary. This contractor in my opinion gives the whole industry a bad rap it was very unfortunate for me that I selected this vendor from Angies List.

Bruce was patient with my "redesign" ideas and we love his estimate and billing system! I can't say enough about how happy we are with the finished product. He customized several pieces for us and we love it! Thanks Bruce!

It went very well. Often times, we would make additions or changes to what we originally wanted, and Norse Construction kept up with our changes in stride and they did an excellent job on everything! They also raised the walls and everything in our basement too per our request by about 1/4"-1/2" so when our basement floods (like it did today!), the water didn't damage anything. They added a drop ceiling with additional lights which look excellent! They tripled the number of outlets we had before which was nice The walls before were old and moldy, with 50 year old electrical wiring. They replaced all of the wiring so I don't have to worry about faulty wiring burning our house down. Then they insulated the walls. Another thing too, we were a little worried that Norse was doing electrical work on our house since they didn't have a licensed electrician. We hired a licensed master electrician to double-check the work after they were done and he said everything was to code and done very professionally, so you can trust their electrical work too. For the pricing, it seemed rather low (I'm not complaining!) compared to other quotes we received. You can see quite a long list of what they did on our basement. What made us choose Norse, though, wasn't just money. It was the Angie's reviews and their detailed quote and estimate. Bruce (owner) goes above and beyond in his quotes. He provided us a detailed architectural layout with floor layout drawings and price breakdowns for each section. Very detailed guy! I am very happy with their work and will definitely hire again!

Great job Fellas!!

unknown

I would completely recommend Norse Construction. Bruce was professional, personal, and a delight to visit with. He is a professional in every sense, was timely in his response, and extremely detailed. I highly recommend him and his company.

unknown

It went well. My expectations vs actual  were different.
As I am new I have provided him, layout in my mind, he designed and provided me .
My expectation was as they are pro in this field, they provide me all the best plans that suites my needs. I did not see that happen. May be my expectations were wrong i don't know.