OLD WORLD REFINISHERS

unknown

Came out to our house in mid-November.  Decided to get the work done because Mike Mayer seemed like a very nice guy, very professional and we thought we got a good price.  There was a slight problem because some materials did not arrive to Mike on time, and the work had to be delayed by 6 days, I think.  Mike told me about the delay, stayed in contact with me throughout, and even the delay did not last as long as anticipated.  Mike and his co-worker were very pleasant, very professional and very easy to work with.  We'd go back to them in a heartbeat.

.

We first asked Mike and his buisness to repair and refinish my Great Grandfather's Oak dresser. It looks great as a side board in our dining room. We then asked for ideas and an estimate for the kitchen. We are very pleased and will certainly be asking him to do more work for us. We would give him an excellent recommendation.

We met with Mike Mayer (owner) in November, 2013.  We agreed on the scope of work and price.  He indicated that mid-December would be the earliest he could start. 
Before he started, he arranged for us to meet at his place of business to select the countertop material.  Once we had selected what we wanted, he arranged a second visit to show samples of stained maple that he thought would complement the colors in the countertops and to select door and drawer hardware.  He purchased the wood veneer and doors from a supplier.
He got clear of other projects and, with our agreement (due to the proximity of Christmas and the fact of having the kitchen torn up), started work 12/23/13. 
He carefully sealed the doorways to the kitchen with plastic sheeting.  It was noisy, but that was to be expected.  Due to the condition of the surface of some cabinet areas, he had to use a smelly chemical to smooth it out.  He kept the smell down as much as possible by opening the window (it was cold!) and keeping the exhaust fan on.  This took place over 2 days.  All very reasonable things to do.  At the end of each day he and his helper cleaned up the mess they made and took all of the debris with them to be disposed.  When he found a drip in the finish on two of the doors, he took them back to his shop and removed the drips (can't tell there was ever an issue now.) 
There was a roughly 2 week delay caused by my tile supplier not being able to obtain the tile from his distributor when he said he would (it appears to me that the tile distributor had drawn their stock down for for end-of-year accounting purposes.)   Mike was very understanding of this and was quite professional.  He went on to his next job awaiting notification from me as to when the tile would come in.  After I called, he came the next day to start the work after he finished some work he was doing elsewhere.  As it turned out, my tile supplier and I miscommunicated about how much of one tile needed and he ordered less than I really needed.  This was not apparent until Mike had gotten most of the way thru installing the tile.  He put in what he could, and promised to return once I had gotten additional tile from my supplier.  Happily, my supplier was able to obtain the needed tile the next day and Mike was back in to install it that afternoon.  He and his assistant finished grouting the tile the next day. 
General assessment.  Very professional performance by Mike.  He was able to accommodate himself to the issues created by the lateness of my tile - twice!  He did this without complaint or any issue.  Kudos!  The actual time it took to do the work appeared to be very reasonable based on my personal experience doing similar work.  I would unhesitatingly do business with Old World Refinishers again.
Quality of work.  1) The carpentry was first rate.  I am personally experienced at woodworking and have a grasp of the difficulties involved.  I would not give this comment easily.  My wife was fully satisfied.  All issues we identified were quickly addressed and resolved.  The wood work is beautiful.  2) The tile work was OK, but not stellar.  I also have experience with tile and appreciate the work needed to perform a top quality job.  On reflection, if I had to do this over, I would have had the tile work done by someone who only does tile work altho it almost certainly would have cost significantly more to do so.  My wife and I are very picky, others may be less so and be perfectly satisfied with the work that was done.  We made a trade-off here. 
Responsiveness.  Mike was very responsive.  Customer first, seemed to be his unspoken motto.  See my comments about the tile delay above.  We communicated often by text message.  Mike is clearly excellent here.
Punctuality.  Mike came when he said he would or called ahead to notify me of any changes.  Well done.  I was very pleased with this behavior.  Couldn't have been better.
Professionalism.  See my comment under General Assessment.  Great guy.