Old World Carpentry

Norbert agreed to do my flooring. He stated he needed money upfront to get materials (the hardwood). He cashed my check, and he never started the work. He did not respond to email, text, or phone calls. He is fraudulent, deceitful, DO NOT USE. No work was ever completed.

Had used Norbert in 2010 with wonderful results on a wood floor project. We contacted him in November of 2019 and he called s back immediately and came out for estimate within 24 hours. Contracted with him that night and he was given a check for $750 for materials - check cashed within 24 hours of receipt. Spoke with him several times over the next couple of weeks start date, all seemed good. He never showed up on the agreed upon start date and hasn't returned any calls/texts since then - over a month ago. Even went to his house and confirmed with neighbors he is still around. At this point, Norbert has stolen money from us. Sad to see what he is doing to destroy what seemed be a successful and trustworthy business. We will pursue legal action. AVOID THIS CONTRACTOR!!!!!

Norbert lied from the beginning about when he could start. He took the check for the materials and came only one time for less than a full day. He left his tools at the house (they are still there) but never brought the wood that he said he had purchased. For multiple months he has not returned or responded to texts or phone calls. He has never returned, we have taken legal action against him. I would recommend not ever considering this individual..

Norbert did a wonderful job! We moved into a new home with hardwood flooring in every room except kitchen/bathrooms and the master bedroom. Some of the flooring was original to the home and thus quite old. He was able to refinish and repair everything and stain to match. The floors look incredible!

We chose "Old World" based on reviews from Angie's List. Norbert came to our house and gave us an estimate that I thought was very fair. He worked from 8 a.m. into the afternoon everyday. The sanding was totally dustless, but when he finished it was apparent some of the wood in our floors would have to be replaced. Norbert bought the lumber and replaced the damaged boards. The new wood was a perfect match for our 100 year old floor. During the project, Norbert made improvements on our floors that amazed us. For instance, for some reason, several squares were cut into our floor by the previous owners of our house. These squares were repaired with plywood. Norbert fixed this by blending new wood into the squares. He also repaired the loose tread on our stairs. He sanded the grates of our cold air return to match the stain on our floors. He did all of this at no additional charge! We love our new floors! The color matches our woodwork perfectly and Norbert was a real pleasure to be around.

FANTASTIC! Norbert has great equipment, a great attitude about doing his job well and is extremely professional. His price beat out others and his attention to detail is outstanding. I couldn't possibly recommend him higher. Nice guy overall, as well. We will absolutely be hiring him again.

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After giving me an estimate Norbert told me when he would be able to start the job. He said it would take about a week from start to finish.

The installation went seamlessly. He then started the refinishing process. When he got to the point of staining the oak, he called me at work and said he couldn't get it to the exact color and would I prefer it to be a bit lighter or darker than the other floors. I opted for a bit lighter. I was a bit confused because I thought he would first experiment on a piece of oak to find a "recipe" to get close to the rest of the house flooring as I had very clearly asked. I never expected he'd actually be able to exactly match it but figured it would be close. When I got home, I found the difference in color was huge but knew it wasn't finished. Well, long-story-short, the color of the new floor is no where near the rest of the house. It's been over 4 months and I still get upset seeing it. My only recourse is to have someone come in and refinish my brand new floor. (Other flooring professionals said they didn't think there was any stain on the floor!)

As a side note, I have to pay extra to have him put new moulding in. I was kind of shocked about that...who would think that would be an "extra" item. And when I got home after he installed that, some of the heating registers didn't fit well into the new moulding. I was so disgusted by this point that I fixed it myself.  There are still spots at the transition from the new to old floor where the moulding is missing. It's hard to believe anyone would think this is "finished."

It also became evident that my job was overlapped with others and there were two times he said he'd be back on a certain day and then just was a no show. It took quite a bit longer than he said initially to complete the work. Also, he only put one coat of finish under the refrigerator.

The other reviews for Norbert are top notch to say the least. Unfortunately my experience was only fair to poor especially considering I will have to hire someone to correct the color, making this a very expensive ordeal for me.

My 1940s bungalow has been transformed by Norbert's quality work on my flooring.  The downstairs oak floors were honey orange in color and had stains from pets, most noticeably in the living room, and now they are beautiful, warm oak and  the character of the wood is the highlight of the rooms  The upstairs had been the attic and then carpeted with a remodel for a third bedroom, so the old  pine boards were black from dirt with paint stains. I wasn't even sure it was possible to reveal the natural wood. They are gorgeous now after sanding multiple times (by hand on the stairs) and applying a sealant.  He suggested not applying a colored stain to retain the natural features of the pine, and I am so glad I took his advice. 

Norbert's attention to detail is second to none and I valued his opinion throughout all the work that was done as it is obvious he takes great pride in his work.  I highly recommend him and his work if you are in need of someone that is not only a professional but a craftsman with wood flooring transformations

Mr. Haberbusch is a master craftsman who also has an unsurpassed wok ethic and service orientation. | |He installed a wood floor flawlessly and quickly AND he tended to all of the small additional items -base board removal and replacement, door removal and replacement and post project cleanup without blinking an eye or requesting an additional fee. He is a delight to work with and knows his craft. There should be more service providers who communicate as well as he. I only wish I had a house that needed wood flooring. I cannot recommend him enough.

Norbert was VERY professional. I can tell he's genuinely a good, honest person and I trusted him to enter and exit my home without me there. He did a PHENOMENAL job! The floor is literally perfect and free from flaws! I cannot wait to have him to my living and dining rooms!

My wife and I recently completed renovating her Grand Parents home and have made it ours. The home has all original hardwood floors with the exception of the Kitchen which we installed a hardwood floor in. We were using a General Contractor to handle the renovation but his estimate for refinishing the hardwoods would not fit into Renovation loan so we needed to have this work completed outside of the work being done through our renovation loan. I received several bids to complete the work and the bid from Old World Carpentry was the best and in talking with Norbert the owner I was very impressed with the amount of experience he has in hardwood flooring both installation and in refinishing and his attention for detail.  Our Master Bedroom floor had severe Pet Damage and several of the other contractors had said they would not be able repair or refinish them but Norbert was able to repair and refinish this along with all the other floors. His experience and ability really made a difference. He also had excellent references on Angies list so we went with him. Norbert worked with us regarding scheduling the work as we were having several issues with our General Contractor  keeping his timeline to finish our project. Old World Carpentry  and Norbert not only did an amazing job of refinishing our floors but Norbert the owner actually worked over night one evening to get the floors completed so we would not have to adjust our movers schedule or pay for another Month's rent at the Apartment we were renting while renovating our home. I would recommend Old World Carpentry to anyone needing Hardwood floors refinished or installed. This was one of the best experiences I have ever had with someone performing work at our home.

ference on our project

Norbert is an expert  craftsman. He is very meticulous and cares very much about the final product and the customers satisfaction. I would highly recommend him!

The final refinished hardwood floors are absolutely beautiful.  Norbert did a wonderful job of taking up the carpeting, sanding and preparing the floors and steps, staining, and sealing.  We have received rave reviews on the floors.  We are in the process of selling our home, and Norbert completed the project in a week.  He was prompt, responsive, and very professional.  We would definitely refer him, and have done so already.  We are very pleased.

He did an awesome job.  It went really well.  It is one of the more beautiful part of the house.  He was prompt and incredibly professional.  Very courteous.  I would tell a friend to definitely go with them. 

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The guy was fantastic and I was very satisfied with the work he did.  It made the house look much nicer upstairs!

They did a really good job.  They are priced on the high side but it was worth it.

After several estimates, we were convinced our hardwood floors were a hopeless case. We were ready to tile over the hardwood in our kitchen, as one refinisher suggested. Hoping to find someone who would be able to bring our 90 year old white oak floors back to life, we decided to call Norbert to get one more opinion. Boy, am I ever glad we did! He assured us that he would be able to tackle our project with great results. He also let us know, up front, that he had a bit of a waiting list. Norbert is a true craftsman. He cares very much about the quality of his work. He sanded, stained and sealed our floors. He does an amazing job, does not cut corners, and left us with stunning floors. I am very pleased with the quality of Norbert's work and would recommend him to anyone. 

We had a wonderful experience having Norbert install new hardwood flooring in our kitchen, hallway, and half bath. I just can't stress enough how very meticulous he is. Everything he does has to be perfect--and it is. He is a one man show, so if you're in a rush, find someone else. If you hire Norbert you will get the best quality at any price. His quote was considerably lower than the other two we received. My highest recommendation.

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We can not say enough good things about Norbert.  The care and concern he took and the quality of the job were beyond expectation.  He paid great attention to all the details.  He performed the work in the time frame he mentioned at the cost he quote.

He is coming back next summer to strip and recoat the family room floor.  He went beyond our contract to add matching floor vent covers, a new dryer vent, toe molding, and two new shut off valves in the laundry room. He explained any questions I had as he worked without complaint and was very easy to get along with. I already recommended him to a co-worker and she is having the same thing done in her house.

Norbert did a meticulous and professional job with his dustless system and attention to detail. I would recommend him to anyone with a wood floor in need of any type of work. He provided a quote and stuck to it.