OLD WORLD BRICK PAVING

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We are very pleased with what they did, but I thought the price was just a little high.

Due to requirements of our village to contain storm water runoff, we had to install permeable pavers, which are both more expensive and more complicated to install. Thank you village! After getting a few bids, we decided to go with Old World even though they were a few hundred dollars more. We felt the payoff would come in that they only do pavers and aren't distracted by pouring concrete or doing landscaping work. After jumping through some hoops to get the permit from the village, Frank was able to get our project scheduled quickly, completed on time, and within budget. We had more hiccups (not on Old World's part) than I would have liked, but Frank kept things moving as well as he could. He was more than willing to try to help get the permit when the village was delaying us and he kept the project moving when an errant tree stump was discovered in the area they were excavating. We lost a few hours at most to that issue while Frank rented a stump grinder (at cost to us) and had his crew remove the stump. It was impressive to me that things got back on track so quickly. Frank always either answered his phone when I called or returned calls very quickly. I simply wouldn't believe a review that said otherwise since my experience was the exact opposite. The crew worked extremely hard and the patio is beautiful.

I had a couple of other bids but Frank seemed more knowledgeable about the process and I felt that the final product would be better in the long run. I didn't want a huge patio because I wanted to keep the price down and also didn't want to lose too much of the grass area of my yard. Frank suggested a decent size and shape in keeping with my idea. He suggested certain pavers for the patio and wall. Although he provided paver samples, based on his suggestion and a Unilock catalog, I still could not decide on the color for the pavers. So I made the trip out to Aurora to the Unilock warehouse to get a better look. I would highly suggest doing the same. I kept the Quarry bricks for the wall, but I totally switched out the pavers after seeing them in sample garden settings. I love what Frank and his crew did. Plus, they were neat and conscientious in cleaning up and hauling away the old bricks, etc. I would definitely use Old World Brick Paving for any additional paving needs!

The project went as smoothly as it possibly could have gone. Frank, the owner of Old World Brick Paving, says that people run out of money before they run out of ideas, but he has come through twice for us--all ideas were included, and the projects were kept within budget. Frank used the general pattern that our landscaper had sketched as a basis for the estimate. Ideas from two patios that we saw at the Unilock company in North Aurora were used. We did not want a contrasting seat wall, and Unilock had just come out with a new brick (called estate wall) that we could use for the seat wall. This new brick matched the pavers that we used for the driveway two years before (see previous review). This was the first time that Frank had used the estate wall brick, but they had no problem using this big brick--even though our seat wall was rather small and curved. Our driveway was still in perfect shape after two years, so we knew that Old World Brick Paving was the company to go with, and that the Unilock pavers were the perfect choice too. We wanted the patio to have lighting because we thought that lighting would give us the ability to enjoy this beautiful artwork from inside the house all year long. This proved to be so very true as we decorated the urns and the patio during the various winter holidays. Frank and his crew did all of the wiring and installation of the lighting including adding a new transformer. This turned out to be a bit complicated because the Kichler urns that we chose for the columns (which have lighting in the bottom) were not made for mounting on a column, but Frank and his crew got them solid and functional--everything survived the brutal winter. He also suggested lighting under the seat wall which joins the two columns, and we added some path lights to match the urns. The fixtures all have a filigree pattern which make the patio is as stunning at night as it is by day--even during the snow! The patio has become a gorgeous extension of the house, and entertaining on this patio is a joy. We dreamed it, Old World Brick Paving built it.

Frank came out to see us and we were very impressed with his knowledge of brick paving he was very friendly and easy to work with. His price was a little higher but we saw his pictures and called his references and went out to look at 3- of there jobs and 3- of there competitors jobs and Old words quality and finished product just blew his competitors out of the water ...we were sold. Our neighbors saw our work and we gave them Oldworld Brick Paving's number and they are going to higher them as well.

Frank was responsive, professional and offered competitive pricing. We ended up going with another contractor that was recommended to us by close friends. We wouldn't hesitate contacting this company for future work.

We had a great experience with Frank and the Old World guys. We had a leak in our foundation and a front patio that was sloped toward the house rather than away from the house. Frank came out quickly to give us a quote that included tearing up the patio, applying the sealant and rebuilding the patio to slope properly. He did a nice job of managing expectations as to when he would be able to make it out to do the job (he estimated 2 weeks and made it out about a week earlier) and when the job turned out to be easier than expected - there was concrete under the stone, so they did not have to tear down and re-build as much - he gave us a fair discount. Great to work with - definitely would work with them again.

We bid the project out. His price was just over the lowest bid but his demeanor and paperwork was more professional. There were a few delays due to weather and permit issues. Frank called to let us know they would be out in two days and they were. They finished in two days as well. It rained heavily and the water flows off the walkway as he described it would. We paid.

The guy was on time and very courteous. He was professional and had all his documents. He sat at the table and filled them out so I didn't have to wait. We contacted other people for quotes and they never came out. We didn’t use them because we told him what we wanted and he didn’t give us any advice. The guy we ended up using made suggestions that made much more sense and we went with those. They didn’t do anything wrong.

The work performed was fantastic. Frank was very detailed minded and even had diagrams to show us how the excavation and installation would be done. He provided pictures of work previously done and many samples to choose from to do the patio. He took his time and answered all our questions very thoroughly. When the work began, his formant Alberto was also very knowledgeable and the crew performed beyond our expectations. We are extremely happy and would recommend this company to anyone

Frank is very knowledgable about paving and he is a very particular person. Before you start, know that when you set out to do a patio, you are probably thinking about how pretty it will look. Frank is thinking about the technicalities of drainage, paver base depth and whether the materials you select will be smooth enough to shovel. We bickered over design and he killed a couple of my ideas for technical reasons. But in the end, I have a beautiful patio that is the foundation for my beautiful garden. See photo below. I liked that he left several brick samples at my house so I could really take time to choose. And this winter, I was thankful that he worried about whether it was easy to shovel. Frank also did the front walkway of my neighbors across the street and it is very pretty. Frank was very thorough with returning calls, showing up on time and providing me with what I needed to make a decision. I usually met with Frank over my lunch hour, so it was important to me that he showed up on time. So few contractors are good at that. If he was late, he would call and say, "I'll be there at 12:07." And he was. Particularity in action. The things I didn't like: The patio is graded so that when it rains heavily, one of my garden beds floods. Thus, the B. I didn't like that he gave my contact info to another vendor who solicited me for business. Also, I was surprised at the cost. But I bid it out to other contractors and Frank's bid was the lowest. Its just a drag that my home improvement dream list always costs so darned much money. I am considering using him again for my front walk way. He is again worrying about drainage.

Very responsive, provided a quote to do exactly what we wanted. Walked through the right and wrong way to do each part, and how his approach would add extra benefits. Price was higher than alternatives, but we were comfortable with the value and quality. Chose to go with another provider because of other work they could do, because we plan to move within 5 years and are prepared to cut a few corners. If that was not the case we would have gone with Old World and worked with them to close the gap on pricing a little bit.

Had a small job, removing/replacing paving bricks to allow basement repairs. Left two messages with them, they never called back. It was a small job ($1400 is what we eventually spent), but they could have had the courtesy to return the call and say they weren't interested. Very unprofessional.

Old World worked hard every day until the job was done. If rain was forecast for the next day, they would work until 7 pm the day before to get as much done as they could--to make up for the rain delay. They cleaned up every day, and moved their equipment off to the side so that we could get at our garage at night. The job Foreman was very accommodating, and made sure we were satisfied. We made a couple changes to the plan, and they were quick to do what we wanted, and also made helpful suggestions. The craftsmanship is superior. We were very pleased with their diligence, cooperation and the final product.

We were impressed with Frank, his knowledge, and attention to quality. The crew worked hard and quickly and completed the job in just over a week (Like they said they would with no rain.) It is clearly a quality job and we look forward to using it in the years to come. We would definitely recommend them to anyone who is looking to install brick pavers in their yard.

Old World did an amazing job. Throughout the entire process, Old World seemed to really care about giving us the patio we wanted and doing a great quality job putting it in. Looking back, there are several things that stand out: 1) Frank had great suggestions that really helped us end up with the patio we wanted. 2) Frank was always very responsive when we needed to contact him, 3) The crew was very nice, responsive and open to our questions, and just did a great job all around 4) The job started on schedule as promised 5) Everything was hassle free and straightforward 6) I do think that going with a company that only focuses on paver type work made a difference vs. using a landscaping company We got 4 quotes for the job. Old World was the only one of the four companies that only focused on doing paver work. The other three were landscaping companies. The landscaping companies seemed competent, but we were really impressed with Old World from our first meeting with Frank. From the first contact through the end of the job, Frank was easily reachable for any questions we had. The good first impression we had of the company only got better as the job progressed. We were pretty certain which Unilock product we wanted to use, and we’d come up with a design for the patio that we thought would work. The three landscaping companies were all just pretty much going along with our design idea with some very minor thoughts offered in our meetings with them. At our initial meeting with Frank he listened to us and got a feel for what we were looking for from our patio. He then offered some ideas based on all the patios he’s seen and worked on and he outlined a suggestion in the grass. We saw that it was a better idea. It had the same square footage as our original idea, but the shape and layout was much more sensible and made the patio more useful. He then quoted a price for the job on the spot at that initial meeting. It doesn’t matter what a contact person for a company promises you if they don’t have a good crew to do the job. The crew from Old World was fantastic. They were all very nice and did terrific work. They asked us questions along the way to make sure the design was shaping up the way we wanted and to resolve any other minor details that came up. The first day of the job they showed up on time and went right to work with Frank there to go over the layout with them. As the day went on Frank was in contact with the crew and us to make sure everything was as we wanted it. At the end of the day Frank came back to the house make sure everything was set properly before they moved on to the next steps. Cleanup at the end of each day was very impressive and cleanup at the end of the job was perfect. Seeing how good the crew was from the start really put our mind at ease that everything was going to go well, and it turned out great. We couldn’t be happier with our new patio and work that was done to put it in.

My experience with them was incredible. They were extremely professional and everything was done to perfection. Everything was done quickly and competently. I plan to use them again.

When I met with Frank Calistro to discuss the project, he spent time educating me on the process and materials they use for this type of project, including the different types of stone and sand that can be used for the patio/walkway base and the advantages and disadvantages of each. He also suggested burying a gutter downspout and providing a pop-up drainage spout in the garden. The placement of that downspout has bothered me for a while, but I had not considered that particular solution and was really pleased with the suggestion. More than almost anything else in the proposal, that detail (which I had not pointed out to him) made me think that Frank--and by extension, his company--were professionals who knew how to handle a variety of situations. The patio and walkway installation occurred on schedule, over a 3-day period, according to the plan provided by my landscape designer. The end-result is the "wow" factor in my newly landscaped yard. I love it, and I've gotten many compliments from my neighbors about it.