“It was clear that Nick had a great relationship with all of his trades, which translated into quality work.  Along the journey, I learned that Nick is a perfectionist, which was very comforting.”

- Paul Goebel

Owner of a Norbrook Home since 2015

This message is to say how very much I appreciate the excellent quality of my beautiful new home, and especially the newly finished, gorgeous basement unit. For Nick to also personally drop off and install the extra handle with key was a very special touch. I really appreciated all of the very thoughtful additions and extras that were provided. 

I'm so grateful to you also for your efforts throughout my purchase and beyond to accommodate my requests. Both my agent, Shalini, and I noted how the communication from Nick and his agent, Albert, helped to ease the stress of timing my closing and moving process. 

It was an absolute pleasure working with you and your agent, and I do look forward to working with you in the future.

I can't wait to build new memories in my beautiful home. It really is a dream come true.

- Alexi Ferreira

New owner of a Norbrook Home [2022]

“We’ve had the pleasure of working with Nick for the last 7 years. He’s by far the most organized builder we’ve ever dealt with! Great quality homes. ”

- Joseph Lauren Design Inc.

Toronto

Dear Prospective Home Builder / Buyer,

I am writing this as an unsolicited endorsement for Nick Basciano and Norbrook Homes.

In 2015, my family started investigating the idea of doing either a major renovation to our home or tearing it down and building new.  During that process, we struggled to find an exciting design for either option.  One day, we stumbled across a construction site in our neighbourhood that had two new homes in progress that looked very attractive.

I was able to track down the builder and was able to get a meeting with Nick Basciano to take a walk through three of his works in progress.  I was very comfortable with Nick from the first interaction and it was easy to see that he was passionate about his homes and their quality.  As we walked through the buildings, he showed me all of the remarkable features that he includes in every home.

I brought my wife and daughter back to see the buildings under construction and Nick also walked us through some other homes that were either finished or near completion.  We were all very happy with the design and decided that we had found our design and builder.

We worked out a contract with Nick and were given timelines based on a teardown date which allowed us to plan for temporary living during the build.  Nick was very proactive at keeping me aware of activities that were my responsibility such as arranging hydro disconnection.  He also kept me abreast of all of his tasks such as working with the city on permits and lining up crews.

We found that there was very little planning that we needed or wanted to do from our side.  Nick’s home are generally similar but have slight changes such as back door placement, lighting, fireplace, etc.  We took ideas from each of Nick’s projects to come up with a final design that worked for our tastes.  In some cases, he would give us options along the way and frequently we would defer to his wife Norma who was able to match our likes with the overall design.

I was very interested in watching the house being built and stopped by almost every day from the day the old house was torn down to the day we moved in.  Nick always welcomed me on site and introduced me to the crews each time a new one arrived.  It was clear that Nick had a great relationship with all of his trades, which translated into quality work.  

Along the journey, I learned that Nick is a perfectionist, which was very comforting.  Our design had a slightly different footprint from Nick’s other homes so sometimes improvisation was required.  Once, I got a call from Nick asking me if I wanted to move a window on the main floor a couple of inches because it lined up differently in our model.  I looked at it and could not tell the difference.  Nick ultimately called the carpenters back and moved the window because he felt that it would bother him if he did not.

On another occasion, I came by the site and saw that he had the carpenters working on the gable roof.  He was getting them to add a few inches of wood.  He told me that it did not look properly proportioned to him and he did not feel good about leaving it as it was.

Nick was always proud to show me the materials that he was using and explained why he used a particular wood, insulation or fixture.  I know 100% what is in my house and am very confident in the people and processes that put it together.

I frequently shared pictures of the build in progress with friends and one who is in the construction industry took particular interest.  He would often reply to my emails that he was impressed to see how clean the house was while under construction.  He said that seeing a tidy project and a broom was always a good sign.  He also commented on the material being used and was sure to tell me when something was a premium.  He would note that the builder could have used an inferior insulation in a certain place or a cheaper wood in another.  He was very impressed that our builder did not cut corners.

Our 10-year-old daughter had concerns of her own from time to time including her thoughts on her rooms design.  Nick listened to her and was able to put an archway between the two back rooms so that her playroom connected to her bedroom.  Additionally, his wife Norma was able to provide some special colour swatches so that my daughter could pick a special blue for one of her walls.

We moved into a new home once before and had to deal with a much less professional builder and the Tarion process.  In that case, it was difficult to get the builder to acknowledge issues and painful to get them addressed.  When we moved into the home that Nick built, he had only a handful of items to follow up on.  He actually walked us through the house and made the list for us.  He then told us when the issues would be addressed and additionally offered to help with some of the new blemishes that happened when we moved in.

This process includes many different stressful aspects including planning, financing, moving twice, building, waiting and settling back in.  We were very glad that we undertook this project with Nick, Norma and Norbrook Homes.  We would fully recommend Nick and his company and would be pleased to show our home to any of Nick’s prospective customers.

All the best!

Paul Goebel & Amber Fletcher (and Willa)