Rafik Home Improvement

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Painted the bathroom

Service provider request significant extra money to do the job.

Never showed or called to reschedule.

Scheduling was a bit difficult at first, because he apparently had a lot of responses to the Big Deal. We were able to touch base by phone after several weeks, to arrange a time for him to come see the various projects. He was then sick the day we had first scheduled the work, but came the next Monday. Rafik works very diligently and efficiently. He had organized the various jobs to allow work on one thing while what he had just done on another was drying, etc. He checked in with us on a few things, when the original plan discussed could not be followed (e.g., studs were not where first thought in the wall for the mirror). He does things with cost to customer in mind, without sacrificing quality. Very thoughtful, and seems very experienced and knowledgable. Everything looks nicely done, and we're pleased. He was quite neat, although he apologized for "the mess" (i.e., a little plaster dust on the floor beneath the mirror area, and a little sawdust near the threshold work). No big deal, and I thought quite neat for the amount of work. We have asked him to provide an estimate for a larger project for next summer.

This review is for two projects. Project one: I was happy with the results, it was done clean and nice during the two day period. Rafik removed rotten parts from the bathroom wall and partially ceiling and used compound to fill in the space and partially replaces the finishing on the wall. On day two he came back to put extra compound and finish the job. He said that I heed to buy paint that covers yellow stains, a special brush that will give a "bumpy" finish to match the rest of the ceiling, and also buy new shower rod holders since the old ones were covered with rust. It took me a while to find a paint that did not smell but the rods were not available at the store and neither that "special" brush. I brought back just the paint and the new threshold that I wanted him to replace after he was done with the bathroom. I helped him to re-attach the shower rod and it took a very long while because he did not measure it correctly and one of the bases had to be removed from the ceiling and moved about 2 inches so the rod that goes all around will close. He started to replace the threshold and I went to the bathroom to see the finished work. I saw that from the initial rod re-attachment there was a imprint in the wet compound and I asked him to cover it up. When he was done with the threshold, he put more compound to cover the hole from where the base was place initially. I felt that he was very tried and it was affecting the quality of work in the bedroom where he put crews around the window wood because it became loose. He used wide screws and one of the wood boards around the window cracked. He told me to put whote caulk around it to cover it up. Also, he used black screws on the while finish and it was now pretty. When he left, I put caulk on those black spots so they were not an eye sore any more. When I looked at the rod attachment after he left, I saw that the base was not even and I could not do much about it because I did not have a power tool myself, besides, I was afraid that once one screw removed, there would be a large hole and to make a hole right next to it may not be a good idea and it may not hold the rod and the curtain. Now the curtain covers it a little but it is still an eye sore when I see it. It is off by 1/5 of an inch tilted and it should be a 90% angle. But there is nothing can be really done to change it without causing more damage and the paint around it a dark color that would be hard to find. I asked him to cover the long opening around the closet door and the wall. I had boards of wood available at home. He found what he needed and crewed the boards around the door. When he left, I saw that next to the board that he screwed in was still a n opening, enough for a mice to squeeze in. I tried to unscrew the board but without a power tool it was impossible. I called him to ask if he could fix it, but after a few attempts, I had a friend to put caulk all over it so it was covered. It took a while to do it and it was messy. The threshold was moving a little when you step on it but I got used to it. Now it became loose and a hazard and I called Rafik twice to redo that. He said the problem was not the threshold but my house that was old. Well, the old threshold was ugly but was not moving and was not a hazard. Now I regret I replaced it. Going back to the water damage repair. I called Rafik and asked when he is coming to paint the area. He kept telling me he was very buy and finally came. After he looked at the ceiling, he said that he had to charge me extra to paint it. I was shocked. I asked why did he send me to home depot to buy the paint if he was not going to paint it and after some arguments, he left but came back with the ladder and began to paint it. He did not use a drop close. When he was done, he told me to clean the floor from the paint drops and I had to scrub some of them from the floor and from the toilet seat. It was not bad, but if I knew he would not cover anything, I would cover it myself. But he was in a bad mood and the energy was not good around him and I did not want to be in the bathroom while he was painting. When the threshold became a hazard I called him and he asked why I did not tell him about it when he was here. I said that at that time, it was still attached and now, there is an opening between the floor and the threshold. He keeps telling me that he will call when he is not busy but I don't know if he will do it or not. By the way, I paid a $100 cash for the three hours of the job apard from the water damage project. He said that he can not give me a receipt for it and I don't know why. Maybe because I was supposed to buy it through Angies list and not pay him directly? Now I regret that I did not go through the Angies list because the quality turned out to be lousy and I don't have protection.

Rafik was not interested in performing the handyman services requested. Said he wanted to do easier work, like hanging pictures. Kept trying to get more money out of me to perform the three hours of work I purchased.

Very disappointing. We bought the service for three hours, Rafik stayed for hour and a half, and refused to stay longer, to sand down and stain scratches in a door.

I bought a big deal vouch for 3 hours. However, he would not do what I asked him to do (fixed the small area) unless I paid extra dollars. I understand that people have to make a living. But a deal is a deal. Unfortunately, this deal is not really a deal (see below)" Deal is for 3 hours for $100. If there is no deal, three hours should be $170; The handyman spent 2.5 hours in my place. I paid a total of $180 ($100 vouch+$80 extra). I don't think it is a great idea to buy a big deal from Angieslist in this case.

He does an excellent job. He is very personable, he will work with you. He is very easy going.

They came out here and I needed electrical outlets switched out. It wasn't an electrical situation for them to worry about. It was just putting in the switches for me. They say up front they don't do electrical work. In other words, they're not electricians. They put the rubber around the refrigerator doors, too. There was small jobs that we had and they were reasonably priced. One of the light sockets is upside down and it's a pain in the neck. Sometimes if it's a small minor detail like that, it's not worth their time to make a ten minute drive. They were on time and called when they said they would call to tell me that they were on their way. He was quite honest.

We asked Rafik to do some joint condo work since he was already coming to do some work at my place. He seemed fine with the job at hand and he came on the day and did that work, but he had definitely said it would be a whole's day work when he took about half a day at the most to do the work but yet he still charged us for what he called a whole's day work. When I asked him about this the next day and also there was minor repair still that he could have fixed, he became very belligerant so I never did ask him about doing that small work again there. He also claimed he had known me for 5 years when he had only known me for about a year.

Overall he got all the work done. He was there a whole day. He cleaned up the outside mess afterwards. Overall good work. Sometimes he asks if I have certain items which I don't...

Rafik has done quite a lot of work for me at very reasonable prices. He is just excellent. Whatever he does, he guarantees. He has the kind of workmanship that is rare these days. Some tree roots had penetrated the foundation of my house and rotted out some of the joints in the beams. I was getting seepage on my first floor, which is garden level floor. He located the source and the reason for the leak. He replaced all the rotten wood in the framework. He repaired the masonry and repaired the damage the water seepage had caused. He pretty much does handyman work. He does a lot of things. He also put in seal of plaster ceiling for me. I had an old pile of ceiling that was falling, so he took that down, put in a plaster ceiling for me, and repainted it. He charged a $100 for that job. His workmanship stands out the most to me. He does excellent work. He shows up on time. He works at the job until it’s done. To sum it up, he does excellent work at reasonable prices. I would absolutely use him again in the future.

I got in touch with Rafik and he was able to come out when I needed for him to come which was Saturday morning. He started with repairing the front door trim and painting, but the insulation piece he got did not fit so he went down to Home Depot and they did not have the white color but a brown piece. He insisted I use the brown piece or he would have to drive to Natick and charge me for that to obtain the white color. I told him it was not my fault he originally got the wrong size piece, I needed the white color, and that I would not pay for him to drive to Natick. He finally did drive there and got the right color. After he came back and installed that piece, he installed the mirror although he was insisting that I have wire for that which I did not know he needed. Also, he repaired the wooden chair. He does good work so I'm willing to hire him back but when he gets frustrated, he can be difficult to talk to so I'm hoping next time he will be calmer.

Overall it went well although we had a follow up project which he never did start or complete not sure why.

It went very well, he is excellent. He is very polite and respectful. He always told me what he was going to do and what the comparitive costs would be. He was always on time and came every day until the job was finished. Afterwards, he cleaned up beautifully.