Rahmann Contracting

Overall I was not satisfied with my experience with this contractor. It initially took several weeks (approx. 6 weeks) to schedule someone to provide an initial estimate. The initial estimate was significantly higher than other parties estimates. Being unable to come to an agreement on price, I requested a refund directly from the contractor (over 3 weeks ago) and never heard back from them, at which point today I finally decided to reach out to Angie's List to request a refund. The work was never performed, and never will be performed by this contractor as the pricing is not in line with market prices.

I purchased the service through one of Angie's deals and was surprised to learn that it covered labor only and NOT materials which added several hundred $'s more. Nonetheless the finished product was 1st rate.

Never received the proposal. I called the office twice and the girl was very polite. She said she was waiting for contractor to come in so they could put proposals together. They have never responded. I believe that if they can't make a killing on a job or a least convince you that a killing is necessary they are not interested. I would say Beware and proceed cautiously with this company. I called 2 other companies from Angie's list received clear explanations and proposals within 48 hours.

They re-supported the brick exterior and added two coats of "Thorough-coat" to waterproof the wall. They also made some repairs with a concrete bonding agent and mortar prior to adding the waterproofing. They were prompt and professional. So far, there have been no problems with the work.

Rahmann was a very pleasant company to deal with. The office staff were responsive over the phone, the initial visit to estimate costs went off as planned. The workers were meticulous and clearly took pride in their work. They were properly concerned about safety. The finished job looks great and we were very pleased. The work took longer than expected--partly due to weather problems and partly because they seemed clearly willing to sacrifice speed for quality. We felt that the price was fair.

In the end the work was done to our statisfaction. however the timeline was extended from 4 weeks to 12 weeks. The workers were unprofessional and our neihbors informed us they were sleeping on the job. A brick wall was painted that should have been left natural brick. The foreman tried to convince us this was necessary when it was not, and then the wall had to be ground down to remove the paint. Essentially the bare minimum was done with poor workmanship and was only improved when we forced the foreman to have each issue corrected and improved. I would not use this provider again.

Two weeks later with nothing received from Rahmann I called the office and asked for them to mail me the estimate/contract. They apologized for the delay. As of August 27 I still have received nothing from them. NO FOLLOW THROUGH. Very unprofessional.

I dealt with Mohammed Hye from Rahmann Contracting. This was my second time working with them - they had also done the front of the house. The workers showed up at 8am every day and left at 3:30pm. The job went efficiently and smoothly and looks incredible. The masons are outstanding. They are very polite and take pride in their work. Would definitely recommend them and hire them again in the future.

They never called me back and it's been 3 weeks.

Rahmann came by my home for service. My neighbor di not allow him access so he couldn't perform needed work. Instead he advised me as to what needs to be done and did not charge for the service call. I have taken action on the inside of my home and when I get access from my nasty neighbors I will have them come back.

He was thorough in the estimate he emailed us within 24 hours and it was clear and professionally written. Very detailed. We did not go forward with this project, but may consider for future use.

They were professional, thorough, and responsive. I had no complaint.

Overall, with one exception, they did an excellent job. They were not the cheapest estimate but they were well worth the money spent and Mohammed Hye was extremely responsive to our needs. The workers were all courteous and friendly and came when they said they would. The weakest part of their team was the carpenter which is why I gave them an overall rating of good, and not excellent, on quality. If you are going to hire them and need carpentry work done, I might consider bringing someone else in to do that piece of the work. The masons, however, are excellent. When we complained about the carpentry, Mohammed was immediately responsive and adjusted our bill.

Overall I would not recommend them because they did not impress me with their knowledge, their price, or their efficiency. Their proposed method of handling certain situations and their assessment of problems seemed uninformed. They were very polite and tried to be thoughtful, but perhaps were just not well suited to the specifics required on this job.

Rahmann Contracting Co. are very good. He was very thorough. He was right on time. I called and he came out in a very good time. I didn't have to wait too long.

They were very polite, courteous and professional.

They were in the mid-range of three estimates and were the only ones who even mentioned getting Landmark approval before proceeding. Their estimate was the most specific, as well, and they gave us several options on the repair work to our front stoop brownstoning and the leaking lintels on our 4th floor. We added several repair services to the contract, such as painting the ironwork, installing a bike rack and repairing the front garden cement pad. Communicating with the workers was difficult because of language, would suggest communicating only thru the foreman who reported most days first thing and at the end of each day. A few communication errors arose early, but we were able to deal with them amicably. They replaced the original medallion on our stoop and it turned out beautifully. These guys take real pride in their work and respond to admiration admirably! They handled the Landmark permissions for us and did all the work on time and on budget. I wouldn't have them do any fine carpentry work... (neither their forte nor their main interest). but overall an excellent experience! And we're proud of our new stoop and bike rack!

Mr Rahmann is a pleasant man who is very free with the word "yes" but less frequently able to back it up. My advice: -Make sure contract states explicitly everything you want covered on the job. Ours was not a very professional document and was too general in outlining expectations. Verbal additions were made but much more difficult to have excicuted. We ended up paying $1000 more just to get him to finish things that should have been encompassed in the original estimate. -Be prepared to call often. We had a lot of rain this summer, yes, but there were may days I expected him or someone from his team to show up but they never did. I had to prod constantly, calling him a day or two before they were scheduled to come to confirm someone was going to show up to work, and even then I couldn't be sure if anyone would. He made frequent excuses that illogical and frustrating. Also, during the course of the job he kept supplies in my neighbor's courtyard, even during the extensive periods when the job was on hiatus. Due to the placement of his equiptent, a large cement planter was broken and has yet to be repaired, many months later. Ultimately, the work on our stoop was good, it looks nice, but it was not an easy process and took much longer than was estimated. I have stated that I would not use them again but that is simply because I hope never to have to renovate the stoop again.

took two days, both of which they came on time, did what seems like a stellar job (we'll know more as time passes to see if it holds), cleaned up after themselves and were totally professional, despite language differences.

So far, it's going well. They are easy to work with and regularly update me on progress. The workers seem professional and competent. The wall has been repaired and they are currently applying the scratch coat of cement. The finish stucco will be applied in the spring of 2013.

Company came on time worked steadily each day. Explained process and did more than expected without additional change - we plan to use them for another project.

I am the owner of a park slope Brownstone for over 30 years. My experience with Rahmann was exceptional. Mohammed Hye ans his crew are a pleasure to work with. The proper city permits were acquired; The advice proved excellent; and the price was very fair given the quality of work.

the crews arrived promptly everyday and went to work. One unexpected repair, the cellar entrance drain pipe, was explained and the change from the original estimate was not exorbitant . The work was thorough and now, 18months later, I have no regrets.

I liked that he made an appointment with me, within a few days of my first contact. he called me as he was arriving for the appointment, he arrived at the appointment time, he sent a written estimate, he took detailed measurements, and everything he said made sense. He was very professional, and if I had a job like this to do, and it was my decision, not mine and my neighbors, then I would've gone with him.

I have owned my house for almost three years, and have had a large amount of water seeping through my foundation wall the entire time during heavy rains. This has caused me some of most horrible stress I've endured in my life, as I'm sure others who have experienced it can attest to. After reading about Rahmann on Angie's List, I decided to call them because they seemed to be the best fit for the job. When I was able to finally get someone (after MANY calls), Kaiser promptly came out to my house for an estimate of the work. This was all in early May, 2012. This was a somewhat complex job because it required access through a neighbor's yard, and dismantling of a fence and some decking in order to get to the side of my house. Kaiser responded with a quote via email the next day telling me the work would take 7 weeks (!) and cost $21,000.00. I wasn't thrilled with this, and neither was my neighbor, but I had called in a few other contractors to look at the job and they had all not gotten back to me, so I decided I would bite the bullet, dip into my savings, and get the job done. I called Kaiser and told him I'd like to move ahead and get them a deposit and sign the contracts; he told me no deposit was necessary, and that he was going to be taking a vacation for a few weeks, and we could take care of the contracts when he returned. I was anxious to get the work done, but up until that point, Kaiser had been nothing but professional, so I took him at his word that he was committed to the work and that it would commence when he returned in late June (we had decided that we would start the work on Monday, June 24, 2012). He gave me some other numbers for people at Rahmann (namely Mohammed) that I could call to coordinate with in his absence, which I appreciated. During Kaiser's leave, whenever I called Mohammed, I would have to jog his memory as to who I was, which I didn't think much of; they're a contracting company, and I'm sure they're busy. Fine. Upon Kaiser's return, it seemed everything was ready to go. Kaiser came back to my property again to review the job, and everything seemed great. Now, because of the scope of the work that Kaiser proposed (i.e., excavating down 8 feet as well as back from the wall 8 feet), my neighbor had to have her contractor pull up her deck and her fence, as well as some very rare Japanese trees that she had just had put in recently. This all cost quite a bit; I should know, because I had to pay for it as stipulated in the result of a lengthy legal back-and-forth, one that was based purely on the proposal Kaiser sent me outlining the work. On the Monday before the job was to begin, Kaiser called me and told me that because of multiple flights he had taken oversees, he was losing hearing in one of his ears and, as a result, was feeling "mentally unstable," and couldn't continue with my job. Needless to say, I was distraught. I was sympathetic, but for a company to drop such a large job because one person wasn't feeling up to it? In my eyes, completely inexcusable. I had already paid my neighbor so she could take care of what she needed to on her end to prepare for the job, and now I was left in a position of scrambling to find a new contractor to get this work done so we could all get back to our normal lives. I got back on Angie's List, and found a waterproofing company in Long Island that came to look at the job. Get THIS: They quoted me $3600 for the entire job, and told me it would take 1 day to complete. They also told me they only needed to excavate back just over 2 feet, making a majority of the work I had already paid to have done completely irrelevant and unnecessary. Naturally, I decided to go with this new company (E&M Waterproofing), and signed a contract with them immediately. They came and did the job this past Monday (July 9, 2012), and they were absolutely outstanding. Long story short: thanks for absolutely nothing, Rahmann. Actually, no: thanks for needlessly costing me thousands of dollars for having faith that you would follow through with your commitments. Shame on me for not insisting on a signed contract, but ultimately, I got the job done for 1/7th of the cost and in 1/35th of the time of your estimate, so perhaps I SHOULD thank you for backing out and forcing me to find a company that is actually worth their A rating on Angie's List. However, I'm still out many thousands of dollars for unnecessary work in my neighbor's yard based on your proposal, so I think I'll save any thanks I have left in me for E&M, who truly deserves them. If you DO think Rahmann is the right fit for the work you're planning, GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING. I have never felt so cheated on so many different levels by a contracting company (and believe me, I've been CHEATED, big time), and I find it hard to believe that if Rahmann ever tries to rebut this review, they'll be able to do so in an even half-way convincing manner. UPDATE (7/19/2012): Thanks for the response, but there was never any evidence that the wall needed any improvement in terms of its structural integrity. Kaiser never looked below the grade of the soil; if he had, he would have found that wall's mortar was largely in tact, and that no further work beyond a waterproofing membrane would have been necessary. In fact, our original seepage issues never came from anywhere below two feet underneath the soil line, something I explained to Kaiser at our first meeting. I appreciate Rahmann wanting to be thorough, but at the same time I can't help but feel that Kaiser was trying to upsell me on work that wasn't wholly necessary. I understand that stuff happens, and I feel for Kaiser, honestly. But ultimately, the fact is that Rahmann backed out of a job that was contingent on other factors, such as my neighbor's access and cooperation, and I had taken it on good faith (even AFTER Kaiser told me to postpone signing of contracts and delivery of deposits, etc.) that they would make good on their promises. The reason they never heard from me was because A) I was livid, not understanding why their company didn't have contingencies for when key staff members take ill or are otherwise unavailable and B) I had found a contractor who knew what they were doing, were COMMUNICATIVE, and saved me a bundle of both money and time, and while I was happy about this, that doesn't excuse how I was treated by Rahmann.