Raakss Reno

When I found Rob my old house was in dire need of a renovation. He did a fantastic job with the budget I had to work with. Renovating was new to me so his expertise, patience and professionalism made it a pleasant and painless experience for me. Rob renovated two bathrooms by re-designing the spaces and creating a beautiful spa-like atmosphere in both bathrooms. His suggestion to expose the brick wall in the upstairs bathroom maintained the original feel of my old (1926) but beautiful home. Throughout the house, Rob exposed and rejuvenated the original Oak and Pine floors. He is a pleasure to work with and I would highly recommend him to anyone.

We hired this guy to reno our bathroom based partly on his homestars reviews. We wanted new tile on the floor and walls, new toilet, vanity and tub. By the third day the tile was up, but we noticed there was a gap between the tub and the tile on the surrounding wall; in some sections the space was wide enough that I could stick my hand in and behind the tile so I could feel the dry wall and stud - he told us that it was a new way of tiling that allowed the drywall to “breathe” and that the water and moisture wouldn’t be a problem. Sealing your bathroom is an “old fashioned” way of doing things, according to Robbie. He claimed it wasn’t necessary, but he would fix it by attaching strips of tile to the underside of the wall tiles just above the tub. We did not believe this was the way to fix this mistake. My father, who has 40 years of construction experience, came to look at it that night and right away said it was done incorrectly and must be fixed properly.

Robbie came back the next day and we gave him several options on how the problem could be fixed. He continued working on the rest of the bathroom and a few hours later he asked for FULL payment - for an unfinished bathroom! My wife informed him we would not pay until it was 100% finished and finished properly. There was no agreement made for any deposit or payment schedule. He began accusing her of ripping him off; he said he was going to call the police or destroy the bathroom with a sledge hammer if he wasn’t paid. In order to get him to leave my wife reluctantly wrote him a cheque for half the quoted amount. Later that day we talked to several people including the tub manufacturer, the store that sold us the tub, and friends in the trades. They all said there should not be that big a space between the tub and the tiled walls. The woman at Sterling Kohler said the space should only be big enough to fit a credit card - the tub installation instructions confirm this as well. So not only had Robbie misled us but he threatened to destroy our bathroom! Based on this we immediately canceled the cheque and sent Robbie an email explaining why we did this and we offered him the chance to come back and fix his mistake. Looking back I don’t know why we would ask someone back into our house who was threatening to "remove his work” from the bathroom, but we just wanted it done and over with as quickly as possible. He emailed back arrogantly blaming our “old crooked house” for the problem and that he was coming down to collect the money (he added: “whether you are there or not makes no difference to me”). We called him and tried to settle the issue but were told we would be hearing from his lawyer and were hung up on. We would have welcomed his lawyer to come to our bathroom and stick his hand in the hole in the wall!
Not knowing whether he would come back we asked a few other contractors to look at the job to get more quotes just in case. They couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the space between the tub and the tiles! Real contractors don’t like fixing other peoples mistakes and they would only quote us for a full bathroom reno. We sent two emails that week explaining how we wanted the bathroom fixed and again gave him the opportunity to fix it.

Robbie came back on Monday with a huge chip on his shoulder and proceeded to fix the bathroom with the solution that my father came up with. Not once did he admit he made a mistake or even apologize for his huge mistake or his attitude problem. The bathroom is done but the truly awful experience takes away any pleasure we might have had. We should have hired a real professional to do the job.

RESPONSE TO ROBBIE: Let's examine your claims one at a time:

1/ You didn't ask for a deposit so we didn't give you one. The reason you rec'd $0.00 is because the bathroom was not "completely finished". Why would we pay you for leaving us with an unfinished bathroom where I can stick my hand in the wall and feel the drywall behind the tile?

2/ We informed you that the gap between the tub and the walls was an issue two days after you started.

3/ As I pointed out in my review, the solution you have the nerve to take credit for was not yours at all. How dishonest can you be?

4/ Your response to my father-in-law (not my father)was correct that moisture goes everywhere in a bathroom - where was this logic when you were telling us that you didn't have to seal the tub because the walls had to "breathe"? My father in law was not there as an expert, he was there to ensure you completed the job correctly (ie. baby-sitter).

There are other false statements in your response but I will just warn anyone reading this: find yourself a real, honest contractor not a jack of all trades master of none.

We are not giving you permission to use the photos of our bathroom in any way.

My husband and I needed to get the drywall in our bathroom repaired after we had some plumbing fixed. After looking up RAAKSS on Homestars we were impressed with the reviews. We called a few places and Robbie was the only one to stay in touch through email and phone calls to try to accommodate our needs. He got back to us within a reasonable amount of time and set up a time to get the job done. Robbie was reliable, professional and friendly. He replaced the drywall and put our tiles on within a couple of hours. The next day he came back and did the grouting for the tiles. He also installed our new toilet. Now our bathroom is back to normal - you would not even be able to tell that we had a hole cut into our wall to fix the plumbing! Robbie explained all that he was doing and cleaned up after himself when he was done!

My wife and I had planned to do all the kitchen renovation by ourselves - all except the granite installation - but by the time we were done with all the cabinets - we were exhausted! Plus, we did not have much experience with tile installation so we decided to ask around in Newmarket for local contractors who were available in short order(We wanted the kitchen work finished and kitchen back to normal as soon as possible :-)). After reading reviews on homestars, Robbie from RAAKSS stopped by (he lives closeby) for a quote.

He is a pleasant person to talk to and we got along very quickly. We discussed with him, the design that my wife and I had selected, and we soon realized that it was one of the more labor intensive ones around. Robbie gave some good suggestions and we took them under consideration. The biggest one was that if we were go with a simpler design he could come in and take care of the work the very next weekend. We were thrilled about that possibility!

After figuring a simpler design, Robbie confirmed and showed up around the appointed hour in the morning, the next weekend. He got to work and pretty much continued through the afternoon without a break. It was quality work done with very little tile wastage. One of the things we really liked was that he continued the tile pattern unbroken from wall-to-wall, around the switch plates and behind the stove.

He was back the next day to finish the job. The only reason we are giving him a 9/10 is because we felt he was a bit on the pricey side for 1.5 days of work. But the work done is a quality job and we are happy with that. Recommended!

We moved into a small 100+ year old home last year and have been updating ever since. We have never used a contractor's services before and Robbie was great -- lots of ideas on how to best expand the bathroom without compromising the rest of the space and on how to best reorg the bathroom itself. Robbie finished the job on time and was generally clean and very communicative. The new space is just amazing -- huge improvement! And the quality is fantastic! We would call Robbie again if we had another project!

We had a number of tasks that needed to be done around the house which included renovating two bathrooms and kitchen. Robbie was on time and exceeded all expectations. His professionalism and honesty was certainly a rare find. We would definitely use him again.

We needed some improvements to the kitchen in our new house. It needed better lighting and a backsplash. Robbie came to look it over and gave us some good ideas and arranged to do the job. He came when he said he would, got the job done when he said he would and left the kitchen clean when he finished.
And of course the results were terrific.
I'll hire Robbie again and am already compiling a list of things for him to do.

Robbie is a good, honest contractor and has an easy-going personality. He is quick to offer creative solutions when faced with challenges and takes the time to explain any questions you have on the renovation progress. We really like the finishing touches he did on our kitchen and his professionalism in installing the potlights. We also like the fact that he works alone with a young apprentice who is also very hardworking and we know for sure that all his work is guaranteed with his trademark service.

I contacted Robbie to repair a section of my wooden kitchen floor that had become warped due to a leak. He assessed the problem and found an innovative solution that would not necessitate ripping out the damaged section.

Now I have a lovely, ceramic-tiled section (in the sink area) that smoothly transitions into the rest of the older wooden flooring. It gives my kitchen an updated, modern look I'm very pleased with. Family and friends have already complimented the work.

Robbie's a skilled worker. He's a real pro and best of all courteous and accommodating. He noticed the dishwasher was not 'sitting right' so he fixed that problem too. Thanks, Robbie.

I recommend him to anyone. He's an awesome contractor.

Robbie recently re-created our bathroom in doing so show extreme taste and professionalism. It's hard to find a contractor like Robbie, he truly cares for your home and is very fair about his rates. He is also very creative and informative of the job he was doing and future work we are considering. Without hesitation, Robbie will be the guy we call for future work in our home.