Rice Masonry Construction

Knew I had a chimney issue after seeing interior dampness on a wall. The roof had recently been inspected and that wasn’t the problem. Got the referral from a member paid site and gave Gerry a call. He took photos explained in entirety what should be done, provided the estimate and I signed on. His knowledge & professional demeanor was critical in the decision as I had several estimates and didn’t get that same confidence. They rebuilt the chimney from roof line, replaced liner & cap. He also went out of his way to match brick from our 1920’s bungalow and all this happened within the proposed time line. He also added a stepped effect at the top giving an architectural detail that makes it stand out. Can a chimney be beautiful? Yes it can!

We contracted Rice Masonry to resurface balconies in our building. First, they started the job a couple of months after they had agreed to, so it was beginning to get too cold for it. The owner (Mr. Rice) apparently underestimated the amount of concrete needed, and about a week into the job he told us he wouldn’t continue unless we paid more. We paid more, but he still felt he was losing money, so his solution was to simply use less concrete than was needed. The result is that in several places, the balconies have low spots which fill with water when it rains, and they drain the water back against the wall. Mr. Rice refused to remedy this, as it would require stripping off the sealant & re-​pouring more concrete. Even though the engineer who had recommended him agreed with us that the work was substandard and would need to be re-​done, Mr. Rice refused. We were faced with either suing him or walking away. We chose the latter simply because it was so unpleasant to deal with Mr. Rice, and we figured we would end up spending more on lawyers than it was worth. So now we will have to pay another — hopefully more reputable — contractor to tear up much of Rice’s work & re-​do it. This was one of the worst contractor experiences we’ve had in many, many years. Very unethical character.