RAINBOW VALLEY DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION INC

We bought a door, it was a custom door. They ordered it and then they installed it. They are really good and they are also really expensive. It is owned by a group in Portland, they follow up and they are really good to work with but they are really expensive. They are very responsible they come when they say they are going to. Which among construction people is very unusual. They do good work. The people they send the carpenters and stuff are skilled people they know what they are doing. They call before they come, they are polite, and always clean up really well. As far as the quality of work in general it's been very high in working with them. The main problem has been they are very expansive. But we work with them a lot because the experience with other contractors has been very dismal. They don't show up when you call, they don't show up when they say they are going to, and things take 4 times as long. That one was a little complicated was because it was a custom orders door. When the finishing carpenter came to install it he had some problems. He had chipped the door at the bottom. So he had to install a special door, a plastic thing on it in order for it seal. So we had to have him come back and adjust it because it wouldn't close well. It just turned out to being a bigger deal than I think it needed to. I don't know whey that happened, but it was a problem. They do really good work but they charge time and materials. They charge for every trip they come out and there is a supervisor that comes out. I would say price is fair, its not excellent.

I was very happy with them. They did really good work. They are just on the expensive side. They are very professional, responsible, and do high quality work. It didn't take them very long to do it, took about 2 days.

They are great!! Expensive, yes, but not when you consider all you get. Amazing professionalism, careful planning, ALL details handled and just great people!

Punctual attention to issues. Clear, well explained details of he work to be done. Workers were diligent, hardworking, skilled and conscientious.

I'm very satisfied and will definitely hire them in the future.

Overall this major project was a stunning success. The only problem revolved around the cost of the project. We did add things as we went along but communication between us and the project supervisor did not adequately include the added costs. Things were explained when questions were asked but a more proactive approach about cost increases would have been better. We are very pleased with the result which completely updated our home.

Overall, we are pleased with the way the job turned out. Everyone who has seen the finished project has been impressed with the quality of the work. Design, workmanship and execution, with a few failures, (such as an oddly off-center window and slightly different floor levels in the connecting rooms), were excellent. All of the many Rainbow Valley workers and subs were polite, respectful, and competent. Moreover, all seemed to like their jobs, something that we have found not all that common in past remodels with other companies. However, there were some things that did not fill our expectations, specifically promises that were made but not kept: -- Prior to our signing the contract, we were assured that most of the job, other than specialties, would be performed by a base crew, and that we would have that crew for most of the job. Also, that there would be a lead carpenter who would be second in command, and who would know the entire job start to finish. The reality: About halfway through the project, the lead carpenter left due to a personal tragedy. No new lead carpenter was assigned to our project. We then had an ever-changing crew that needed almost daily re-instructions from the project manager, and who often came looking for us to ask questions that we had gone over with previous crews. While this did not appear to have too much effect on quality – though it is apparent where one crew stopped working on the decking and another started – it had to have some effect on total labor costs. By our estimation, there were a total of 11 different Rainbow employees on the job in the final weeks of the project. -- At our last meeting the day before we signed the contract, we were told that Rainbow had a number of jobs being planned for the last quarter, but “none have been green-lighted yet, so if you get the contract in soon, you will be first in line.” The reality: Once the lead carpenter left and we began getting different crews (often a single carpenter), it became quite obvious that being ‘first in line’ meant absolutely nothing, as other jobs were obviously getting the crews. -- We also asked, based on previous experiences, about cleanup. We were told that there would be nightly minor cleanups and regular major ones as needed. The reality: This did happen until the lead carpenter left. And then it mostly stopped. Now, this is not our first go-round in construction. We understand that a construction project is not a hospital room. Still, at times both inside and outside were full of trash. In summary: Rainbow Valley has a reputation for quality work, and it is likely that if you engage them, that is what you will get. However, we do suggest that, if in the course of your meetings, if they make promises that are important to you, that you get everything in writing.

I bought this condo in October, 2011, while living 3000 miles away, and wanted it modified so that a family member who has a walker could visit at Christmastime. I have known Rainbow Valley as one of the best designers and builders in Eugene for many years and called them first; I did not get other bids because of their reputation in town. After calling and explaining the problem, their designers quickly made excellend drawings that were used by the condo board to approve the modifications to the exterior.. Rainbow Valley was great about responding to board concerns, and the final job on the new sidewalk, with ramp up a few steps, and the very attractive and easy to use threshold is wonderful. The bathroom modification also went well, with, again, a couple of ideas floated in design stage. The bathroom was under the stairs and extremely small, but enlarged to allow a wheelchair or walker by taking some space from the adjacent below-stair closet. Some effort to contain cost was made (e.g. reusing small door to closet), but the job was bid at time and materials with a low ball on the amount of time the supervisor wound up spending... there were some other things that seemed to add to the cost so that this was almost 2X my anticipated cost. However, the extra time of the supervisor was really great and I appreciated his effort to make sure everything was done by Christmas (which it was)... I was consulted in detail on some finishing aspects of the job (e.g. wall color and finish) and on others I had to be kind of pushy to get a say (hardware, floor). If you have a small job like this, and want to be able to review styles and options for things like drawer handles and flooring, be sure to make time to do it, and be sure the contractor knows you want those options ... and,if possible, their help in finding options. There is also one touch-up paint item on the vanity that still is an off-color paint, but I suspect they would fix that if I kept pursuing it; my residence out of town made me miss the 12 month 'warranty' deadline. Finally, I appreciated being able to leave some finish work to do myself (e.g. a friend and I installed hand-made tiles for the splash above the vanity), the willingness to recognize and fix things that didn't quite look right after we got going (e.g. old fan in bathroom looked pretty grungy after the new paint, and their electrician found a new one that fit the spot nicely), and, MOST WONDERFUL, the rapid and prompt response to emails and phone calls from the supervisor... He was clearly committed to getting things done well and also done so my mother could actually come into the condo for Christmas; this meant the job was on a top priority list for a few weeks and he was there daily for much of that time. Also, the flooring and electrical contractors they used were really spectacular.. very professional, skilled and creative. I definitely recommend RV for a small remodel like this, but be sure you understand the pricing, and that they know exactly how much input you want to have. It was nice to have a company I could trust to do the work when I was miles away. Also, if we had been building a house, I am sure I would have been consulted on hardware in great detail, for this smaller job (and with my time constraints), I did need to be pretty proactive.

Steve visited our home and had great ideas; we had a good interaction. We were crystal clear on how much our budget for the small bathroom remodel was, $10,000, and that we only wanted to do the floor, reduce the bump-out from the closet in the adjoining room(the office) to add space in the bathroom, and re-do the sink area. The shower and toilet would be untouched. His estimate took 2 weeks and was four times our budget, $40,000. We told him that he could not come over and present it as it was a non-started. He said he had spent a lot of time on it and really wanted to present it. I told him that he was also spending our valuable time and yet he was ignoring what we actually requested. It was extremely frustrating as he didn't seem capable of listening, and wasted our time. We found another contractor who completed the job, and added moving the doorway - the job was able to include custom tile floor with heat, custom tile backsplash with tile insets, added a suntube, new maple vanity with soft close drawers and granite counter, painted throughout, etc- for $13,000. So it was not that what we wanted "couldn't be achieved."

I was very pleased with every aspect of this interaction. However, an unexpected and unrelated financial need caused me to put remodeling on hold for the near future because I cannot take on a major discretionary expense at this time. When my circumstances improve I will definitely return to this company.

All components were coordinated by project director Ethan, who is a very talented contractor. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and he never fails to execute things beautifully. He's a problem-solver too. The demolition crew arrived right on time and work progressed speedily. The crew helped me move a couple of pieces of furniture I hadn't been able to handle myself, and also disposed of the old carpet for me. They also supplied pallets and a dehydrator for the furniture I had to store in the garage. Ethan showed up every morning and was not only responsive to any concerns I had, he also caught little "wrinkles" before they became serious. The floor was installed first. Keith of Valley Wood Floors is a veritable artist, and my red oak floor is gorgeous. He was quick to make a few little repairs after the initial finish was applied and even did extra finishing when I noticed some scratches that were probably a result of other contractors' working with their materials and tools in a very tight space. The counter top contractor dispatched his work very quickly, and when the painters arrived, they masked everything especially thoroughly. I asked that they use oil-based paint, and they were very careful. There was a mistake in buying the paint for the walls, and after they had applied it, and I noticed the difference in shade, they were wonderful about getting the right color and repainting. When it came time to replace all the appliances, Ethan was on hand and it all went very well. Every aspect of the project was done beautifully and I am very satisfied. It was also done in a timely fashion -- they were finished a good three weeks before my "drop-dead" deadline. With regard to price, the contractor was most fair in compromising about the cost to me of some "extras" that somehow found their way into the project and thus increased the "Not to Exceed" estimate I'd been given initially. I am very satisfied with this project and cannot commend Rainbow Valley highly enough to those who want a high quality job.

Both Ethan and Alec were professional and great to work with. Work was performed on time and within budget. We appreciated the quality of the work and are very satisfied.

The project went off with only one minor hitch. The request for grab bars for the shower was missed somehow, but when I pointed that out, the project manager got them and had them installed within an hour. Everything else was perfect. I was given a couple of different design options. I picked one and went ahead with selecting materials. The work was scheduled and done on time. The project manager was on top of everything and made sure every phase was completed and inspected and kept everything moving on schedule. All the work was high quality. I would not hesitate to use Rainbow again if I could get John Kraust as the project manger.

When my husband and I were considering making an offer on a home we had several contractors provide us with a bid for a handful of things we wanted to do before moving in. Rainbow's bid was higher than some, but we had heard many good things about them. We decided to put a couple of the things on our wish list on hold until next spring so that we could afford to go with Rainbow. From the very beginning we were pleased with our decision. The designer we worked with understood our vision and came up with something that would meet all of our goals. The project manager understood that we were trying to do as much as possible with our budget without sacrificing quality and worked really hard to help us stay on track. The quality of the work was exceptional. All of the people they used for the job, whether they were on Rainbow's staff or were subcontractors, were lovely to interact with (friendly and willing to offer addiitonal helpful advice and opinions). Part of our agreement with Rainbow was that they were to get everything done during the month of April so we could move in at the beginning of May. Another part of the agreement was that they needed to share the space with the company we used to reside and paint the house. To further complicate matters we received a tremendous amount of rain this spring. There were numerous times when they went above and beyond what was expected. A few examples include: coming in early to put down paper runners in the house so that the movers didn't track mud everywhere when they delivered our furniture. Putting down carpet scraps in the yard to limit the damage done by the siding crew and to make sure no one slipped in the mud. Helping us scramble to find someone on short notice to add insulation to the house (we discovered this old house had none when the siding came off and we only had one day to get it added before the crew resided the house). Of all the many details involved in this remodeling project there was only one that didn't work out as we had anticipated. The issue involved work that a subcontractor had done. They quickly had the subcontractor come out to fix the situation and when we still weren't happy they said that they would take care of it themselves. They stand behind everything they do and they aren't satisfied if their customers aren't satisfied. I've rated them as an "A" in every category because we couldn't have been any happier with the work done or the way we were treated. While they were a little more expensive than some other companies, I don't have any doubt that I got my money's worth. I'm looking forward to having them back next year to put on the deck and redo the front fence.

Went well well organized, excellent work. good cleaup

They are always great. I went to them because I knew they were high quality since I was burned by a lousy contractor. They are careful. They come up with creative solutions to things. They are thorough. I am confident that they have done a good job when they are finished.

We are starting the build part now. So far the experience has been very good. The price was expensive. I am hoping that they are going to be so good that it will work out okay.

Excellent and punctual service. The attention to detail was great!

They were excellent. They were very competent and professional. They were attentive to detail.

The service turned out very well. The workers were very dependable and a pleasure to have around the house.

I attended a workshop at the Home and Garden Show and was impressed with the presentation, so I contacted them to have an estimate on remodeling a bathroom and also creating a fireplace surround. When I met with the contractor and designer initially, they seemed full of good ideas and cost-saving options, so I was eager to get their estimate. The estimate came back about $5000 over the one I had from another company, and it didn't include any of the elements I had specifically asked for. It seemed they had not paid any attention to our first discussion, and they just threw together some numbers for a generic bathroom.

I had requested that they set up an appointment so that I could be there when they performed the work but they ignored this and showed up when I was out of town. They did a very haphazard job of trimming. Missing some places completely and gouging into the roof boards in other places. When I called to complain, I learned that they contracted this work and they don't actually inspect the jobs to see if they are done correctly. They rely on what the subs tell them. When they sent their small jobs person out to look at the job, he had no idea what was going on. I thought he was playing dumb on purpose and got angry. I realized later, that even though I had explained everything to his boss, apparently none of that info had been relayed to him. He inspected the job and said they would fix it, but they wouldn't be able to come back for about 3 weeks. About a week later his boss emailed and asked if it had been fixed to my satisfaction. I told him his person said 3 weeks. The next day I got a call from the guy to set up an appointment and he came out within a day or two and redid the job, and patched the area where they had cut into the roof boards. This was a very simple job. It certainly doesn't create a lot of confidence, but I will also say they did a bathroom remodel for me about 18 months before this one that was very good overall. So I'm not sure what to make of it. When I said I would not use them again, I meant for small jobs like this. I might still consider them for larger jobs.

They are very reliable and we have used them multiple times in the past. They are responsible and knowledgeable.

They didn't do the work for me. My experience with them was great. They called me back on time and gave me the quote promptly. I would consider getting a quote from them again in the future.

I used them in June. They were easy to work with. They were friendly and professional.