Raincap Construction + Electric

Jiles and David were wonderful to work with from start to finish. They're both professional and considerate, and good at what they do. The time estimate for how long it would take to do the job was spot on. While construction sites are never pleasant to live in, they did their best to minimize it. Our "new" garage and deck look great, and we're really happy! They weren't cheap, but they were competitively priced.

Our house was originally built in 1927, flipped in 2014—a near-complete tear-down and rebuild. The builder finished our uncovered front porch with stained plywood. After a year in the Seattle weather, the plywood looked like a moldy croissant; wavy, de-laminating, and soft from rot. We contacted several contractors about building complete portico, and Raincap and another contractor were the only two who even returned our calls. The other contractor's bid for the complete portico was well beyond our budget and they told us that re-doing just the porch deck was too small a job to be worth their time. Raincap, however, was happy to give us a porch-only bid. Chris, the owner, met us for an initial consultation and estimate. He admitted that it was indeed a small job, and we would therefore need to be flexible because they would need to fit it into the schedule between larger jobs, but he said he was committed to doing the work. After that, we dealt directly with Larry (project manager) who did a second assessment and worked with us on specific details and logistics. After they tore up the rotten plywood, they discovered rotten wood and poor workmanship in the supporting structure. Despite the fact that these problems doubled the labor costs of the original estimate ($6,500 from $2,700), Larry and Josh (the carpenter) walked us through our options thoughtfully and never pressured us into work with which we weren't comfortable. They kept our best interests in mind and worked with us to do the best job possible within our budget. Work completed: - replaced plywood with roughly 100 sq. ft. of cedar deck planks - rebuilt framing on three sides with pressure treated support beams - removed rot from support beam, anchored beam to existing foundation with seismic bolt and epoxy - repaired small gap in siding left by original builders - site cleanup and debris hauling In the end, Chris and Larry quoted high but came in low. Our final invoice was $3,800—only $1,000 more than the original estimate, despite additional supplies and two more days of labor.

This is more of a public service review, and not a negative on the business, the owners/staff, or the quality of their work (which is why I gave an "A" overall rating, so not to negatively affect their business rating). That is also why only $5 is entered for the cost of service (since no actual business was conducted). We emailed to inquire about getting an estimate for a complete small kitchen remodel, 3/4 bathroom remodel, and an deck replacement. Chris responded quickly (same day) and professionally to the email, however, despite the fact that it states here that they service King County, it should be noted that they do not service West Seattle. It would be helpful if that was noted here somewhere so that people do not waste their time contacting a business that cannot provide a service.

I had a great experience. I got a call back within a couple of days. Even though the project I was looking to complete didn't fit within Raincap's schedule, I would absolutely try to work with them again.

I have the utmost regard for Chris. I think he is truly a caring person and is willing to take his time and help you problem solve. He is a great listener and was extremely helpful. Recommend him highly!

thorough, careful, good quality, easy to work with

Nothing since I did not use the company. I had smaller projects

Chris was excellent. He was very responsive to my inquiry even though he had to juggle some paying jobs to squeeze my (free) estimate in. I thought I had figured out the problem myself, but Chris really got on his hands and knees in the dirt under my steps and found the root cause of my settling and creaky stairs. A previous "handy" homeowner had left a couple red bricks propped up to support the entire weight of my stairs. Chris gave me good options for repairing the steps properly or replacing them entirely. The fall got away from me, so I opted to put a temporary fix in place until I have better weather and some budget to fix this for good.

We have used Chris Peterson/Raincap construction for several home projects. The largest being kitchen renovations and a complete basement renovation. Chris has done an excellent job on all of our projects. He has great follow through, the quality of the work has always been fantastic, he is reasonably priced, his timing on projects is always good and overall we have been more than pleased with the improvements he has made to our house. The crew that he uses is also always good...I always felt comfortable with anyone who was coming into my house to do work. I've also recommended Chris to several other friends and family members and every one is always super happy with his work. Once you use him for one project he'll become your regular contractor for all of your home projects!

10:18a SEATTL WA 206-300-7037 SDDV 2 0 Left a two minute voicemail on Tuesday 9/16 at 10:18am. Didn't get a call back. :-(

They were excellent. If I can do this all over, I would want them to do it again. The owner, Chris Peterson, was always responsive. When there was a problem, he was eager to take care of it. He really respects, honors and appreciates the people who work for him. My house was built in 1940 so I was doing major renovation. Chris Peterson pushed the architect to get the work done.

We did not proceed as we could not afford custom construction from any bidder. Chris did an excellent job and provided everything we asked for and was very communicative. Would have hired if I could.

The project was completed within our timeframe. The communication was excellent and the project was managed well. I was also very happy with the character and quality of all sub-contractors. The change orders/ additional costs that did occur, were a result of changes my wife and I made during the construction. Raincap Construction controlled the project costs and worked hard to prevent change orders. From beginning to end this project was a great success.

Professional and Friendly Chris and his crew at Raincap Construction were top notch! From the beginning, the friendly and professional team were competent, knew what they were doing and were able to give me (remodel novice) advice and choices on what to do with my remodel. They took my "loosely amateur" vision of how I wanted the room to look and made it a reality. Flexible, worked with my priorities I had a tight timeline + "scope creep" as we wanted more things done than previously scoped into the job (very common occurrence). Although the project ran over by 2 weeks, and there were a couple of weeks where I would have liked to have been better informed of the project timeline and what to expect, overall the team did not compromise on quality and understood my priorities and tried to work as much as possible within the timeline. I was pleased with the outcome, and did not feel that the team "rushed" the job at the end. I will however say that if timing is the highest priority to you, be sure to address this upfront with the team and put hard stops in place where it needs to be. Raincap Construction was more than willing to work with my schedule, but I had no clue when to say "stop" and wanted the project completed. I would not hesitate to contract Raincap Construction again for home remodel work. They were a pleasure to work with and I feel confident in a job done well!

They were professional, skilled, helpful, and reliable.

Before doing a complete gut renovation on my house's only bathroom, I requested bids from several contarctors, one of which was Raincap construction. They were punctual for the appointment, and very thorough and professional as we talked through the space. Upon departure I was told that I would have a quote within a week. After about 8 days had passed (and I had gotten the other 2 bids back completed) I reached out to see where the bid was and when I could expect it. I was eager and excited to make a decision and get the work started. Upon leaving a message, my call was returned promptly. However, I was surprised by the response. I was told that because the job was 'so small' that it would not be time or cost effective for them to take it on. I do understand that things come up (i.e. bigger jobs) and people need to make a living. That said, my experience would have been better if i had gotten the call proactively instead of me waiting for a bid that was never coming.

Chris and his team were great! They were professional from beginning to finish and we ended up with an outstanding final product. We wanted to do a major remodel to the main floor of our house. We had some ideas about what we wanted, but didn't have anything set in stone. Out of three bids, Raincap was not the least expensive, but not the most either. We ended up going with the Raincap bid due to the detail in the proposal and the fact that it was easy to chat with Chris. After the first few meetings with Chris, he helped suggest vendors, engineers and review the plans that we had. He was very easy to work with and his team reflected his professionalism, while at the same time being friendly, flexible and easy to work with. We had a few surprises during the project, and after the initial bid, we decided to do some additional work. One of the larger changes was to add roof wok to the project. Due to the weather, the decision and work was very time sensitive. Chris pulled out all the stops and more than doubled his team's size in order to pull the roof, restructure (which allowed us a raised ceiling in the kitchen and bathroom) and get a new roof on before the weather turned on us. For the inside of the house, Chris an his project manager, Toni worked with us wonderfully. This was our first large remodel, and Raincap's contacts and suggestions were very helpful and the subcontractors were great. Also, since this was our first major project, we didn't plan as much as we could have up front. Chris's team was very flexible with any changes or additions that we decided to include. The attitude was one of "How can we best accomplish this to give you the house that you want?", instead of "That's more work or more time, let's just take the easy way out." Our project encompassed entirely the first floor of our house. The kitchen an bathroom were completely taken down to the bare bones, even to the point of removing several layers of old flooring and bringing three rooms' floors to the same level. We removed two long sections of wall by the kitchen and staircase, which opened up the house incredibly. We added forced air heating, which required ducting to be added to service all rooms in the house. We have plans for a future remodel and addition of a bathroom upstairs, so Raincap helped to run plumbing upstairs along the entire length of the house, giving us many more options for the future bathroom placement. We moved several doors around, added hardwood flooring in the main living room, kitchen and staircase. Chris's team did a stellar job with our custom woodwork requests. We gave them a description of a built in bookcase that we wanted under the stairs and the completed bookcase couldn't have come closer to what we had in our mind's eye. They also worked with is to add a custom trapezoid shaped window in the bathroom, making the space even more unique. In addition to the kitchen/bathroom/living room changes, we also turned an mostly unfinished covered porch into a newly finished laundry room. After all was finalized, we couldn't be more happy with the final product. But honestly, the pictures will tell you more than words ever could, take a look! In the end, I wouldn't hesitate to hire Raincap again, I just hope they have time to fit me in when the time comes!

Prior to requesting bids, I had obtained the building permit. We received 4-5 bids from contractors chosen on Angie's List. Raincap was neither the lowest, nor highest bid. However, Chris met with us several times to review the overall design as well as the individual details before giving us his bid. He was open to alternate construction details that we wanted, and had excellent suggestions for ways to save money. Although Chris indicated that landscaping was typically not in their scope, the crew they brought in for excavation were careful about moving and protecting the few large shrubs that were displaced by the addition. They also had to move a number of landscaping boulders ranging from 300-1000 lbs. Chris had warned me that I could expect some light damage to the boulders, but the guy operating the backhoe took his time and stacked the boulders carefully to one side. Although the construction was virtually problem-free, one problem that *did* come up had to do with the foundations. The guys that built the form work misread the construction documents, and originally built the forms at the wrong elevation. Fortunately, as I was the architect and prepared the documents, I caught the error before they proceeded and notified Chris. By the time I got home from work the next day, he'd had the crew rebuild the form work correctly. Once the forms were completed, Chris and I made a final careful inspection, and they poured the concrete. All of the concrete finishes were excellent. As noted, the addition included some exposed exterior concrete stairs down to the existing basement, and they look GREAT! Once construction of the framing began, Art was primarily responsible for the work. We appreciated the precision he brought to the project, as well as the way in which he figured out ways to accommodate the slopes and sags of the existing home, while maintaining very tight tolerances in the new construction. As Art was completing the roof framing, my wife decided she wanted to make a major change in the roof design. After an impromptu site meeting between Chris, Art, my wife, and I, Art tore off a large portion of the framing and re-framed it. As this was a construction change, there was, of course, an additional charge, but it was very reasonable. We had heard stories of other contractors submitting low initial bids but then taking advantage of homeowners through overpriced construction changes, but we never had any concern about this with Raincap. The project was completed in the time estimated, and we couldn't be happier. All of the details match the existing house visually, but are built with much tighter tolerances. And, I know that, underneath the finishes, the framing and concrete is perfect. At some point, we plan to redo our kitchen, and don't intend to ask for any other bids. From here on, we only want Raincap on our projects.

Chris and his team were a great introduction to the world of remodeling/additions. We had never done anything structurally to a residence before, so this was a learning (mostly pleasant) experience from the beginning. Chris is a very personable, patient and helpful leader with a solid core team and good subs. He sold me on the project based on his professionalism and character, not on his bid (as they were a bit higher then the rest). He worked with me from day one, with the architect, the city, etc. They were within timeline and budget and very patient at working around my personal delays in choosing fixtures/options. For example, when I mistakenly thought we had lost the hardware to our specialized utility sink, Toni went above and beyond in trying to secure them for me, including calling all the local shops to hanging on hold with the manufacturer over a 2 day period. Then when I accidentally found them, he was just happy with no expressed exasperation, etc. We had small children in the house who were keenly interested in getting involved, but the team accommodated them nicely and were very good about setting up worksite protection. They were always reachable and definitely responsive and generally were the cleanest work teams we have encountered in the home management field. Project oversight could have been a bit better, but was well balanced by incident management. For example, there were a couple of incidents during the project (a half wall that was framed as a full wall, doors/windows that were getting ready to be ordered inaccurately, plumbing going through some beams), that could have been caught earlier. These were all items that were clear to a small number of people, none of whom were present to oversee/check the actual work in progress. That being said, when I raised the issue, the team was immediate and thorough and NICE in resolving it to my satisfaction. One example was with the incorrect windows being ordered. The specs and configuration of the new windows were only known by a couple people. They were incorrectly described in industry text on the final order form. While I knew the picture did not look correct, I assumed that the team and window manufacturer representative had it correct because we had been in constant conversation, while referring to photos of windows that we were trying to match. I signed the order as requested and was then surprised to see the obviously incorrect windows arrive 3 weeks later. Chris, immediately took ownership of the issue and worked it out with the window company to have new windows ordered with the cost split among all the involved parties. While I was a little annoyed then appeased, I realized having swapped stories with friends and neighbors that issues will always come up and the team's response was great compared with what could be expected. In the end, the work went well (I am happy and confident in the quality of the rooms), within budget and on time. It is what gives them the overall A rating and my (planned) repeat business.

He came on time, and was very helpful in offering ideas and the information we needed to move further in our project! I would call again in the future.

We had an excellent experience with Chris Petersen and Raincap construction. Chris responded to my call right away and came out to my home to give me an estimate. We got three other estimates, but his was the most competitive. We also were impressed by his knowledge of the building code (which steered us away from unnecessary work that was recommended by other contractors) and the very clear and detailed way he presented his proposal and pricing. The project took just the amount of time as written in the contract and Chris was extra sensitive to getting everything done on time as I was almost 8 months pregnant. The whole process was pleasant and Chris and his associate, Toni, were quick to respond to any questions or concerns. Toni helped us design a built in shelf and closet unit in the space underneath the slope of the stairwell. This was wonderfully executed by Tim, a great framer and a real craftsman. We are very pleased with our new basement and appreciated so much Chris's expertise, honesty, integrity, and friendliness throughout the project, as well as the quality of his crew. Chris and his team genuinely care about their clients and the work they do. I would not hesitate to use Raincap again or recommend them to my friends.

Raincap is the full package: they provide amazing workmanship, unbelievable customer service, and they do what they say they will do (on time!) This is the second project we've hired Raincap to do on our house and we're so happy that we did! Everyone we worked with from Raincap was great! One thing that was particularly important to us in the project was being able to get the opinions of the experts as we were making decisions. Everyone we worked with seemed very knowledgeable and able to clearly explain the pros & cons of all of the decisions we had to make. The people we worked most closely with were Toni, the Project Manager and Tim, the Lead Carpenter. We ended up doing all the painting, so we were working in & around these guys a lot. Besides being hard-workers and great at what they do, they were just easy to be around and have working in our home. Tim is fast, awesome at what he does, and has some great problem-solving skills. We ran into a couple of design issues & Tim really helped us figure out how to resolve the problems while taking into consideration all the factors that we wouldn't be able to foresee as laypeople. Toni's really responsive, friendly and experienced- everything you want in your Project Manager. We always felt like everyone at Raincap wanted us to be happy with our experience. The few times there were discrepancies or things needed to be fixed and/or changed, I always felt like we were given the benefit of the doubt and the issues were resolved immediately. Additionally, there were a few "bonus" tasks not in the initial scope that were added on as a goodwill gesture. I don't think we've had that experience in hiring anyone else, in any industry. The other thing that's really clear about Raincap (and this seems to really come from Chris, the owner), is a strong commitment to doing things the right way. They simply don't cut corners with everything from choosing high-quality materials, to spending a little longer on something to get it done right. We?d never hire anyone else to work on our house!

Okay - hire these guys. You are going to have Chris over to look at your project and you are going to like him immediately. He is fun, honest and thorough. As someone who has worked with other contractors in the past with mixed results - I asked Chris whether he would be doing the work - or if it would be crew under a different project manager. Raincap is busy - and busy because they are good. Chris told us that he would be around when needed, but the project would be overseen on a daily basis by a project manager. Though this was initially a concern, after meeting Toni (our project manager) and Larry (our lead builder and doer-of-things), we figured out that Chris' real talent is in hiring folks at Raincap who are both outstanding builders and people. We really enjoyed having Larry, Toni and Chris around the house. Working with these guys was the first time I felt that I had found folks who care as much about my house as I do. Nuts and bolts - Larry is a framing ninja. He is fast and accurate. Toni understood all of the potential weather / moisture issues with our addition and helps us figure out how to make it bullet-proof. One thing I especially liked about the guys is that they were willing to talk through the project with me and let me brainstorm ideas with them. I learned so much from everyone Raincap. Chris has a really great group of subcontractors as well - we worked through Raincap for our electrical, insulation and drywall. Overall - I'm so happy we found Raincap and were able to work with them.

The schedule for our project did not line up well with Chris' current workload. However he was very responsive to our inquiry and helpful over the phone. He offered great suggestions and if something changes to our schedule we will definitely consider him in the future. We appreciate the time he took to give us feedback on our project. Great guy!

We had used Chris/Raincap two years prior to this remodel in preparation for this one. During Phase 1 Raincap helped us prepare our basement with structural beams, minor plumbing, and a revamp of our (existing) heating system (we replaced old gravity fed cast iron pipes with small PEX heating tubes). For this remodel, it was much more involved. It included minor demolition in the basement, major demolition in our upstairs. We were very pleased with the level of protection that was applied to our house. Two people for almost a day and a half prepped our house. Demolition was about a week and construction took about 12 weeks. Chris has a great team. He's got project managers, a cadre of super dependable subs, and finish carpenters who do really fine work. Only two bumps - one which was ours in that we suffered from decision fatigue. Raincap offers tremendous flexibility in that you can do FOIC (?) (which I never get how the letters work out but the idea is owner furnished/contractor installed). Despite having everything pre-determined and knowing exactly what I wanted I ended up chasing tile way more than I ever thought possible. If I had to do it over again I would ask if we could work with his sub more directly in the acquisition of the material. The second bump was paint. Chris bent over backwards trying to accommodate us - which oddly enough caused at moments some small communication issues. We ended up with a hybrid of us painting and a formal painter for other aspects of the project. Of note - we used David Whitney and although he's about the most expensive thing around I don't regret a cent as my oil painted trim and cabinets look amazing. If somehow good fortune befalls us and we finally get to do our deck in the back and other remodel projects, Chris and his Raincap team will be the people I call.