DOCHNAHL CONSTRUCTION INC

An enthusiastic five stars A++. From the first time we met the owner, Greg, to the very end of the project it’s been an incredible experience, which is a weird thing to say about renovation work! The estimate was very competitive and if anything changed, Greg was really transparent. His communication throughout the six month excavation of our basement (2’ of dirt, more in the crawl space, and redoing our entire foundation) was excellent. He answered every single one of my questions quickly and in terms I could understand. And I cannot say enough good things about the crew led by Barry and assisted by Lamonte. They are incredibly detail oriented, tidy, organized, friendly, and creative with their problem-solving. Anytime there were extra trucks or noise, Barry went and notified every neighbor on the street who also got to know him. There wasn’t a problem that Barry couldn’t solve. They really went above and beyond with everything they did. We even found on garbage day that they had put our trash bins back for us every week. When they had extra workers helping, they were awesome too! Just good people all around who really know what they’re doing even with a huge project on a 1908 house.

First of all, LOVE Barry (the foreman)! And of course the father and son duo. Greg was always dependable and on time. He's reassuring and sweet. Very happy to work with them. They came reccomended from a highly regarded local lawyer and I'm happy we took that lawyer's reccomdations! This company is full of the sweetest construction professionals with very highest construction integrity. They have a long client list because they're awesome. Surprise they don't have more internet buzz. We waited to specifically work with them for a foundation repair in Seattle. We knew we wanted it to be done right. They finished on time and right on budget. I'll forever be in debted to their hardwork and high professionalism.

Excellent. Greg was very helpful, explaining all the options and their pros and cons. He was able to suggest a very cost-effective long-term solution, and completely the work quickly.

The work was started and completed in the time estimated and the team went above and beyond to make adjustments as needed. We are very happy with the result and would use Dochnahl Construction again.

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Greg arrived exactly when he said he would and looked at the holes in the foundation that were concerning me.  He told me that they aren't a structural problem (good news!) and gave me advice on how to patch them if I wish to for aesthetic purposes.  He then took a look at the rest of the foundation, initially from the outside, then in the crawlspace, to make sure it is sound.  To my relief, he didn't find any issues.
Greg is nice, friendly and professional, and he answered all my questions completely.  He will absolutely be the one I call if I have concrete/foundation needs in the future and I will recommend him to my friends as well!

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Greg explained everything before hand and delivered on it all.  He even did some extra work at reasonable rates we deemed necessary as the job progressed.  The end result is better than expected.
We looked at another big company that would have raised the existing (compromised) foundation using hydraulic jacks.  Dochnahl said they don't do that because they get a better result stabilizing the foundation and then lifting the framing, as they did for me.  I labored over the decision based on the methodology, not the price, as the bids were close.  I chose Dochnahl because I felt that the hydraulic method would have put too much stress on the concrete and not given them the opportunity to so precisely level the house, which is the only thing noticeable after all that work was done.

I am very pleased with the results of this project and everything went as planned. I would recommend this company to anyone considering their services. 

My job was a major project that took a year and half to prepare for and once started 7 weeks to complete with a crew working daily.  Planning included learning what my options were, consulting with and gathering estimates from three companies, hiring Structural Engineers and a Geo Tech Engineer to develop site plans, going through the Seattle permitting process which required hiring a lawyer and several rounds of review for very minor corrections to the plans (8 weeks), and finally scheduling the work for the drier season.  

I met Ron Nolten, who was then the owner of Dochnahl Construction, at the beginning of the entire process and selected this company based on my trust in Ron developed over this period.  He is honest and has very good communication skills.  He listened to my concerns and addressed every one offering several creative suggestions.  I could see by working with him that he had considerable knowledge gained through his years of experience and that he was proud of the company that he helped to grow. Over this period he decided to retire and the company is now restructured as a partnership including Ron's son and senior staff who have also been with the company for 25+ years. These partners also worked on my job (Barry, Greg, and Mike), and I was impressed with their skills as well. 

Every day the work crew seemed happy, were well organized, good at communicating with one another, kept the site safe, and kept each other safe (e.g. took dependable scheduled breaks). Additionally they subcontracted the concrete and worked well with that crew too for 2 separate pour days.  They were also very considerate of my neighbors and adjusted their work schedules to arrive a little later and break a little earlier to minimize disturbing their routines. 

For us we have peace of mind that our foundation and other supports are not the problem.  So we'll have someone who works in the construction trade to take a look.

Added pylons so that my garage won't have sink.  I had some bricks that were missing and not level and they finished that as well so everything is all perfect.

We reached out to 5 different companies and all, except Ron Nelton at Dochnahl construction, provided us with different stories about how bad the situation was and suggested major repairs in an excessive amount.  Ron was the only one who told us that we have no foundation issue that required fixing.  He suggested some drainage management and he even recommended another company for the job.  To make sense of all of these, I contacted a Structural engineer to assess the situation and help me make sense of  all these different recommendation/analysis/advises/quote I have received (from all these 5 different companies).  The Structural Engineer analysis was in line with Ron's recommendation. I appreciate Ron's honesty and  integrity.  I recommend him strongly.

They did a good job.

Ron came to the house, evaluated the situation, and thoroughly explained our options.  He didn't pressure us, and in fact, he suggested that the house was settling at such a slow rate, that we didn't necessarily need to do anything.  He provided a detailed estimate for the work.  Dochnahl's price was considerably less than the estimate we received from well-known company and it included everything, 
The work went very smoothly (for us, at least) and we are very satisfied with the results. The estimated price is what we paid even though they did some unplanned work.

Within a day of calling, Ron and Greg Nolton came to look at the problem. They were honest that they wouldn't know the scope of the problem until they started to excavate. Within a few days, I received a detailed contract including scope of work, price, payment terms and an e-mail stating my husband or I were welcome to call Greg or Ron if we had any questions. Greg was the supervisor of the project and a crew of two did the actual excavating, patching of the hole, and waterproofing. Now, 6 months later, even with lots of rain and snow, the basement has not leaked. I would recommend this company to anyone who needed foundation work. In fact, another example of their honesty came when I mentioned we might need a new driveway. Ron said, "I wouldn't replace it at this time. I'd wait." Given the enormity of the driveway, I greatly appreciated his honesty.

Very professional, very friendly and willing to take the time to explain everything to me. I would highly recommend their services.

We interviewed a LOT of people trying to find the right fit for doing what seemed like an insurmountable and extremely expensive task, but one that really needed to be done, and be done right - supporting the foundation to stabilize my home on a steep slope, and then raise the house to level it out from the 6+ inches it had sunk in the corner with the hillside. Our budget was limited, but of course we wanted someone extremely competent to handle a project like this. We knew immediately upon meeting them that they were the right choice - extremely knowledgable, professional, and just really nice guys. When their estimate was much higher than my budget, I expressed my monetary constraints, and they were willing to redesign the plan without compromising the integrity of the work, and let us do some of the work to bring down the price. In addition, we kept hearing different ideas of how the work should be done by each contractor that came to give us an estimate, so we finally hired an independent structural engineer to tell us the BEST way to raise and support the house - turns out it was exactly the plan Dochnahl had already come up with. They are really the best - they've been in business since 1946 - they've seen and done it all. We are extremely happy with the results, and the experience. They are just super nice guys.

I was getting water in my basement and I called Dochnahl who said I needed a basement waterproofing system. They used a compound called HLM5000. Do not use this compound, it is toxic. They found a hole that was the actual culprit and filled it in, but in the process I ended up having to stay in a hotel due to the effects of the HLM5000. They did an outstanding job, but I just want to warn people about the chemical that was used. They finally brought in an air quality person to check for contamination and then paid for someone to have the contaminated dirt removed. In the end, they did the right thing but it took a month and a half to do so and I was sick during the process.