Seattle Environmental Construction LLC

We hired this work out so that we would not have to worry about being exposed to asbestos. We occupy the house, have 2 small children and have no plans to move. We wanted to hire professionals so that there would be no question the job was done right. SEC showed up at the scheduled time, set up containment (lots of plastic sheeting and a little shower booth for decontamination) and air filtering equipment. Day 2 they suited up with full body protective equipment and respirators then entered the containment area. They then removed the furnace and all ducting. They diligently tested the air before, during and after. They returned Day 3 to remove the containment and all equipment. On first walk through we saw the furnace and all of the SEC equipment were gone. It looked like a complete job. Our furnace installer arrived in the afternoon to start work and mentioned that there was some debris left behind. He is not an alarmist but was surprised to see anything considering the meticulous nature of the containment setup. After further inspection with a flashlight and stepstool it was clear that the area was not HEPA vacuumed while the containment was set up (a line item on the contract). All of the cobwebs and dust bunnies from the old cold air returns were still there as well as a layer of new construction dust and pieces of asbestos material in one sizable area. Construction dust is the primary concern when disturbing asbestos; when left alone it poses no harm, when disturbed the small airborne particles created are a health hazard. I immediately called SEC after hours and was assured that the team would be back out first thing in the morning to HEPA vacuum everything and take additional air samples. This was done and the samples came back in the acceptable range. SEC was very responsive and did what was in their power to remedy the situation. Long story short: The furnace is gone and I don’t believe my family was harmed. However, if we had not seen the left-over debris and had not called them back, our new furnace would have efficiently spread the very likely asbestos containing dust to each room of our house. This lack of follow-through on the contract checklist and “near-miss” is the reason for the low rating. We could have hired any number of companies or handy-men to result in a possible exposure. We chose trained professionals expecting no exposure. If you decide to hire them for asbestos remediation I strongly suggest you find out what procedural changes they have made to ensure this mistake is not made again.

This company is a nightmare to deal with. Do not hire them.

Removed carpet and pad. Cut dry wall up two feet. They installed a French Drain around the house and one under the basement floor. Repaired and repainted the walls. Installed new carpet. House looks like we never had a problem

We began dealing with SEC after the insurance company suggested them as a contractor to do the repairs in our kitchen. Initially, communication was good, they arrived promptly. We hired them to do additional floor replacement for our attached dining room that was not being covered by insurance. They also put us in contact with a company that would replace our countertops and gave us their wholesale rate to replace. That, however, is where the positive experiences ended. We started working with SEC the beginning of February. After they had our deposit, we had a telephone conversation regarding timeline and Thomas (the owner) told me that the counter installation company was approximately 3 weeks out, so they'd install the week of March 10th. This was not a big deal, as that's how scheduling goes. Thomas emailed about a week later to tell me the finalized price of the counter install. A week prior to install, I called him to find out when to expect the installation crew so that I could plan our schedule for the week. He did not return my phone call. I called him every day that week, he did not return my calls. Finally, the Sunday before installation week, I called repeatedly and he finally answered. He told me that he never scheduled the install. When I didn't respond to his email (which he never said he needed me to do in the email), he figured we'd decided to go "in a different direction". At this point, the insurance had already paid him $4k+ and we'd given them a deposit on the additional work we'd hired them to do. He advised me to call them and schedule the install and make a deposit (which he never told me to do before). Counters were installed 3 weeks later. The floor was another story. After 2 months of one-sided communication, telling us flooring was ordered when it wasn't, etc. the floor was finally installed. There was question about the integrity of the subfloor and whether it was acceptable for the type of flooring installed. We repeatedly said that we wanted the floor installed in a timely fashion, however, we wanted it done correctly. It was finally installed and just 2 weeks later, the fasteners from the subfloor started rising through the flooring and puncturing holes and the seams started puckering. I alerted Thomas in May. He acknowledged the floor was failing and that it would need to be addressed. He requested we pick out new flooring at this point. We took 3-4 weeks to do so and emailed him our choice. We didn't hear anything for 5 weeks. I emailed multiple times, and finally had to threaten legal action and getting the insurance company involved. When he finally responded, he had multiple excuses, his wife was sick, they moved the business, he was on vacation. He requested a week to regroup and then he'd be in contact. The lack of communication continued, despite continued attempts on our part, until September. Thomas finally came out and looked at the floor. Said they'd email me a schedule for replacement in the next few days. 2 weeks later and no email. Again, I had to email and remind him that we will get the insurance company involved and our attorney. He sent us the email after this and scheduled a time to come look at the floor again. When he came out, we set up an install date/timeline. He said he had ordered the tile and they'd get started the following Friday. Thursday at 4pm rolled around and he texted and said the tiles on backorder for approx. 5-6 weeks. At this point, I called the manufacturer and supplier directly. They informed me that he had never ordered the tile the prior week (when it was in stock). At this point, we decided to go another direction because we were now 9 months into this project that should have taken about 1/4 of that time or less. We no longer wanted to deal with this company that we did not trust and had been stringing us along. We will need to have to current floor pulled up again, buy new material, and re-install. SEC claims we still owe them for work completed, even though it will have to be done again. Long story short, this was a terrible experience that makes us never want to deal with contractors again. We wasted multiple hours and thousands of dollars dealing with an incompetent business with questionable ethics.

I discovered that Miro was no longer employed at SEC and wound up speaking with the owner Thomas Ecker. He was pleasant on the phone and promised to contact the tenant, arrange access and start work. After a week had passed nothing happened and the tenant reported she had not been contacted by SEC. I tried calling SEC in working hours and got VMail. I left a detailed message requesting that they contact the tenant, start work and report back to me if they experience any difficulties. It is now two weeks since that call and I have not had a call back, nor any sight of SEC on-site. I have hired a different contractor to perform the work. I wish I knew how to get hold of Miro!

We had wet spots on our floor and wall in our finished basement due to the soil being piled up on the side of our house. I cut a small hole to see what was in the wall and found a bunch of scary mold on the studs and insulation. They came and cut open the wall. Assessed the studs as still structurally sound (yay!) They removed all the moldy parts of the wall and insulation and pulled back the carpet and pad. The work area was immaculate. Even though they were demoing the wall, they cut a beautiful 6' x 6' hole in the corner. They sealed it up with plastic and had a moisture removing fan set up. It was all very clean, no dust, and I even noticed how nice they taped the entrance flap. I was even more impressed with their drywall repair and painting. You cannot tell any damage was ever there. Super nice guys to boot.

We did not have Thomas do this work. We learned from the mold inspector that we eventually hired that there is no certification for mold inspections and that Thomas likely did not have skills in this area. The mold inspector that we did hire did a much more thorough inspection and found mold in the attic that Thomas had not seen. Although Thomas did an inspection without charge, we felt that he was dishonest in his representation of his credentials and of the work that he would do for the amount that he planned to charge. Thomas is very personable and persuasive. We were sorry that things did not work out.

When he came out he told my wife he would follow up with an estimate. We never heard from him again; he didn't return our phone calls or respond to our emails.

We found a small area of mold on some wall board and floor boards in a basement bedroom. The source of moisture was unknown as well as the extent of damage. We called a water clean up company, but they said it wasn't really their thing. Next we called SEC in hopes they could not only fix the visible problem but also identify and correct the source of the problem. In this case there wasn't exactly a "smoking gun" but they did identify and correct a few things that may have caused it and we hope it won't happen again. They dried it up, and completed all the repairs too! They were great, very knowledgeable and professional, and we would absolutely call them again. I only gave them a B on price because we probably could have gotten it done cheaper with someone who only does construction, but since these guys helped us to identify the extent of water damage and solve the source of the problem it was worth it in the end, plus it was extra nice to have to deal with only 1 company instead of the cleanup guys and then the repair guys.

We had water damage in our basement which lead to mold growth in several areas. Thomas assessed damage, scoped project, worked with insurance company and oversaw work from start to finish. This company has several teams that work on the various steps of removal and rebuild so you don't have to use several companies which is great. Individuals Thomas hires are great at what they do and respectful while working in your home. We were pleased with their work. I put n/a for pricing because I've no idea what this work would cost with other companies.

Thomas seems to be a very straight shooter. He looks at the problem and gives an honest assessment, whether or not the proposed solution will benefit his company directly. he seems to want to solve the problem in the most efficient way possible and without over-spending. In our interactions with him, he has been honest and reliable. He is continuing to work with us to get our problems solved and has yet to even send us an official bill since the work is on-going. Our mold problem is a pretty small job compared to some out there...the other company we had out to give an estimate (ServPro) didn't even bother to call us back with an estimate, even after we called them several times. This makes me appreciate Thomas' willingness to help us tackle the job. Since the work is on-going, this is an incomplete review. I plan to add more to this review when the work is complete. UPDATE: The work to connect the bathroom fan correctly went well and was reasonably priced. Unfortunately, while the workers were removing wet insulation, they managed to damage the fan motor in some way that caused it make a loud buzzing/banging sound. When we contacted Thomas about it, his first response was to deny that they could have caused the damage. We went around and around for a while, with multiple delays in having him come out to check out the damage. Finally, we came to an agreement that they would replace the fan motor for half price. We were not especially happy with this outcome since it was clear (to us) that the workers did something to damage the fan. A more appropriate response from Thomas would have been to offer to fix it right away and to be much more timely in his response. Overall, I would recommend this company.

A warped baseboard led to the discovery that the valve in our shower had been dripping water in the wall. There was definitely some wetness inside and a little bit of mold growing as well. I called some of the other companies on the list here but most wanted $150-$200 just to come out for an estimate. My wife called around to a few places and somebody recommended Seattle Environmental Construction. We could not find them on Angie's List but they gave free estimates so we had them over. Thomas, the owner, showed up when he said he would. He looked at the job, described the work required, and said he'd get back to us with an estimate. The estimate showed up later that evening. It was neat and professional. The price was several hundred dollars less than the other estimate we got, so we decided to take a chance and hire them. I knew I'd made a good bet when I came home from work after their first day on the job. They had completely tented off the area in our bedroom (on the other side of the shower wall) with heavy plastic. I was super impressed by how thoroughly they'd built the containment structure. All of my furniture and bed were covered as well. The drywall and insulation in the wall had been neatly removed and a dehumidification unit installed to dry out the wall. A few days later the worker (Hung, I think) came back. He was a very personable guy who answered all of my questions about the actual cleanup process. When I came back from work that day, the actual treatment of the wood in the wall for mold was complete. Once again, the job looked complete and everything was starting to come back together. The next day, the drywall guy came and had the whole job reinsulated, sheetrocked, taped, mudded, textured, and primered. He came back a few days later to paint and finish up. Finally, they had a subcontractor come in for the carpet cleaning. This all went well. Overall, it was a very smooth experience for a pretty unpleasant situation.