We had the pleasure of using Synapse Construction for all new siding, replacing 12 windows and four sliding glass doors, adding a 13th new window, and then painting the exterior once that was all done. Whew.We initially met with a few companies, but when Kyle, the president of Synapse, showed up for our initial consult and spent the time talking through the entire process with us, we knew they were the right choice. Kyle answered hundreds of questions from us, both during the initial consultation and through email for several weeks after that first consult just to help us feel at ease with the process. This was all before we paid anything - Kyle didnt need to spend as much time with us as he did, but it really showed how much he and his team care about making sure his customers are ultimately happy with what they get.We also used Synapses Custom Design process, where Kyle and his team meticulously detailed our home into a 3D model and walked us through several revisions - which was a good thing because what we originally thought we wanted ended up morphing into something even better by the end. Kyle offered suggestions based off our budget, and used his expertise to help make sure we felt good about how the house would look in the end. He also helped us understand where we could save some money. For example, he encouraged us to demo the old siding ourselves, which allowed us to refocus the budget on better windows, or higher quality siding which ultimately is what matters in the end.Now - for the actual work. Some companies will tell you exactly what you want to hear, then fail to deliver on that promise and shrug it off because they got paid. That was NOT the case for Synapse.From the very first day, I could not believe the level of professionalism, courteousness, skill, and communication that we received from the siders. Luke, the lead sider, provided us progress updates when requested, and was extremely courteous when needing to come into the home to install windows and doors. The entire team abided by covid guidelines, wearing masks and staying six feet from each other, and from us, and the quality of their work was absolutely amazing.For some background, Ive been around construction most of my life - have renovated previous homes, and helped my parents build my childhood home literally from the ground up. Each day, Id look for any corners cut, or anything less than perfect, and each day, I came up empty with fixes, and instead was completely blown away at their install skill.Once the siding and windows were complete, we got the pleasure of working with Paul, the paint foreman and Carlos for painting. Again - the level of detail and professionalism shown by Paul and Carlos was incredible. They took their time to do an amazing job - again, every day once they were done Id go look at the work to find issues, and every day Id be impressed with how perfect their work was.TL;DR: Go with Synapse. They sincerely CARE about their work and doing the job possible, every time. They are an incredible group of true professionals that take pride in their craft, and I couldnt be happier with the results (if you couldnt tell by the length of this review).
To set the stage: We interviewed multiple contractors to rebuild the whole exterior of our home. This included removing poorly constructed 1980s siding, windows, doors, and a sunroom, and rebuilding the exterior to be both beautiful and extremely weather-proof. My wife is a construction management professional, so we were definitely picky about who we’d work with from the outset.The moment I knew that I wanted to work with Kyle and Synapse was the day we sat down in our kitchen to talk through how we would keep our house water-tight at every window. This was one of the major inherited problems with the house, and we have a *lot* of windows, so it was extremely important to us. As Kyle talked us through the approach, and hand sketched a complex, custom solution from window assembly, to rain-screen, to house, I knew we were with the right contractor. Add to that some very professional attention to detail, willingness to partner with us in decisions and process, and Kyle’s own written notes from every single meeting, and you ended up feeling really good about Synapse at every step.Our work with Synapse included:- Design and 3D modeling- Hiring a structural engineer- Handling all permits- Demolition & clean-up- Constructing new sun-room with large custom windows, and new roofing- Purchase and install of all exterior elements (windows, doors, flashing, siding, etc.)- Exterior electrical and plumbing (as-needed)- Existing roof repairsEven before we started our full remodel, Kyle and Synapse were ready & willing to help us with a smaller project of a leaking skylight.It’s tough for me to say what I appreciated most about working with Kyle and the Synapse team on the design & build of our exterior remodel. But I’ll say this: when friends come to our house now, they ask things like “Can you believe you actually live here?”Trying to share more of what it was like to work with Synapse over several months into a few paragraphs:When we had specific questions about the construction process or how we were tracking to schedule, the team had roadmap and plans in place, as well as documentation of what had already been tackled. While our schedule definitely increased over the course of the remodel, Kyle and his team were amazing at making sure that we kept within the budget. That included both helping us to make tradeoffs on the scope, as well as being more efficient with Synapse’s own labor costs. And for that we are *truly* grateful.When we hit a critical time-crunch on a particular day, and there was no extra labor available for that task, Kyle literally picked up a hammer and dug in with his crew. (He broke the hammer too. Good story.)When we had off-hours water issues come up with the house while it was under construction, Kyle and Alex were on-scene at the house on very short notice. It didn’t matter if it was a weekend or an early morning.When we had products from suppliers that were defective in any way (door & window), Kyle owned it immediately, and went to bat for us with those vendors, positively but with our satisfaction front & center in the conversation. You could tell this was a combination of doing business consistently with the right vendors, the right way, but also knowing when to push for your customer.I’ll end with this. It’s one thing to see pride in your work and quality from a company owner. But over the months since we finished the project with Synapse, we’ve needed to fix the occasional thing as the dust settles. When those things bring Alex (interior foreman), and Ever (exterior foreman) back to our house along with members of the original crew, you can literally see the pride in their work on every single face.This company designs and builds well, they hire well, and they care about how you get to the end result. We would strongly recommend them.
Job cost double the original estimate; took 4x the amount of time estimated; several parts never completed; lots of loose ends left unfinished and ignored; at least one window cant even be closed. Some of the subs were of mediocre quality. In particular sheetrock.Some of the siding was installed such that there was substantial earth wood contact. One of the photos shows the retaining wall that I had to dig in order to remedy this.Note that the response from the owner is essentially just a to make it look like theyre going to address things. They were never willing or able to make things right.
They replaced our leaky single-pane windows with new double-pane windows properly installed without leaks. They worked from the exterior to minimize disruption and did a great job.
We have received exceptional service and results from Synapse, and have actually used them multiple times. My wife and I have hired a variety of contractors over the years. Having gone cheap to high-end, we have a good understanding of whats available in the market. Synapse consistently shows great value and high quality work. There are 3 main areas to note. (1) They are clean, show up in logo shirts so neighbors know who they are, friendly and easy to have at your home. They hire quality people. (2) There is real project management and continual communication, so we felt clear at every step what was happening. Everything is well documented. (3) They have a lot of experience and have been honest when anything is outside of their area of expertise. We would recommend their services.
While working with the Seattle Housing Office, to be able to have my father’s home insulated, we were told we needed to have the siding on the South side of the house replaced before proceeding. After calling from the list of contractors provided by the Housing office, with unsatisfactory results, I was given the name of Synapse Construction, with a very positive recommendation, from our neighbor’s contractor. From our first conversation, with Eddie Tweed, sales consultant, to Ever Hernandez, Sr. Field Manager, throughout the entire process until the end of the project, everything was handled in an extremely professional and timely manner. Julie Miller, Office Manager, made sure our invoice was detailed and promptly available in order to submit to the Housing Office and Jason Meidl, Manager of Human Resources, followed up to make sure the job was completed to our satisfaction. Each individual was a pleasure to talk to and work with and the work done was exceptional. I highly recommend Synapse Construction and will definitely hire them, as needed, in the future.
Update: After communicating the issue below with Synapse, within 24 hours they had someone come out and do the repairs!..Thank You:) Ill leave what I previously wrote as I believe it tells a great story of an excellent company. We received photo documentation of the repairs completed yesterday, which was very helpful. I can now happily recommend Synapse for both new construction and repair. I own two small businesses so I greatly appreciate Synapses professional response. Thanks Kyle!I really like Synapse and I would most likely hire them again, but for new construction only. I own a condo in a 3 unit condo on Queen Ann. We hired them to do siding repairs in preparation for the building to be painted. They gave us an estimate with a high and low end...and said they would inform us if we were going beyond the high-end estimate. Now that we are having the painting done the painters are having to remove trim around several windows where the trim is completely rotted and these windows are 3 away from windows that Synapse re-did the siding on. So it is disappointing that we paid them the high-end of their estimate but we are now having to have the painters continue their work.My take on it is that Synapse is extremely busy...it took over 6 months to get our repairs scheduled and they should consider whether they really want to take on repair work as it does not seem like they really do....or need to. So, yes I would hire them for new construction, but not repairs.
Extremely happy with our results! We completely redid the exterior of our 3-level home with Hardie plank and corrugated metal, new windows and doors, and moving/rebuilding of the main stairs. Everyone on site and in the office is friendly, professional, and dedicated to quality work and a satisfied customer. Communication was prompt and clear throughout the process from bid to completion. Accurate scheduling, flexible with change orders and rework, and happy to stick it out through the tiniest touch-ups because they truly value the customer. We definitely recommend Synapse to our friends and will plan to use them again for future projects.
We have worked with Kyle Keever and Synapse through three projects. The first project entailed the replacement of a questionable roof joist. The replacement was painless, and took place on time and on budget. We then brought Synapse back to complete a full re-siding and re-roofing of our four storey home, which included the re-surfacing of over 1,300 sf of flat roof deck. Kyles bid wasnt the lowest of those we had sourced, but he had done a great job on the joist replacement and he was able to confidently explain the components of his bid. Again, he completed the work on schedule and, this time, slightly under budget. We brought Synapse back a third time to re-floor our main floor (entry, living room, dining room and kitchen) and replace our kitchen counters. This time, we had a deadline: our baby was due in early November and we wanted the work completed in time. He started the work in earnest in early October, and was construction-complete days ahead of schedule. And once again, under budget.Throughout each project, Kyle and his crews were courteous, respectful and diligent. Although we didnt receive any overt change orders, Kyle was always up front when our material selections or other design choices would result in compromises to cost, schedule or durability. We would bring him back for mid-sized or large projects without hesitation.
Synapse helped me trouble shoot a leak in the corner of my house and did the work to fix the leak. I have worked in the design and construction industry for over 35 years and found Synapse to be exemplary compared to the many other firms Ive worked with in terms of service, on time performance, communication and craftsmanship. They were very clear and timely in communicating their findings; they worked closely with me to devise a plan of action; and finished the work in the time frame they established with me. the nature of the work made a hard bid for the work impossible, but their estimate of what they thought the scope and time would entail proved to be quite accurate. They kept the job site neat and orderly and worked diligently and consistently to accomplish the work. I highly recommend Synapse Construction.
I am an architect and builder who recently hired Synapse Construction to complete cedar siding, underlayment, flashings, window, and door installation for a contemporary house in North Seattle. The project proved to be challenging on many levels with some unconventional assemblies, transitions, and detailing. However, Kyle, Ever, and the Synapse Team did a great job tackling the issues and finely crafting the installation. They are knowledgeable, dependable, honest, and effectively communicated throughout the project. They helped guide the project through appropriate detailing and technical challenges while finely crafting a crisp and refined building enclosure. Without hesitation I have the highest recommendation for Synapse Construction.
The Synapse team were great and responsive to the every changing plans of a major remodel. Were very happy with the way our home looks and will enjoy a near maintenance free exterior.
UPDATE: Synapse finally responded to my emails about unfinished painting after I left this review. I know they offered to clean our windows (exterior, single-story) in response to my review, but its a pretty small gesture considering how much we spent, and it is easier to clean them ourselves than have to work with Synapse to schedule in the future.-------We hired Synapse last summer to GC our exterior renovation. Synapses own team onsite (Eddie, Darren, Benjamin, Mitch, Kendrick, etc.) for the windows and siding did a good job, and were a pleasure to have them on site. Eddie even hustled to edit a window order that made a big different in our house, and I am forever grateful. I would hire any of their onsite crew, anytime.We had a fair amount of downsides:-Their project manager disappointed numerous times. He asked me to fix misorders and communicate with subs and his own staff. I often had to take time off work to manage onsite issues on his behalf, upon his request.-Subs were poor. We had roof leaking onto our wood kitchen floors (Jornada Roofing), issues with paint quality (unfinished, uncleaned surfaces), and the gutter system was installed incorrectly and took 6 weeks to be fixed--and was fixed incorrectly. Our property was left a mess after each sub was finished.-The billing was confusing, and we were asked for final payment weeks before the project was finished. Some of our credits backs were for very low amounts over which I had to negotiate.I pointed out all these issues to them, and was met with a disinterested Sorry you are unsatisfied response, though they agreed to knock some money off the final bill. I wasnt taken seriously even though time proved my complaints were valid (even requiring urgent repairs this winter). I spoke with their HR team when I was finished, and let him know my experience, they informed me that they were overbooked this summer and were also busy expanding into new aspects of the business. During that time, our projects was one of the balls they dropped.
I just wanted to express my gratitude for the excellent work Synapse did for my siding, window, & waterproof envelope project in Seattle by posting a glowing review. The finished product exceeded my expectations for an attractive looking property. Their crews were a pleasure to work with, through adverse and, frankly, obnoxious conditions. The constant professionalism, attention to detail, overall thoroughness, and willingness to accommodate unusual issues, on the fly, was a sigh of relief. Many companies would have ignored what Synapse proudly and willfully faced head on, and accomplished. I look forward to working with them on the next project!
Ive now had the pleasure of using Kyles crews at Synapse for two projects. The first was a smaller project to repair some siding that the builder on our home incorrectly installed. The Synapse crew worked fast and were very polite and professional and they left the site and the home in great condition! Better than before. The second project was a larger cedar rainscreen project that they installed in several areas around our modern home and it was done so beautifully. The nail lines are perfectly straight and the house looks fantastic!
Overall my experience with Synapse has been very positive. The highlight is the work itself. The small bumps along the way had to do with administration/communication frustrations, but in general I found the team extremely professional and committed to quality work.I appreciated Kyle the very first time he came to look at the house, when he encouraged me to keep my old growth cedar shingles, explaining that I needed paint but not new siding. I hired Synapse to do some spot repairs. Unfortunately, an hour into the job, it was like a cliché of house construction—they found an unexpected second layer of siding under the shingles, and said they could no longer do the partial repairs without removing everything. So, with the siding gone from one side of my house, I had to decide whether to have the entire thing re-sided after all. The project almost tripled in price and number of weeks. Now, you always wonder when there’s a major switch like this, but I have no reason to mistrust them.Once I realized they were removing the old siding, it occurred to me it was a great opportunity to do earthquake retrofitting. Synapse worked with me to add in shear panels.I have nothing but good things to say about the crew itself. The foreman, Darren, was fabulous. He was careful, attentive to detail, reliable, thorough, and a pleasure to work with. Whenever he found something unexpected, or if there were a decision to make, he contacted me. Sometimes I heard him coaching a new guy in training, and he was a great teacher—overseeing everything, precise, kind. It’s clear Synapse takes care with hiring— I found the rest of the crew also knowledgeable and conscientious as well, a pleasure to have around.Aside from the somewhat shocking expansion of the job, my only less than glowing remarks have to do with communication with the office. There were times in the beginning as I was needing to make decisions that it was hard to get Kyle on the phone. I found the billing system extremely confusing—since there were so many change orders the invoices were especially hard to track. There were some little scheduling changes on the front and back end. From everything I’ve heard about contractors, however, this is normal, or much better than normal, and my experience was far better than most.The final thing to note is that their recommendation for a roofer was awful. Completely unprofessional, rude, and did poor work. No idea why they work with them, and I hope they have found a better company. It was completely out of sync with everything else I experienced from Synapse.In sum, I highly recommend Synapse. I believe they do quality work, hire a very well trained and professional staff, and are good people. It’s only been a few months, but so far everything looks great.
Beautiful work siding my new construction house. House is a mix of shou sugi ban, metal, and concrete, and it all came together beautifully. The house looks stunning.
Great siding company. They work with you every step of the way.
Kyle and his team replaced 1/2 the siding on my 2 year old house - replacing a terrible job done by the builder. They kept the site clean, communicated well, and kept their commitment to finish on time and budget. I cant recommend Synapse more strongly.
Kyle, Konstantine, and his project team resided 2 levels of my contemporary 2009 modern home with Hardie Panel to replace some cedar siding incorrectly and poorly installed by the original contractors. The results were professional with beautiful touch and careful eye for detail.Everything is done in-house ie, his own employees brought the skill to make it happen, except for some waterproofing that we later figured needed to be done to address some incomplete work by the previous contractor, which did impact our planned schedule by an additional 30 days. And he worked very well with the waterproofing contractor: they were able to coordinate seamlessly into the project timeline.I was taken aback how professional Kyle was throughout the project, and he answered my questions and concerns within 12 hours, and often much sooner (within the hour), even when he was out of town. When we faced a problem, he would let me know asap, then tell me my options, impact to the schedule, impact to cost, and gave me an informal risk analysis if I were to ignore the problem and let him continue as we originally planned.And there was the issue where my newly installed garage door was accidently dinged during construction. I mentioned I would have been happy if he just popped the ding out, but he went above and beyond and had my garage door panel completely replaced with a new panel. Clearly he didn’t have to do it, but he took all responsibility for it and took the lead in making sure I was absolutely happy and that it wouldn’t happen again. That tells me the kind of true professional Kyle is.Communication, options, skill, and attention to detail. I have been very happy with the work done, and I currently have plans to use Synapse Construction on a second siding project in the near future.