Business Profile: Rafferty Painting & General Contracting

Business Profile

Quality Work in the Newtown Square Area Since 1995

by Craig Whitney

Rafferty Painting and General Contracting has been working in the Newtown Square community for the past 24 years. Starting as a power washing company, Rafferty has grown, evolved and adapted to the needs of the community to the point where they now do painting, remodeling and general contracting.

Through all of the change, Tom Rafferty has worked hand in hand with the office manager, Natalie Barilotti. The deep professional trust between Tom and Natalie has been the bond that has led the company through many evolutions while still preserving a code of excellent work and commitment to the Newtown Square residents.

The company began in 1995, when Tom decided he wanted to start a power washing company. He saw the opportunity and the demand around him for this service, and began teaching himself the skill right away. He received proper certification through self-training and quickly began to find the clients around town.

One job led to five, five led to ten. Eventually, it was a full-blown business,” Tom explained.

The business expanded and grew, all based on one simple philosophy, something that is still true today. The work that is done, whatever it may be, is done to the highest possible quality and the customer is always left satisfied.

Natalie was browsing for office jobs one year out of high school, and in 1998 she answered an ad for Rafferty Power Washing. The company was young and growing very rapidly, despite Tom being the only full-time employee. Natalie would take on the very challenging task of organizing and strengthening a young business on the rise, first and foremost making the company’s customer service consistently impressive.

When it comes to customer service, Natalie goes above and beyond,” Tom raved. “She makes constant contact and communication, follows through with everyone, and has built such a great level of trust with the customers. She knows the business so well, more than a lot of people in this industry, and our customer service is unmatched because of it.”

Natalie smiled and continued the sentiment. “People want to feel important and taken care of, their questions responded to quickly. That’s the heart of any successful business.”

Power washing would not be the sole service of the company much longer; the more that Tom would work with people in the community, the more he noticed different needs and opportunities. It became clear that painting would be the more lucrative option, and in the early 2000’s Tom quickly became educated and certified in the business.

Interior and exterior painting became our main business, especially with homeowner associations and residential work,” Natalie explained.

The company grew steadily ever since its formation, and three years later Tom and Natalie made the decision to promote an employee, Paul Bowell, to assume many of Tom and Natalie’s responsibilities. Paul started with the company eleven years ago as a painter, and after years of consistently good work he was promoted to foreman. The foreman oversees the workers and the specific jobs, and Tom and Natalie had always been the ones that oversaw the foremen and ensured the quality of all projects. Paul was promoted to the role of superintendent a year ago and now oversees all foremen and reports to Tom and Natalie.

Rafferty Painting & General Contracting Leadership Team from left to right: Paul Bowell, Natalie Barilotti and Owner Tom Rafferty

Several years after focusing on painting, the customer demand for contracting work became clear too.

In the last seven years, Tom has flipped houses using a number of different skills in general contracting. This led to customers asking ‘do you know how to redo a kitchen or a bathroom?’ which led us into the contracting phase of the company.”

Painting has remained a core element of the business, but with every client Rafferty makes it a point to analyze the state of the room or the home as a whole and recommend additional work when appropriate. As always, customer service is at the core of the work that is done, and additional work is recommended only when the need seems clear. Even then, the recommendation is part of a conversation with the client.

There has been a very natural progression born out of customer service,” Tom said. “Now we have carpenters on our team and mechanical subcontractors for the many different kinds of jobs that can be done around a home.”

Tom has always worked in this way, since he was working as a power washer and saw the need for painting. When he is working, he not only sees what he’s working on, but on what he can turn the place into. This can be a difficult conversation for some people, but the level of trust with the client allows for conversations like this.

The people we work with trust us.

“We have had situations," Natalie said, "where we need to come in and finish a job another contractor never completed. We work really hard to be the opposite experience for people, someone that stays with a job all the way through and then some.”

Residential painting work in a local home

The company now has many more employees and a longer list of services, but the core is still the same as it was in 1995 when Tom would knock on doors in his neighborhood offering to power wash homes. With every client, from individual homes to HOA neighborhoods to college campuses, Rafferty ensures the highest quality customer satisfaction. Natalie is on the phone speaking with the client and Tom or Paul could be on-site checking and re-checking the quality of work. The code has always been ‘quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.’

We like being a part of the community. We live in the area and want to make sure people are being treated fairly and get what they’re paying for. When you live in a community with your clients, you want them to be taken care of.”

Tom Rafferty, with daughters Casey and Chelsea

“We have raised our families here," Natalie added. "Everyone knows everyone in Delaware County, we work hard on building a strong reputation every time we do a job.”

Tom Rafferty, coach of his son’s football team, with son, Thomas

Rafferty Painting and General Contracting can include many different services, but there will always be the comforting assurance of work being done well and with the interest of Newtown Square and its neighbors at heart.

PAINTING & GENERAL CONTRACTING

Residential and Commercial

Interior/Exterior Painting Specialties: Custom Colors, Wallpapering, Waterproof Coatings

General Contracting Expertise Including: Additions/Remodels, Kitchens, Baths, Flooring

Carpentry, Tile, Windows, Doors and More!

Powerwash & Soft Washing Services: Specializing in low pressure dryvit and stucco cleaning,

Soft roof washing, Removal of mold, mildew and dirt

www.RaffertyPainting.com

610-626-9141

info@RaffertyPainting.com