Personalized care, built into every project.
We’re a small, deeply local team led by a builder who grew up on these islands. Every project gets the personal follow-through the islands are known for.
Meet Kaya Maraya Silkiss-Hero.
Kaya founded Kare Kontracting in 2007 with a simple goal: bring real, full-service contracting to the San Juan Islands. A proud biracial American woman originally from Lopez Island, she now leads the company from Friday Harbor — and has managed and improved real estate properties since she was twenty-three.
Raised on a farm near the Salish Sea by hardworking parents, she pairs hands-on building experience with an unusually wide background: degrees in equine psychotherapy, Native American studies, and chemical dependency counseling, plus certifications in welding, dentistry, and ropes-course facilitation. She has been featured on A&E’s Hoarders, taken on government contract work, and keeps strong relationships with local tradespeople across the islands.
Off the jobsite she’s a professional photographer, a Maine Coon breeder, and a vocal advocate for women’s empowerment. On every project, that shows up the same way — with integrity, ethics, creativity, and a real interest in the people behind the work.
- Founder & lead project coordinator
- Managing & improving properties since age 23
- Featured on A&E’s Hoarders; government-contract experience
- Welding, dentistry & ropes-course certified
- Professional photographer & women’s-empowerment advocate
- Born and raised in the San Juan Islands
Three things we get right, every job.
A team is only as good as its standards. These are ours — written down so we can be held to them.
Care, in the name and the work.
Every site is treated like our own home — respected, cleaned up, communicated about. We don’t leave loose ends.
Team work, dream work.
One project lead, in-house trades, and a crew that’s been together for years. No finger-pointing, no surprises.
Done when you say it’s done.
We don’t consider a job complete until you’re 100% satisfied. The follow-up is part of the job, not a bonus.
From a kitchen on Orcas to a new build on the Peninsula.
Across seventeen years, our work has spanned every kind of build the Pacific Northwest can throw at us. Salt-air homes, off-grid cabins, vacation rentals, commercial spaces, and full-property remodels.
Rooted in the islands. Working across the Sound.
We’re committed to keeping work local where it can be local, hiring island crews, and giving back to the communities that built us. When we work on the mainland, we bring that same island standard along.
- Minority & woman-owned
- Licensed & bonded (WA)
- Local island crews
- Detailed follow-up, always
- Bundle discounts available
- Free written estimates
- Year-round availability
- One point of contact
Got a project in mind? We’d love to hear about it.
Big or small, new build or fix-it. Tell us a little about what you’re working on and we’ll come back with a free estimate.