The Foundation Works

Wow! What a wonderful experience! We are trying to obtain a fixer loan to buy a hillside property with a serious foundation issue (one foundation wall is seriously buckled inward). We have had several foundation experts out to look at it, including a structural engineer, but Brad Nestler from The Foundation Works truly stands out for his professionalism, honesty, and attention to detail. Brad spent an hour and a half going over every inch of the foundation, pointing out several issues that none of the other experts had noticed. He was very knowledgeable and and informative, and really took time to explain everything to us in detail. Most impressive of all, at the end of his inspection, he ended up referring us to one of his competitors who he felt were more experienced at handling problems like ours. And not only did he refer us to someone else to get the work done, he also waived his $150 inspection fee, since the other company will also charge a fee, and he didn't want us to have to pay twice (despite our protestations that he more than deserved it). Thank you Brad!

Amazingly well. Brad came out, did a thorough inspection, and explained everything to me right then in easy to understand terms. He next sent me a narrative that went in to greater detail about the job and quoted me a price. The next phase of the job had me talking with Tom and Myron. Neither Tom nor Myron got tired or impatient when I asked dozens of questions. They are polite professionals at the top of their game and honorable men as well. When an unanticipated problem arose and required the use of additional materials, they did not charge me extra. The job passed inspection the first time in a city known for picky inspectors. Hire these guys. They are the best.

I spent $150 on the inspection. It was a good price. They provided prompt service. They were very clear in reporting. I will use them again in the future.

I am so overdue in writing this report that i'm embarrassed. especially because it was the single best service provider i've ever found through angie's list. if you have the opportunity to hire this company, do not pass go. Just do it. The integrity, the honesty, the caliber of the work, and the price all make The Foundation Works a company I hope to use again and again! However, I also hope I have no further problems with my foundation. Several years ago I noticed that my chimney was leaning away from my house. I called Boston Brick and Stone because they are so reputable with chimney's. A young man came out and took pictures. He told me I needed to fasten my chimney to my house. An hour later, I got a call from the owner of the company telling me he looked at the pic's and I didn't have a chimney problem, I had a drainage problem and that I should get all water away from the chimney. I thought I did just that by taking away plants and sprinklers. But leaving the dirt there didn't do much to alleviate the problem. Now it's about 5 years later and I notice the chimney is pulling significantly further away from the house. I call Tom Pelletier of Foundation Works who shows up the next day, takes one look and says you don't have a foundation problem, you have a drainage problem. The same thing the owner of Boston Brick and Chimney told me. He said as long as i had dirt around the base, the area would stay wet in the winter .Additionally all of the downspouts emptied the rain water in exactly the wrong places to make it even worse. I asked Tom to go underneath the house just to take a look. He did just that and gave me a 6 page report of his findings. The main point is he thought the foundation was in really good shape for a house built in 1941. He told me where there were a few problems that could use repair, but they weren't a danger, they weren't serious and they were very very slightly related to the chimney. They would be helpful in terms of prevention. I also asked him if I needed earthquake retrofitting and if it would be useful to me in the event of The Big One. He said I really didn't need it. I therefore decided to do the minimal prescriptive standards of what needed to be done. Tom told me he was previously a contractor and then decided to focus soley on Foundation work. Since I had this information, I proceeded to ask him a thousand other questions about my house all of which he patiently answered. He even inspected my attic at my request. He spent over 2 hours at my home giving me an education of a lifetime. Now you may understand why I feel so guilty that it took this long to write my review. TomPelletier is the single best, most trustworthy, and capable man I have had the pleasure to work with. I wish he'd go back to being a contractor so I could use him for everything!! Nancy Klopper

I found the entire experience very professional and effisient. My handyman had noticed the cracks under the house while doing some light repairs on the exterior of the house. We called Foundationworks who had come highly recommended on Angie's list and left a message. They were quick to call back and scheduled a free inspection right away. Tom showed up and gave a thorough inspection of the foundation and walked around the interior of our home to make sure we didn't have any other cracks that can be telling of foundation damage. He quickly put us at ease and explained that we had a very "fixable" problem. We had a detailed report within the week. We decided to go ahead and book The Foundation Works for the job. They came out as scheduled and completed the job in a timely manner. Not only did they repair the damage as asked; they advised us on how to further avoid future damage to our foundation. I would not hesitate to call them again in the future. Thank you Foundation Works!

Initially, they came out to do an inspection of the foundation of our house. They wrote up a list of recommendations and an estimate. Tom Pelletier created an amazing map of the underside of the house in a very short time. I was suitably impressed. We were due to have some HVAC work done under the house, and it was suggested that we coordinate with Tom so that the post work could be completed while the ducts were removed. Many months later, we were fighting with the house insurance company, and Tom came out and took pictures of the ducts for us. This was way above the call of duty. These pictures helped us get some much needed reimbursement from the insurance, and allowed us to schedule all of the work. The team that came out was good, efficient, and clean. I would not hesitate to use Foundation Works again. A truly great company. Cheers.

I liked everything about them. They were helpful and full of information. They went beyond their ability in being friendly. They were on time. They were quick while they did the job and cleaned up before they left. They were absolutely perfect.

My good impression began with the free inspection. I got a very detailed report, including a sketch of the entire pillar foundation of my house. Their estimate was on par with others I received, plus they identified a solution to fixing a bad cripple wall that I knew needed work. For the actual work, the team who came were great. They were professional, respectful, and easy to work with. They were excellent at co-ordinating their work, and their sizeable team, plus good at communicating what they were going to do, and how the progress was going. They even invited me to come under and take a look at their work, which I did. They also carefully cleaned up after the dusty job was complete.

Brad came out to the property when we were in escrow. He did an extremely thorough inspection of both houses. He was there for around 2 hours or more. The report he furnished was just as thorough, but the estimate quoted was staggering, 61K and 6K. Brad made himself very available by phone to talk about the work the breakdown of the expense and whether all aspects were necessary. Throughout he was honest and receptive to our questions and concerns. Our feeling was that this was the Cadilac version of retrofitting and perhaps not appropriate for us but certainly a great company. Since then we have had other inspections and other estimates that have come in much lower. We are still undecided on who we will use to make the houses safe.

Everyone associated with Foundation Works did a great job! They were always on time, very professional and cleaned up after themselves well. We had a 3 man crew plus a supervisor who all seemed to know exactly what they were doing and worked very well as a team. Great Experience would definitely hire again!

We have not made a decision to proceed as of yet. But, if and when we do, we would want this company on the job based upon the way they presented themselves during our initial meeting. From all appearances, they are deserving of their "A" rating on Angie's list.

The project went well from start to finish. Tom Petellier, the owner of the company, gave us the estimate. He spent a lot of time at our house, went under the house for a thorough inspection of the foundation, and created an extremely detailed map of the foundation and all the cracks he advised we fix. We asked him to separate the job into two components: fixing the foundation and an earthquake retrofit, which he did. We were extremely impressed with the attention to detail in the map of our foundation that he created, and the thoroughness with which he explained everything. We had a lot of questions and he answered everything thoroughly. The crew of three who did the work were punctual, polite, and easy to work with. The work was done in three days.

These guys were fantastic! Brad came out to do the initial visit and was under our house for about 30 minutes. He drew me a detailed diagram and explained in very clear layman's terms what he felt should be repaired immediately and what could wait. I appreciated his honesty and therefore we decided to do all the fixes and complete a retrofitting. The crew arrived early, completed the job in the promised amount of time and was extremely professional. We had a great experience with this company, particularly their punctuality. You cannot underestimate the power of someone who shows up when they say they will and completes the work they say they will. I would highly recommend them!

We found them on Angie's List. He was quick to crawl under the house and do whatever it took to get a sense for it. He pointed out problems no one had ever seen. What he said just made sense, he described it in a clear way. He also said that it was on a hill so he didn't feel comfortable doing the work on a hill, but referred us to someone else. So, they didn't do any work, but I was impressed with how well they evaluated it. I also liked that they didn't try to do anything they didn't feel comfortable with.

They came highly recommended on Angie?s List, and I was very pleased with their work. I decided to go with them because they really made an effort to explain the problem and explain what they were going to do. They were very detailed and thorough in their explanation, and I was impressed. I also had them inspect a couple of properties that we own. We would use them in future.

The process was very easy. Tom came out and did a detailed inspection, which he then wrote up and sent to us within a couple of hours. That included a description of the problems that he encountered as well as a recommended course of action. We met with several other contractors about this problem, and Tom's expertise and commitment was very clear. Once we hired them, they were out two days later and completed the job on time (within a week). Their crew was impeccable - very clear at communication, very hard-working, very friendly, and even looking out for small things. We really have nothing to complain about at all. The Foundation Works will not be the cheapest bid, but we found them the most trustworthy and highly recommend them.

They were extremely professional and nice to work with. They did exactly what they said they would do. The quality of their work was good and I was satisfied with their service.

I'm buying an old house which the inspection revealed had cracks in the foundation. I heard "foundation" and almost didn't want to go through with the sale. So glad I called Tom instead. He came out, did a thorough inspection, and declared everything fine! I was so thrilled to hear the news, and he was so nice, honest and informative! I would absolutely recommend this company!

I can't tell you how happy I was to find them and have them work on my house. Compared to other contractors working on a foundation job that I had, they were amazing. They were trustworthy, nice and explained thoroughly the issues. They have no problem with me as a woman, getting underneath the house with them, showing me the issues. Their feedback was invaluable and their monthly newsletters that they send out regarding foundation issues are actually very helpful.

Overall, I couldn't have been happier with Tom @ FoundationWorks and his partner. They took the time and effort to crawl through the crawlspace under a house I'm buying -- it's nasty down there. We started to move some stuff out, but there is a LOT of stuff! These two got decked out in a full-body suit and gave my boyfriend a very thorough tour of every single corner of the base of the house. Their sticker price might be a bit shocking, but they're very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about houses...and they are quick to offer suggestions for less costly alternatives. They actually told me more about my house than the house inspector! I definitely recommend them, whole-heartedly.

Tom Pelletier described in great and clear detail all work to be done and its value at the time he presented his estimate. On the day of the work one of his crew members went over this again at the start and end of the work. He offered me the opportunity to see both the damage and the completed work under my house had I chosen to do so. On the morning of the work, a crew of three or four,each with a separate task, completed the work in about two hours. The noise was much less disturbing than I had been led to believe it might be.

Tom is the owner of The Foundation Works and he handled my job personally, professionally, and pleasantly, from start to finish. My home has a bathroom at the back of the house, which was added on a year after construction in 1954. It had settled noticeably, causing large cracks in my walls, due to poor drainage in the back yard. I needed to have the foundation stabilized in order to replace the windows in the room. Tom and his assistant inspected the entire house, from underneath both crawl spaces as well as the above-ground exterior and interior. He was the only inspector to tell me that the settling had caused the room to separate from the original structure, because it was not correctly connected when originally built. He also found three other cracks that he felt needed repair. He felt the foundation did not need to be stabilized, as other areas of the house also had poor drainage but did not have the same problems. His extensive and thorough inspection made me confident that I could go with the (much less expensive) floor leveling instead of foundation repair. Tom was always in contact via email, and answered all my questions promptly and thoroughly. The work was scheduled to last 2 ? days; the crew arrived early and finished all the work ? floor leveling, crack repair, reconnect to the main structure ? in one day. This included repairing the exterior stucco, that was broken open to level the floor, to a paint-ready condition, something the other contractors didn't offer. Since neither my husband nor I could be present during the job (we both work), Tom returned to the house on a Saturday morning to explain what had been done. He again crawled under the house and took pictures of all aspects of the work underneath, and emailed them to me within a few days. This was important to me, as we were not present during the work, and I couldn?t see for myself what had been done. The pictures showed a clean, complete, and professional job had been done. Tom also was very accommodating on the cost of the job. His bid was a bit higher than my number-one choice, and he matched it with no problem. Then, when the job went much quicker than expected, I asked for a further reduction and he gave me a very fair discount. He didn?t quibble over this, as I?ve experienced with other contractors, but simply asked his foreman what was reasonable. This work has been hanging over my head for years; it?s a relief to not only have it done but also done with ease and speed and just plain good service. I will not hesitate to use The Foundation Works in the future or to recommend them to friends. Great job, Tom!

We had a tree growing next to our foundation so I was concerned the foundation might become compromised. I called Foundation Works and Beau came out to check things out. He walked around the house, inside and out, then crawled under the house to check the foundation. He found 2 cracks in the foundation and the 4 compromised piers, explaining to me what the problem was and how they proposed to fix it. Beau communicated clearly and was able to answer all my questions and gave me a quote on the spot. I told him I'd probably have them do the work, but my wife was about to have a baby, so I told him we probably wouldn't be able to do it until things settled down after the baby was born. When my wife and baby were out of town, I scheduled the work to be done. 3 guys showed up at about 8:30am - they were all friendly and polite and seemed pretty serious about their work because they pretty much moved their tools inside and immediately went under the house and worked until they were finished at around 2pm.

Tom Pelletier from Foundation works, came out and did a comprehensive inspection, under the house and in each interior room to inspect the current state of the foundation and affect on the structural integrity of the house. Tom walked me through all of his finding and put together a very detailed report. I asked for him to amend his report by adding some jacking to the bid and he did. I signed the paper and sent my deposit on a Friday. Tom's crew of Myron and two workers came out on Monday and got started right away. The work was completed by Thursday and approved by the city inspector Friday. Myron, once under the house, fixed a few other anomalies and also took pictures of his finished work so I had documentation of what all had been done. Subsequent to the foundation work, I was getting some drainage work done which exposed the exterior of the foundation and I asked Tom to come back out and make sure this did not expose any new issues. Tom came out within a day and signed off on everything. His work had directly addressed what we saw when we dug up the perimeter of the house from the outside. Overall, I had a great experience with prompt service and feedback. I felt like the estimate and quote that I got was as competitive as I could get with the assurance of quality workmanship.

This was a great experience with a contractor. Tom was extremely honest and generous with his time and opinions, even though he earned no money on this job. He was also willing to recommend competitors. His knowledge and expertise in the area of foundations is clear. I would highly recommend that anyone who needs foundation work check with Tom's company, Foundation Works for an honest assessment of what needs to be done.