Carty Construction-Storm and Surface Drain Specialists

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- Overall it went well

I used them because it was referred by Angie's List. We are happy with their work. They did a good job. They work very hard.

Paul Carty came earlier than expected for the initial assessment. He discussed his plan with me in detail and how it would help to drain off the rain water before it has a chance to pass under our house foundation and saturate the sub-floor. Once the contract was drawn up, a copy of the contract was emailed to me for review. Paul answered any questions I had promptly via phone or email. Paul Carty came to the house for the sign off on the contract before all work started. Once the project started, work continued efficiently and swiftly. It took only 3 days to complete since the company only works on one project at a time. At the finish of work each day, the workers made sure that the area under construction was safe to pass over for both my family and our animals. After the work was finished, the workers make sure to leave the property in its original state. Although their work hasn't been tested by heavy rains yet, I am impressed with their work so far and will use this company again if needed.

Our building inspector had suggested a short exterior concrete wall to redirect water away from the house (about 2-3K in his opinion). If this did not work over the winter rains, we might need to look at the more expensive option of excavation & a french drain (about $30K by his estimate) We called Mr. Carty for an estimate on the wall option. He was very professional and spent some time looking at the problem areas and reading the inspectors report. His primary recommendation was to excavate in the crawlspace and install a drainage system. This would involve cutting the roots of a large tree adjacent to the house. He felt that hydraulic pressure of rainwater running downhill was what was causing the leak into the crawlspace. When we insisted that we would rather explore the low wall option for starters, he recommended adding drains to either end of the wall (though there is an existing drain on one side). We felt a little pressured into choosing one of these options, which would be several thousands costlier than just a low wall and involved time-consuming construction work. We decided to postpone the project and get another opinion. In the interim, we had some interior work done to repair the bedroom wall, during which the handyman found a couple of cracks in the exterior wall. He sealed them with heavy-duty sealant which seems to have solved the leakage issue. No more water in the crawlspace over the last 5 months, despite some heavy storms.

I did not see anything bad about them. The person who came was on time. He was easy to talk to and explained all the different things and possible options. He did the analysis of the job and made the proposal. But we eventually went with a different company as they offered a lower price.

Once they started the work, Paul & his team completed the work in about four days. Everyone was very professional & pleasant & they kept the area tidy. Our basement has stayed totally dry with every rain storm we've had since they installed the sump pump. Paul was the most expensive bid I received by about $1-3K but I chose him because he had a lot of drainage/water expertise. I would absolutely recommend him.

He never returned to give the estimate. Perhaps he's just so busy he needs a secretary. Nice man, seemed competent, just disorganized.

We thought we were ready to pass the final inspection for the seemingly-endless project: a 2-story addition that took over 3 years to complete. Unfortunately, the initial contractor, who'd by then abandoned the project, hadn't included drainage in his original plans, so we failed the inspection. The contractor we found to take over was wonderful, but when it came time to bid this last project, he came in at nearly $13,000! Another bid also came in at over $10K, so Paul Carty's was easily the lowest bid...and after having been burned by picking the lowest bidder for the main project, we were somewhat skeptical. Paul's reviews here on AngiesList were stellar, though, and all 3 of his references absolutely raved about him, so we gave it a go. And for once, something too good to be true...wasn't! Paul and his crew were fast & fastidious, on-time & on-budget. I take drainage very seriously: it's not sexy, but doing it wrong can be extremely costly. Thanks to Carty Construction, my family and I were completely at ease through this year's intense rainy season.

Excellent work. Reasonable estimate, clearly knew what he was doing, work complimented by city inspectors. Would recommend.

He changed the scope of the project. Although he was a heck of a nice guy, we were not happy with the quote. He changed it to the extent that it was not what we wanted. We were asking for one thing and he made it a more elaborate and expensive bid. He did call us back right away and he was very professional, but he really wasn't listening to what we wanted. Instead, he came up with what he wanted to do.

Other contractors often send out a chatty salesman to mainly pitch whatever their standard package is. Unlike them, Mr. Carty from the start was clearly a hands-on guy and he immediately got serious about figuring out where the sources of our particular flooding problem were. Even as he developed a plan to solve the problem, he considered all potential trouble spots. He and his crew worked efficiently, accommodated the tenants regarding the noise level, and cleaned everything up very nicely. So far, there has been no flooding from the rains in December, so it looks like his work was successful.

Great responsiveness, great quality work, excellent experience.

They came in and installed the French drains. We had a leaking basement. They were very efficient. Paul Carty himself was onsite and was professional through out the whole process. Great job!

I thought they were excellent. He is really knowledgeable, he completely solved our drainage problem. I was also impressed with how he tried to find the most economical way to fix it.

The contractor came up with this solution, which was clever and the only one that made sense for the site. (Another contractor did not think of it.) The operation proceeded smoothly and the cleanup was reasonably good. I did have some minor problems at the beginning and at the end. At the beginning, they had a lot of trouble getting names/phone numbers straight and could have lost the job if I were not persistent. At the end there were some cleanup issues that I had to nag them about; one is still unresolved but not a big deal. I believe the flooding that the work was intended to fix has been fixed.