Connecticut Basement Systems, Inc.

The visit to my home in West Hartford was a nice affair. The technician explained everything. He even mentioned that I had to get a plumber to remove the sink away from the wall, so the work could be done to repair the window and wall area, but I did not hear him mention that I had to pull permits. The problem with this permit pulling issue is that I never initiated the pulling of permits, and this also is a red flag for me. The pulling of a permit should always be done by the contractor who is doing the job. It ensures that the permit pulled is to code. It ensures that the permit pulled follows local ordinance and CT. laws and statutes regarding construction, and that also includes consumer protection mandates in the State of Connecticut. Having me pull the permit to allow the CT. Basement Systems to do the work is a big, red flag, and it can result in my home owner's policy being cancelled if the permits are pulled either after the fact, or the permits pulled do not line up with the inspection process. I can also be fined by the town for pulling permits after the fact too. I've had my furnace replaced. The plumbing company who replaced the furnace followed state law and guidelines. Especially, since funding provided through a loan from a Credit Union chosen by the State of Connecticut ensured that permits were pulled correctly, legally. The same applies to my roof being replaced. The roofing company pulled the permit. Having a customer whom you are charging in excess of $20,000 to pull a permit is putting that customer in legal jeopardy, which is unacceptable. If I sell my house, and I had the work done in my basement, and the permits were pulled by me. The person who bought my house could sue me for an incorrectly pulled permit. How would I answer questions from the town about the technical aspects of the job, which should be handled by the contractor directly? Why introduce another layer of bureaucracy that slows down communication? Have the contractor pull the permit, so that the contractor and the municipality, town or city can communicate directly, and the pulling of the permit is done correctly and legally. How would I know, when the town should be doing an inspection during or while the job is being completed or after the job is completed? This should never be a requirement of the customer to pull the permit for a job to be done. The tech who visited my home mentioned that I had to hire a plumber to move a basement sink, but they did not mention about pulling of permits, but I went and re-read the quote again, and it is at the bottom of the quote page under "Customer Will" that states not only hiring of the plumber but also pulling permits and scheduling inspections. I did not have this job financed by CT. Basement Systems. I, instead, decided to get a home equity loan. If I did not get the home equity loan, then decided to go with CT. Basement Systems financing, then I would be screwed. The best thing I did was slow the process down, seek my own financing, and ask larger, bigger, deeper questions that prevented me from making a mistake by allowing this work to be done.

Chuck Stofko was very informative. Was patient in answering all my questions. Spent along time with me reviewing the process and the steps needed to waterproof my basment. I highly recommend him.

We used this company to waterproof our basement. We spent $10,000 and we continue to get water in our basement every time it rains. We have had serval rugs ruined and inconveniences due to this issue. They refused to fix the problem unless we pay. We did our part by informing them where the water comes in and how much, they failed us by not doing the job right the first and even second time the tried to fix it. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

CT basement did a phenomenal job finishing our basement and we could not be happier with the results. They made every step of the process from design to the finished project simple and straightforward, everybody was easy to work with and made our opinions and needs the top priority and they were able to perfectly translate our vision into the final product. This was a fairly large project involving finishing 1200sq ft with an office, gym and full bathroom and their experience and expertise was obvious. They definitely understand the specific needs of a basement while making it look like any other room in the house. We would use them again in a second, we’ve even been joking about tearing down the rest of the house and just living in the basement!

The consultation went great. Cary came out and spent about an hour measuring and evaluating our basement. He left me with a quote the same day as well as my options. Although a little pricey we decided to go for it. The guys came out a few weeks later to insulate and were here all day. No issues there. However, the basement has not warmed up since and we spent quite a bit of money and were told it would be about 60-65° down there. It only increased by maybe 5° and still isn’t even close to 60/65°. I emailed the guy Cary who came out and was told he’d talk to his guys about it. No response. I had to follow up. Then he said he’d send someone out. Never got a call or anything to schedule it. Again I had to reach out. Weeks later he finally said he’d come out on 3/18/21 at noon. It’s now almost 1pm and he’s still not here. Their service was great when they wanted our money but now that we have paid, it seems we are not longer a priority and they don’t care to come fix whatever the problem may be. Very disappointing. We spent thousands of dollars and our basement still feels very cold!

Very well done job! Service technicians were knowledgeable and professional, thorough and efficient, kind and polite. I highly recommend the company for basement service.

Excellent, the service performed has always been done with efficiency and always on time. Their recommendations has provided additional mitigants to potential future issues and if a issue was risen they have always responded with a sense of urgency, Highly recommend.

Great results from waterproofing. Turned my spring flooding anxiety to calm. As humidity rose in summer, I put in a small dehumidifier. Made basement noisy as it struggled to dry and produced a lot of heat. As temperatures rose to about 83 down there and the humidity rose to over 68%, I had same people put in a whole basement commercial-grade dehumidifier. The small unit dropped the humidity to around 50% in less than an hour. Incredible performance and have me peace of mind and peace and quiet downstairs. Temperature dropped gas as well. Weel worth the price to save my most expensive investment.

It went well. Had some questions about work done, it took a few days to get the right person. Once did they set a date and came out and answered all my questions. Very thankful.

Connecticut basement System's estimate was more than double of what other companies had quoted. So we had the workndone by a different company.

It's disappointing to only give two stars after this project started out with so much promise. Overall, the renovation is done and the drainage system seems to work but the construction process was very frustrating. +2 Stars The first star is for the salesman who gave a very educational presentation about their systems and drafted up our plans for how they'd renovate our unfinished basement. Plus, he visited our home twice while the work was being done to check in. The second star is for the pair of polite, hard-working guys who did the demo work, installed our flooring and built/rebuilt several walls. They were pleasant and always answered questions we had. -2 Stars On the less positive side, we were regularly frustrated with how the communication and billing were handled. Communications were received via scattered emails across random topics (supplies, payments, etc.) and it felt like a second job trying to collect and address each one. I asked more than once for a schedule of events and never saw a response, so of course several times we were not home to let workers in and/or there was confusion over what/where supplies were. A some point during renovations I asked for an estimate of our final bill (so we’re prepared to pay the large sum of money when work is completed). Despite repeatedly following up and even sending them my own estimate of the final bill, no information was provided. Of course when we got to the final invoice, it was wrong and I had to request they review & revise (some errors over $1,000) several times. -1 Star Lastly, there were a number of annoying details we didn't enjoy along the way. After the teams dug up a lengthy part of our lawn for a drainage pipe, the yard was left a mess and there wasn't any grass seed put down - which I was basically told they wouldn't be fixing. Another day, one of the technicians rang the doorbell and rudely told my wife "Your basement is locked", rather than telling her who he was and what he was here to do. Additionally, as we move back into our basement post-construction there are all sorts of messy spots left behind which I now have to clean up.

I posted an initial review on 2/21/19 on a job done on 1/11/19 to fix groundwater from coming into our basement. The drainage system and sump they installed was not collecting all the water that was coming in, as we had leaking from several areas along an uneven rock ledge. I had reached out to our salesperson by phone and email and never heard back, so I was very frustrated. About 3 weeks after I posted the review, I did get a call from Jeff Allen, one of the supervisors. To make a long story short, he sent out one of their waterproofing specialists to look at the problem. We had already hired an independent mason to try to remedy the problem but he had not yet had a chance to do the job. Jeff convinced me that CT Basement systems would do absolutely whatever it took to fix my water problem. I cancelled the independent mason. Danny, a mason from CT Basement Systems came out and used a very ingenious method to divert all the water to the originally installed water guard trough and then to the sump. It is working beautifully!! I think Danny is a genius and I am so impressed and thankful for Jeff's perseverance and kindness in making this happen. I am now a very happy customer.

They got back to me too late and couldn't make an appointment for weeks. When I asked for a price for a sump pump, they came in way high.

Our basement has a huge sloping rock in it-the foundation was built around it when the house was built in the 50's. Over the past 5-6 years, water has seeped in more and more at the top of the rock where it meets the ground right next to the foundation and rolled down the rock to the cellar floor, threatening to flow over to the finished side of the basement. First we put a new drainage system outside the house but that did not help. Five years ago we had another basement company come and they told us all we would need is a dehumidifier and that would dry up the water. We bought their big dehumidifier but nope, that did not make a dent in it, it has just gotten worse each year. I called CT Basement Systems late last fall and a very, very nice representative came, looked at the rock and the water flowing down it and was confident their system would take care of the problem. I have a friend that used them for water in her basement and she has raved about them and has never had a drop of water since her system was installed. I paid the deposit and the technicians came exactly when they said they would. They did a great job, were very professional and left the cellar area very clean in spite of all the dust that must have been generated by the jackhammering. I am very happy with the job they did. However, there has been one unexpected problem. Before the drain was put in, I had been buying absorbent socks, flood bags and all kinds of things to soak up the water. Now we just let the water course down the rock into the drain guard, which then funnels it to the sump. We discovered that some of the water drains down to our brick chimney, which abuts the big rock . Instead of continuing it's flow down the rock to the drain, some water is soaking into the gravel around the chimney and then coming out on the other side, where there is no drain guard, making puddles on the floor again. We think the rock needs a thin lip of cement to direct the flow down and away from the chimney area. So, I called the salesman. No call back. I emailed him. No reply. I called and left another message but nothing. I called the company and asked if they would give him a message to call me. No response. So, I can only surmise that they are completely uninterested in this, now that the job is done. I now have a mason coming to do the cement. It is too bad, because I was so impressed with the salesman when he came and also with the installers. I would recommend the product and the installation service beyond a shadow of a doubt. But the lack of customer service after the fact is a huge disappointment. I actually do not mind having our own mason come and do the job. If they had called me back, I would have told them that- I really just wanted to get their opinion on the problem. But they apparently just don't want to be bothered.

Horrible. Contacted 3 times for a quote. No response. Not very customer oriented.

The contractor they hired, Erik (not a CBS employee), was good and did a fine job. The PM, Micah, is simply not competent. Constant problems with timing and issues. He ordered the wrong window for us, then the company tried to bait and switch me. I ordered an Andersen from them, and they tried to switch me to their own brand of window, thinking that I am an idiot. I held them to their agreement following arguments with Micah and his superiors. When the window finally came, it was broken. More delays as they ordered another one. Absurd. They installed an insufficient header over what was to be the new window. The inspector denied it. Micah improperly prepared documents to go to the Village (signed without notary). Told me he knew what he was doing. He does not. They use a rubber stamp architect from Missouri, thankfully we had our own to correct their errors. Despite all the delays and problems they refused to provide any credit. Awful customer care considering we spent more than $40k.

My daughter is getting married this week and we have a house full of guests from out of town. It would not be a very good time to also have to deal with a flood. The technician just left. He was pleasant and clearly knew his business. He did a professional job of cleaning out the sludge, showing me the workings of the system and letting me know realistic expectations on the motor life. That said, I decided to err on the side of caution and replace the motor which he had with him. He finished up and cleaned up everything – then last we walked outside to be sure the ejection area was in order. I can rest assured that what was a panic situation just a short time ago is dealt with.

We moved into a lovely house with many unsuspected problems including a very wet basement back in Nov of 2017. I did much research to find the best outfit to fix the problem. Ct Basement was not the cheapest. In fact, they were the most expensive by far. But, they were also the yardstick every other company compared themselves to. The job cost us 19,300. And we had to wait weeks for the work to start. BUT, everything went perfectly. As soon as the old debris was removed, I was shocked to find that the garbage of the old walls and flooring they removed had black mold under it. And, with its removal, my wife’s athsma cleared up and left town! They did a beautiful job, were very polite and the new installed basement, new sump pump with back up battery, perimeter trench, flooring, etc., all is great. They put a lot of work and material in to do this job with very skilled workmen who worked very hard. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

From the first call I felt comfortable. Sales person showed up on time, explained my problem, and gave a price comparable to others in the industry. Technicians where on time, solved the problem, and cleaned up perfectly. It has been ten years and my basement is bone dry. Even purchased a sani-dry the best de-humidifier ever. Thank you!!! A perfect adder - I had the company conduct a energy audit and purchased insolution for my attic. AWESOME!!!

A complete waste of time. They sent a salesman who was only interested in selling his product, not addressing my problem. After an hour and a half, which included showing me sales videos and a detailed sales pitch, he discovered his product wouldn't work for my situation and promptly left. When I asked for advice about how I should proceed, he responded 'try Google.'

Chuck Stofko and Bill Anderson came to our house at no charge and started analyzing our issue. They even cut into some walls to identify the source of the odor. They quickly identified the problem was coming from the outside, which essentially took the work away from them. They took the time to discuss our options and even followed up in that they were looking for local providers to help out. I sincerely appreciated the honesty and quick diagnosis. I would absolutely do business with them again,

Excellent, especially the customer service.

Honestly, I have never had such a positive experience with a contractor. they showed up on time, were friendly, polite, courteous, clean and efficient. In a single day they installed the entire system and left the place clean (within reason). This included jack hammering more than 30 feet of concrete floor and complete water ejection. Unbelievable. They will never be the cheap solution, but they are worth it!

They service us all the time and they are absolutely wonderful. They are wonderful people.

Work is great. Every time it rains we sing their praises