Delaware Valley Basement Waterproofing

They did a good job, the work was good. The boss Tim Ryan is very good to work with and he is a nice guy

This was the worst experience we've ever had with any type of service provider. If you have radon a radon reduction system in your basement - then run away as fast as you can because Tim and his crew are not educated or qualified to deal with this type of scenario. OVERVIEWI contacted Tim Ryan from Delaware Valley Basement Waterproofing to provide an estimate to put a pressure relief system (french drain w/ sump pump) in our basement as we were experiencing flooding during the hurricane season. Tim is the owner and his timeliness and communication leave much to be desired from a customer?s perspective. Due to an apparent miscommunication, he did not show up the first night that we had scheduled to meet for an estimate. He contacted me the next afternoon and said that he had the appointment days mixed-up and asked if he could come later that evening at 6:30pm instead ? I agreed to it. He called later that evening and said he wouldn?t be coming and he apologized because he got tied up at home. Again, we agreed to it though by this point we were frustrated and doubting his ability to keep a commitment. But, we gave him one more shot because his work was referred to us by a friend that hired him earlier this year. The next night he showed up for the estimate, albeit approx 2 hrs late. After some consideration, we ended up going w/ Tim and his company to waterproof our basement. We scheduled the work to be completed the Weds-Friday of the following week. As the start day approached, I called to confirm the Weds start date but was told they were running behind on an earlier job and that they?d start Thursday. They then called me Thursday and mentioned that they were still wrapping things up and that they?d arrive at our house on Friday between 8-9am (catching a pattern here?). They didn?t arrive to start until 12pm, at which time they proceeded to order lunch before starting the job. No kidding! They started the job three days late and didn't arrive until noon - and before they even started they ordered pizza. They ended up "finishing" the work on Sunday evening (3 days). However, they didn?t start working until 11-12pm on two of those days even though they were scheduled to start between 8-9am each day. If they intended on showing up for a job at noon everyday that?s fine by me, but at least tell us that in advance because like most homeowners, we have a life and don?t have time to sit around waiting and waiting and waiting for someone to arrive to start a job. JOB QUALITYThis is where things go from bad to absolutely awful. Tim was made aware that we have a radon reduction system in our basement during the estimation process. He acted as if he deals with homes that have radon all the time, but if he does, he's certainly not doing the job right and he's putting the health of his customers at risk. The entire perimeter of our basement was left unsealed - meaning - there were large gaps between our wall and the new concrete floor that Tim's team poured along the perimeter of our entire basement. Anybody that has knowledge about radon knows that it's a a cancer-causing gas and that these gaps between the floor and wall should not exist as the cracks lead down to below the surface of our home - where the radon exists. This caused a major loss in suction in our radon reduction system was allowing radon to enter our home. Below is a consolidated list of the major issues regarding their work: Sump Discharge PipeThe sump discharge pipe that exits the house was never properly connected to our home?s drain tile discharge pipe as originally discussed and agreed upon. Our drain tile discharge pipe was busted open by Tim?s foreman and the sump discharge pipe was angled downward into it with no proper seal to join the two pipes. The defective plumbing was covered by a plastic Wawa bag and covered with dirt. Since there was no proper seal between the two pipes, water was spewing into our flower bed, yard, and essentially, back into our home. We asked Tim to address this issue and he agreed. However, after two attempts at fixing the issue, Tim was still unable to properly join the PVC pipes together. Water was leaking at the seams of the ?T? coupling that Tim used, and Tim never properly attached the sump discharge pipe to the drain tile discharge pipe. Tim was given the opportunity to fix the issue one last time, and he failed to show-up for the scheduled appointment. After being more than four hours late, we asked him not to return. The plumbing still is not fixed and I now need to do it myself even though we paid for this as part of the job. In the meantime, the water is being directed away from the house above ground using a combination of PVC pipe and extra rain spouts that we had stored in our shed. Even though the water is being directed away from the house, is still sitting in our yard, and the yard in that side of our house cannot be walked on as it is swampy. Perimeter SealThe waffle board (aka ?mira drain?) that separates the concrete block wall from the new concrete floor perimeter is not properly sealed, allowing air from beneath the slab to enter the basement. This is unacceptable in homes with a radon sub-slab depressurization system as it can compromise the integrity of the radon system and can potentially allow radon to enter the living space. When we approached Tim about this issue, his solution was to apply silicone between the waffle board and the wall. Because the waffle board was sloppily installed by Tim?s crew, there are areas where as much as a 1? to 2? gap exists between the waffle board and wall. Applying silicone in gaps this wide did not properly address the issue as gaps still remain along the perimeter. In the finished portion of our basement, Tim attempted to seal the waffle board to the foam insulation along the wall. This is not an acceptable way to create a seal as the foam is semi-permeable and cannot be counted on as a vapor barrier. Sump Crock LidThe sump crock lid that was used is not the proper type of lid for homes that have a radon sub-slab depressurization system as the lid has a rectangular opening in the center. This opening allows air from the pit (under the slab) to enter the basement. Tim proceeded to try to seal this opening shut with duct tape. A solid, sealed sump crock lid should have been used due to the fact that we have a radon sub-slab depressurization system in place. Tim originally claimed that he would be installing a "radon" lid but this was not done. Sump Pump BrandDuring the estimate, Tim stated that his company only uses Zoeller brand sump pumps because as Tim put it, they?re the best. He listed the following brand and model pump on the contract: .5 HP Zoeller M98. However, during the job, we noticed a Flo-Tec brand sump pump box in the garage. When we asked Tim why they were installing a Flo-Tec brand pump, he stated that the following via SMS text: ?Well if there is a flotec there it is because since the hurricane stuff is constantly sold out locally and that is our go to if that happins.? The Flo-Tec pump that Tim?s crew installed is a 1/3 HP pump and retails for $127.00 at Home Depot. The Zoeller Pump is not carried by Home Depot, but it retails on Amazon.com for $199.00. It?s clear that Tim used a sort of bait & switch technique on us. He made a point to brag about the Zoeller model during the estimate and reiterated that it?s all he uses due to its high quality, yet he used an inferior product from a retail box store that is less horsepower and costs substantially less. SUMMARYI eventually asked Tim to stop coming back to our home because it was clear he was incapable of finishing the job properly. We seeked legal advice and while we likely could have gotten most of our money back based on our attorney's opinion - it would have been a major hassle and at this point, we just wanted the nightmare to end. We eventually found out that Tim does not have 10 years of experience as he claims on his company website. Prior to starting the company, we found out that Tim was fired from his own dad's dentist practice. He then worked for a basement waterproofing competitor before being fired from there as well. After that - he started his business which is built around lies, lies, and more lies. Apparently the waterproofing company that he used to work for is now suing him since he negated the no-compete clause in his contract with them. We found this out by pure coincidence when we had other companies stop by to estimate what it would require to fix their awful work. In the end, we didn't hire another waterproofing company to fix the flawed work because all 3 of them said that the work Tim's company did was so bad, they would require it to all be redone. So I'm currently taking matters into my own hands and slowly fixing all of the flaws in their work myself. You've been warned!!