AKOURI CONSULTING ENGINEERS

Called the structural engineer to evaluate a property crawl space and structure before purchase. I was told it would cost me $150, but after a few minutes on sites giving excuse about the fact he could not give a professional opinion unless some destructive work happen, he offered to check the crawl space but asked for an additional $150 to 'go in'. I paid the money, he stuck half of his body inside, tapped here and there and discovered some concrete spalling but overall the experience was painful as he could not provide any additional information as I could have seen with my own eyes. Aside of stating the obvious he was very cautious to not provide any professional 'speculation' because he lacked information. Information which would require thousands of dollar of destructive work to provide. Interaction with Mr Akouri was painful and did not lead to any additional information

George came over one time and I gave him a run down of the situation, stated my objectives and showed him the property. Right away, he focused his attention on the foundation and grading/slope of the site. During the home inspection, it was called out that we should address the site grading so that the water would run away from the house and we should install gutters. George mentioned these both, so I thought we were on the right track. He talked about grading, the need to compact the soil under the foundation and wanted to check for spalding (deterioration) in the foundation in the craw space. The price went up by $300 for him to inspect the crawspace! In actuality, he only stuck his head in and took photos, never actually going inside to fully a**** it. I would have expected that to be included in the original scope of work. A week later, I went to the office to review the plans and proposal. He provided me with a professional set of site plans that addressed the grading and foundation compacting, but provided NOTHING about the garage floor. Remember, that was the whole objective! Once he had me there, he told me doing the foundation work by hand would be very labor intensive, and then started talking about foundation pilings as an alternative. once again, interesting and beneficial perhaps for the long term good of the house, but not what I needed to solve today. A week later I called back to discuss my current thinking on the project, which was to focus on the garage first. Now we start talking about soil testing, which I was expecting this from the beginning. So now I need to chase that down. In the end, I have a good set of plans for grading the home, I know the health of my foundation, but I'm left without a clear game plan on what to do and didn't get what I wanted out of the engagement. Did I learn about my house yes. Did I learn what I needed to, 50%. Before working with Akouri, I would have a clear contract with the objectives and expected deliverable.