Real Dry Waterproofing - Holyoke

We had a significant water problem in our basement as the house is located on top of an underwater spring. Each winter, spring, and summer, water covered most all of the basement floor. Real Dry Waterproofing gave us a thorough evaluation and estimate of the cost of the job, and delivered the service effectively, on-time and true to the estimated cost. We now have a dry, clean basement which is terrific since we are in it often for laundry, etc. Their services also included assistance in cleaning out our cluttered basement in preparation for the job. This was important as we couldn't do the clean-out on our own. The total job, including one day for the basement clean-out, took four days. Their crew was professional and courteous - a pleasure to deal with. Mr. Wall answered all of our many questions both before and during the job. They arrived on-time, and went above and beyond providing this work. They left the basement broom-sweep clean, and no more musty smell. Now, after several hard rains the basement remains dry. Another subsequent contractor working on the basement stairs actually asked who had done the waterproofing job - one of their crew members had a basement needing this work. I have no hesitation in recommending this company. Wish we had done this waterproofing sooner!

My experience with Real Dry couldn't have been better. One of the owners came by for an estimate, and was very generous with his time, explaining the options available, and the trade-offs in cost and reliability for each. In the end it helped me make the right decision for my home, and the installation went smoothly, including a minor upgrade to the plumbing. Reasonable price, too ? I'd use Real Dry again without hesitation, and recommend them whole-heartedly.

Steve and Curt appear to be knowledgeable and experienced in their field of work. Moreover, they are friendly and very easy to communicate with. Although the work has not yet been started, they have given me good information and reassurance that there is a workable solution to a significant problem. (This is an old stone cottage that was actually built on a spring. ) Steve and Curt were candid about potential approaches that would or would not be a good use of money for me, the consumer. Although I have not yet seen the end result, I worked in the construction trades for many years, and I believe I have a "true read" on these guys. Plus, they seem to actually care about what they do (!), and that goes a long way. Still in the estimate stage of the project, they have already been extremely helpful.

In my first call to them I was treated rudely and unprofessionally. After reading my bad review here, the other partner called me, and it went much better. He apologized, visited my home and gave me a quote that I am now considering.

Steve came to see my basement and to give me an estimate. When I decided to hire him, he scheduled the job several days later. Steve and three workers started work at 9:30 with a jack hammer to make the hole for the sump pump and basin. They were all courteous and made sure the cleanup was thorough. The completed job looked very professional. Steve called in the evening to ask me whether I had looked at the final installation and what did I think. Great job!

Steve Wall is the expert. He responded promptly with a phone call and scheduled a visit to evaluate the problem. He is knowledgeable, experienced and competent in this work. He is trustworthy, evaluated the problem appropriately, priced the job fairly and scheduled the job quickly. The two young men that work with Steve were very nice, skilled and professional in their work. Steve also went one step further and checked to make sure the other existing drainage areas were clear and with his inspection found there was a blockage and the water in the drain tiles was not flowing as it should to the sump well. He cleared these drainage areas and I could hear the water free up and immediately start to flow into the sump well. No problems since. The cellar has been dry. No wetness. No dampness. What a relief!

Two days to complete with no complaints and/or delays...very efficient! They dug on all four walls a ditch which held piping/stones for drainage, and cove with a finish concrete surface; replaced my sump pump and moved it to a more convenient place filling the large hole that was there that was an eye sore...a water damaged peg board wall was removed and the wood cleared from my basement. A great bunch of guys...I am very pleased with the outcome

Real Dry Basements is a company any consumer can count on! I recently moved into my home only to learn I had quite a serious water problem that required an interior French drain. I interviewed 6 different companies along with their estimates and found Real Dry to have competitive prices, quick responsiveness and no sales men pushing at you! Steve Wall's professional courtesy and hard work made my investment worth every penny and I have all the confidence that my basement will remain dry, dry and dry! Thank you to Steve and his hardworking crew for their exceptional work! Sarah, Holyoke MA

This is a family business, and I worked with Steve. I left a message with the office and Steve called back the next day. We set up an appointment for the following day, which was a Saturday. The basement floor of the sunroom addition is a step down from the rest of the basement. It was always dry before the two hurricanes (Irene and Sandy) but it flooded during the storms, and this year even with normal rain it has been flooding. Steve looked at the problem and said he would need to trench the perimiter of the floor, put in drain pipe and a sump, then repair the floor. There was built-in wooden shelving against the wall that Steve said had to be removed, which is work he would not normally do. He gave me a firm price for the waterproofing and took a guess at the shelving. On that Monday he called back and said he had a carpenter friend who owed him a favor, and he gave me a firm price for the shelving - a price to remove it (only $150) and a price to replace it (also only $150). I scheduled the work for about a month later. The crew showed up on time, got started in the basement and very quickly called me at work. When he did the estimate Steve had not noticed the insulation and stud wall behind the shelving, and it needed to come out too. I told him to just go ahead and tear it out and not to worry about replacing it because I figured it was probably moldy and rotten (it was). Steve honored the $150 price quote he gave me, even though the studding was a lot more work - like three hours more work for four guys. He just charged the price he had quoted for shelf removal and did not charge the replacement price - peanuts for all the work it took. Then, once the walls were bare they installed the sump, and discovered there was already drain pipe under the slab. Steve called me again, told me about the drain pipe, said there was probably a 50-50 chance the system would work with the existing pipe. At that point if I had let him just use the existing pipe I would have saved a bunch of money and Steve would have lost a ton on the job, but he told me he would not be able to sleep at night without giving me all the facts and letting it be my decision. I told him to go ahead and do the whole job as planned, which was the right decision because once they did the trenching and pulled out the old pipe they found it was totally clogged, and I would have lost the 50-50 bet. If you need waterproofing work do not hesitate to give these guys a call. They are professional, polite, they bust their behind, and most of all they are extremely honest. I recommend them highly.

Excellent. Finished in two days with a hard-working crew. Owner was working there with his men until job was finished.

Steve came on a Sunday as it wass an emergency my basement had flooded because the sump pump stopped working. He came back Monday morning and fixed it, he was great about showing me and explaining excatly what the issues were and what needed to be done. He also gave me good advice on other things I could do to help without being pushy. He came back on Wednesday and again was great about showing me the work that he did. I would use him again he was very knowlagble.

It turned out wonderfully well. It so happened that I caught the owner of the company just as he was very close to my town. He came right over. He came within half an hour and he was there. What was extraordinary about it is this is an old house. It's 70-years old and I only lived here a couple of years. There has been water problems in the basement prior to my ownership because there's a sump pump down there. It's dark on the walls a little bit. It's fungus; that's what I thought. I've been really concerned about it. I had landscaping design in the hopes of preventing any water damage when I bought the house a couple of years ago. I haven't had any but I'm worried about it. I felt like I have more done in the basement. He pointed out that there was not a water problem at all. There was no need to do anything except to get the walls cleaned up. The word was it was all in good shape down there. I was dumbfounded. He went through it carefully. He spent about an hour down there looking at everything and said that there is nothing that I need to do. I thought that was the most amazing thing. He is the person who could have told me anything if I have known any better. As he was leaving, I asked him to come back out. I told him that I have these three little old windows. They're up high and two of them are broken. I just jammed some plastic up through the winter. I forgot to mention to him if he did windows and if he could replace the windows. I wanted to give him some business. He said yes and he took the measurements. He called me today to say that the person who does the windows for his firm, he had to call in from Boston. He told me that he was sure I could get a handyman to do these windows much less expensively than it would cost for me to have the specialist come out from Boston to work on the windows. He was the most honest and forthright person to work with that I've ran into. He didn't charge me more than the big deal purchase.

i had difficulty reaching the right person to schedule an appointment, but once i did, he came promptly. He seemed honest and did not try to sell me something I didn't need. I benefited from knowing my cellar is not prone to water damage. thank you.

As with another review I read, my experience was mixed. Initially, before the contract was signed, Curt was extremely proactive and came and took a look a couple of times and even spoke to my neighbor on my behalf to find out the history of a drain that was in the ground on the property line between our houses. He spoke to me several times about solutions to the water problem in my garage. He was knowledgeable and was easy to work with. He called me a few times to follow up. He sent a description with pictures of what they would be doing and what it would look like. Once I decided to "pull the trigger" and we had settled on a price, it took me some prodding to get the job scheduled. I sent a deposit at the end of August, 2013 and then had to ask, after nearly two weeks, if it was received and could we schedule the job. I was told that they had received it and they would work to schedule. Then after a month had elapsed and my check had been cashed, I had to reach out again and ask when this was going to be done. Late October and finally the excavation happened over a three day period (I was not told how many days that part was going to take). I had (foolishly) assumed the entire thing, floor and all, would be done in a week. On 10/22 it was expected the slab (garage floor) would be poured in "a day or two". Footers for the drain that would be in front of the garage doors had been poured and they needed to cure. 11/1 and "we are almost ready for the slab. Should be next week". 11/9 "I'll give you the exact date tomorrow." 11/14 They returned to finish the form and grading. Slab still not poured. 11/18 Due to illness, another postponment (This is no one's fault but now the days are getting colder and it's been 3 months since I sent the deposit and asked about when this was going to be done.) 12/3 "We are coming tomorrow for final prep." 12/5 Amid some wet weather they came with the huge cement truck and crew to pour the garage floor, finally. The huge truck damaged the driveway (which was already cracked and in need of replacement, but it didn't have a big rut in it until the truck showed up). Nothing was offered in terms of compensation for it. They stayed and babysat it (which I appreciated) to make sure that it would set properly, due to the fact that it was so moist (of course this was the first wet weather in a while and coincided with the pour.) I was away for a couple of days and returned to have a look. Rain from the roof pitted the concrete in a few places near the drain due to it not being set (seems like it could have been covered to avoid this). There was also water in the garage - not a ton but enough that I wondered if it was left over form the concrete drying. It definitely pooled in the back corner. Shouldn't the floor be sloped back to front to allow any water to flow into the drain? 11/7 "When we take the forms down, we will tweak some things." We had some snow and then it got real warm and melted. Still a little water in the garage. 11/18 "Taking out the forms and will repair the divots tomorrow" 11/19 "It was too cold to do the final repairs and patches. Steve will handle those next week." I asked if I could use the garage (my patio furniture was still out and I wanted to put the lawnmower back, etc.) and was given the okay to use the garage. Sometime after Christmas Steve (whom I had never talked to but seemed to run the show) came and patched a couple of areas. He didn't do the grinding because Curt was more experienced doing that, so he would come to do it. 1/1 Finally, the last day. Steve and Curt both came, even though it was New Year's Day (I'm sure they wanted to get paid). Curt did the minor grinding around the drain and filled in the divots. I finally had a conversation with Steve who acknowledged that water had come in from outside the garage because the yard was saturated and the way the ground was pitched next to the garage, water was probably still doing to come in. He acknowledged that I had a right to be dissatisfied but that in all the times they had come it was always dry so they had no way of knowing that water would still be a problem. He offered to take some off the price - I thought that was fair and necessary. To their credit, they didn't want there to be any bad feelings. I do feel they tried to do right which is why I'm not giving a lower overall rating. They did fill in the gap between the driveway and the drain and knew that I wanted to use the garage but would not have the driveway replaced until Spring. I just want my garage to be dry, which is why I started this project. We discussed a possible ("no guarantees") solution to water coming in from the side of the garage, which would involve digging a ditch and installing a barrier and pipe to get water to flow by the garage and hook into the underground drain. This would have to wait until warmer weather of course. For now, I will monitor any water that leaks into the garage and decide whether to go forward in the Spring most likely. The entire project lasted far longer than I expected or what I feel was necessary. I got a result that was probably about 85% what I wanted, but will still have water to deal with. They probably should NOT have poured it on a wet day - it should have been done in warmer weather which was my intent in sending a deposit in August. I feel the floor should be pitched from back to front. The damage to the driveway should have been addressed. In the end, I did feel Curt went out of his way to try to make sure everything worked, and Steve seemed to care. If I decide to deal with the ongoing water issue, I would probably use them again, if for nothing else, because they know the history and are familiar with the situation. In retrospect, I should have been more aggressive in getting it scheduled and understanding the entire process and timelines associated.

Came promptly (in rain) and diagnosed problem that was causing water in the basement. Came next day and corrected the problem.

From the start, Steve was responsive, thorough and professional. I contacted Steve late one afternoon and he got back to me that same evening. He was quick to schedule a consultation and showed up on time on the scheduled day. After assessing our basement moisture issues, Steve recommended the french drain system with a new sump pump. He was knowledgeable about the process and was happy to answer all of my questions. My husband and I were both very pleased with the quoted price and were excited to get the work going. It took Steve and his crew 3 1/2 days to do the job and they were always punctual and respectful of our time and house. When they were finished the basement was cleaner than we had left it for them! At the time he quoted the job, we told Steve that we would install the outside drainage trench ourselves, but...lucky for us, Steve went on vacation the week after our quote and forgot. As a result, those guys dug out and laid more than half of the the drainage trench in our backyard and charged us nothing despite the hard work. Amazing! Overall, I couldn't be happier with Steve and his crew and have every confidence that the work they have done in our basement will be just as good as the service and professionalism they displayed since day one.

My experience with this company was very mixed. In the end, I believe they did 90% of what I wanted them to do, and did not charge me for the remainder. I do think that Steve, in particular (RealDry), was very committed to doing right by me and offered a lot of solutions, responding quickly and completely to concerns at all hours. That said, I am still left with loose ends I didnt expect., and a little frustrated by the experience. Here's what went right: Curt replied immediately to my inquiry with a phone call to assess the needs of the house, and to promise an estimate. He sent his partner Steve to inspect the house right away. The drain work appears high quality, and the tenants are very satisfied with that portion of the work. The final bill was LESS than the written estimate (though not the verbal that preceded the written). The work was started when promised and done on time. Steve responded to each and every "not so perfect" situation and tried to offer reasonable, honest solutions, even on a weekend. The above is enough to earn at least a "good" from me, and should not be discounted. Here's what went wrong: I got the impression that the company is either growing, changing, experiencing some internal conflict, or perhaps overbooked or particularly busy at the moment. I, too, work in a service industry, and I understand that no matter how good I am as a provider, there are going to be occasionally times when I dont put my best foot forward. In those instances, as a service provider, the only real course of action is to admit the mistake, try to make it right, and bend over backwards to make it up to that customer, knowing that it is not the norm. I think Steve did that, and I want to give him credit for it, but it wasnt entirely a smooth experience. After our verbal conversation with Curt and Steve's visit to the house, I waited several weeks for the written estimate from Curt(several weeks is a long time when your tenants have a water problem). I had to call twice to get it. Curt and Steve's communication seemed imperfect. When it arrived, it was several thousand dollars more than the "I wont hold you to it" verbal ballpark that Curt had originally given me. ok, I can live with that, afterall - that is why you get a written estimate and it is only fair to allow a provider time to prepare an accurate one- but having waited so long for it with the verbal ballpark in my head made it more frustrating. They did reduce it some as a result, which they were in no way required to do. The gist was: disassemble the room finishing, install an extensive drain and sump system, reinstall the walls, reinstall the flooring to original condition. Once the work was well underway, I got a call from Steve saying that the promise to replace the flooring was a mistake - that he was not able to do that, that he doesnt generally do that, and that it appeared on my estimate by mistake, and that he wasnt going to complete that part of the job because he didnt have the tools or expertise to do it. That meant leaving my tenants with an unfinished and uneven cement floor perimeter in a room they intended to use as living space - something they were not happy about and would have affected my decision to start the work. I was left with the impression that there was a lot of miscommunication internally on that topic. NOTE: HE DID NOT CHARGE ME for the portion of the work he didnt complete, and fully acknowledged that promising the work was THEIR error, and did offer a further discount (though I cant really quantify it) for not completing that portion of the work - but he didnt offer in any way to try to help me get it completed, either (I dont live locally). I am now left having to find another provider to finish the job - hoping that the cost is less than what was removed from my bill. The team that initially did the demolition did not take pictures of the room prior to disassembling it - leaving the (separate) reconstruction team to guess as to what needed to be put back together. Some of the final reconstruction finish work (perhaps because it was discounted? perhaps because there were no pictures for reference?) by the subcontracted finish workers was initially sloppy. My tenant sent me pictures of loose, potruding outlets and missing chunks of wall. The provider had to be asked to return to the house to properly complete the job after he left without announcing himself (WHICH HE DID, and very promptly once Steve saw the images and called him, even on a weekend). One of the workers unplugged my tenants refridgerator, and forgot to replug it in - causing all the food to spoil and leaving a mess for the tenant. Steve, upon hearing this, apologized and offered immediately to pay for the replacement food entirely, and kept that promise. The true test of the work, I suppose, will be the next big rain fall. I do believe the bulk of the work was high quality, and that this is a local company that values its customers and its reputation. I also believe that the efforts to make the errors right were genuine and that my eventual satisfaction was important to them. Here's hoping Angie's will save the day by providing a quality flooring team to finish the job, and that the communication lessons learned on my job prepare the extended RealDry team to rise above on future assignments.

Went very well. Steve had dug a temporary trench there in the spring. Once I was sure it would take the water away and prevent basement flooding, I asked him back to install a more permanent fix. He and a crew of 2 guys were here within a few days of my initial request, and they completed the work within an hour. Excellent job.

Really wonderfully. Steve responded to my call immediately, checked back with me a few times during the day, and came out here in the afternoon - extremely prompt, given all the rain we have been having and calls he has been getting. Rather than set me up for an expensive interior fix, he really felt that if we could divert the water away from the house, that should solve the problem. I really appreciated his "can do" attitude --- he immediately got to work with the shovel and within 5 minutes, the water was happily flowing away from the house into the yard. He then told me what to do to finish the job, and it's very do-able, so I agreed to do it myself. I'm sure he saved me perhaps thousands of dollars with this fix. I am very pleased and would call him and recommend him in the future.

We are so lucky that we came across Curt and his company from one of our friends at work. Our basement was constantly getting water in it every time it rained, and our old sump pump system was just not cutting it anymore. Curt came over and gave us a very thorough estimate. We had received other estimates from some of Real Dry's competitors, and Real Dry's estimate was very affordable, and much lower than the other guys. Curt and his employees were very professional, and completed the job in a timely manner. They were very clean, and we couldn't even tell that they had been in our basement when they left. We have had the basement system for about 2 years now, and it is the best thing we ever did for our house. We never get water anymore, and Curt is always available if we have questions.

When I called for an appointment Real Dry came out for an assessment the next day. After diagnosing the problem, they were able to start the following week. The work was completed on time and on budget. The owner, Steve, always returned my calls promptly. The crew always showed up on time, and were very respectful of our family and our home. Since the work was completed, there has only been one minor issue of water coming into the basement. I called Steve about it, and he was there the next day to fix the problem. Since then our basement has been completely dry.

I decided to use them because when I read about them they had some really good reviews and when the person came to do the estimate, it really felt like he knew what he was doing and such. They showed up on time, they got the job done, we haven't had any problems since then.

They were extremely knowledgeable, came up with the right solution to my basement problem, discussed it with me clearly, had other ideas for things I can do later when I can afford to do more. They did the work promptly and expertly, and charged what they said it would cost. Will definitely work with them again.

The work was done quickly, professionally and very neatly. While doing that, additional damage was found that had been hidden by a finished wall and I'm having Steve do that work also. He's great to work with, very honest, and keeps you informed and makes sure you're satisfied every step of the way. I had gotten a quote from another company for the original work and they told me I had poured concrete walls when I actually had cinder block, which was covered over. Their price was also quite a bit higher. Steve recognized right away that the basement walls were cinder block and explained everything to me. He knows his stuff and I have no hesitation in recommending him.

Job started ok but realized job would take another day due to thickness of concrete floor. Drilling floor was very time consuming and frustrating. Ended up being a more difficult job than expected. The crew did a great job and maintained a sense of humor. It was a hot, dirty and dusty job.