Real Dry Waterproofing - Scituate

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Fast, Great communication and quick on responding,

Our basement has been wet for more than 30 years. Curt and his team at Real Dry did an excellent job waterproofing our basement. They were professional, friendly, on time, and on budget. The price was very competitive. Curt oversees each job himself and was prompt about returning every email or phone call. We had some delays in our removing materials from the basement, and Curt was very understanding about changing the work dates. The team was in and out completely finished in 3 days. Our basement and yard were left in immaculate condition. And during some recent severe rain over a 2 day period, the basement was completely dry. The sump worked like a charm and no water in the basement. Great job guys!!

The work was scheduled and completed quickly, the crew was great, and they did an incredible clean up job after each visit. Curt was very knowledgeable in assessing our problem and recommending a quality solution.

We have a circa-1900 bungalow with a fieldstone foundation. The original basement floor was old, thin, and brittle. A large white pine tree that was out front had broken up parts of the floor with its roots over the years, so the floor had numerous potholes through which moisture and musty odors entered the basement. During heavy rainstorms we occasionally observed trickles of water coming in through the foundation. The rainwater rarely got onto the floor itself?there was some kind of French drain system in place, which was adequate enough to hold any water that trickled in?but we could tell from stains on the staircase that the basement had been flooded in a major way at some point in the last 5-6 years, prior to our owning the home. (We think this probably happened in spring of 2011, when so many parts of eastern MA were flooded.) The fact that the pump was burned out was another sign that the basement had been flooded in the past. So, after removing the pine tree that had helped break up the basement floor, we decided to invest in a new floor so our basement would be more usable (drier), and to cut down on the musty smell that seeped into our central A/C system. After shopping around a bit?I didn't like Basement Technologies' pushy sales tactics at all?we decided to go with Real Dry, as their proposal was straightforward and their price was competitive, including a 10% Angie's List discount. It took a bit longer than expected to get going on our project, but I find this is pretty standard with any contractor. The first order of business was to jackhammer the old floor and remove that debris. This wasn't very time consuming, but it did kick up a lot of dust. Curt's guys were sure to tape around basement doorway and other areas so the fine dust would not get to the first floor. They replaced some woefully inadequate column footers (small boulders, basically) and installed new Lally columns without causing any cracking of walls above, and removed 6-8 inches of musty soil and tree roots. This process seemed to take the most time (2-3 days?), as they had to carry bucketfuls of debris up the steep bulkhead stairs. (The point of lowering the level of the soil was to allow space for gravel and a thicker concrete floor without taking away headspace from our basement. I am 6'4", and my 5'4" wife likes to jump rope in the basement.) The perforated pipes and collection basin for the sump pump were set up, too. A pipe was set up to carry the pumped water away from the house, toward the shrubs and flower gardens at the front corner, near a town storm drain. Once those components of the French drain system were in place and the Lally columns were set up, the vapor barrier, gravel, and new floor were installed. A white vapor barrier was also draped across all walls of the foundation, after some of the mortar in that foundation was replaced. The barrier was nailed to joists and boards around the top of the ceiling, and areas were cut out as needed for windows and other things. Marine grade tape was used to connect the various pieces of vapor barrier. In the end, we had a new, relatively level concrete floor without losing any of the headspace we'd had before, and the vapor barrier provided a nice (and unexpected) increase in the amount of light in the basement because it is white and reflective. I wanted to wait a while to see how the basement felt as far as humidity?and how it handled a flooding event?before writing a final review. After the spring the humidity did climb quite a bit, and I noticed some mold growing on a couple of things we'd put back in the basement, such as a baby chair tray, which meant the humidity was indeed high enough to allow molds to thrive. So we bought a dehumidifier to keep the humidity to <50%. The musty smell is long gone, and we haven't seen any signs of rainwater anywhere in the basement except for the collection basin for the sump pump. I assume the pump has gone on a few times, and I now have the dehumidifier draining directly into that basin, but we've never been aware of the pump being on. There are some hairline cracks in the new floor, radiating from a corner where one of walls juts in toward the center and/or from a few columns, but they appear to be superficial. No sign of moisture coming through those cracks, and I assume I can seal them. The floor was given a brushed finish because I thought we might paint it, but thus far we've opted not to paint it. The only complaint I have?and for some reason a lot of contractors seem to do this?is some excess concrete and/or debris was dumped behind a boulder at the edge of our property instead of being carted away. Not a big deal, but I do wonder why contractors do this without at least asking the homeowners if it's okay. One corner of our asphalt driveway sank under the weight of the gravel-loaded truck, but I consider that my fault because I gave the crew permission to drive the truck onto our back lawn to shorten the distance between the bulkhead and the truck for all those trips back and forth. If I had to make that decision again I probably would've told them to keep the truck on the driveway and away from its corners. But it's not a big deal. I liked Curt and his crew. They showed up early and stayed late, and it was right around the December holidays. Communication was good, whether was giving me an answer to a question or letting us know that they were about to get loud, or about to head home for the day, or whatever. $16,000 is nothing to sneeze at, but we now have peace of mind that our basement will not flood, which means we can really make use of it?storage, exercise, woodworking, kids stuff, appliances?without worrying. I'm not convinced the vapor barrier is such a great solution as far as limiting humidity, but it did make the basement look much cleaner and brighter, and it prevents any spurts of water through the foundation from passing over the drain and getting onto the floor. So in those ways it was worth the extra cost.

Curt Guenther was our primary contact. The work was professionally done, on time .Curt was responsive to our calls and questions we had. Would definitely recommend Real Dry to anyone having water problems in basements.

I called Real Dry Basement Waterproofing because I was still getting some water in my basement through the cinderblock walls even though a small sump pump that I had installed about six years ago was helping with more significant rainfall. Curt responded in a very timely way to my request for an estimate. The estimate was very clear and accompanied with pictures of the new sump pump and mirror drain which was very helpful in picturing the work to be done. He and his crew installed a new drainage system, a new (larger) sump pump, and a mirror drain along the back wall of the basement (which continues into the garage) where the water had been leaking in. They also finished the wall with a latex waterproofing cementitious coating and removed and took away an old rug that covered a portion of the floor (at my request). They applied a commercial moldicide after removing the rug. They also broke up and hauled away an old soapstone sink that was against the back wall. Curt and his crew completed the installation in a day and a half. They were very friendly and courteous and responded readily to any questions I had. Curt was kind enough to offer to remove some old lumber that I had in the basement at the same time they took away the carpet and old sink for no additional charge. There was only one glitch in my experience with Real Dry and that was on the second day when they were getting ready to leave and the work bench and shelving hadn?t been replaced because the cement was still wet. At first Curt was reluctant to return on another day to put everything back, but when I told him that I was unable to do that myself and that I had understood that things would be returned to their proper places after they finished working, he readily agreed. He and his crew returned five days later after the cement had dried and cheerfully returned everything to its proper place. At the same time his crew finished painting the latex coating on the garage side of the wall. Curt was very easy to work with, seemed very honest and straight forward in his dealings with me. When I asked about his returning on a yearly basis to clean the pump and insure it was in good working order (for a fee), he was very honest to say that that particular pump wouldn?t need that kind of yearly maintenance, but that he would be happy to stop by (at no charge) once a year to check things out, if that would make me feel more comfortable. He was extremely professional to work with and I would certainly recommend him to anyone in need of help with a wet basement.

Curt and his team were incredible. I called Curt on Thursday, he got back to me quickly and volunteered to come over to inspect the situation and give an estimate at the end of his workday. He was extremely knowledgeable, very friendly, and seemed like an overall honest, great guy. Since it was something he was worried would pose a risk to passersby (our sump pump was located way below the water table and pumping water up at a ridiculous rate onto the sidewalk continuously; with temperatures dropping this could have meant an icy, dangerous situation for anyone walking by our house), he came over the very next day, again at the end of his workday, to fix it. He had quoted me a very reasonable rate because he thought it would be a really quick fix but ended up doing some investigating for us on top of the quick sump-pump raise (another left-over problem for the builders who were cutting corners to sell the place after a renovation). He stayed an extra hour and a half for that (!!!) and I think he probably should have charged more, but it felt a little like a cousin coming over to fix something--he seemed to just really want to help us fix the situation. I feel like I lucked out finding this team and will be recommending them to everyone I know. Added bonus: my two-year-old was home and all of the guys had young kids so they were fantastic with him; there were happy to have him watch them work, they gave high fives and fist bumps, they even sang him songs. Pretty amazing.

They came when I called them, showed up on time, and I'm still trying to decide who to use for the work.

It went great! I spoke with Curt initially to get an idea on price and availability. His estimate was readably available and reasonable. From the moment the team arrived (on time and ready to work), I knew I had chosen the right company to do the job. Curt and his team were punctual, courteous and just a great team of workers. Thank you Real Dry for a job well done.

We contacted Real Dry to assess an issue from the inspection report related to the sale of our house. Curt came out and spent a good amount of time inside and outside the house and provided an assessment and estimate promptly. We haven't had them out to do any work since the buyers will be taking care if that, but if we were to do the work, we'd certainly want them to do it!

My initial problem was leaking in one corner of the basement. Curt was prompt and responsive at first. He came when he said he would and did what he said he would. This problem seems to have been taken care of though I'd have preferred something that prevented water coming down the wall, rather than widening a floor trench to channel it. The greater difficulty came afterwards: there was seeping around the floor of the basement, which had not been the case before his work. Twice he failed to call me back. I finally wrote a rather stiff letter to him, with cc to his partner (or boss, I'm not sure which). After that, he came back and said the problem had nothing to do with his work, though there had been no such problem before his work. He said the only thing he could do was to chop out a section over the drain, run a hose to flood the pipe and see whether the water flowed easily to the sump. He also said he'd have to charge extra for this. I'm hesitant to proceed with him and will probably get a second opinion.

They were very prompt and seemed to know what they were doing. He gave me very good information. I am still debating on what I am going to do as of yet.

I checked web site referenced in Angie's List and called provider who returned call within 2 hours. We set appointment time and date to visit site and evaluate problem. Accompanied provider during inspection who responded to my questions. Provider took photos and did mold swipe and sent to lab for testing. Within 3 days, provider wrote up quote, emailed me and together we spoke by phone about his quote and alternative recommendations. Returned swipe test results withinn 1 week. At my request, Provider proposed to do "destructiive testing" to further evaluate scope of problem with approval of property owner based on a mutually agreeable date if and when requested. I did not request further work from provider because I (buyer of property) decided not to go forward. Provider performed in a professional way and at an excellent level in all respects and I definately would call on him again.

I called two other reputable basement waterproofing companies in Massachusetts for quotes before calling Real Dry. The price quotes for all companies were very comparable, except neither of the other companies were going to remove and fill in my existing sump hole and the other two companies seemed to be more about sales tactics than helping to solve a homeowner's problems. Curt came out immediately to evaluate my basement to see what I needed and took time to even look at my finished portion to see if there was any evidence of water damage. Steve installed the sump pump and did a great job, he left the basement neat and clean after the job. Curt even returned on a Saturday to install the battery backup that was on order. I highly recommend Real Dry.

I called Real Dry Waterproofing on Saturday, June 8, at 413-536-5692, and spoke to a woman who said she was Steve's mother. I was pleasantly surprised that someone answered the phone on a Saturday. She took down all my information, and said that either Steve or Curt would call me that night after 7pm. I said that would be great as I hadn't really even expected to speak to anyone until Monday. Alas, no one called after 7pm that night. In fact, it has been almost 2 weeks, and still no one has called. Maybe they are too busy, or they don't like my location, but someone could have at least called to tell me that. Update: Curt called right away, and was concerned about my negative review. He apologized and explained the circumstances, which are totally understandable, as to why I didn't get a prompt callback. I am changing the score to a B.

They finished and they were wonderful. They did a lot of work and we didn't have any problems. They were very good. They were clean and quick.

Company never responded to my initial request.

Professional contractor, trustworthy.