Aquaguard Waterproofing

I chose this company despite their higher price because they promised good customer service and to get all the necessary permits (which is a big deal in the city). The customer service aspect of this company really let me down. The work was supposed to start on a certain date with all necessary permits. The work was delayed by almost two weeks, and I kept getting the runaround when I called, despite the fact that I was told during the sales pitch that customer service was a priority. By "runaround", I mean that they didn't send out the team on the promised start date and they didn't call to tell me, leaving me waiting at home for someone who was never going to show. Then, they gave me a new start date several times and then called back later to cancel (at least they called after the first time. Way to go, customer service!) When the team finally showed up, they only had 1 of the 2 required permits (even though during the sales pitch, I was promised that both permits would be gotten), and I was left with an unfinished project in my basement until they could get the right permit several days later. I confronted the company with the facts above and they gave me a 3% discount and some kind of free inspection to use in the next three years. That is not a typo. 3% for a two week delay, during which time I had to deal with my basement on my own. Now they send me letters every month or so asking me to recommend them to my friends and family. NOPE. I would like to say I had no issue with the team that actually did the work. But dealing with this company left a bad taste in my mouth.

I got what I paid for and the tech was on time. I was looking for another set of eyes for why water was coming into my basement. We found some entry points and he suggested I use some silicone caulking and consider replacing the door.

They gave a bid and I did not use this company. They were very convenient to use but the bid was pretty high.

The only email I've received was right after I purchased the big deal telling me I had to call them. I have two of these emails. I'm a little surprised that they haven't contacted me yet, as It's been nearly 2 months since I've purchased the deal.

We had our issues. The problem was that the water had nothing to do with the basement, it just ended up in the basement. I actually had roof flashing that had a crack in it, and if the rain hit it at the right time, it went through the roof, into the wall, and down to the basement. Their investigation did not come up with that, and because of that, I signed up for a very expensive renovation of my basement, that is going to cost me about 18000 Dollars when it is done. I had a leak for 10 years, and I would have fixed that leak for a fraction of the cost. They work like a machine, they came in, and had my whole basement with the drain done in 6 hours, they had people doing outside the walls, and they fixed the one leak that we knew where it was and we didn't know where the other one was. One day after they finished, the water poured into the basement again, because the 2nd leak was not occurring in the wall. We just finally resolved everything today, because the contractor told us they would find the leak, which was on the roof. They told me they would reimburse the cost for having someone come and repair the roof, where the leak was. It took a month to get all that resolved, and where I actually got the money. What they do is excellent, and I can't say anything about the work they do. They are clean and neat, but they didn't do enough to inspect to see where the water was coming in from. I just signed up for this expensive remodel of my basement, but I don't think I needed that much done. If it rained two days before the job was done, then we would have found out that the leak was not on the wall. If you have a finished basement, then it is more difficult to see where the leak is, while if you have an unfinished basement, you can see the stains on the wall and see where the water is coming from. They were really professional, and very good. There were some mistakes made on the initial inspection. What they do, they do good. I wish there was more poking around by the inspector to make sure that both the leaks were what we thought they were. It was a lot of money to pay for the time they were here. I wouldn't have a problem using them again, I am a lot more smarter now and would not jump into anything without finding out more about what was involved.

Person who came to the house had more of a commercial background so did not offer a real solution for a residential problem other than what I already had or something that was too expensive for me to consider.

We signed up for an Angie's List special deal to have an inspection done and estimate provided. Apparently, the data we provided Angie's List was not forwarded to the company, because I had to answer all the same questions and provide all the same information that I filled out online a second time over the phone, which led to confusion, as the employee wrongly transcribed some of the information and had to call back. Then the appointment date became mixed up and required further back-and-forth to finally establish. The employee providing the inspection/estimate came as scheduled (late in the evening). He was very courteous and knowledgeable. In hindsight, we wished we had looked at Angie's List reviews of the company before he arrived, as he used all the same hard-sell techniques other Angie's List reviewers had noted: He was from the commercial not residential department, he had some extra commercial work crews that were surplus from a Washington Metro contract, he could give us a "discount" (though still a high-priced quote compared to other companies) if we signed a contract immediately, etc. That said, the employee reviewed the records of Aquaguard's competitors and showed how many times they forfeited their names and re-incorporated with similar names to avoid having to stand behind their own guarantees, while noting the long history of Aquaguard and the way it stood behind its guarantee. The estimate he provided seemed like it would be the right kind of work, and the way he explained they would execute seemed like a proper and professional installation. We elected not to go forward at this time as we're still engaged with another company over prior work and wish to resolve it first. Probably a person could engage in hard bargaining with this company to get fairer-priced work (I included the estimate for our wall, which he measure 84 feet in length, to be dug to a depth of 5 feet, to include stabilizing the slab foot, crack repair, weatherproofing, installing a sump and pump, installing an air pump, demolishing and rebuilding a car port slab); be sure to read the other reviews to be prepared for the hard-sell tactics and stories likely to be employed. We measure our own wall at less than the worked measured, something I would address if we proceeded. However, I have no reason to doubt they do good work that appropriately addresses one's specific issues.

The company mixed up scheduling and did not have us down for an appointment on the agreed-upon date. They acknowledged the mistake was on their end.

Response was prompt. Gentleman knew his stuff.

It never happened. I tried contacting them several times and they never responded.

Have decided based on several cost estimates and personal finances to delay project to later date. Excellent When we decide to go ahead with this project we will contact AQUAGUARD.

The sales rep arrived in time and was very nice, but ultimately it was a sales pitch. The rep took a moisture meter (which he kept calling a hygrometer) and measured the interior of the basement. After about 3 minutes of taking readings, he recommended digging up the rear of the basement and installing a sump pump to the toon of 4800 dollars. Oddly, he never went to the front of the basement and took any readings. I asked to see the moisture meter so I could verify his readings. He said he had to turn it back on to calibrate. I said ok and looked at him. He turned it on but was having difficulty with it calibrating and mentioned it might be the battery. I went and grabbed the 9 volt from my smoke detector and the meter seemed to be doing the same thing when it was calibrating. I asked to see it. While I was using the meter I did find a reading of 100 in the corner of the home. This is where the downspout is located which is why I originally called. I was concerned about the grading and how the water downspouts are letting water pool near the home. I mentioned to the rep about the downspout. He said water was coming up from the ground. I asked why the moisture reading was less the lower in the basement. He said it was frozen but when it thaws the foundation will crack. I was thinking that the frontline is about 2 and a half feet down, and the readings were low at the bottom which is 5 feet down. I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to argue. In all fairness he drove all the way out here (45 min drive). I didn't want argue We looked at the exterior of the home and I complained that the previous owner loved the color green. Green shutters, green roof, green sidewalks, green mailbox, green door, and he painted the exterior of the foundation green. The rep said that the reason he painted the foundation green was to hide a crack where it was injection molded and covered with hydraulic cement because the color was lighter behind the downspout. To me it looked like he couldn't get the paint brush behind the gutter really well. I said that I couldn't make a 5k decision in 30 mins. He then said if we gave them a thousand dollars now, they would fix any damage in the future and the 1000 would be a down payment on the contract. I politely said I would have to think about it. No mention was made about the diagram. I kinda figured that wasn't what he was there for. A positive was the customer service rep. Steve Washington is the Client Care Manager. He called me on a follow up and was very receptive, courteous, and professional. He is an asset to their company. He is the only reason gave them a B instead of a C. He offered to have someone else return and do what was necessary to have diagram with elevations completed (which is what I wanted done in the first place).

job was done very professionally. technician explained every thing to me in layman's terms. would use company again, and would recommend to others. john clark

Purchased the $189 sump pump tune up deal and made an appointment for 2/19/2014 for the hours between 12pm-4pm. Between the time I made the appointment and the 19th my sump pump had stopped working. So instead of a tune up this was probably going to end up being a replacement which was offered ,if need , as part of the deal. So I took a day of from work to be home for this. On the 19th around 10am I called Aquaguard to confirm the appointment. I was told that the appointment would have to be rescheduled because the technician had called out. I asked their representative why wasn't I contacted. Why did I have to call you to find out that you cancelled my appointment? I was told that my appointment wasn't until 2pm and that she hadn't got around to it. She said that the appointment would need to be rescheduled for the 20th at the same time of 2pm. So now I'm suppose to lose two consecutive days of work and hope that their technician doesn't call out again. I can not comment on this company's workmanship, but if you value customer service and your time find another company.

Felt as if I was getting a rush job and worse case scenario. If you do not do this your whole house will fall. My gut did not like his approach. Staff over phone were great.

We recently bought a house where Aqua Guard did some waterproofing work, just months before it went on the market. While we were assured that issues were taken care of, the basement began leaking again within days of us closing. We called Aqua Guard and explained the situation and a representative came out. My husband had to measure the area in question for the rep, because he kept telling us that the area was not covered, so my husband measured the 8 feet listed on the work order for him, just to get him to address the problem, which was now resulting in our new fireplace leaking water. Eventually, the subcontractor (this rep) returned and dug up our cement subfloor and connected the leaking fireplace area in the previously existing drainage system that goes to one of the sump pumps. That kept our basement dry about two weeks, and pushed the water leak into our fireplace. We called again, explaining that the leak wasn't fixed and was doing more damage to our basement (at this point, we had ripped up the carpet and were mopping after every rain storm). Aqua Guard sent more people out, took weeks to get back to us about the work, and then used a high pressure sales tactic to get my husband, who was home for the rep to agree to dig up one side of the house for $4,000 plus, and told us we had 24 hours to get back to them and that this new work wouldn't be under warranty. They were never clear on where they would drain this outer drain too, which is suspicious since every other contractor (we eventually sought other opinions) was worried about that. So they wanted to put in a $4,000 plus drain that would move the water off of one wall and have it go back under a different wall, which I doubt would have solved our problem. Additionally, we requested a copy, their copy of the warranty, which differed from the paperwork we had, so we could verify that they would not cover this new leak or address it within the warranty. The only warranty we have, shows a solid line across the area in question, that is leaking and they say isn't part of the 'actual' warranty that they won't show us. At one point when I asked for the warranty they said they can't transfer since it's been more than 60 days, even though I forwarded my first written request for it which was within 30 day of the title transfer. I am not at all satisfied with the work of this company. It seems that they misdiagnosed the problem and sold the previous owner, only weeks before we purchased the home, what was cheapest to gain his business. He sold his home with the confidence that should the buyer face any issues, it would have been handled, but Aqua Guard so far has wasted our time and money, given that their work just pushed the issue around their covered area, but at some point they've decided they had done enough.

Arrived on time, was professional and courteous. Performed the tune-up and gave me helpful feedback.

At this time, I am not doing anything more than gathering information from several sources and considering my options. The visit went as expected.

The guy was really nice. They were really professional with handling the scheduling. His communication skills were excellent. The technician was very knowledgable.

Smoothly. They were professional and did all the work quickly and well.

meAfter getting an initial bid aquaguard called me back since I did not sign a contract immediately without consulting other bidders. they said the chief engineer wanted to talk to me, review the estimate and see if he could lower the cost.. I agreed to talkj with him even though I had not yet gotten a second or third estimate. The inspector came early and told my wife the basement smelled musty implying immediate work needed to be done. He lowered the first estimate from $16,000 to $13,000 for digging to the footers and rsealing the outside of my east basement wall facing into a steep downward sloping hill and would provide free inside trenching of about 45 feet if I signed an immediate contract. The lower price was only available that evening because he had crews on a government contract that was winding down the next two weeks and he wanted to utilize them full time with "home" projects. He implied only his firm could do the work properly and only their guarantee was worth anything because many of the other firms reincorporate after several years under new names voiding their warranties.( Actually this latter point was useful information because most inside trenches that are not done properly clog after 7-8 years, a firm needs to be in business 8 or more years without reincorporating to assure that their work is good enough to honor the warranty on most inside work.) I explained i never sign a contract until I get three bids and would not sign that evening. I asked him why most of the reviews of his firm under Google were negative and he said it was really the same individual who had a bad experience with the firm who was out to get them. After he left I read the recent consumer checkbook article on waterproofing a basement or garage, and was surprised to learn that Aquaguard frequently calls people back who do not sign immediate contracts and sends a" senior official" who lowers the price. And they often seem to have crews available from government contracts who they need to keep busy over the next few weeks as the reason for the discount; in my case they were working on Metro, in the Checkbook article they were working on a different government project. While in my home ,he also recommended that beyond the outside wall work i actually needed to dig an inside trench around th other three inside walls of my basement--not just the included 45 feet but closer to 90 feet. The Checkbook article said this firm has a history of recommending extensive additional and often unneeded extra work from which they offer a discount and the discounts actually increase the longer you dont sign a contract with them. I resent this kind of high pressure tactic, the provision of misleading information if not outright lies, and I would not recommend asking this firm for a bid on any project. I am surprised ANgie's list gives them even a B rating; although on Angie's list, 20% of their reviews are negative even if the majority are positive. However as checkbook points out it is hard to be dissatisfied if you are doing unnecessarily expensive extra work to fix your basement and it actually fixes it. Still not a consumer friendly way of doing business and the firm makes a huge profit on what you could have gotten for a lot less.

They were on time and courteous. I eventually went with another vendor based on both price and perceived quality.

They replaced the sump pump check valves and verified system operation. Came as promised, work completed satisfactorily. A good experience.

They arrived as scheduled, accomplished the wok as planned, for agreed price. A good experience.

The AquaGuard waterproofing company representative gave us an estimate that would prevent mold build up in the entire crawl space of our house in the future. It was presented as a package deal and too expensive for us at this time. Since the problem existed in only one section of the crawl space, we decided to research mold cleanup and do it ourselves following safety instructions.