Basement Systems USA

They were the lowest priced company out of all the estimates I got but they did an incredible job. My basement is dry and we are excited to start utilizing the space.

It took about two or three hours. I would recommend them.

Gentleman representing the company showed up as scheduled. He took a look at the basement, took some measurements, completed some documentation which ultimately didn't help us out. Situation: Moisture is coming in through the walls due to poor soil/soil drainage outside the house. Unfortunately, this company doesn't do regrading, landscaping, or fix drainage problems causing the problem to begin with. They recommend a product on the concept that your walls are coming in and you need to fix the symptom. Perhaps, the concept works for folks, but the estimate didn't help in my case.

While I didn't realize it at the time, this event actually went very badly. I had been having a leak in my finished basement that was soaking through my carpet. I called Basement Systems USA to diagnose the problem. An associate named Tim came out to see me to diagnose the problem and provide an estimate for repairs. Tim showed up on time and was very professional. He did a quick inspection of the area of the problem and then diagnosed it as either a ground water leak or surface water leak. He indicated that the remedy would be installation of a sump pump and water drainage system. He was quite knowledgeable on the technology behind the Basement Systems unique system. His estimate included sump pump installation, a new water and mould resistant wall system, new replacement tiling for the floor, and other items. All of this totaled $3,613.50. Unfortunately, the proper problem was not diagnosed. After having an associate from another company come out to inspect the leak, he was able to quickly surmise that the problem had nothing to do with ground or surface water leakage, but instead was a slow leak coming from a busted water line entering the basement. He advised calling a plumber. If I had listened to the Basement Systems USA salesperson, I would have spent $3,613.50 and my problem still would not have been rectified. I think that companies of this nature should first concentrate on properly diagnosing the problem before they push their sales pitch. Update: the owner did contact me and sent a gift card to attempt to make up for this mishap. Therefore I've updated my grade.

It was great. They came when they said they would be here. It took less time than we expected, they talked is through what they had done while we observed. They cleaned up after them selves when they were done and they stayed on point the whole time.

The company was very professional from the initial consultation to the completion of the work. The work crew were good at their jobs and their experience showed. They were very respectful of my home and property. They worked tirelessly for two days to complete the job. I didn't see them take any breaks except for lunch. Willie the supervisor, Chris,Ted and Mike did an excellent job and I was well satisfied with the work and the way they left my home after the completion of the job. We did a refinance of our home to pay for this and were caught in a kind of catch 22 situation. The company wanted to be paid upon completion of the work but the Bank wanted the work done before approving the refinance. I had the bank contact Basement Systems USA and they were able to work things out to get the job done. I am so appreciative of basement systems USA for working with us and the Bank to get this done. I can't say enough good things about them. I would recommend them to anyone.

I read so many reviews and decided to go with BS. The sales pitch went great and the owner was very personable, showed warranties etc. The work was done neatly and completed on time (3 days). I did not like the discharge pipe sitting on the grass. They suggested I get a landscaper to solve the problem. They do not bury the pipe but I can live with that. I also agree that they track those payments like hawks and will call you until it's paid. The niceness wore off when I called them back, several time. About two months after the work was done (August 2013) I started to get efflorescence on the several areas of the floor. I had never had a problem with mold or this white residue that comes out of the concrete that smells damp. I called, sent some pictures of what looked like white dust (not mold) and they were hesitant but came. They said that if it wasn't water coming up through the floor, they were not responsible. The system works very well but I never had had this problem and I do not know how to get rid of it. They suggested I paint the floor. It took about two weeks and the powder bubbled the paint and eventually it chipped off everywhere where there was powder or efflorescence as they call it and the floor looks worse than when it wasn't painted and I am out $$$. The company is basically telling me it's out of their hands because they didn't cause this. I told them that before the waterproofing, I didn't have the problem, after the job, I did. So they solved my water problem and after they did, I have a new one. I have no recourse, since they are the experts and they can't tell me how to solve it and as far as they are concerned, it's not their responsibility. Quite an expensive experience as basements go. I've spoken to several contractors and a local company that deals with commercial sealants for really big jobs like dams and cylinders, etc. I have someone coming to my house to see if they can figure out how to resolve it. You sweep it away and it comes back. I never had to sweep until I had this system installed. With basements, you are basically at the mercy of the company because usually, you need the problem resolved quickly. It's expensive and once you pay for it, they say bye, bye. Do your research or you'll be sweeping too!

Not very responsive, very expensive, but nice when they did get in touch.

As bad as it can get. A no show.

They were good. I had no problems with them. They have good staff.

He wanted to do a lot of different things to make the basement more liveable for us. Scheduling was great and there was one technician here inspecting everything. I do feel the price was on the high side. We were not able to do the work at the time of service.

The pre-sales person was nice and friendly and we have not heard from him since the sale either. But we will say, he did not communicate with us properly on how long this job could take, stating the jack hammering would only be a few hours, "we could go to lunch an come back and it would be done". Our entire house is still being cleaned of the cement dust that they caused by the jack hammering as well, even on the second floor, so be sure you understand that your entire house will be covered in this dust that will require a thorough cleaning, mopping and vacuum of all floors. They said our basement is poured thicker than they expected that caused the couple hour job to turn into 2 days of jack hammering and the noise of a jack hammer as well, all the while knowing we had a 1 week old new born in the house. We were also told by the person that schedules the jobs, it would be a 2 day job, that was over 2 weeks ago and things are still not completed. The delays are they did not have all of the parts, yet the pre-sales guy is the one that did the design and is responsible for the measurements. While they were jack hammering they busted our main sewer line going to our septic system as well that added to the delay which is still not fixed properly. They did attempt to repair the main sewer line job and used a rubber coupling with 2 small bands at each end to make it easier on them instead of putting everything back the way it was before the busted the line stating they do it all the time and it is not a concern or problem instead of spending the $5 to fix it correctly and back to the same condition it was in before they started the job. Come to find out they are not even a licensed MD plumbing company either but they kept wanting us to allow them to come fix the issue. I sent them the MD state law about doing plumbing work without a license in Maryland. Another area is our yard, they did not put down drop cloths while mixing cement to fill back in the basement they jack hammered and for the rock, meaning that my yard has both rocks and cement chunks in it that was not there before they did the job, just another attention to detail that these guys are missing. I am going to finish my basement and I was thinking about using this company for the job but based on how they handle, or lack of handling a problem, lack of attention to detail and leaving a job site not in the same condition that it was started in, all the while trying to do work on our house they are not licensed to. I will not be using their services for this work and we just pray there are no problems in the future that we have to deal with them. A $10k transaction with a company just to find out they are not the best out there as they claim and as the pre-sales guy states, bad contractors are out there because people hire them. Beware of this company and I would look for other companies to do your work based on my experience.

They said they were going to do a 17 point checklist and he didn’t do it all. they were just trying to sell me stuff.

It went very well. All the work was completed in less than (2) weeks with no problems at all. It has been over a year now and with all the storms including Sandy I had no water problems at all where in the past I had water up to 4 inches in the basement. Now its a very livable useful area that we thoroughly enjoy.

After they evaluated every crack in the basement wall, they advised that they would only become more severe over time (this is a 55 year old house - and the cracks have been there for many years). If we didn't fix it now, the costs would become major at a later date. After they left, we hired a registered engineer/ home inspection expert. He examined the cracks and the basement walls and advised that the repairs recommended by the Angie's coupon company were not needed. As previously stated, the coupon was nothing more than an opportunity for us to pay for a sales pitch. We won't make that mistake again. I would suggest that Angie do a better job of evaluating companies that want to market through the Angie coupon process.

It was fine. The root of the problem was not necessarily found but that turned out to be a plumbing issue anyway so it would not have been found. It was very helpful and good but I did not end up having to do what I thought that I was going to have to do. The man from the company came out within a few weeks after I purchased the big deal and he did not charge me anything more than the big deal price. I was having water in my basement and I was not sure where it was necessarily coming from because I have already had my basement waterproofed and things like that so he just inspected the whole house. He went on the outside and got up towards the roof to see if it was coming down from inside the walls or something like that but it was not the case. It turned out that my main stack had a crack in it but he would not be able to find that without tearing the wall apart. So, he just inspected and he found a couple of other issues where I was having water but they were just minimal amounts. I live alone and I cannot be using my bathroom and be in the basement at the same time but I had a friend over and I was in the basement and he went up to the bathroom and then when he flushed the toilet, I noticed the water coming down the walls and that was how I found out what the problem was. It was one thing after the other. I ended up having to have my whole sewer line looked at as well. I would use them again in the future if I need to but hopefully not.

After researching it was found that no permits were ever filed on the new room and we spent the next 8 months reconciling that between us, Basement Systems and the township. To our knowledge they were fined by our township as well for not filing proper paperwork. President of the company was very apologetic and gave the impression he had no clue we charged a permit fee without the paperwork being filed. He fixed the failures at his cost. We appreciated that. I'm not sure though if I wasn't familiar with permits and construction we would have ever been told or he would have known.

It is very positive. They work with us as the work we needed. There were a couple of issues that came up after work, after they had everything put in. Nothing major, it turned out that if we will finish the 2 months, and Tico came in, they said, they had to move the meter. And they are going to build in around where the meter is. They came yesterday and I had based in systems, take up some of the molding they have in, so that the meter could have been change. Because they were not able that could apply meter of change and they were not able to put molding around, so that is it. It still fits it again, that worked out. We had them come in 2 separate times because we had a major plumbing problem over the summer. Then I just had this summer, we found out a major swell pipe was broken, that went, so, we had water coming in. We also later found out the pipe in the bath and a half also was broken, that had to be done. So, the whole basement that we already had since first 5 years ago, had all taken apart. I had major mold, have basement systems to come back, they took out the walls, they leaded it with, I forgot what it is called but it is special that it will not get mold. It is guaranteed for 15 years. They obviously had to take out some of the tile, we had special tiles put in, so, again, in case of water, it specifically stood out on the floor, and that all looks good. So that now, if we get water towards the front, that will final to some pump. And I have been hearing that actually go up lately this some pump so, I know, that is working. Yesterday, I had to come back because of the issue with the meter in the back of the room, where I had to call them, because in the past month, I had, like I said, Tico come in, they had to change their meter, and it turns out that is what it built out, that were done with the walls, and this is only done between the summer and November, all the work they did. Because of the built out, they could not remove the meter, so, I just had them to come yesterday. The second go around where they had to redo the basement, I believe, it was around, $17000. The only reason I say that is because it is very dirty work that they have to do. I had to lay down the paper for them to work in the hassle that they had and the dust went into the house where they were working, it was phenomenal. And then, afterwards the clean up, even with the papers, was phenomenal throughout. And that was just the nature of the job. What they did was excellent. But in terms of clean up, that was afterwards. The work itself was excellent. I have to admit, I did not compare prices.

I was not happy with them and I would not use them gain. I would not recommend them to anybody. They cut my radon pipe and he put a rubber band around the pipe that was cut. I informed him this was a problem and he said he didn’t know anything about radon systems. The top that he installed didn’t even fit and he filled it in around the edges of the circle with cement putty. He had done things that I never agreed to. He left me with a worse situation than what I started with. He was very knowledgeable and I was happy with the battery backup for the sump pump. They called me after the job to find out how well they did and I informed them of everything and all they said was that they would pass the information along.

Very good experience. Came promptly. Very pleased. Gave me recommendations till I was ready to start work.

Jeff who came out was very professional. I got the basement inspection and he told me what I needed to do. I will not have the work done until Spring however.

Basement Water Systems was professional and prompt. Our problem seemed to be resolved by replacing a leaky downspout, so we did not opt for the system.

Great initial service and installation. Terrible follow-up. We had a couple of issues we wanted someone to come look at/clarify. I made two calls with no call back. I finally got through and was told it would be over a month before someone could come by for, at most, a 30 minute visit. Not sure if I would use them again. Still on the fence.

I had no sooner purchased an Angie's deal and was pleasantly surprised with an immediate call from Basement Systems. I was able to schedule an inspection right away. I decided to have waterproofing done, but had to delay due to personal reasons, which caused me to miss out on the $200 coupon. Subsequently a date was arranged. Willie and Miquel arrived promptly and were very professional. Upon inspection of the finished work, I realized the trench had not been extended as far as was stated in the contract. After a call to the office by Willie, they went back to work and completed the inside portion. Upon inspection of the outside, I realized that the discharge line was not connected to the downspout as stated in the contract. It was explained that because of where the sump pump was placed, this would be impossible. Also, an ice guard was to be included. It was explained that unless the discharge line was buried, there would not be room for the ice guard. Had I known in advance, I may have chosen to have the line buried. All in all, a positive experience.

Very good explanation of work which the contractor does not do himself but got a referral. No work necessary at this time. Very helpful and professional and knowledgeable.