Value Dry Waterproofing

The solution suggested was a very good solution. I decided to have work done at a later time.

Overall, I had a very good experience with Value Dry and would recommend them / would use them again in my home. The main selling point of this company is that they warranty the drain system and sump pump for the life of the home (transferable to future owners). Most other places will warranty the drain and provide only a 2-3 year warranty on the pump. It's nice to know that if the pump has an issue in 10 years, I can call them to fix it at no cost. I had a leak in my basement (house was built in 1923) that got increasingly worse, so we needed to put a drain and pump in on one wall. The estimate appointment was at 7 PM, which was convenient. The sales pitch was a little heavy handed for me, BUT they provided a very detailed overview of the installation process, were able to adjust the scope of work down a bit to conserve costs and target the main area where we had water entry, and were able to get the work scheduled for Friday of that week (4 days out). I really appreciated the fast scheduling because the upcoming weekend weather forecast was very rainy. The crew (led by Fletcher) was extremely professional, quick, and clean. After they departed, you could barely tell that they had been there. We had a minor hiccup when the negative air system they used to keep dust out of the basement took the pilot light on my hot water heater out, but Value Dry took care of that for me. Most importantly, after a weekend of heavy rain, my basement is totally dry. I had a positive experience from start to finish, and definitely recommend them.

I really wanted to use this company, but they require that both homeowners be present during the inspection. I am home all day and can take care of this without my husband. They did offer to come in the evening, but I have teenagers who need to be driven to activities during that time and a three year old who will be in meltdown mode. This requirement is ridiculous. My husband was an active duty Marine for 20 years and I handled many home repairs when he was deployed overseas. It does not take two adults to make a decision about a home repair. Also, I am capable of listening to the information and later discussing it with my husband if necessary. I am disappointed that I could not use this company, as their work got great reviews.

Did not contract yet for work to be done.

It went great. Russ and Shad were very reliable, trustworthy, and extremely professional. There were honest assessments/estimates on the damage and work needed and they performed exactly for what was stated in the estimate. The work done was very solid and professional. Due to circumstances, I was looking for a "hands-off" experience where I could rely on the company to do the work promised, and Valuedry provided their services extremely well and with as "hands-off" involvement as I needed. Very responsible and clean crews. I can't say enough about how good Valuedry is, thanks!!

My basement only had water come into it once after a downpour, but I definitely had a mold issue downstairs. Any object left in the basement developed mold if mold could possibly develop on that particular material. All other estimates were far cheaper, but the ValueDry presentation was far more professional and the work they proposed to do much more thorough. They give you a sales pitch about how much better their system is, and I recognized it was a sales pitch, but I decided not to take half measures and just get the whole job done. I could have scaled back the extent of the work, however. They gave me a number of options. Before the work started, I had an electrician install an electric outlet in the crawl space, per request of ValueDry. I got what I paid for. They told me in advance that they would be removing two of the four pine paneled walls in the den. They knocked a number of chips in one of the remaining walls and for some reason removed the crown molding on that wall even though they kept the wall. I went through their trashcan and recovered the wooden clothes hanger rack from a den closet and a wood attachment that goes with it. So I suppose that jackhammers and daintiness don't go together, but they got the job done. If you call their office in Baltimore, you may have to leave a message for the right person to call you back, but my calls were answered within a half hour. Here are more details about the job itself. They jackhammered through the concrete floor in three rooms (the family room/den plus bathroom and utility room) in order to install their type of pipe, as well as stone, mudguard, and flow channel. They went around the HVAC system in the utility room. Then they reinstalled the concrete floor. They removed two walls of 1959 pine paneling in order to cover the walls with a vapor barrier. They put the vapor barrier in the crawl space plus crawlspace drainage matting. The installed a closed-cell spray foam insulation vapor barrier in the crawl space. I got a sump well and 1/2 hp sump pump and a new battery back-up pumping system. They installed floor clean-outs, Jet-Kleen drain tile flushing systems. I have a new crawl space door and two EZ Breathe Ventilation Units, one for the basement and the other for the crawl, along with accompanying vents. Whenever I sell the house, I can check this off my list. There is nothing left to do on this issue.

The salesman took the longest I’ve experienced and tried to get me to give him prices that other people had quoted me, presumably to try to sell me the most expensive solution. He wasted over an hour and a half of my evening, of which I had planned to use an hour for errands. The company should’ve told me he would be this long so I could have planned accordingly. He was all about selling and creating a plan, which reeked of a practiced sales pitch. I had three other companies give me quotes at this juncture, so what I needed was not a long winded sales pitch, but simple laying out of options from low to high price for me to consider. Even if they are honest in the quality of their work, the way they attempted to sell felt designed to get the most money out of me and selling me a turnkey plan. I was quoted north of $30k for the turnkey solution. I would guess he wanted to quote me closer to $40k based on the « much more than $30k » comment he made. For the solutions I tentatively could’ve considered, the was quoted nearly $18k and $24k. The $18k solution was more expensive than the equivalent $14k solution from JES (the main difference being the humidifier from JES vs EZ Breathe from these guys), and $12k solution from Virginia Basement. Your mileage may vary, but the quotes for me were expensive as was the time taken to even get to the quote being given to me.

I purchased a deal on an estimate from Value Dry because the partially finished 588 sq. ft. basement of my 1954-built house was evincing signs of water intrusion. In addition to being somewhat damp and musty, its one exposed cinderblock wall had mold growing behind flaking paint. I am asthmatic and allergic to mold, among other things, so I had hired another waterproofing company for an estimate almost a year earlier and wanted to compare diagnoses, recommendations, and prices. VD’s salesman inspected the property inside and out and gave me an extremely thorough explanation of the mechanics of water intrusion, replete with illustrations, his assessment of the problem with my basement, and a recommended course of action. He assessed that the subfloor drainage system was compromised, clogged with clay and mud, causing water to build up several feet inside the cinderblock walls. He judged the previous owners’ decision to install a second sump pump to be a partial and ultimately inadequate measure to deal with water intrusion, probably taken because it was the cheapest option, which I had to admit was consistent with other cheap half-measures they had taken elsewhere in the house. The solution was of course a new subfloor pressure relief system (SPRS), this being a waterproofing company. Once I was sold on that idea, it was natural that I would opt for a new sump well, pump, and battery backup system. Finally, since there was no way of knowing if any mold was growing on the three walls that were covered by drywall and/or groovy Seventies paneling, if I wanted to be certain of minimizing mold, all of the drywall and panelling would have to be torn out and the newly exposed cinderblocks treated with an antimicrobial product and covered with a “vapor barrier” to prevent further mold growth. I also agreed to the installation of an “EZ Breathe” system, which was supposed to dehumidify and purify the air in the basement and force it out of the house via a duct like the one exiting a clothes dryer. The cost for this alone was close to twenty thousand dollars, significantly more than the $9,000 the other company had proposed charging to install a similar SPRS and EZ Breathe system, although the latter project did not include removing most of the drywall and installing a vapor barrier. VP’s SPRS also came with a lifetime warranty, as opposed to the warranty of only a few years that the other company had offered. My reasoning - sound or poor as it may have been - was that VP was charging more than its competitor because it was doing a more thorough job of permanently solving my basement’s putative problems. The job was projected to take three days but ended up taking four since there were apparently more layers of panelling to be removed behind the drywall than had been initially anticipated. As was to be expected, it was extremely disruptive and messy, but the crew did a pretty good job of covering my belongings remaining in the basement with plastic sheeting. They did however turf my lawn with their truck on the first day, break a picket off the fence outside the back door leading into the basement, and also break the metal railing along the stairs leading from my driveway up to the house. More about that later. As the project progressed, I noted the condition of the basement each day and assessed my options for refinishing it. My washing machine, dryer, and utility sink had to be disconnected for the project to be performed, as did the toilet and vanity sink in the bathroom. Their reinstallation was not included in the project. The bottom 18 inches of the studs had been cut away to install the SPRS, and they were now just dangling from the walls. I came to the conclusion that foregoing refinishing the basement at all and just hiring another contractor to reinstall the appliances and utilities was not an option. If I hired VD to refinish the basement, including new studs, insulation, and drywall and reinstallation of the toilet, the new cost for the total job would be $30,500, but in order to lock in that price I needed to decide by the final day of the current job, which turned out to be day four, when the concrete was poured over the SPRS. I shopped around in the limited time I had but could find no contractor who was available any time in the near future, which was a necessity since I could not do without my laundry for an extended period of time. VD was available to do the job immediately, so I signed a new contract with them. The basement was refinished with “primer-ready” drywall, and a new toilet was installed (due to a happy misunderstanding). The drywaller also glued the broken picket back onto the fence. I was relieved when the project was completed and I could finally clean up. The drywalling contractor had left quite a mess, not even using a shop vac to do a cursory cleaning. A few days later the salesman I had initially consulted returned to reinstall the washing machine, dryer, and utility sink. Reinstallation of the bathroom vanity had not been included in the project, so I had to hire a plumber for that surprisingly expensive job, but before it could be performed, the bathroom needed to be repainted, since the moisture that would build up behind the vanity would damage the drywall. The painter arrived and informed me that the walls had not been sanded, i.e. they were not “primer-ready,” as they were supposed to be according to the contract I had signed and paid for with VD. Since the painter was already there, I had no choice but to pay him extra to sand the walls of the bathroom before he could begin painting. I called Value Dry to inform them that the job had not been completed as stipulated, and they dispatched the drywalling contractor again. He sanded the walls, repaired the drywalling that had been botched around some of the electrical outlets, and did a more thorough cleaning than previously (although I had already done several hours of cleaning myself, even having rented a shop vac to do so). Since I did not want to deal with the further hassle of re-removing all of my belongings from the shelves of a closet or re-moving the contents of the laundry room, I told the drywalled not to bother with sanding those areas. Meanwhile, as soon as the EZ-Breathe system had been installed, I noticed that the output was barely an inch or two above the soil outside my house. Concerned that this would make it easy for the system to be damaged by incoming dirt as a result of rain or even wind, I informed Value Dry of the problem. They sent someone out who dug a small pit below the opening and surrounded it with some sheathing. I certainly HOPE it works. I also notified the company that the metal railing leading up from the driveway had been broken on the first day of the job, but I failed to do so until several months after the damage had been done. The representative I spoke with informed me that he would look into the matter but could make no promises since I had reported the damage so long after the job had been completed. The company never got back to me, but I silently dropped the matter since I could understand their position. I should have pointed it out the day it happened. I can report that my basement has remained dry through the summer and fall and no longer has the dampness and musty smell it once had, so the system seems to be working. However, I still have some allergic reactions when the hot or cold air cycles through the ductwork, which I had cleaned after all of the work had been done. I cannot be sure that the mold problem was completely remediated. My advice to anyone considering waterproofing a basement is to shop around and ask as many questions as possible of any potential contractor. Take both the price and the extent of the work quoted into consideration. If you hire this contractor (or any other for that matter), watch them like a hawk and immediately inform them of anything that does not seem to have been done correctly. As detailed above, my experience was that ValueDry made quite a few mistakes, but they WERE responsive when I brought problems to their attention. But for the price I paid, that seems to be the least any company should be expected to do. As always, caveat emptor!

Contractor was very professional and knowledgeable during the estimate. Helped with financing, too. The workers did a great job, were punctual, and finished timely. Great job!

Very thorough, professional and helpful. i would highly recommend this company!

The customer service was great. We had some issues with the soil the next day due to rain and the head foreman came out on a federal holiday and fixed it.

Bill Strong did initial evaluation, he was very good, took time explaining and always available for questions. The workmen were very courteous, keeping me informed of their progress and comings and goings. They made me aware of a structural problem. Only criticism I can think of, is they covered up some concrete blocks we planned on using with dirt dug out of the space.

Terrible. Technician came out for the initial inspection. Had to leave early and said he would be back the next day with a written estimate. Stood me up the next day and never returned to my house or, respond to the voicemail messages I left for him. After two weeks, called the owner of the company and requested a refund for my prepaid inspection.

Very well. The estimator was timely and a wealth of information.

They were horrible. They wanted to know what I could afford instead of giving me a quote. My insurance adjuster was here also and couldn't believe the conversation. I bought a big deal package, No additional charges were charged.

There was a misunderstanding about the appointment for the estimate. Then the powerwasher came at an unexpected time. But they did a good job.

Russ, the inspector, was prompt, professional, and honest. He looked at what needed to be done and gave me his honest opinion that the work was small enough that it and could be repaired easily enough that did not justify hiring a full crew out. I respected him for not trying to upsell me on anything. Would recommend highly.

They came in on time and perform the work as scheduled. They were clean, informative and efficient.

I did not get extra work done simply because they didn't seem to want to go the extra step. We could tell where the water was coming from but we couldn't tell whether the source was from the foundation of the house or whether it was coming from a water line that was coming in at that same area. I think it would have cost a lot more money to really find out for sure where it was coming from so they didn't seem to want to do that, but for the $39 that I paid for it I guess I got what I needed and that was to find out where the issue was. I don't remember the specifics.

Wet basements are a big problem when they happen to you and their is no real easy solution. This is the 3rd time I have had a home that I needed to have a French drain installed in. The company you pick to remedy your situation is important. You want someone reliable and willing to stand behind their work. I had Carlos come out to inspect. Every company I had called out try the hard sell and scare tactics. Carlos from Value Dry did the hard sell but not the scare tactics. The hard sell is to get you to commit, and I don't begrudge companies doing this, but it is not my favorite tactic. Carlos gave me an estimate that worked for what I needed and they came out 2 weeks later to do the job. Their foreman Raul was early each morning and made sure he explained everything that was being done, and we got a quality job.

I was originally quoted $13,000 on July 20th. Les, the sales rep that came out, told me he would do me a favor and bring the price down to $12,000. The rep did some high pressure sales tactics. He told me he would have to call the office to verify that he could lower the cost for me. I told him that I was not comfortable with not getting other quotes and let him know that his price was a little high based on my research. He told me that I wouldn't be getting the same service with other providers. He told me that they would be using a straight saw as opposed to a jackhammer. The rep told me that I would need to give them a $1200 deposit. My friend was there with me and told me that he could pay the deposit for me. Les was supposed to print out the estimate. He brought in his computer and could not print the estimate because it was out of ink. Les said he would write the contract out. When he wrote out the contract, he wrote in in acronyms, so it didn't really spell out exactly what was being done. I asked him about the acronyms. He told me that the office would see everything that he was typing in real time. I asked him to forward me the information that he typed out. He told me the office would do that. I told him that I wanted to be able to cancel. He told me that I would have 5 days to cancel. I called the office on the 22nd, as I still had not received the quote. The woman at the office called Les, who called me. I told Les that I wanted to cancel. Les then told me that he would have my contract e-mailed out that evening. I sent him an email later that evening to tell him that I was cancelling the service again. He called me back after that. I told him not to charge my friend's card since I had cancelled the service. Les called me again on July 25th. He claimed that my contract was sent to the wrong email address. He had already emailed me at the correct email, so I know he had the correct address. Then I got an email saying that the service was all set. He called me on the 26th and told me that he could lower my price to $10,000. I told Les that I don't want to go with their service and that his tactics had been dishonest. He begged me to give him one last chance and apologized. He told me that he would have a team at my house on 8/4 and they would work through 8/7. I told him, against my better judgement, that I would give the company another chance even though my gut instinct told me not to do business with him in the beginning. On July 29th I responded to him via email. I asked him about the contract again, as this was 2 days later. He emailed me a new contract on July 30th which contained service dates of 8/4-8/8, even though I had already cancelled the service again. I told him that I had a major trust issue with him and I would not do business with company just based on his service. He emailed back telling me that their company was booked because of all the rain we were receiving. I then received a call, from Chad on August 4th, letting me know that they were set to come out for the service on August 7th. I told Chad that I had cancelled the service. Les called me back immediately. Les called me back screaming at me. He told me that he guaranteed that I would not get the deposit back. I told him that he was very unprofessional and that I had cancelled the service and I had it in writing. He continued yelling at me and told me that I signed a contract, etc. He started to calm down and told me that he was trying to do whatever it took to keep the contract. He then tried to offer me the service for 50% off. I told him, at this point, I wouldn't let them do the service for free. I told him that he took 5 days to provide a contract, after my estimate, and that's why I cancelled initially and I could not do business with the company. My friend called me yesterday and told me that, although I had cancelled the service, he had been charged for the deposit. I have never experienced anything like the service with Les. The experience made me feel very uneasy. We have had to open a dispute with my friend's credit card company to try to get the deposit back.

We were impressed with the salesman who came to the house. The workers were great and did a wonderful job.

Our conversation went well. But I did not use their service.

The crew was efficient and skilled, wrapped up the work in 2 days. My experience with all aspects of the company, from the office to the field, was positive and comfortable.

Great work was done quickly and cleanly