Chamberlin-Washington Inc.

Went very well. The company was a pleasure to deal with in all respects and did what they said, on schedule. It was a major job that involved excavating under a porch and extending drainage lines way into the back yard, completed over a couple of weeks. At the end of the project, I believed that the slope of a section of the reconstructed front walk was not quite right. Randy had his guys back out here within a couple of days to redo it. We'd had a major water problem in the basement since buying the house over 10 years ago. CWI did the waterproofing in the spring, and we've had a couple of long, heavy rains since then. Basement is now completely dry.

I had a 50-year-old house with a cinderblock basement wall that had water slowly coming through. I researched the various firms that did waterproofing and had three highly rated firms come out for an estimate. The first contractor didn’t even bring a flashlight and just looked around and said to keep an eye on it. The second gentlemen did provide detailed estimate and carefully explained the problem. Randy, the owner, from Chamberlin Washington provided a similar diagnosis and estimate. His estimate was not only a little less expensive but he looked at the entire house and found other things that could use some maintenance. This is what I liked about Randy – he looked at the whole house and discovered several smaller things that should be fixed to avoid issues down the road. These were all things I knew about already but I’m glad someone took the time to examine the entire house and not just the one issue I was having. We had then not only waterproof the outside wall but also fill the expansion joints in our patio and seal one basement window as well as re-point some mortar joints in the brink chimney. When the crew came they went to work. They also did an admirable job protecting our plants. An old section of of a 6' high stockade fence had to be removed and I bough a new section and the crew was happy to put that up. When they water tested the wall they found a small leak. They re-did the sealant and that did the trick. Randy came out and supervised critical parts of the job. He was great to work with and happily fixed a few small things at the end. Randy really cares about doing the job right. I am 100% pleased with the work they did. I watched over much of the repair and everything was done correct and by the book. Overall I can't say enough about how pleased I was with Chamberlin-Washington and their work. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

Our house is SO much warmer! What a huge difference this has made. Crew was professional, on-time and did a great job. Office staff was responsive in letting me know when weather necessitated a schedule change. And I got a phone call after the work was done (and BEFORE the invoice arrived) asking if I was satisfied with the work. Thank you!

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They did a great job. They responded very quickly. They were very knowledgeable. They basically explained everything they had to do. They got it all done very efficiently. I think they saved me a lot of money because they were able to identify some other issues.

CWI was great. My basement flooded because my sump pumps didn't work. (I don't know anything about these things and hadn't touched them for 10 years since I bought the house.) CWI came out soon after I called them and inspected my basement. They found the 2 sump pumps I had were not working and gave me an estimate to replace them. The estimate was less than what I might have expected after doing some on-line research. They replaced my 2 sump pumps with pumps that included a battery back-up. I'd also asked to watch them work so I could learn about these sorts of things. They were very accommodating. They brand of pumps they used were top-notch according to Amazon and Home Depot reviews. I recommended CWI to a friend whose basement was flooding and she was also very happy with their work. Two thumbs up!

The firm's president, Randy Alverson, arrived promptly, assessed our damp basement situation, and explained in great detail the various steps of the waterproofing process. He answered all of my questions and was so professional and reassuring that I broke my usual rule of getting at least 3 proposals for any home project, and decided to hire Chamberlin-Washington immediately. Of course, I had done my homework and read the firm's excellent reviews on numerous websites including Angle's List, which added to my confidence in my choice. The Chamberlin-Washington crew was terrific and worked so hard under very chilly and damp conditions. They first removed all of the plants/shrubs from our front borders, carefully wrapping the roots in order to preserve them. An 8 + -foot trench then had to be dug along the front of our house, to the bottom of the foundation, in order to begin the waterproofing process. They worked very carefully, addressing one half of the foundation at a time (including under our front porch, which was undisturbed). The crew realized that our home's exterior foundation was very rough and uneven, which meant that it wouldn't be a receptive surface for the waterproofing membrane. Mr. Alverson came back to our house to explain the additional steps that were needed to smooth the foundation out before the waterproof membrane could be applied: grind down the rough foundation, install stainless steel wall ties, install wood forms and pour a 4" thick concrete layer to even up and consolidate the foundation. He made sure that we understood what was going to happen, and explained that though this was an unusual step to have to take, they had done it before for with some older homes such as ours (built circa 1925). This extra step of preparation added an additional 50% to the original fee, but it had to be done. Once the waterproofing layer was finally in place, they tested it by spraying water onto the foundation for an hour, with one person carefully monitoring the process inside our basement to make sure that no water was leaking through. Ultimately, Chamberlin-Washington was able to thoroughly waterproof the front foundation of our home, and we have had no further water problems whatsoever. We were extremely impressed with Mr. Alverson and his crew -- very professional, punctual and thorough. I highly recommend this firm to anyone whose home needs similar waterproofing work. I should also add that Chamberlin-Washington honored the 10% discount for Angie's List members -- a nice touch.

Everyone in the company was professional and helpful. The only problems encountered were caused by the Prince George's county permit office and the weather. The original proposal was for excavation and external waterproofing. The county required an external French drain, back fill with gravel up to one foot from the surface, and an external sump pump with an external electrical outlet. These extra requirements from the county added about 50% above the estimate to the final total. The crew spent a few days excavating a narrow trench about three feet wide and down to the basement foundation. We have a back deck and fencing, so some deck and fence posts had to be removed during the work. They patched cracks in the foundation walls, cut back a tree root that was threatening to damage the wall, and added a footer to the bottom edge of the basement walls. Then waterproofing liquid was applied to the basement walls up to ground level and a heavy rubber-like fabric was hung on the walls. The fence and deck posts were replaced, and the French drain pipe was laid on top of the footer. The French drain pipes led to the sump pump, which was then hooked up to an preexisting downspout drain that was also buried until it reached the front yard. The project took about three weeks because of weather delays (the project began in early March, and it snowed a couple of times) and because the footer needed to be added to the foundation. We had to hire an electrician to install the exterior outlet, so we had to wait another 10 days or so before the county could do the final inspection and approve the permit. Chamberlin Washington was there every step of the way. We couldn't have asked for better support from the owner to the crew members, some of whom worked two weekends to finish the job after unexpected weather delays.

Our experience with CWI has extremely positive. This was a lengthy job, but the team worked quickly and did excellent work. The owner of the company gave our estimate and visited our property numerous times to make sure the project was going smoothly. The office staff was also helpful. This was not a home improvement project that we expected and it is outside the expertise of most homeowners. I felt that CWI explained all the components and were very responsive when we had questions. The only drawback was the disruption to our yard and landscaping, but I was consulted before any actions were taken and the team returned to put the place back as closely as they could.

Chamberlin Washington did a fantastic job with a very challenging project. We needed cracks repaired in our multi-colored faux stone veneer and it took us months to find a company that had any idea how to do the job correctly. Randy (the president of the company) came out to my house and was great about explaining the best way to tackle the problem and why. He also returned himself to repair a few cracks with different color samples to make sure we had selected the right colors before starting the job. Jose and Nelson completed the work and were fantastic from start to finish. I felt like they treated my house as if it were their own. They were hard working, proactive and meticulous. They arrived on time, worked diligently, and cleaned up at the end of each day. I particularly appreciated their willingness to ensure that I was happy with how everything turned out. For example, when it was necessary to rebuild individual stone squares, they worked with me to make sure that I liked the final color before putting it on the house. I also asked them to redo several of the initial cracks - not because they were done poorly, but because they had discovered an even better way to blend in the repairs - and they did so willingly. Before they left, Jose and Nelson asked me to make sure they had completed everything to my satisfaction. I missed a few minor things, but Chamberlin Washington was quick to send send a team out after I called. I was very impressed with the company's customer service from start to finish and its quality of work. In fact, the repair of the cracks in the faux stone veneer exceeded our expectations. I would, without hesitation, recommend Chamberlin Washington and will use them again should the need ever arise.

Chamberlin-Washington has been a great help in restoring our home to us after the near disastrous experience with the previous contractor. They worked closely with us to evaluate the extent of the damages, were extremely careful in the removal of the tar material so as to not contaminate the rest of the house with dust or chemicals, did an outstanding job repairing cracks and finishing the walls so they look better than new. All along they were very responsive to questions, concerns, and requests for help in addressing issues. I highly recommend Chamberlin-Washington and look forward to working with them to repair the waterproofing interior drainage system that the previous contractor had also botched. It was great to see the president of the company, Randy Alverson, out at the site on numerous occasions. He personally walk through the finished basement with my wife and I, reviewing all parts of the work and making several recommendations for some "finishing touches" that he had his workers return to do the next day. The obvious pride and professionalism of Randy and his company really shone through everything they did.

Very well. They were responsive and I felt they gave me an honest assessment of my water leak.