American Basement and Crawl

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American Basement and Crawl provided us a professional and courteous experience when we needed a significant amount of work done under our home. Being in the building business myself and having constructed many homes, I was aware of the issues under our home and had some idea of the costs involved and also realized I wanted a professional contractor who would stand by their work rather than do it myself or self contract it. We met the owner, Jeff Wolfe, at the Southern Home Show in August, 2014 and arranged for a representative to come and give us an estimate and some idea of what we needed. Within ten days we had a visit from David D., their "Product Specialist" and he presented us with options and recommendations. He was extremely professional and took the time necessary to explain all aspects of the various options and, knowing that I was in the building business, didn't have to "dumb it down" too much! We signed the contract and were promised that the work would begin within 3 weeks. One week later the job was started and they were finished in 4 work days. The job is just what we needed at a fair price and done with professionalism and courtesy. We had very adequate communication both from Jeff and his office staff making sure the process was going correctly and to our satisfaction. We would not hesitate to recommend American Basement and Crawl to anyone needing their services.

I thought at first it was a good deal until I found out that the work WAS NOT TO CODE I contacted the company in oct. 2013 and david quoted 1,200,00 but said he would do the work for 1,000.00 since i was veteran and he would come sat. at 10am he never came out again to get the contract signed. so I waited til april to contact again, then he said the best he could do was 1,100.00 since price went up. so I agreed, quote was to do install 27 feet of drain, sump pump,spray mold. but when he came out to do contract March 21,2014 he said he was going to save me more money by not doing the sump pump and doing app. 39 ft drain, I said how that save me money since it same price, he said that I wouldn't have to worry about replacing the pump in the future I said ok. then he said I would get a call to schedule soon but I didn't hear from anyone so I contacted david again on apr.8th and told him we would be gone on the apr 19-26 and wanted to get the job done before we left, he assured me it would be done. then dottie called and said they could come in May, I said david said it would be done before I left, she said there was no way that it takes at least 3 weeks to schedule and acted like I lied about what david said. they came out on May 3, 2014 and the guy said that the French drain wouldn't work I needed the sump pump so I said ok then he said I had to talk to dottie, I said ok she said I had to pay 300.00 more I said why, she said for sump pump I said david gave me quote on it before he changed his mind to do without and it was 1,100.00 then she said well she could let me pay 200.00 I said don't you honor your price, she said that she would do 100.00 I said I not paying more david gave me price and if you don't want to honor your price then they can stop work or we could go to court, then she said you are right I will do it as quoted, so I thought that was it so they finished and left and I paid the balance. the guy said I had to have more work done so I contacted them to get a quote again in july , and during the time a electrician(that I had to do other work for me from angies list )said the work not to code, but a guy from ABC called me 2 times to set up a time for a quote, but then I got a message from The OWNER JEFF AND HE CALLED ME AN A**, HERE IS THE TRANSCRIPT American Basement and Crawl Tim Squires 7/28/2014 need an estimate on the other side of my crawlspace due to getting water in the other side, you did the first job but said due to grading you needed to give an estimate but that was 2months now I think or so Member suggested dates to schedule service: Afternoon (PM) on 7/30/2014 Afternoon (PM) on 7/31/2014 American Basement and Crawl 7/29/2014 As mentioned in a reply email send a few weeks ago,we feel that due to our differences American Basement and Crawl would prefer you find another company to do the work for you. Tim Squires 7/29/2014 I never got that email.besides I don't understand the differences.I just expected you to do what you said you would do.Good thing I had David email about the sump pump or you would of got more money.guess your word is no good.Will be glad to tell everyone about the experiences American Basement and Crawl 7/29/2014 Exactly why we did not to do more work for you Tim Squires 7/29/2014 So it my fault you tried to reign in your contract..lol American Basement and Crawl 7/29/2014 We have not. We did what the contract said and is all the business we wish to do with you.Good day sir. Tim Squires 7/29/2014 I will post my emails and contract to show people how you are.I was going to give you a chance again.but I really wanted to give you a chance to fix the work you did.the extension cord to the sump pump is not to code. American Basement and Crawl 7/29/2014 If we did such a horrible job the first time why would you want us back out? I would bet you have burned your bridges with the others as well and no other wants to help you.Do what you want to just stop sending me messages as Angie's List requires I respond. Your just the type of A** that no contractor wants to do business with. This is why WE chose not to do further work for you.I will not respond to any further rhetoric from you even if I am required. Tim Squires 7/29/2014 Dear sir or madam like I told you I was hoping that you would do the right thing and fix it.your quote was cheaper and I didn't use no one else but you get what you pay for no wonder you are cheaper.but you calling me names is so. mature.but I will do my grading when I get a chance and to copy your responses this is my 1st in 51 years of such a incident Tim Squires 7/30/2014 david is who you need to be mad at, he did the pricing and I don't think I did anything that would make anyone mad are you sure that you don't have me confused with someone else. I just told dottie I didn't understand why she wanted 300.00 more when david said that it was the same price so why does that make me an a**. so confused on this one. THEN NO REPLY FROM HIM, SO HOPE YOU DONT GET THE SAME PROBLEM I HAD, THE SUMP PUMP IS PUT IN WITH A EXTENSION CORD AND NOT HARD WIRED IN. I HAVE THE TRANSCRIPTS AND EMAILS FROM DAVID TO PROVE ALL THIS AS FAR AS PRICE AND TIME AND DATES. as you can tell that when I said I would tell people about how they did their work he said he figured that and that is why they wouldn't work for me, so I suggest you take his suggestion and call dry pro as well and not do work with this company.

unknown

signed contract on april 28, cashed check 05-06-2014, had to pay half, called 05-13 to see when apt was no return call called 05-08-2014 talked with Owen and was to call back, no return call husband called 05-17 , no call back called 05-22-2014 talked with jeff , Owen called to say it could be done following day, told David to schedule when I could be there, this is a rental house and have to have notice to contact renter and I also live in sc called 05-29- no return call called 06-02- no answer and no return call if company cannot return call , I don:t think I can trust work to be done correctly have left many messages no no one will return call and will not return money

From start to finish, the American Basement and Crawl company employees were competent, polite and efficient. All questions were thoroughly explained and answered. The basement cleaning was exceptional and was not rushed. The installation and encapsulation followed promptly and it looks like new. We were pleased with the whole experience and have no hesitation in recommending the company, their employees and their work.

We moved in our house approximately 3 years ago and we knew at that time that the vapor barrier was not properly installed and that we would have to address it at some point. During the summer months we noticed that our hardwood floors would cup from the moisture that was coming out of the crawl space. We also noticed that we had some odor in our home from the crawlspace. I did a lot of research on my own and decided to have my crawl space fully encapsulated. I considered buying the materials myself and doing the work on my own. I asked Jeff from American Basement and Crawl to come out to our home for an inspection and quote. Jeff confirmed out moisture problem and gave me what I thought to be a very fair quote to complete the work. I quickly decided against completing this work on my own because I have limited time and I was certain that Jeff and his crew could do a better job that I ever could. All of the work exceeded my expectations and our crawlspace looked great. It was nice and clean and also is now conditioned so we will not have a moisture problem in the future. About 2 weeks after my install we had a significant rain at my house, more than 4 inches. Water came into our crawlspace and went under our vapor barrier. I called Jeff and he immediately came out to my home to inspect it. He told me that we really need a Sump Pump with french drains and he agreed to do this work at a very fair price . This fixed any problem from rain coming into our crawlspace and it now stays very dry. Jeff and Owen were great to work with and I would highly recommend American Basement and Crawl if you need this type of work. Their price was very fair and their work ethic is 2nd to none.

We love our "New" encapsulated crawlspace.. It was very carefully done and the process explained to us each step of the way. The encapsulation process was completed in about 3 days. The crew was here about 10 hours each day..! Now our crawlspace is smooth, clean, and dry. We are ready to start storing our seasonal decorations in this new space and look forward to clearing things out of the garage and into this wonderful area...

A "new crew" was used to do fix/replace our french drain and after completion we learned that this crew had quit shortly after our job. One of the more permanent staff had to come out several time to review/fix the work. We were told by this employee that this temporary crew had done a poor job and he had to do some fixes (similar issues at other jobs the "new crew" had done work at). Long story short we still have water issues as the french drain was not installed deep enough behind the basement wall and the waterproofing material that was installed was not sufficient (or not installed properly). We have had other water proofing companies to our home to confirm this. We contacted the company and we were told that there was nothing else they could do in the basement (the provider did not go even go down and check to see if anything with the work they did was wrong).

Great all around job promptly done!!! Encapsulation very carefully done, sealed all around and looks great!!! Makes for really good work environment in crawl space for HVAC and plumbing, electrical and such other work that requires use of crawl space. Owner Jeff Wolfe and project manager Owen Bates took a personal interest to insure work was properly and promptly done Jeff Wolfe has very high standards and personally inspects all work to insure it meets those standards I would highly recommend American Basement and Crawl to anyone who needs this kind of work.

Everyone was prompt and did not waste any time. They were all willing to answer my many questions about the process and materials, especially David, the project manager. I had 3 different vendors working on my crawlspace and foundation issues, and they were all cooperative with each other in scheduling the work. Several people from the company called during and after the work was done to be sure that it was exactly what I was expecting. I would not hesitate to use this company again.

Jeff Wolfe came to our home, did full inspection, reviewed details of what found under our house, provided quote and established start date. Set all expectations up front. Jeff worked with us after the contract was signed. He went out of his way to accommodate our needs, both cost and timing. Two men showed up to do the work over 2.5 days. They were both extremely courteous and accommodating to a couple of changes we needed with visiting family. The company contracted with local electrician to electrically connect the dehumidifier same day the installation was completed. American Basement & Crawl followed up with me to make sure we were completely satisfied. Great experience from start to finish.

My crawl space has very low clearance which I am sure did not make the job easy. The installers were very professional and did a great job. I have already seen an improvement in the living areas of the house due to the installation. The service provided before, during and after the project was excellent. Since the installation has been completed I've had HVAC and plumbing maintenance done. Both contractors were very impressed with the work and asked for American Basement & Crawl's contact information, so they could recommend them to their clients.

Called and within a couple of days Jeff was here, checked out our crawlspace and suggested what should be done and explained everything to us. Very professional and pleasant. They did a nice job, left no mess, workers were on time, friendly, and very professional. Would definitely recommend them to others.

The team at American Basement and Crawl did a great job at our house. Due to the non-stop rain this year, humidity was starting to go up in our crawlspace and we like to keep a dry, clean, crawlspace. The insulation was getting old and starting to deteriorate also. We called multiple companies to get quotes but they were the most responsive and gave us the best quote. They did the work very fast and it was easy to work with them. Since there was a one-week backlog for the dehumidifier we wanted to use, they went ahead and did the work and installed a temporary one until the new one came. I would definitely use them again and I can certainly recommend their work based on my experience.

We had some mold problem in our crawl space due to moisture issues. Overall, I was pleased with the service. Nick came out to do an estimation promptly. The service was started promptly as well. There was a spot that they had missed and when I brought it to Nick's attention, he promptly sent someone to re-treat it. No problems to report i terms of quality of service and professionalism.

We met Jeff at a home show where I was initially interested in a gutter guard system. I had no intentions of setting up any appointments, but when I saw the Master Shield system that ABC had it intrigued me. It was nothing like any of the other systems that can still potentially allow items into your gutters. I had to check it out and then had one of Jeff's team come to the house to give us an estimate. Owen showed up on time and on my schedule. That is always a plus with mine and my wife's busy work life! Owen was professional and knowledgable. We scheduled the work after talking to them and the installation team was on time, neat, professional and did a fantastic job. The pitch on our roof was extremely steep and it was still no problem for them on the installation. I never thought I would look forward to fall again with the leaves, but bring it on! A few months after the gutter work, we had a separate moisture reading done on our crawl space and it was slightly higher than I was comfortable with. Having worked with Jeff and ABC before, it made the decision easy to call them back to look at our space. Owen once again, met with us and did all of the initial dirty work. He showed us pictures from the entire crawlspace and where we were having trouble. We immediately had ABC complete an encapsulation of our crawlspace area and install a dehimidifier. Our installaion guy, Terry, did an amazing job in such confined space. I can even crawl around under my own house now because it is dry and clean! My recommendation is for anyone with issues from clogged gutters or soggy crawlspace to give American Basement and Crawl a call. You won't be disappointed!

Jeff was excellent to work with on laying out the work. His crew showed up on time and within 2 days installed the entire systems which went far beyond the expectations that I had. They spared no expense to perform some of the best most professional work that I've ever had done. The crew was polite, trustworthy, explained what and how they were approaching things, and reviewed progress throughout the job. They left the worksite in a professional manner. 6/26/2013 Update 7/5/2013 Had to contact Jeff the day after the guys left due to issues with the newly installed system which include water still puddling in basement, water pouring in through the hole in foundation created by the guys, water coming up through the replaced concrete, and no cap on the end of the drain line. The guys came out and installed the cap, but the other issues are still unaddressed. The only options discussed to resolve the other issues would require another whole additional drain system outside of the foundation?! Have heard nothing back since then and water is still coming in. Will continue to post updates on resolution if / when something gets done. Update 8/1/2013 Crew came out a couple weeks ago and added an external French drain about half way down one wall, for a small additional fee. The crew did an excellent job, but the issue is still not resolved. Informed Jeff with messages and picture that water in basement was still worse than before the whole project started with standing water. He said that crew would come out and take a look, but to date after leaving additional messages, still no contact. Still waiting on check valve also to stop back flush of water in drain pot when pump shuts off. Also the crew tried to patch the floor to correct poorly done job on first go around, but all they had was std concrete mix which had stones in it, leaving a rough finish with stones sticking up out of floor. I have spent the last couple days trying to chisel the stones out so that I can go back with a layer of the proper mix with no stones to restore the smooth floors. If I still have heard nothing from Jeff, I will also attempt to properly seal the leaking areas with hydraulic cement to see if it helps. Update 8/30/13 Still have heard nothing back from Jeff or crew. Doing the best I can to complete the repairs myself.

Every home repair should be so simple! Thanks for fixing everything

Problem was a weeping basement cement block wall. American basement installed the sub-floor flat trunk system. The workers completed the job in a timely manner , were very neat and cleaned up where necessary . Unfortunately, the problem still existed. The owner, Jeff assured us that he would come back as many times as needed to fix the problem of the weeping wall. Which he did. They had to return twice and ended up digging outside where they discovered where the problem was originally coming from. They sealed the foundation, a well water line that was not properly sealed and waterproofed an area where the bricks were not sealed where they rested on the concrete blocks. We no longer have a weeping wall and our basement wall is completely dry. I strongly recommend this company. Even though, our problem was hard to detect, they persisted, were nice and professional about the situation and didn't give up until they found and fixed the problem, with no extra costs. Jeffrey Wolfe, was indeed a man of his word and that means a lot in today's business world. We are totally satisfied with the work done. Ray & Diane Brackett

The work turned out really good! The crew was very friendly and receptive to my needs. They were reasonably priced as well.

I met Jeff at a home show in Charlotte. I have researched crawl space encapsulation in the past and always wanted to do it. I am aware of the other "big" companies that offer this service and had an estimate by one of them about 5 years ago. But Jeff talked to me like he realized that I am no dummy. I do most of my work myself and have been in and around construction my entire life. I wire, plumb, build, roof, excavate. etc. I just did not want to takle my large crawl space myself. Plus the materials aren't available to a homeowner. There are just some things you need to hire out. This was one of those things for me. I did have to do a little prep work. I had to install an air inlet pipe for my furnace, which is in the crawl space. And I also had to install a 110V recepticle where I wanted the dehumidifier to be. They would have done those things, but like I said, I try to do all I can myself. Jeff talked to me in detail and knew I understood what he was talking about. Jeff is genuine, and also genuinely concerned about his work, reputation, and customers. His crew of two was also very conscientious. And they were regular American guys. You don't find THAT very often anymore. I could actually carry on a conversation with them and explain certain things I wanted. They worked hard and late. Crawl space encapsulation is not cheap. But it's not all because of labor. The B rating for price is not because American Basement & Crawl was higher than the others. It's because it's just an expensive thing to do. But worth it in the end if you like your house & health. The material is expensive and the dehumidifier is also expensive. Mine was $1100 from Jeff. He told me if I could find it cheaper, go ahead. So, I looked. And looked, and looked. $1150 was my best. And I wouldn't recommend putting a regular dehumidifier in a crawl space. I have researched that route too, and that was long before I met Jeff. So, why did I choose American Basement & Crawl over those others? Well, I guess part of it is I like to support the small guy. And in my experience, you get better service from a small guy. So far, I am right. But also because he followed up with me after the show, came to my house when he said he was going to, didn't cancel anything at any time, and he fit my job in on an ASAP basis. I think it was one week from the time I OK'd his estimate to the time they started the job. I am very happy with the job and am looking forward to see how it performs next summer when it is humid. American Basement & Crawl is a brand new venture for Jeff and I know he will do well if he keeps doing what he did for me.

It was not nice to have to live with a crawlspace that was nasty. American basement and crawl was great to work with and my crawl space is totally changed from what it was. Nice ,clean,dry and no more odor. Definately would recommend this company

What stood out to me about them was, the owner was very professional and very willing to work with my schedule. There were some issues with some of his workers and when I called him and told him about it, he readily came and got it corrected. In fact, last week, one of the workers came and looked at the house; I didn't request it, they called me and said they wanted to come over, look over the house and make sure everything was still fine. That impressed me.

My husband and I noticed a strong musty smell off and on in our home and were told that it may be coming from the humidity in the basement/crawlspace. We met Jeff of American Basement and Crawl at a local home show. He inspected our basement and showed us where there was mold. He recommended treatment of the mold and encapsulation of the crawl space along with the installation of a high powered dehumidifier. He was very helpful, knowledgeable and professional. His workers were courteous & knowledgeable and did a great job! Jeff came out to inspect the job and made sure we were satisfied with the results when the work was completed. We no longer have a musty smell in our home and are very pleased with the work performed. We felt that Jeff's pricing was fair and his workers were reliable. The price we paid included a heavy duty dehumidifier. We found him to be honest and responsive to any questions or concerns we had prior to the work being performed. He also followed up with us once the work was completed to be sure that we were satisfied with the job. I would highly recommend Amerecan Basement and Crawl for your waterproofing/dehumidifying needs!