Keystone Basement Systems & Structural Repair Inc

Tony's crew is the best. They were professional and knowledgeable. They came on time - installed the pump and were very pleasant to work with. I would recommend them to neighbors and friends.

I noticed our basement was slightly damp and that our dehumidifier was filling more quickly than usual, so I made an online appointment for a Keystone engineer to visit that week. The engineer arrived promptly, as scheduled, to inspect our basement. Afterwards, he shared his assessment. When my husband and I told him we would discuss prior to making the decision, he told us he could lower the price and gave us some payment plan options. When we still weren't sold, we were told that if we scheduled the job for that month, we would receive an even lower price. At that time, the engineer gave us a few minutes to discuss privately while he sat in his car. When my husband and I determined that we were not quite ready to commit, the engineer acted very disappointed and tried one last time to pressure us into the job. The next day, I received a call from the receptionist who insisted that a more qualified engineer would need to stop by to assess the situation and provided cheaper options. Since she wouldn't take no for an answer, I agreed to allow another engineer to make an appointment. After getting another professional opinion, I decided to cancel the appointment. When I called, the receptionist was very huffy and rude and made me feel guilty for doing so. Overall I felt this company was, although knowledgeable, too high-pressure.

The installation of the basement drain seems to have gone well. The sealing of the cracks in the basement wall seems OK. I was not home at any time during the work process. I never saw the workers. The workers said they tested the outside drains and they said the drains were OK. Time will tell with that. Much more dust was created than I was lead to believe. My wife had to put rags under door to the basement to stop the dust. The workers used my garden hoses and didn't return them to where they found them. The workers threw their broken radio in my trash when they were finished. I think they should have taken it with them. I expected a little better in neatness. Overall they did an OK job. I would probably reccomend them but they definitely could have done better.

It did not give the solution we were looking for

It has been a year and a half and there has been no issue with basement dampness since the installation.

They did a good job. I was happy with the result of the repair work. They kept me informed of what they were doing. They were very helpful.

The service representative was punctual, informative, and pleasant. He did a thorough inspection, and took his time explaining what the issues were and how to address them. He did not pressure us. Because of the high cost of the work to be done, we are waiting to proceed.

Excellent inspections and presentation of service that I ultimately couldn't afford.

We (my wife and I) are in the process of purchasing a single-family house for an investment and we just got the home inspection report from another firm and they sited that we should seek a professional to inspect the foundation movement on the walls in the garage. I researched Angie's list for some good recommendations and Keystone Basement Systems stood out as the most specialize candidate for the work we needed done. Keystone had a wealth of information, pictures for me to go through to vet them out and it was clear they were the one's to use. I called Keystone on Monday morning at 9am and Marcia answered and immediately understood what we needed and the importance of getting someone there ASAP because it was time sensitivity because we were planning to close on the house in a week. Marcia schedule the inspection that day (Monday) less than six hours from when I called them.. That's "Service"! She sent me an email immediately after the call with details on who the inspector was going to be, what he was going to do and also attachments of all their credentials. That was awesome to see! James Krall was the Field Inspector that came right at the time designated. This was important to us because we had to arrange with our realtor to meet us to open the house because it's empty. We leave close by, so we got there as well right on time and it was refreshing to see Jim there waiting for us. Jim was excellent, he listened to our concerns and immediately reinsured us that the "House wasn't going to fall down" and the areas that we pointed out was actually not load-bearing and just was holding up the garage below the patio above. He explained in detail all the forces that cause conditions like this and that help us as well feel more comfortable about everything. There was however another wall in the garage that was load-bearing, but the movement was isolated to a small section below the walkway above that had a wide-crack or gap between it and the patio and the was the source of the water entering that would freeze and thaw causing the movement over the years. Jim patiently went over the options we could consider to fix the non-bearling walls and the Pros/Cons of each system. He recommended the carbon-fiber bands and gave us ball-park pricing on the spot and explained the procedure they would use to install them if we wanted to go forward. No Pressure! Jim also gave us what he felt would be the most cost-effective way to address the load-bearing wall section and that turned out to be a real reasonable repair to consider down the road. He recommended putting a few steel beams driven into the floor to hold back the movement. Again, this was not suggested that we do immediately, just something to keep an eye on and consider in the future. The bottom-line is our experience was as good as it could have been from start to finish! Marcia immediately understood our sense of urgency and Jim understood that we need to know whether or not it was a good idea to purchase the house as it is and what the potential costs would be in the future to keep the house in good condition...

They were very punctual, and explained everything very nicely. I have no complaints and I would recommend them. I was pleased with the overall experience.

We were having some concerns about our basement and we had a discussion with them. He was very cordial and very informative, but we didn't pursue it any further. The price was well worth it and he came out right away.

Installation was scheduled for April 4th at 9am and the workers arrived about 9:30. Mike was the main worker on the project and did a good job explaining the process. Work started shortly after their arrival and they completed shortly after 4. However, during the process there were a couple of issues. First, the worker who was hauling the materials outside broke a step in our basement. Second, he repeatedly seemed to take breaks, and i could hear the frustration from Mike in the cellar. It felt like the job was rushed at times, as i heard conversations urging the extra worker to hurry up so they could leave before traffic gets bad. Third, we had a crack in the wall and were told during the sales presentation that it would be fixed as well. However, Mike said that it was not in his work order and it was not fixed. Of course, a day later when it rained, water came through the crack into the basement. After they left, we noticed several areas where patching was sloppy. Also, after reconnecting the laundry tub. they did not adequately attach the pipe underneath and water poured out as soon as the washing machine was turned on. We called the company and were told they could not come right back out to fix the problem. The owner came out a day later, fixed the pipe for the washer, and then agreed there were several areas where the final work was sloppy.He indicated he would have Mike come back out and fix the step and the other areas that were substandard, including patching the crack in the wall. After a couple failed attempts, Mike came back out on 4/14. He patched the wall, installed a polyvinyl barrier to make sure the wall was completely covered, fixed the step, and patched and cleaned up a few other minor cosmetic issues. All in all, Mike was very responsive and did a good job. I would have given them an A for everything, as the final result was good. However, we should not have had all these secondary issues and poor finished product, and they should have never left the first time without making sure that they too were completely happy to have their name on the final results. With rain expected several days this week, we are anxiously waiting to see if things stay completely dry.

It was a struggle to coordinate a time for an appt. After several calls back and forth I was able to reach someone and set something up. I'm not sure I would believe the recommendation from the person that was sent to analyze my basement.

The guys seemed to know what he was talking about. I was impressed with that because sometimes companies will send you salespeople who have never really done the work so they don't really know. This guy sells but he also does the work. So, in that sense I felt that he was more than competent to tell me what it was going to be like. The scheduler kept calling to see if we could reschedule to an earlier time because she had a cancellation. She kept calling because, I guess, these cancellations were stacked up, but we couldn't change because my husband works and we had to do it on a weekend. I guess you could say that was thoughtful. He was a half-hour late the first time.

We bought a big deal from Angie's List. They gave us really good information about what was wrong with our basement. They gave us an estimate to do some french drains. It wasn't exactly in our budget, but it was extremely helpful and gave us some information to plan for the future & what we needed to save it for. They were extremely knowledgeable. We had water coming in the basement and we went through the different methods & what benefits as well as drawbacks each one of them have. We were concerned about the downspouts things and run off from the drainage. They explained how that water would come through. They said everything very clearly about the steps with hydrometer and why it would not come from different areas. They explained the whole process and felt it was worth it. They were pretty quick to schedule the meeting and they were on time. I would definitely recommend them and I would definitely come back to them.

Very professional interactions when getting the estimate. The work was done quickly with minimal disruption. I am amazed at the difference in my basement. I no longer use a dehumidifier and I can hear my sump pump frequently working. I should have had this work done years ago.

They showed up on time, 2/24/13, and completed on initial schedule 2/28. However the initial concrete finish work of the trench across the finished room, office, and one other area ( the laundry room) was sub par (uneven and crumbly). Also, the crawl space work was not completed properly allowing the same water intrusion issue to occur over the weekend of 3/2-3/3. However, the company and in particular the owner, Aaron, was very responsive to our concerns/complaint and took the necssary steps to correct the issues to their standard which in the end met our standards as well. Because of the initial problems, I can't in good faith rate the work a solid "A" but would give them a B+/A- if the rating system allowed. They did what had to be done to correct the deficiencies and rearranged schedules to get it done quickly. All remediation was completed by around 3/11/13. We have had no water in the basement since the final completion. (One word of caution, don't believe any claims that the concrete removal method is dustless. The dust wasn't as bad as if a jack hammer had been used, but there was still dust which I fully expected. :-) )

Overall the work performed went really smoothly and it was completed in the timeframe in which I was quoted. Clean-up was pretty much taken care of, except I wasn't satisfied that I was left to put my washer, dryer and utility tub back in place. I was told to wait a day or two until the concrete dries before putting the appliances back. I would have been much happier if they workers told me THEY were coming back in a day or two to put everything back in its place. Instead, I had to call the company and request to have someone put my appliances back where they belonged. However, once I called; the company was more than willing to satisfy my request and someone was at my house the very next day.

My wife and I were investigating an investment property to purchase and we wanted Keystone to come out and assess some cracks in the basement walls. We had discussed this with the seller and they did not have any problem with us calling in a specialist to look at the issue. We were able to arrange with my wife, one of the sellers and the tenants a date and time to come out. The business day before the appointment Keystone called and insisted that I (in addition to my wife) also attend the appointment. Keystone was very insistent that ALL parties be there and block out 1 - 1 1/2 hours for the inspection and that they would not come out unless everyone was present. My wife is my partner in our real estate investment activities and does this full time, whereas I have a busy corpororate job. My wife is more than capable of handling our real estate business and I thought it was somewhat sexist of Keystone to suggest otherwise. Nonetheless, I rearranged my busy work schedule so that I could come out for the inspection. Within an hour of rearranging my schedule, Keystone called back and cancelled the appointment saying it was in everyone's best interests. I though this was exceedingly unprofessional and disrespectful. I really think that it had something to do with me suggesting to Keystone that they appeared to be setting us up for a big sell even before they determined the nature of the problem. This maybe struck a little too close to the truth and they decided it was not in their best interests to make the sales call masquerading as a "free inspection".

Space in which work was completed is an unfinished "mud" room beneath an addition to the house. The original foundation base was crumbling into the mud room, the floor of which is lower than the original foundation. The concrete retaining wall was installed to prevent this situation from progressing. While structurally sound, the resulting concrete retaining wall is very odd in shape, as the plywood forms built and used by the men did not hold the concrete, resulting in lumpy and wedge-shaped retaining structures along the original house-front wall. The digging and installation of drain pipes and sump pump was completed without incident, as there was no concrete floor to deal with in this space. Workers tracked clay mud throughout the cellar, up the steps, into the bathroom, and through the entrance to the house. Some drop cloths were laid in the entrance to minimize this, but to little help. The amount of mess left behind was surprising to me, especially since the salesperson who set up the order knew that there is potential future work to be done here. For example, workers located an old garden hose in the cellar and used it to run water from a laundry tub to the work space. Not a problem... but the old and leaky hose was left coiled on the floor after the job ended, covered in clay mud slop, in front of the washer/dryer. Many weeks of cleaning to rid the house of the residual clay mud and resulting dust. I expected more professional results from an Angie's List recommended provider. I originally paid $49 for an inspection, which is actually something they provide free ordinarily, in hopes of securing business. I'm glad the foundation is secured and the drain pump is in...and that is about it.

I got a call from Keystone to schedule an appointment after I purchased the coupon. A team of 2 showed up on time. They were professionally dressed. They looked at home inspection report I got done while purchasing the house. They inspected the whole house. Tracked the source of little water that I used to see whenever it rained. The job was so minor that they did not do any work but guided me on how a handyman can perform the job.

Thanks to an Angie's List promotion we found an excellent company with Keystone. They definitely delivered on their promise of giving us a dry basement. They also know their stuff -- quickly diagnosing the problem when our home inspector missed it all together.

We had a lovely experience with him. He knows his business. He did an assessment of the house and showed and explained to us what the issues were. He also said what the repairs were and what he could do to fix the problems. We did make a contract but we couldn't use him because we did not have the funds at the time. If in the future I can use him, I would definitely do it.

Overall, no complaints. The foreman returned a third day to install the battery back up system for the pump. When he reconnected the washer, and laundry tubs, he left water in the washer, which was the overflow system to the furnace. At the time he told me that was necessary while working,but he should have told us the overflow water was still there in the washer.

The representative arrived promptly, took the time to sit and listen to what my concerns were. He then took his time and inspected the entire area and explained how he obtained water index and content. He even examined parts of the foundation and was honest about what repairs were necessary and how others could be done other ways that were not so intrusive. Unfortunately we have not been able to have the work performed due to interruptions in our schedule. I will definitely be hiring them for the job, just a question as to when my schedule will allow the work to be performed.