Baker's Waterproofing

Nick did a very thorough job of investigating what I'd need. He made sure I understood everything and talked through some of the issues. The only hangup is that they have a minimum price of $1,250, and the job I wanted done was much smaller than that. My job is probably too small for the operation they are running.

Dave Gump came to give a detailed estimate. He spent several hours here and outlined a proposal. The work was completed in a timely manner and after the recent super storm Sandy I had a dry basement!!

Overall, everything went fine. Chris was very friendly and was very professional, and his presentation and delivery were very polished. However, after looking at the specific issues I was having, he was unsure if they could repair the damage. He was upfront about this and said he would call me back. The very next day, Chris called to inform me that he did not think his company would be able to repair the damage (based on the fact that the structure was being propped up by terracotta tile and would therefore not have the strength to hold up to a hydraulic piering). Of course I was dissapointed with this news, but I definitely appreciate his honesty and professionalism. Since they ultimately were not able to help me, I give them a B, but I have no other complaints. (FYI for other homeowners with foundation issues, the other two foundation companies I got estimates from considered the structure to be repairable and provided me quotes).

This was over 6 years ago and I was still working every day at that time, but I'm sure if the work wasn't to my husbands expectations he would have let them know.

They gave me a free estimate and were very thorough and honest in their communication. They were very reputable but I however chose not to use them since it cost too much money. I had a good first experience with them and it was not their fault that I did not choose them. They were like goldilocks where they were right in the middle. They were really honest in the way they were explaining everything. I liked everything about them since they were very forthright and easy to deal with.

They emailed me the proposal and they were out probably a week before. I called Baker's out once before to look at a small spot on the wall and it lined up with one of my downspouts outside and so when the guy came out he explained to me that sometimes when you build a house and you put the pipes in underground after the ground settles it kind of pushes that pipe down. He said let's go up and dig around that downspout to make sure it's actually going into that pipe to carry the water away and sure enough there was like a four inch gap. He said if I were you before I did anything I would have those fixed and watch it for awhile which is what we did. We lengthened that downspout to go down into the drain, but after I fixed the wall about a year and a half later the spot was coming back. I called Baker's back and he came out and because again it lined up right with that downspout he said before I did anything if I were you I would have your drain scoped to make sure there are no blockages or whatever and come to find out where that downspout goes down to meet that pipe there's "T" so it connects into the pipe and at the bottom of that "T" there's like a hole the size of a baseball so the water was going right out right down next to the foundation. We dug that up and we replaced that "T" and we don't know if we're going to wait and see how that works out or whether we're going to fix it from the outside or fix it from the inside. The one thing I didn't like about Baker's was when the guy was here, and it was a different guy than from the first time, I called to ask him questions later on and our conversation was interrupted and we got this down pour and a neighbor was banging on his door asking for help so he said he'd call me back and then I never heard from him. I had to call him back and it probably just slipped his mind. I said we didn't know which way to go on fixing it from the outside or the inside and I said you had said we could fix it either way but if he fixed it from the outside there wouldn't be a guarantee with it like on the inside. But when I brought that up he was not really interested in giving me an estimate to do it from the outside and he had his reasons. He felt it wasn't the best thing for us because there would be no guarantee and he said you fix it from the inside and no matter what's causing it you've taken care of the problems, but our view is if you fix it from the inside you're handling the water but you're not solving the problem. They were very courteous and the guy showed up on time and he was prompt with his estimates.

The guy, who gave me the quote, was good. I went in with another company, who were $300 cheaper than this company.

They did a good job. I had no problems. There were a few minor things but overall it was a good job. I did do some comparison-shopping. They were on time.

A salesman came to my house in December, 2011 and explained the piering system Baker Waterproofing utilizes to raise and stabilize foundations. After obtaining two bids (there are really only two companies in the Pittsburgh area that could provide the service I needed), and after my own independent research, I chose Baker's and put down a 10% deposit. The sales representatives from both companies were very professional but in my opinion the piering system utilized by Baker's was superior. The earliest the work could be done was February, 2012 and due to weather I think it actually was performed in March, 2012. Baker's was very good about communicating the date the work would be done and their crew showed up as promised. Unfortunately, during the initial excavation that was done to install the piers we unexpectedly ran into a 9 1/2 terracotta storm drain pipe. I elected to engage a plumber to move the pipe. It took me several weeks to find a plumber and get the pipe moved. Baker's was very good about working around my schedule in rescheduling for completing the job. Two different crews ended up working on the job at my house and both were very professional and appeared to me to be very knowledgeable as I watched while they performed the work. They were able to lift the corner of my house almost back to its original position. They could have attempted to completely lift the foundation but elected not to out of concern that it could have potentially damaged the existing foundation which would have resulted in costly repairs. This is one area where their experience and knowledge proved itself. My contract included some concrete work on my driveway that could not be done until the weather warmed up. Baker's asked me to let them know when I was ready for them to come back out and finish the work. Although the job was almost 90% done at this point they had still not been paid. As it turned out, I needed to have additional concrete work done and engaged a concrete contractor who offered to complete the work for a fee. In June, 2012 I contacted Baker's and they were willing to work with me and reduced the amount I owed them by the cost of the concrete work that was done by the contractor. It turned out to be a win-win-win for everyone. Overall, the Baker's Waterproofing folks delivered on the work that was promised, were very flexible with scheduling, showed up when they said they would, and provided very competent, professional crews to perform the work. All-in-all it was a very pleasurable experience to work with them and I feel as though I received excellent value for the money I spent.

My foundation had a crack and they said they could fix it and stop the movement. They rescheduled the start date multiple times, then spent a few hours doing the job. The piers were not installed like they said they would install them, and the piers did not fix the problem. I asked them to repair them, but they would not even come look at them.

All personnel, were on time, efficient and professional.

It has held up for a year. The guys cleaned everything. He explained what he was doing. I don't have negative thoughts about my experience. They offer many other services. It took them two days to do the work that they did. I don't have any complaints about the man that came out.

The gentleman spent two to two and a half hours with me walking around and taking pictures. He let me know what he could do. What he promises sounds fantastic. He gave me a rough estimate and he took the details with him. He e mailed me an estimate that was with in a thousand dollars from what he told me. We are going to consider him although we are going to get some more estimates.

BW guys did a good job and everything stays dry. This small job was a bit more expensive than we anticipated, but we understand that there are travel and equipment costs included. At almosr any price, it was worth having the problem resolved at last espe ially by people we know and trust.

Everything was excellent. I set up an appointment on the initial call. They sent a packet about the services, and sent out an individual to give an appraisal for the work. Once the project began, they were in the home for five days. The crew worked constantly. I was almost amazed when I got home at night how much work they had been able to accomplish in a day.

The last call was a free service call just to check the system. It has gone very well. I like their promptness and the quality of service.

Everything I've seen so far has been first class. Their window wells are really top notch. Everything seems like it is going to be top notch. I got other quotes from 8 different companies. They gave me 10 different options and they let me pick my option, which I was quite impressed with. They came within a day or two. I would recommend them to my family and friends. o.

Took serveral months to get resolved. Better Business does not really help. No building codes to enforce, even though it now becomes part of your foundation. Had two other companies fix May of 2011, Matthews Wall Anchor to replace/install the wall anchors correctly and another company that pulled out french drain, gravel, dirt, and install correctly. Also you have a company come out and evaluate the problem. Used Capestone Structural Engineering and Consulting. They know Bakers, Matthews and others. They have experience with Foundations, Wall Anchors and French Drians. Ran out of time for adding more details. Watch who ever is doing the work, take pictures, get more than one quote. In the end, 1 year later the inside wall has been rebuild. The out side needs landscaped finished, some more grading away from the house and grass planted in the spring. I still have all email, pictures, quotes supporting all information is correct above. I was going to write up a bad review about Bakers last year and did not. Thanks.

We still have the crack and when their guys were backing into our driveway the top of their truck put a big dent in the guttering along the front of our garage and it has not been fixed.

He was very nice, but we didn't go with him because of the bid price. He was prompt and thorough. He explained everything to us. Based on his bid, we would not use him in the future.

They were here for 3 to 4 days at 10 hours a day and they did a great job. They cleaned up after themselves. I would highly recommend them. There were 3 guys working during this time. They came out and gave a really thorough estimate. They left literature that informed me on the work. They put on a beautiful wall covering on my basement that keeps mold from growing and water drains behind it. They were polite and worked quietly they were very professional.

I would rate them an A+. They were fast and clean. They were here when they were supposed to be. They did not leave any mess behind. They were very professional and the work was very well done. They would definitely be my recommendation for any of my friends and family members for that type of work.

I called this company because they installed Bright Wall on some of my basement walls several years ago and replaced a broken sub pump. I decided to cover another wall and wanted the same product. I also wanted a more efficient, durable dehumidifier that you just can't find in local stores. Gary gave me quotes on each item giving me discounts on the maintenance on my sub pump and on the dehumidifier (since I told him I could buy it for $300 dollars less on the internet), they reduced the price by $100. The workers showed up on time and were very courteous and informative. They answered all my questions and reviewed the details of the sub pump maintenance and the operation of the new dehumidifier. The quality of the work was good and they cleaned up sufficiently. The disappointing part of the experience came when I was presented with the bill showing one lump sum for the services of $2,147. I questioned the worker and said that the bill did not itemize each item, showing the discounts. The worker called Gary and after talking to him he said that he would take $75 off the bill. I said I still wanted the bill to show the cost of each item. Gary quoted $1,475 for dehumidifier and $72 for sub pump maintenance, but at the time I could not find the amount quoted for the Bright Wall. He called Gary back and talked for about 5 minutes. After the call he listed the first two items as I quoted and came up with a price for the Bright Wall at $23.86 per foot, which made the total bill equal the amount with the $75 decrease. This made me a bit frustrated since I believe I was quoted an even dollar amount for the Bright Wall (several years ago I paid $21 per foot), but since I couldn't readily find where I noted it, I paid the total of $2072. Later I found my note for the Bright Wall of $23 per foot. I determined that I was overcharged for the Bright Wall by $19 and would have over paid another $75 had I not questioned the bill. I told the worker that the position Gary put him in was not professional. He should not have been in the uncomfortable position of discussing the price with the customer. I was satisfied with the work this company did on both occasions which represents the good scores in this report. But because of this incident, I indicated lower scores in price and professionalism and would not use them again. UPDATE: Update to my report of 4/6/2010. After sharing my report with the owner of the company he responded in writing and explained the pricing of the materials, and that the price is different depending on the linear footage, which explains the difference in the unit price. However I was charged for 26 feet of Brightwall and should have been charged for 22 feet. The owner states in his response that I allege that they tried to over charge me and that I failed to note that I changed the quantity of product requested. This is not true, I notified the company over a week in advance of the change in the amount of Brightwall to be installed and I was told that it would be noted. But when the work was done the invoice did not have the adjustment, nor did the installer have instructions to change the amount. Therefore I was overcharged for the amount of materials installed and had I not questioned it I would have overpaid. The owner also states that "the invoice was preprinted before the installation at the agreed price based on the proposal I signed". The company never sent me a proposal to sign prior to installation; all pricing was quoted over the phone. I responded to the owner again in writing and informed him that I contacted them prior to the service call about the change in the amount of Brightwall to be installed and asked him why the invoice was not adjusted or why the installer was not prepared to adjust the amount based on what he actually installed. I also expressed my disappointment that as the owner, he did not express concern for what his customer felt was an uncomfortable situation and that he never thanked me for my business which over the years has amounted to $3,600 in services. He has not responded to my second letter.

The representative arrived in September for an estimate and was excellent. He looked at our walls, took some pictures, and evaluated the layout and structure of the house to see what would have to be done. He explained all of the options well, from the cheapest to the most expensive and even recommended the cheapest options for us since he didn't really think the more expensive options would be necessary for our situation. The work was scheduled for October since we had a finished basement and part of it would have to be "unfinished" for the work to be completed. The work took 2 days to complete. Two workers arrived for the job and were a little late both days. They listened to my concerns (mainly to watch a sewer line that ran right in the path of the trench they had to dig for the indoor French Drain). Throughout the job, they were careful to avoid damage to this line. The work requires jackhammering and is very dusty by nature. Fair warning was given for this with the estimate. Overall, the workers did the job as proposed and it was satisfactory. The main issue we had was with the BrightWall installation, which was a little sloppy, particularly the caulking along the WaterGuard. This was one of the last things they did and it was late in the day, so it seemed like they just wanted to hurry up and get done. I was a little disappointed that there was never any type of follow-up phone call or mailing to see if we were satisfied with the work.

They could have done a better job. They didn't do anything detailed oriented and they were not very clean. It was the typical Friday rush job. It didn't meet my expectations. -Updated: 11/02/09: They did the minimum amount of work. They used cheap supplies and I feel like I wasted my money.