DOUGLAS FOUNDATION REPAIR

Douglas and his crew were extremely professional. From the outset, Douglas provided outstanding service beginning with a reasonable bid that was amended as we worked through our budget with him. As work progressed, Douglas was on site everyday and personally saw to it that the workers were doing a thorough job. When he ran in to unexpected issues, Douglas always consulted with me prior to performing the work to ensure that he could do the job right as well as stick to the original bid that we had agreed upon. I would, without reservation, recommend Douglas Foundation Repair to anyone seeking to re-level their home or fix foundation issues.

Douglas was great! Due to my hectic schedule they were able to make an appointment for me the very next morning after I called (usually they are booked a week in advance). They came and inspected my slab foundation while it was open due to a plumbing issue. They used precision equipment and also their experience to make a recommendation, which was to do nothing for now. There was no hard sell, and they certainly did not recommend unnecessary services. It is obvious that they have the expertise and experience to repair and evaluation foundation issues. In the event I do experience foundation issues, I will definitely call Douglas Foundation Repair again.

I contacted Douglas Foundation Repair because I had a two hairline cracks on the west side of my (single) story house. An on-site evaluation was scheduled with Darrel. Darrel contacted me prior to his scheduled visit to re-confirm and he arrived as scheduled. He was friendly and very professional. He indicated that I did not have any foundation related issues and it was just routine settling. He did make a recommendation on adding a gutter spout extension in affected areas to help move and keep water from pooling which he felt was a contributing factor. I thanked him for his service and indicated I would recommend him and his company to friends and family.

I believe that their work is good, but their professionalism and organization and communication skills are poor. For this reason, I give them a C grade. Here is the good: Douglas, the owner, is a friendly, likeable man. The people he hires are the same. Douglas knows the business, and (according to the structural engineer that I hired) did a good and thorough job of evaluating the work that needed doing. When they show up to work, it is a frenzy of activity. I think they do good work. Here is the bad: It took this company over six weeks to complete my job. The crews are not respectful of the homeowner's property. I suggest that, if you hire them, you stay home to safeguard things. For instance, I had to stop crews from leaving sheets of plyboard and debris on my front lawn in the August heat. The grass would have died. They inadvertently flung stucco mix onto the trunk of my car. It will not come off. When I brought this to the crew supervisor's and owner's attention twice, I received no response. They leave used sawblades and nails all over the ground when they leave for the day, which is a hazard. They dented one of my downspouts. It took more than six weeks for them to replace it. In the middle of the job, nine days passed without anyone showing up or contacting me to explain the delay. When I finally called the owner to voice my dissatisfaction, he blamed everyone (the structural engineer, the cement company) but himself before taking responsibility for the delay. For instance, the engineer required the company to remove a large piece of existing concrete before pouring a slab over it. It took a long time for an employee to show up to do this. But it only took him about 30 minutes to remove it when he finally did show up. So the engineer could not have been the reason for 9 days of no-shows. The owner finally articulated that they had had multiple employees quit, and that the company was attending to other jobs. Towards the very end, the crew supervisor left me a message on my answering machine, asking me if everything was done my satisfaction. I left him a voicemail message saying that, as per my conversation with Douglas, I believed more dirt needed to brought in and sloped away from the house on one of the sides. He did not respond to my message. I concluded that his initial message did not really intend to ask me whether I was satisfied, but to convey that they were not coming back. I cut them a check for the balance as soon as the engineer approved the job. I was glad to be done with them. They made me feel like I was the enemy, even though they were responsible. For instance, they took the opportunity several times to tell anyone who would listen that the profit margin on my job was slim, as though this somehow excused their reluctance to show up and finish a job that started almost two months earlier. I view this as highly unprofessional. The crew supervisor is a very likeable man, but is not the best about returning phone calls, and even had a message on his voice mail saying that he probably won't return your phone call. This was frustrating at times.

I inquired with three different foundation repair companies initially, Level Best, Superior Foundation, and Douglas Foundation Repair. Level Best was not very responsive in getting back to me, Superior was very good and professional but not nearly as responsive as Douglas Foundation Repair. I was impressed with these guys from the moment the owner came to my house to check things out himself, take the measurements, draw up an estimate on the spot, and subsequently indulged my questions for the next hour and a half or so. As an engineer, I was particularly interested in the technical aspects of the proposal, in contrast to that proposed by Superior. Though both companies offered sound solutions, in my personal view, I was most impressed with the owner's willingness to be straight forward about all technical details, giving me clear explanations every step of the way, and ultimately coming up with a fair estimate. The staff at DFR was always responsive, both via e-mail and via phone, whenever I required additional details, corrections, or answers to other questions. The crew showed up on time, ever morning, as promised (which is a rare commodity these days), punctuality! If these guys had doctoral degrees they'd be brain surgeons, meticulous and precise. This was a precision job every step of the way. They went out of their way to protect my landscape, and minimize disruptions, restored everything to its original state when done, cleaned up amazingly well, and put the house back in order. The crew on site was always exceedingly friendly and professional. All doors open well now, all cracks sealed to my satisfaction, etc. All in all, I can't recommend these guys enough. In all fairness, their estimate was higher than Superior Foundation Repair, but I was willing to pay the extra money because the technical proposal was, in my view, more sound and because they were not shy or afraid to get into as much technical detail with me as I wanted them to. From the owner, to the staff, the crew, and the engineers, these guys deserve the A++ rating. I would recommend these folks any day of the week and twice on Sunday!

Job was started and completed exactly when they said it would be. Their foreman was friendly and cooperative, spent all the time I needed explaining what they were doing and showing me the work. The results were FANTASTIC -- much better than I would have believed possible. Virtually no sheetrock damage, no problems with electrical or plumbing. Couldn't be more pleased!

I asked for an estimate/opinion on what was going on with my house and they responded quickly, professionally and gave me an estimate on the spot. Plus they pointed out the other costs that may be incurred by other companies that are "hidden'. They were right. I got a quote from another company and they never mentioned the permit or engineers fees, later the paperwork said, not included. I like that this company will test my plumbing for cracks after fixing the foundation. Now to save up. I had a structural engineer out afterwards and Douglas Foundation's information was exactly what the engineer said. When we are ready and have $9800 to do our 1400sqft one story house, we will use Douglas Foundation.

Douglas performed elevations and submitted a repair plan. Prompt service and explained well. Douglas uses pressed concrete piles which my engineer advised against using in my application. I ended up using another company.

Had a structural engineer assess our property after a home inspection. He listed several items to improve home conditions and I called up Douglas Foundation Repair to setup an appt. He was at the house 2 days later. I explained that I needed to get engineer's recommendations done. He looked over the report and then checked out the property. Because I needed the work done soon, I pressed for an estimate and he gave me a rough estimate and said the work could be done in 1 day. I was hoping for a 2nd estimate from another guy to compare but 3 days later and I still hadn't heard from the 2nd guy. I went with Douglas since he could start right away. We agreed on Friday, and the work was to be done the following day on a Saturday. 1st thing Saturday moring he called that they were on their way. The crew was there by 8:30ish. We again went over the work to be done. They were done by latest 1p.m. All work was done, they cleaned up and no mess left behind. On Monday, I got a call from Douglas, he wanted to know if I was happy with the work, which I was. By Wednesday, finally heard back from 2nd guy: his estimate was about $400 more than Douglas. Made the experience even better. I liked that he explained what he could/couldn't do, punctuality, communication, and the work itself.

They came when they were supposed to. They did the job quickly and were very neat. We did the job a year ago and have had no shifting problems at all.

Overall it went very well. Everyone was pleasant to work with. They are good at what they do and and offered good advice for the future. They cleaned up underneath our home and even removed trash that they did not generate. Offered to come back if there were any issues. We did have a question later, and Rick came back to our house and discussed our options. I would use them again.

I bought an old house and the first thing I wanted to do was level the foundation. I found Douglas Foundation through Angie's List and was impressed with the reviews of their work. I called them and scheduled an appointment for an estimate. Douglas showed up on time and gave me a thorough description of the work that they would do and the breakdown of the cost. I was impressed with his knowledge and attention to detail. I scheduled the work and the crew showed up on time and finished the work within the time frame that they had indicated. A minor hitch occurred, the front door wouldn't close, but they figured out how to solve the problem and everything was OK. The only problem I had with the job was that there was quite a bit more sheet rock cracking than I had expected. There had been a couple of cracks to begin with but now there are cracks in almost every room. And I can tell the foundation has continued to settle for the last few months because doors continue to close differently. BUt all in all I think the project was good and that Douglas did a good job and I would definitely recommend them.

We were in the midst of a bathroom remodel and the plumber expressed concern about a cavity under the slab foundation that he discovered when he removed the old tub. I called Douglas Foundation based on what I read on Angie's list, explained the situation and asked what work needed to be done to close the cavity. Within an hour I had a call back assuring me that I didn't have a problem and there was no need to make any modifications before the new tub was installed. No charge for the consultation. And, they could have easily recommended unnecessary work and unnecessary cost. If I do encounter a foundation problem at some point in the future Douglas will be the company I call.

The company representative was on time for the appointment. He listened to the reasons why we decided to call foundation companies for estimates in the first place. Next he took several measurements to determine the level of the foundation within the entire interior of our home. He walked the perimeter of the exterior and made a drawing of the house footprint and noted any condition issues/indicators. He also pointed out a small hairline exterior crack in the mortar of the bricks I had not previously seen. The measurements and overall house condition did not require immediate repairs. The levels were within the threshold of normal. He did provide an estimate if we wanted to make adjustments. He answered all the questions I had.

He was really great. He came out and met me quickly to take measurements. He told me what it would take to fix the house and what to be sure to get if the buyer insisted on doing the work. He also pointed out a few things we would need to fix to keep the house in good shape after he fixed the foundation. He did all this for free and basically talked me out of buying the house. He was a bit gruff but really academic about his work.

He was very professional and very nice about it. I went with somebody else but the dealings I had with him were all good. The price was a little bit higher than what I wanted. That was the reason I went with somebody else but he was my second choice.

Douglas was excellent. He worked with me to think through the foundation problems with regards to our budget. One of the things that set Douglas apart from other contractors was that he took the time to crawl under the house to the rear (about 18 inches of clearance) to actually inspect where the two foundations met. One year later the whole house is still level with no noticeable movement. Two things that struck me about Douglas, he knows his business, and he's a heck of a nice guy.

He is very knowledgeable. I would call him again.

As everyone can imagine it was a big mess, ditches everywhere, dirt, mountains of dirt, rain on top of it. I thought I had a winner when Mr. Douglas offered to do it all, the leveling, getting me a plummer and putting in the drainage. I had ask if he did drainage before and he said yes., but when I was ready to re-do the landscaping I was told that Mr. Douglas used the wrong pipes for drainage and all of them had to be dug up again and replaced with the correct one, which cost me an extra $5,000. He ment well, but he should have known which pipes to install for drainage. Overall I would use him again, but only for foundation work. He and his crew were on time and professional.

I was not around when they did the job. They had good recommendations. I think the guy was personable. All he did was give me a report on the foundation. I spent $100 on the job. I will use his services again in the future.

I called because I noticed cracks in the mortar of the stone facade on my home. Douglas agreed to come by that evening to take a look at the issue and give me a free estimate on recommended work. I was a little late, but he started taking level measurements as soon as he got to my house and had information for me when I pulled up. He was very thorough in explaining to me what the issues were and what were not issues. I got a great education on how houses are built, foundations, and the mystery of "levelness." His evaluation indicated that our foundation was fine and we didn't need any work. He did suggest we have an FFE to create a baseline of how level our home is now so we can have something to compare to in the future to see if there are changes. Great suggestion! This test was what cost the $45. I really appreciate Douglas's willingness to explain everything he saw and what it meant to us and our home, his promptness and professionalism, and the fact that he didn't try to sell us on work that didn't need to be done.

I have dealt with many contractors over the course of owning my home. Most proved to be dishonorable at best. It was a pleasure dealing with Doug because he did not try to sell me on something I did not need. He was willling to show me how the equipment worked so that I could see for myself that what he was saying was true. If I ever needed foundation repair I would not hesitate to call him.

Douglas came out on a Saturday and spent almost 2 hours doing a precision measurement of the relative elevation of each part of my slab. He answered every question in depth. He was able to start the work the following Tuesday afternoon. The work was done fast and with minimal disruption of the surrounding grass and shrubbery. He understood that since this was for a rental property I just wanted to level the slab as much as possible and prevent further degradation of the property. He provided exactly what I needed for a fair price.

The first company had an estimate of $7500 and wanted to put peers around 75% of the house. The 2nd company said that we didn't need that many peers and the cost was $3500. At this point, I called Douglas to get a third opinion. We also found out that part of the problem with the foundation was that the drain pipe was not intact and it was leaking under the house. Douglas came out with a plumber and measured the foundation and his conclusion was that it was not that bad, and that we should let the foundation dry up after the drain pipe is fixed and then remeasure. We used another method for the drain pipe called "relining" and after that was completed, we called Douglas back out to check out the foundation again. He was still not pushing to have the foundation repaired. However, after we discovered from our neighbors that the house had foundation work done on it several years ago, we decided to let Douglas send out a person to see what work was done. To our surprise, we had peers around the entire perimeter. His laborer showed up on time and manually dug out one side of the house to expose the peers. He then walked the perimeter and spotted where the other peers had been placed. We were very satisfied with both Douglas and his laborer and if our foundation needs adjustments in the future or additional peers, we will be calling Douglas for sure.

Great job was done in getting everything level! Results were about as good as can be expected. This will end up saving us thousands- now we don't have to rip out and replace 4-500 sq. ft of driveway.