Stone Creek Engineering Services Inc

I'd recommend getting unbiased advise from someone who is not trying to win repair business.

Never heard from this company though called twice.

Called 2 times and never received a return call.

I contacted this person/company 4 times over a 2 week period and never received a response. It is notable that 2 others have written about non-responsiveness. The owner stated to one reviewer that he should have called more than once as phone numbers can get lost, etc. Well hopefully in "this day and age" as a company owner you have caller ID showing a phone number on either your cell phone or your land line. However, in my case, I gave it more than one attempt. My attempts at contact included 2 emails and 2 phone calls. I clearly and slowly stated my phone number. All pertinent information was included in both emails and phone voice mails. If the owner was not interested in my project, common and professional courtesy dictates that a quick email or phone message is sent with short statement such as "sorry, too busy at this time." Instead, I wasted over 2 weeks of my time waiting to hear back. So... hopefully, I will save the next person from wasting their time as well. Contact a company who is eager for work and/or has the professional courtesy to quickly decline your project so that you can move on.

Russell was just great to work with. I needed a beam sized for a load bearing wall for my kitchen remodel. Russell was able to come by the day that I called him and advise me. He wanted to make sure I knew he was available at any time the wall was being built if I wasn't comfortable with something. Excellent service and a really good guy

I wanted an unbiased opinion before we went forward with having our slab foundation repaired. Russell did a complete evaluation of my house and helped me weigh the pros and cons of having this repair made. He also gave me lots of advice on other repairs that we know we needed done, and helped me understand what should be priority. Just having him confirm that our foundation was definitely in need of repair and that we would see lasting benefits from having the work done was a huge weight off my mind. I would recommend his services to anyone and will use him again if we ever need his services.

Excellent! Russell was and is very responsive

I'm partially enclosing a porch with windows. The windows increase the wind load on the porch structure. The porch required some steel reinforcements to meet the new wind loading requirements. Russell gave me the rough design of the corner reinforcements, and I drew up the plans, since I'm also a (non-certified) mechanical engineer. Personally Russell is a pleasure to work with and was helpful in making sure the rest of the permit application would not raise any red flags.

Russell did a thorough assessment of the foundation and identified problems we need to address to help the foundation issues we're having.

Everything went really well and told me things I needed to know. He was prompt and professional and I would use him again.

Russell met all my expectations and I would recommend him to anyone. He was personable, professional and knowledgeable.

We had an outstanding experience with Stone Creek Engineering. Russell was a true professional and very thorough. He was careful to explain everything he was observing in language a non-engineer could understand. He provided ideas to address areas of concern and how to evaluate quality work. He took his time and exuded confidence in what he was doing. While all the news he had to impart was not good, he left us with a game plan for what to do and offered to make himself available to answer questions as we execute our plan in the future. It was a pleasure doing business with him and I would highly recommend him to anyone needing structural engineering expertise.

It took a while to get an appointment for Mr. Strahan to inspect and evaluate my deck, because he was very busy around the time of my call. However, I feed that it was well worth the wait. He made a detailed assessment of the decks on my house, even spent time looking at the attachment wall inside the house, and made sure he was answering my questions. He is very knowledgeable about "decks in Austin" and the particular problems that can arise if things are not done right. He followed up with a written explanation that I can use to get the repair/reinforcement work done, and offered to do additional assessments if needed. This will be very helpful. Mr. Strahan's willingness to follow through to make sure everyone understands what to do and uses the right techniques and materials has been invaluable!

Russell was professional and thorough in his investigation of the structure. He conducted a friendly interview that gathered information about our renovation?s plans and process. I would recommend Stone Creek to anyone doing a renovation for the first time where a structural modification is in the plans.

Russell was great. He was right on time, personable, and very knowledgeable. I had a couple diagonal cracks next to windows on the front of my house that were a concern, and he addressed both of them in addition to the causes. We spent a little over 2 hours going over the outside, inside, and attic of my (1900 sf) house. He was very thorough and pointed numerous things out to me that weren't directly related to the slab, which I always appreciate. Russell was also very funny and had some good stories. At the end of the visit he had a floor plan showing the slab elevation and where the potential problems were (tilting slab but no major shifting, whew), after which we talked for some time about the best way to manage the drainage problems. I got a lot more than I was expecting, and feel like I have a good game plan to prevent any further slab movement. Thanks Russell!

Mr. Straham was on time. He was patient and heard all my concerns, then we walked all around the house while he was taking notes and measures. He also inspected the attic , looked at every corner, door and window. He checked the levelness of the house floor. Fortunatly he concluded that ;was no reason to worry about , that my house was fine and there was no foundation problems. He gave me some recommendations to maintain my house and foundation "healthy" Thanks Mr. Straham

I had concerns with new drywall cracks and unlevel 2nd story floors. Mr. Strahan was extremely thorough. He did hid homework before showing up as scheduled I might add. He was prepared with geological surveys confirmed that the foundation was secure and thoroughly checked beams and the house structure throughout. Final diagnosis was no house issues just a very picky homeowner. Mr. Strahan assured us that he would stand firmly behind his evaluation if ever needed. I definitely recommend Mr. Strahan for his knowledge and business ethics.

It went really well. He was very good. I was happy I hired him.

We had used Russell before for another house we were looking to buy, to examine possible foundation issues. Russell was very knowledgable and impressed us with his ability to identify and explain potential issues that we decided to use him again this time. Russell was prompt as before. He did an inspection from the attic as well as in the room and quickly concluded the pillars were load bearing and indicated what would be the extent of changes necessary if we wanted to remove them. Since this was a fairly quick job he spent the remaining part of the hour examining the house for other issues/remodeling ideas we were considering, giving us his insight on the same.

I recommend Russell Strahan without hesitation. He is knowledgeable, hardworking, and forthright. I called Stone Creek Engineering, the firm Mr. Strahan is with, because I needed a professional engineer to evaluate a foundation contractor's bid. Russell thoroughly inspected my property, including my crawlspace, and gave me a candid evaluation of what needed doing. Based on his report, I went back to the drawing board to interview other foundation contractors. It was a lengthly process to find a contractor who correctly assessed the problems and the corrective work that needed to be done., but with Russell's help I finally found one. I am very grateful to Russell Strahan for being willing to promptly answer all the questions I e-mailed or telephoned him with. He came out to inspect three more times during the course of the job, and took photographs. I was very glad that I hired him, because I knew that he had my best interests at heart--not the contractor's--and gave me a candid assessment at every step. I have hired two other structural engineers in the past, for a different job. Those two cannot hold a candle to Russell Strahan because they were not willing to go under the house to assess, and not very accessible thereafter, and never "told it like it was,"as Russell did.

Russell came in on a tight schedule. He was very knowledgeable and identified foundation issue caused by water leak. He also helped check out levelness of the house floors, the quality of the frames, and roof conditions. He identified termite issue and what might be possible cause for them. He suggested possible fix for these problems, too. Very good experience and I will definitely call him in for my next project.

Everything went well. Mr. Strahan returned our call within 24 hours and an appointment was made for the following week. He wasvery prompt and was here at the scheduled time. He gave us so much information on everything about the house, the land it issitting on, the soil content, moisture content and much more. He also provided us with detailed information on maintaining thehouse and the yard as well as disclaiming many myths I had heard. He is such an honest person with a great personality andexplains things your level of comprehension. I would highly recommend him and if ever needed, will definitely use him again.

If you want the brutal, honest truth, give Russell a call. He is filled with knowledge and he won't hesitate to call it as he sees it. This approach is a valuable asset to have when finding potential issues in your home. I had originally called him to just analyze the structure of a wall I wanted to knock down. He not only did that but offered other structural advice on things I should take care of as well. Russell is a straight shooter and would definitely use his services again if I need them.

Put the house on the market and buyer got a home inspection done. The home inspector noted foundation issues and recommended a structural engineer inspect the property. Unfortunately, the buyers called a foundation repair company instead of paying for a structural engineer. The foundation repair company said work was needed. The known costs would be over $25k (15k to repair foundation and approximately $10K to repair the tile floor and walls that they would break). And they added that other issues could arise from lifting the house (broken pipes, cracked ceilings, etc, etc). We called a 2nd foundation repair company but all they did was look at the 1st company's recommendations and they too wanted to lift the house. After much agonizing of what to do, we finally decided to call a structural engineer. And it had to be someone that didn't work for a foundation repair company. As painful as a $25K repair would be, we would find a way to get the moeny if the work was really needed. I called Mr. Strahan and got a call back that same day. He explained what he does and what I can expect. We setup an appt for 3 days later. He called the day before to confirm our appt and he showed up on time. He inspected the property, asking questions about the house (what kind of issues I had, what things I fixed, when I installed tile, etc). He did note issues with the property but it didn't recommend lifing the house! I was estatic! I asked for a written report. He quickly added that his report would include everything that he told me. I couldn't pick and choose which parts would be in it. He worded it very nicely but it made me feel good that I was dealing with someone that was honest. And that's what we wanted an honest opinion. He's report included an assessment of the property, maps, issues with the property, and his recommendations. We did his recommendations which cost about $3500. And to think we were so close to spending over $25K for work that wasn't needed. Best money we ever spent!

I left a message for Russell after 5:00 and he returned my call that day. I couldn't answer his call, so he left a message for me and I called him back the next morning. He talked with me at length about my house and was able to tell me a lot without having to come out to see the house. I appreciate the time he spent with me on the phone without an appointment or a fee. I'm not sure if I will need to hire a structural engineer or not yet, but I would certainly consider hiring him based on my initial experience.