Louis & Associates LLC

Louis was easy to schedule and was at the house within a week of me calling to schedule the inspection. Louis performed the inspection, relying on me to point out areas of concern and then taking some brief measurements and photos. However, he could not diagnose a main area of concern in second floor joists due to no access to joists either from above or below, and did not provide a solution or a diagnosis despite being paid for analysis. His visit was a turning point in the quality of service. His report was substandard. He did not properly document all needed repairs, and what he wrote in the report differed from what he mentioned in person regarding a failing floor joist. Multiple attempts were made to contact Louis by phone with voicemails and by e-mail to clarify discrepancies between the report and comments during his inspection, but he failed to communicate back to me. Overall, this service was not worth the $500 that it cost.

Louis was professional, experienced, responsive, on time, very sharing, insightful, smart and thoughtful. You could not ask for more. We explained our concerns including cracks in exterior brick work, cracks in the basement walls, drywall tape in the ceiling of the master bedroom peeling, etc. Louis walked the entire property with us and we received an education while following him from floor to floor. He is a fountain of engineering knowledge. He followed up quickly as promised with a thorough written report and provided a few suggestions of items we could follow up on. Louis was a complete delight to meet and do business with. We recommend him highly!

Great! Luyi was very responsive and quick. He provided top notch drawings and was even responsive to my contractor and was willing to help with the permit office. He got the work done quickly and it was top notch. He was great to work with. I would definitely recommend him to anyone and use him anytime for anything engineering wise. Great job!!!

Fine. They were here April 5th of 2016. It cost $500.

Responded quickly to my initial call and set up a date for the assessment. Arrived on time. Spent a long time looking at the various problems and talking to me and answering my questions. For the basement water issues, gave me 2 options (indoor and outdoor); evaluated the basement wall cracks and determined no serious structural issues; looked at the deck posts and provided an interim and long-term solution (will need to replace posts). Provided a written report a few days later. All in all, provided the service requested on time and professionally. Only one piece of advice: The written report isn't as detailed as the information he provided verbally, so would recommend taking notes as he's talking to you, to supplement the written report.

Louis was punctual and responsive, and was very patient with my nit-picking on details on the drawings. I asked for "drawings ready to get a permit" and he provided the drawings within the time line he promised (a week or two after July 4th) We are removing a wall from the middle of the house and Louis gave good descriptions and explanations of various options and the process on how to remove the wall. I'll be working with a contractor to do the work, so we'll see how it goes!

Luyi from Louis & Associates is a professional engineer who knows the code and knows the calculations--and best of all, he's not one of those sales people that other companies send out. He had no fancy equipment, just a level, measuring tape and vast knowledge of structures. He was so nice and explained what he was looking for and what he did and didn't find. And best of all, he determined that my house doesn't need repair work, but I would have trusted him if it did. I will recommend Louis & Associates to anyone needing a structural inspection or design work.

Upon contacting Luyi he called me back promptly and scheduled to come out the next day to perform the structural assessment of my deck/gazebo. He identified some areas that needed to be fixed/adjusted on the spot as well as provided me a structural design report via email with pictures, suggestions, and he also provided the county code references to refer to. The deck contractor/builder was able to continue the work successfully and I felt very comfortable knowing the deck was structural safe. Luyi provided the original structural design report stamped with his license number via mail so I was able to show our county inspector when they came out to inspect the deck and we passed with flying colors. The county required an original copy so the email copy didn't work for that and when I called Luyi he put it in the mail right away.

I needed an emergency meeting, and he showed up the next day. He was very patient with me, since I didn't know what I was talking about, and helped us to make sense of what was going on with all the additions on the house and helped accomodate our vision. The thing that most impressed me was how he kept up with me over email and gave us updated calculations.

Since Louis and Associates never gave me the courtesy of a response, I decided to contact other structural engineers.

Louis came out to inspect our home to determine the structural integrity of the foundation and other areas of concern. Louis performed a very thorough analysis and identified several areas about the home and property that should be considered for upgrading or repair. The professionalism and thoroughness of the consultation was great. I would recommend Louis and Associates to others looking for advice or a second opinion.

We are in the midst of remodel and noticed some significant cracking where supporting walls had been removed. Although our plans were engineer reviewed, that person was no longer in the area. I decided to hire a structural engineer to review and I am so glad that Mr. Yan was available. Because we could not continue work until things were inspected, I was pressed for time. Called him monday, he came tuesday and very swiftly realized that our contractors had not put in any of the specified beams and that the house was structurally at risk. By that Friday he had provided us with a new plan for installing supports in 4 separate areas and noticed an additional area that required support that was not on the original construction document. Throughout this process, he was very calm, thorough, and responsive. His pricing seems very fair--400.00 for the initial visit (he was there 1.5 hours) and 75/hour for the plans. So fair, in fact, that our contractor is thinking about using him on future projects! I would not hesitate to use him again or to recommend him to others.

Gave us an opinion on the structural problems with the ceiling of our kitchen/ floor of bathroom. Prepared engineering drawings for us by our contractor to allow us to remove some supporting walls and open up our kitchen space. His original description of the two phases of the work was very clear, giving us options about the level of detail and certification that we wanted. Once we got in touch, he was efficient and professional -- we were able to prepare for the visit by sharing photographs and a specific description of our questions by e-mail. It was a little difficult to reach him at first -- turned out he was attending some "continuing education" courses for structural engineers. Highly recommend him.

Very professional and very experienced in the subject matter of building engineering. I highly recommend Louis.

He arrived at property in response to my request due to several noticable cracks that appeared throughout the home. He explained the services that he would provide, walked through the home taking pictures and measuring. Performed the inspection from top to bottom and inside and outside. When finished let me know what to expect and by when. I received a professional report detailing his observations, probable cause and repair recommendations earlier than expected. I feel very comfortable with his knowledge and experience of the matter and will move forward with his recommendations. Thank you.

He was very responsive to set up a time with us that was convenient. We compared with a number of other engineers and found his price to be the best for the work and for his experience. We wanted someone who was more than a home inspector given it was the support beams for our foundation. He was very thorough. He made one suggestion for a minor repair to one of the support posts that will not be too costly, and gave us a good report for everything else, which put us at ease. He will not try to sell you services because all he does is give you an evaluation of the structure. We were very pleased.

Louis arrived early an we reviewed the foundation crack issues. We walked around the building and Louis gave me detailed information about the dynamics of the type of foundation walls I have and type characteristics of the material. He also informed me of common building construction methods required for the walls. He identified references he uses to guide his evaluation and are required by regulation. As we reviewed the condition of the concrete form foundation he showed me his engineering credential and described his experience and background as a structural engineer and his current role as a college professor of engineering. Louis described my foundation condition as a typical condition where the 59 foot wall did not have expansion joints. For my wall length the concrete should have incorporated two expansion joints evenly spaced from one end to the other. As it turns out the cracks on both sides of the building are in the same location the expansion joints would have been placed if the builder would have installed them. Louis explained that many builder do not put the expansion joints in to avoid the potential of water seeping through. As is stands the cracks are not a structural problem. Louis certified the structure to be sound and the cracks are the result of the curing of the concrete over time. He recommended hiring a contractor to fill the cracks with flexible sealer and apply a flexible outer material over the cracks on the outer wall to prevent water seeping into the wall. I was fortunate to investigate the problem before I developed a water leak into the finished basement area. Louis included all the details and recommendations in his formal certified engineering report which will serve to show the structure is sound in the event I sell the property. Thanks to Louis for the additional engineering instruction and the extra advice about getting the water from drain gutters away from the foundation.

Louis Yan arrived on time and was extremely professional. He is a civil engineer by education and training and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Virginia, Maryland, and elsewhere. He first looked at the outside of our house and noted and photographed numerous cracks and evidence of settling due to water drainage onto our property. He then thoroughly inspected our house from attic to basement, again taking photos of cracks in the walls and ceiling, and assessing a slightly sloping floor. When he was finished, he gave us a verbal report of his findings and assured us that most of the cracks in the house (including one that we thought was a serious problem with a load-bearing wall) were more cosmetic in nature and that the house still was quite sound. He did recommend that we regrade part of the backyard near the house where the water drainage was causing settling problems at one corner of the house. Louis' inspection took about 90 or so minutes on a late-Friday afternoon, and he delivered a written report with photos and recommendations by early morning the following Wednesday. As mentioned, he was professional and personable, very responsive to our questions, and thorough in his work. We were pleased to work with him.

He was very professional. He took his time and looked over what I wanted done. He took precise measurements and provided us with detail drawings for our wall to be moved. The only thing I was a bit confused with the cost from our original email but he clearly explained it to me. I think sometimes email doesn't explain what is happening. The architect that I used said it should cost 500 but after Louis explanation I trusted him completed.

I called Louis on Thursday afternoon, and while he originally suggested coming early next week, since I was in a rush he was willing to come out that evening (after his last job) at around 6pm. I was really impressed with his willingness to come out so quickly. He ran a bit late with his prior client, but let me know that, and arrived promptly at the revised time. He was very professional and got right to business sketching out my window and making the inspection. We discussed my plans in detail, and looked at the wall from both the inside and the outside. We discussed several options (including possibilities for installing a wheelchair ramp), and I didn't feel rushed. He even was willing to take a look at an unrelated wall in another room of my house that had been cracking recently to verify that it was nothing to be concerned about. He was very knowledgeable about everything we discussed, and was clear about things he needed to look up to be sure of (e.g. some of the ADA rules for ramps) He told me on Thursday that he would work over the weekend to get me the report by Monday (which was already a great turn-around time), but he actually sent it to me on Saturday. So in the end, $400 wasn't cheap for a half hour meeting and however long it took him to draw up the report, but it was well worth it. I had called a couple of other engineers prior to Louis, but he was the first one to pick up and I was impressed with him throughout the process. I would recommend him without hesitation.

Mr. Yan was very professional and thorough. He listened to my concerns, then looked through the entire house double-checking everything possible in the construction of the house that could relate to the observed cracks. He also re-did the structural calculations to re-assure me that the floor joists were properly sized and spaced. His written report followed promptly after his visit.

We were looking for a structural engineer to determine if we could replace a wall with some columns, where they would have to go structurally and what we should anticipate for the cost to have that kind of work done. Louis was prompt and professional. Reviewed the structure of our entire house from basement to first and second floor and attic. He wanted to understand what we were looking to accomplish. He provided broad estimate for different ways of handling the work letting us determine what we wanted to accomplish. Once we advised which plan we were interested in, he provided structural drawings for that design. We did ask him to recommend construction firms to cost out the work. We did not follow up on this because we are not ready to move forward on this project.

Louis was prompt and professional. He provided a written report with drawings (extra $100). He suggested three companies to do the work. The foundation needed extra supports and in one area the header was rotted and had to be replaced. Also, part of the cinder block foundation had been removed by a prior handyman and it had to be replaced. I would use him again.

Louis arrived promptly, completed the survey in an acceptable amount of time. His drawings were emailed to me within 24 hours and I received the actual physical copy in the mail within 48 hours. After our horrible experience with our previous engineer, Louis was able to come out quickly and perform exactly what we needed to get our basement construction back on track. In the future, when we redesign a substantial portion of our town house's interior we will call him first to perform his survey to see if what we dream is possible.

Louis's expertise and experience were critical in our selection of the right contractors to perform the necessary work. We were able to be informed and ask appropriate questions as we formed our team of contractors. As we neared completion, I asked Louis to come out again and inspect the work in progress, which he agreed to do at a fee of $300. He pointed out a few areas where tie-downs to the sill plate were insufficient to meet current codes. Also he looked at the installation of trenches and a sump pump and recommended that the trenching be expanded along another wall to deal with possible leakage from that direction. His advice was excellent and thorough, no doubt contributing to the county inspector readily signing off on the permit after seeing the completed work. ..