The Foundation Expert

The initial estimate was not consistent with the final scope of the project, which grew as it proceeded, in large part due to an initial misunderstanding of the type of foundation under an addition that replaced what was originally a carport on a concrete pad, and in small part due to some tangentially related follow-up work to a concrete patio that I wanted to have done. The end price seemed fairly good to me -- the owner claimed he was losing money on the project -- but I do not have enough information to evaluate this, so no letter rating on price. The quality of the end result has been very good. No problems for several years. However, I was not impressed by the professionalism of all of the people that I interacted with at The Foundation Expert. Over the course of this project, I encountered a wide range of memorable behavior -- memorable enough that I am writing this review more than four years after the project -- that, in my view, averaged out to fairly professional. I would consider hiring them again.

Exceeded expectations. Superb quality, service and price. Sam and his team are excellent.

They did nothing. They went into my house, came out, they said, "Oh you need to do this. Here is the subcontractor's number". No report, no nothing. But that seems to be the general consensus about them online from what I could gather on my own post purchase search. He was a very nice person, very knowledgeable, told me nothing about my house other than to call these other people. I have to hire somebody to do that work again because I didn't get anything out of it. I paid for something I didn't get so the answer would be, no. Because of that experience, I haven't done another Big Deal. He was punctual.

They talked about putting in tile, but we didn't want to spend that much money. Maybe we should have. I can't remember exactly, but I think they came out promptly. He was a good guy and gave us an estimate.

The gentleman that came was very knowledgeable, did his job well, produced a written report, answered all the questions I had, and recommended someone I could go to. I don't have anything negative to say about him. He knew what he was doing. I got the report with a couple of weeks. I provided the evaluation to the company who actually did the work. When I contacted him, he responded quickly and in a timely manner. Pricing was very reasonable.

Our basement is about 2,000 sq. ft and they were at the home for about 10 minutes. They didn’t come with any tools – they just eyeballed things in our basement. They found nothing and we actually had a big issue with our basement a year later. We had major flooding and we’re still trying to figure out where it’s coming from. I am not sure if they missed it or not, but I wish it was made more clear about what exactly the deal was for.

It wasn’t as detailed as I had expected. As opposed to an independent assessment it was to sell new services if you decided to go with his recommendations. I thought it was going to be independent as opposed to him trying to remedy it. It seemed like he didn’t have the best of interests. He did find things but I thought it was more expensive than it was. I could have got the same assessment with somebody coming out and giving me an estimate so I didn’t have to pay a $100 to get what he gave me, so other water proofing companies would have given me the same thing and I wouldn’t have paid them anything and that was the difference. The bottom line is that I could have gotten the service for free because it wasn’t as detailed as I would have expected for $100. I wanted something beyond that I would normally get from a company. I actually ended up going with somebody else.

Sam was very easy to talk to and detailed and thorough. He took his time with us to help us understand what the issues were and what needed to be done to fix them. He was extremely receptive to questions. I would highly recommend him, not just because he knows his stuff, but because he makes an effort to help his clients understand their homes and why the work is needed.

The service turned out very well. He was very professional and he did a great job. He gave a very good report and it was done very well. I was completely satisfied with him.

Our basement bedroom started to leak water after the August 2011 Northern Virginia earthquake, which may have had no relation. Although it never leaked before the earthquake, this could have been an aging issue. It leaked during each of our two major hurricanes in September 2011, then again in Superstorm Sandy October 2012. At the first hurricane we thought it a fluke and went back to normal after cleanup. We realized we had a problem with the foundation when the water under the carpet during Superstorm Sandy was actually muddy water suggesting earth was coming into the house somehow. The Foundation Experts were highly professional from start to finish. They had clear expertise and gave us great confidence that they knew exactly what they were doing. We also were pleased with their Angie's List reviews. They explained things to us quite clearly so that we could understand. They offered two pricing options as part of their bid--one a lower bid that would attack a localized smaller area for around $3000 and the higher bid that would address the entire side of the house for around $10,500. Based on the possible aging issues of the house and that we intend to own the own for our adult lives, we elected to repair the entire side of the house to avoid any future issues. The team did a good job inside and out, including dealing with surprises. They were thorough in how deep they excavated, finding drainage piping at the foundation of the house coming somehow out of the bottom of the house that was not draining to anywhere that they added piping to to drain out properly toward the rear of the property, including adding a screen to ensure no pests could use it as a house entry point. After doing crack/hole repair, they resurfaced where necessary, added waterproofing materials, drainage piping, and then backfilling. Although our existing landscaping was disrupted, The Foundation Experts advised that in advance and also suggested that moving forward we use grass in that area to help absorb water better at the top of the ground. They suggested that the way that area was previously landscaped was actually retaining water in a negative way right against the house. They also repaired inside the house in the basement bedroom. They did a treatment against for mold, cleaned and restored the carpet, and repaired the water damage on the baseboard areas at point of water entry. They even painted, matching the existing paint color to my pleasant surprise. The basement bedroom was back in top-notch shape for our guests. We were extremely satisfied, and we would recommend them to others facing foundation issues.

The provider did not provide any service. I scheduled an appointment but the technician called and said he was 45 minutes away. I didn't have the key to the rental house so I was sitting in the cold waiting. I cancelled and the provider never called back with a new appointment. I eventaully had the waterproofing done without this consultation. It took awhile to get a confirmation from the provider that I should ask for a refund.

He came and looked at the foundation. He said he was going to sending us a report but he never did. We ended up finding the source of the problem separately. Overall, the service did not go very well.

Work was done in a timely and professional manner. Since they had to drill into the foundation wall and floor quite a bit of dust and debris was created. They did a great job of minimizing the problem by putting up plastic sheeting to protect the furnace and the rest of the basement. The problem had been prevalent for years and it was nice to find a firm to do the work and feel like you are not getting ripped off. They were straight forward, honest and easy to deal with. We have since sold the house but had no problem after the work was performed.

I called them three different times and talked to two different people and was never able to get anyone to call me back with the evaluation price. I did this over a span of a couple weeks and to this day I have not heard anything from them.? I would still like to use them but I am so frustrated with trying to get a hold of them.

They spent half an hour to evaluate my basement. It wasn't worth the time. I could have gotten that same service from just having an estimate for free. They were very professional. I would probably not use them in the future.

For the drainage system and sump pump, I am extremely happy I went with Foundation Expert. I have not had any leaks or floods in my basement since the system was installed. It took about only a day and a half to get everything done. I would definitely recommend them out to family and friends.

very professional, answered all our questions no high up sale pressure just gave good advise

Overall I was very pleased with the experience. The technician that did the inspection was obviously very experienced. The house is about 70 years old and through the various remodels it has had over the decades, one of the previous owners made some modifications that caused us to be a tiny bit concerned. The tech was kind enough to walk us through the inspection and his findings. Turns out our area of concern was very easy to fix. Had we let it go for a few years, repairs would have been a lot more extensive, expensive, industrious and time consuming. Because we got it checked out early, the fix was cheap, easy and fast. the inspection was worth every penny.

Based on positive reviews from Angie's list and the positive vibe I initially got from the Foundation Experts when I called them, I scheduled an in-home visit to obtain a quote. They were only available during the hours that I work but their representative who scheduled the visit assured me that they would be on-time. I called the day of the appointment to confirm that the estimator would be there as scheduled and was told that he would so I left work and headed to my home to await his arrival. About 10 minutes after his scheduled arrival time, I called back to check on his status and was given his direct number. I called the guy and he saidf that he was headed for a different estimate in a town an hour from my house so I told him we would have to schedule the estimate for a different day. I then called the Foundation Experts back and told them that the estimator got his schedule mixed up and wouldn't be coming to my home that day and I plainly stated that my time was being wasted and that it was not a good way to earn my business. My wife was right there in the room when I called and I wasn't yelling or being rude but apparently this offended the representative because she began to get upset saying "It's not my fault the person is late." and "If you think you can call and attack me, you are wrong...." and then she hung up on me. I was totally floored but I didn't even bother calling back. I consider myself lucky that I discovered that this is how the Foundation Expert handles problems BEFORE they cut a hole in the foundation of my house and not AFTER! I have no idea as to the quality of the Foundation Experts product but I can comment on their customer service in this case and it is lacking. April 2015 Update: The owner of this company was apparently out of the country in 2013 when I requested this service. That may be but I'm pretty sure this is the company that I called and had the negative experience described above so I stand by my original review. I've got plenty of things to do other than make up stories about companies and post them online.

he showed up on time and was very helpful. However, he suggested he would provide a quote for replacing a back walk way, which never happened.

It went fine and gave us the information we needed to make decisions moving forward.

Samuel Weisgal was professional and thorough, and I was pleased with the inspection. In my rating I gave him all A's with only a B for responsiveness. He was responsive in arranging the appointment, but some weeks after the inspection I had to follow up with him before receiving the written inspection report. He attributed this to a new staff assistant who had let a few things slide. Overall, I was pleased with the service provided.

We were very happy with his work and wished we could take advantage of the things he offered to deal with the water in our crawl space. We just can't afford it now. It is on our list of the things we want to get done it just has not gotten to the top yet. He was very thorough and showed us where water was getting into our crawl space. My husband crawled around with him and he was great about showing him what he was seeing and answering questions.

They were good. Their estimate seemed a little high but the inspection was okay.

It went okay, but I found that the information was not that useful.