The Foundation Expert

Two technicians came and both were extremely friendly and professional. Their inspection was thorough and the resulting report very detailed. I was very satisfied with the service and would definitely recommend them for anyone requiring foundation/crawl space work.

I have foundation cracks in my basement and was concerned about a carport slab that is sinking. I already had three other bids from contractors with three different approaches to solve this problem. Each contractor spent considerable time with me and delivered a report and a bid. The Foundation Expert provided considerable time with me and delivered a report and a bid. Because it was a "Big Deal," my expectations were considerably higher in the report that I would receive as the result of the inspection would be a lot more detailed. In fact, it turned out to be just another bid. I did appreciate the fact that the contractor had a concrete man come out later in the day to look at my driveway and it did help me to think through the scope of the work that I need done. A more extensive detailed report may have provided me with the confidence to go ahead with the work with this contractor.

Sam inspected the inside and outside of my basement as well as the retaining wall very carefully. He was very professional and spent the time to answer all my questions as he performed the inspection. I received a written report by email for my records very shortly after the inspection date.

He came out and looked at my foundation. He looked inside and outside of my home. I did expect a little more from the deal.

Based upon favorable reviews, The Foundation Expert was my first choice so I called to schedule an appointment. I called the company at 7:00 am on a Friday and gave my name, phone number, alternate phone number, and email address. I was told that someone would be in touch soon to schedule a time to come out. Because I was nervous about the extent of potential damage, I called the company again around 2:00 to see if they knew how long it would take to have someone call me back. The person I spoke to could not give me that information but took down my name, phone number, alternate phone number and email address and said someone would call me back. It's almost a week later and no one has ever called me back. Given that the company has never returned my calls--although they claim to have a 24-hour emergency service--I went with another, more responsive company.

Over all I thought it was a good deal to have an expert review the situation

Our home is OK, he gave some tips on sloping the dirt away from the foundation My Mother's home, on the other hand, is in very poor condition. He gave a minimum figure that he expected repairs would cost. Shocking, but not too surprising I am very grateful for the information.

He came out, and was very professional from the get go. The executive vice president was the one who came out, looked around, and gave us an estimate. We decided to contract with them. He came back and introduced us to the person who was going to be doing the work. He then came back as the workman was finishing. It was just excellent. He went around and he checked it out personally. He said there was one part of the exterior that was a little rough, but it wasn't part of the original estimate. It needed to be sanded down and painted and he offered to take care of it then and there for no additional fee. We'd hire them again and again without reservation. We would recommend them to anyone.

They did a good job with the main job. The main job went well, but I did not have a very good vision of what "done" would mean when they left. We had a mix-up and I got their outside contract not the inside contract, so the fine print was not complete for the work. They said the job would take three days, and they completed it in two (I was not home on day two). I found out that they planned to come back after a week when the cement had dried to reset the toilet and other appliances. I had planned an event for that weekend, and the appliances were not connected, so they sent a special team and got it all done on Saturday morning before my guests arrived. Anything in the 18" perimeter had to be removed or cut out, including the wooden walls of a small bathroom, which I have yet to repair completely. The owner was very good about offering to make everything right. While they said they would look into other minor work that I requested, they ended up being too busy to do it. Read the contract carefully to understand how your basement will be left when they are done, especially if there are structures or appliances to be moved. Be on site when they locate the sump pumps and exit pipes to make sure they are where you want them. I got an estimate from another prominent local provider in 2003, and it was for about 50% more than I paid in June 2012.

I used the Angie's List big deal to get an inspection and recommendation of my crawl space because I was concerned about leaks and excess moisture. I did some of my own research and spent a few weeks working with Sam, the owner, to make sure I understood exactly what was needed and what I would get with his company. It was slow getting the work scheduled because they were very busy. Work was started on a Monday and they were done by Thursday a full day ahead of schedule. I then had the furnace company come in and inspect the furnace since it is located in the crawl space. The furnace company noticed that the Icynene spray had been used on the vent pipe and they were concerned about possible fire. I called Sam immediately and they sent someone out to clean the pipe. Since I had the work done Hurricane Sandy dumped 6 inches of rain and there is no water or moisture in the crawl space.

I was referred to The Foundation Expert by the waterproofing company All Aspects Waterproofing. They referred me to one of their engineers, Mr. Kamran Ohi of Ohi Engineering Group. He came to my home and rendered an opinion on the structural integrity of the building. I was very satisfied with all aspects of this interaction.

easy to make the appointment, he came when promised, conducted a thorough review. i never did get the promised written report but i did talk to him by phone and he told me there did not appear to be any major foundation problems so i wasn't too worried about it. over all a very good experience.

I was very impressed with them and will be working with them in the future.

If you would like a Saturday appointment time, do be prepared to be patient or flexible. I had a few weeks wait for the appointment, because I had to reschedule the first one, but it was worth the wait.

Very professional. He said I didn't need to build up the foundation. He said I simply needed to patch the brickwork. Apparently being an engineer, he looked more accurately and saved me money. We fixed the brickwork and patched it up. That seems to have fixed the problem at its root. A foundation repair would have cost thousands of dollars and not even fixed things. He then suggested how to better drain the water away from the house.He also looked into crawl space and identified the leak as coming from the washing machine above, which we surmised. This too fixed the problem. Good services!

The inspector arrived on time and was very courteous. He checked everything inside the house thoroughly, but when it came to determining whether the water in my basement was coming from outside, he didn't bring all of the tools necessary to make his assessment. He asked if I had a hose he could borrow to see if water would come through where he thought there might be a crack. I actually didn't have a hose, so there was no way for him to verify if it was actually a crack or just some messy looking mortar between the bricks. The inspector told me I should go to buy a hose after he left and check myself to see if any water would come through the 'crack' into the basement. If it did, then I should call him back and he could do an official estimate to repair it. I gave it a try, but no water came through. So, I guess there isn't a crack, but I shouldn't have to guess...that's why I hired an inspector, right?

We were thoroughly pleased with the whole experience including the recommendation we probably won't have to do any repairs, major or not, to the foundation.

All companies that interface with customers should be compared to The Foundation Expert as the gold standard. We had a pretty severe leak in the corner of our basement. Whenever it would rain, water would just pour in. I called around the beginning of October and set an appointment with Sam for 1000 at 10/22. He arrived 15 minutes early. Having just dealt with Comcast - this was absolutely appreciated. We started outside and I explained what the issue was. Right away he noticed a few things the contractor who originally installed our external drainage system did improperly. He also point out a few things that I could correct myself such as digging out and installing a window well for a basement window which had none. We then transitioned inside to the basement. Out of the three companies we had come look at the issue, Sam was the only person to get up on the knee wall in the basement, contort his body and inspect things. In addition to inspecting the area of the leak, he noted a gap between the sill plate of the house and the foundation in some spots. He could see the external siding and daylight. I climbed up for a look and sure enough he was right. He tested the cement/mortar to see how far left and right of the corner the water was penetrating and made some suggestions on how he would attempt to resolve the issue. He then inspected the rest of the basement and immediately pointed out the incorrect installation of the weeping tile for our french drain that was installed by the contractor who built the house. It was weeping tile with fabric that should be used on the outside of a home drainage system - not inside. To make matters worse, it was installed backwards. He made a few more observations and I tried to take the best mental notes I could. Sam?s business philosophy is that he doesn?t come out to your house to give you an estimate. There are pros and cons to this that I won?t debate here. Some people may be turned off by this. His model is to offer a thorough inspection and suggest ways to resolve the problem. He did a more detailed inspection than any of the other companies. Any reservation I had about paying for an inspection thinking it was just a scam melted away after a few minutes in to the process. He flat out knows his stuff. I would recommend him to anyone reading this. When it came to price, I braced myself for a high dollar amount. Because Sam demonstrated expert knowledge beyond any of his competitors I thought he was going to be expensive. In fact, he price was right in the middle of the other quotes we received for the exact same type of work. Then came hurricane Sandy... Sam originally put us on the books to come out right during the peak of when Sandy was supposed to hit. It wasn?t his fault. At the time we scheduled things hurricane Sandy wasn?t really on anyone?s radar yet. When it became obvious that she was going to hit the eastern seaboard hard and dump a lot of rain I begged Sam, with 48 hours notice, to see if there was a way to come out this weekend ahead of the storm. I feared our basement was going to be under two feet of water if he didn?t. He shuffled some things around and was able to send a crew out on 10/27. His crew was awesome. Eddie was fantastic. He walked me through the process. Explained everything they were going to do. He even gave me advice and tips on the window well I was installing while they were doing their thing with the foundation repair. Fantastic inspection. Fantastic people. Fantastic crew. Fantastic company. This is truly the only company I would ever rate as A+ if I could. Totally worth every penny.

A visit from Sam, several emails, and a call or two arranged what work was to be done. The work itself took two days. The first morning was a bit disorganized, but the crew seemed good natured about it, and once things got started it went great. Kenny (the project manager) was happy to answer questions. When the work was done, Sam called to make sure we were satisfied with the results. And we are very satisfied with both the work and how it was done. The crew was polite, they cleaned up after themselves each day, and despite all the dirt and dust they didn't track any inside. A fence they had to work around was put back together correctly, and they rolled a hose they used back up on the wheel. It sounds minor, but it is so NICE to not have to go putting things back and cleaning after people have worked on your home!

I had been having moisture problems with an interior wall for over a year and had asked a roofer and mason to review the problem. I bought a $98 coupon for a review of my foundationa and The Foundation Expert came by to see the issue and assured me that the problem was not from my foundation. They also gave me suggestions on other possibilities to look into. I finally found out that it was due a leaky sky light of a neighboring row house.

He inspected inside and outside. Recommended a couple of potential fixes that we decided were too expensive and extensive, involving the foundation etc... with no guarrantee of working. We decided not to proceed at that time.

The inspection went very well. He answered all my questions, confirmed my repairs, and did an overall great job.

I had scheduled a day for them to come out to inspect the foundation. When the day came that they were suppose to be out he wasn't able to make it and instead sent his brother. I mentioned to the guy that came that the appointment coud be rescheduled but he insisted that he could do the inspection. I asked the man that came out if I should be writing down the work that needs to be done, but he told me that they would send me an estimate listing all the work that was necessary and the cost of having the work completed. I never received the estimate, so I called them about it. They have not returned my call and I did not get the written estimate I was promised. I also was not given a receipt for proof of services performed.

Everything went very well. He was prompt and gave us very good information on what repairs are necessary for our house. We have taken his advice.

We have had lots of humidity in our basement and we asked Sam for advice on how to minimize it - he gave us lots of suggestions - many of which we carried out with success