The Foundation Expert

Here's what you need to know in a nutshell. 1. Foundation expert (Sam) will charge you 175.00 for what you already know...your basement is leaking. 2. Foundation expert uses subcontractor to perform all work - Sam does not do any of the work himself or use in-house employees. 3. There is a middle man fee. 4. Sub-contractor is this case was America's Best Contractors. The quality of work was very low. 5. During the work, ABC spent hours digging in the wrong area. Sam was out of town that week. 6. When I called America's Best Contractor for warrenty work, they told me to call Sam. Sam told me to call America's Best Contractor because they did the work. Apprently, when I spoke with Tamara, she implied they were having problems with Foundation Expert and vice versa. This along should be enough to make you think twice. 7. Overall, it was a very bad experience and waste of money.

Service provider was prompt, courteous, friendly, and very knowledgeable. Took time to answer all my questions, without pushing to sell me follow-on services.

It was an Angie's List Big Deal that I purchased. I don't know what I was expecting but if I had to do it over again, I probably wouldn't have paid that amount for that service. I had a different concept of what that inspection would entail and it was not what I thought. I guess I didn't understand what 'foundation' meant because he didn't really go past the basement and I thought foundation meant the entire structure of my house. It was not long after we had that earthquake and so I thought it was a good idea to see if anything could be gleaned from an inside inspection but his service would not have covered that because he just looked around the basement and identified a few things.

I was impressed when I read on their web site and here on Angie's List that they're engineers and not just trying to sell you on a product. Unfortunately they never called us back, so after the third attempt we contacted other waterproofing companies. We filled out an online request for an inspection 2.5 weeks ago. Two days later we called and the person who answered the phone took down our contact information and said someone would call to schedule an inspection. Two days later we called and again, and despite telling them that this was the third attempt at contacting them, they just took down our information and said someone would call. I asked if he had any idea when we might get a call and he said, "I really don't know, it just says they'll call you back as soon as possible." Good luck to those who are able to get a call back. I just think it's so unprofessional of them not to respond to potential customers.

They found nothing wrong, however I later found a few wet spots from leaks from outside.

I kept no records of this encounter, which is why I can't say how much this "big deal" cost or exactly when it occurred. (The date is totally made up; it was perhaps two years ago.) As I recall, the provider arrived on time and was personable. He attempted to track where the water lines in the basement may have arisen, but could not determine the cause. He did not provide a written report, which was supposed to have been included in the cost of the "deal." I guess that's because he had no more to say than what he had told me in person, which was that he was stymied. Instead, he said he could get me a quick appointment with another outfit that would be better equipped to handle whatever my problem turned out to be. I did not take him up on this offer.

After contacting them and getting their engineer to perform an evaluation for $425, they won't answer emails or phone calls. My opinion of the engineering report is that it is poor and is full of waivers and caveats avaiding all responsibility for anything outside of what can be seen by a cursory glance.

After hearing such great things about this company off Angie's List I submitted an email request for an inspection and called them. I am currently buying a home and needed an additional inspection for a wall that was removed by the previous owners just to make sure it is not a structural wall. Well you have to leave a message with a receptionist then someone calls you for a quote. I called 24 hrs later still no return calls so I call again and the receptionist was nice but didn't understand why they didn't call. She guaranteed a call within an hr or 2 and there was no call. I tried to get 1 more time and nothing. If you're not on a time table this company maybe for you but if your on a time sensitive closing then it's really not. Went with another provider that actually returned a call.

Seemed like a very nice company, but the estimate was exceedingly high. Probably a reasonable price for the work that would be done, but it wasn't anything I could afford. So I'll "pass" on this project until a later time. I'll try to get a couple of more "estimates" to see if another company could do the project at a more affordable price.

The people and company were very good and knowledgeable. The waterproofing inside was very good. However, the outside still has some issues. We have called them to get this resolved and they have not been quick on the response to that. They have came a few times but the issues have not yet been resolved and work has not been done yet to correct anything.

There is a reason that these guys are the NUMBER ONE RATED provider. From the first phone call, to the visit by the owner and one of his crew chiefs, to the communication of terms, to the intermediate calls for scheduling, pricing and arrangement of "Miss Utility," to the punctual arrival and expert work, to the immaculate clean-up, to the emailing of the final billing... EVERYTHING about this company (and Sam Weisgal, in particular) was FIRST CLASS.

The Foundation Expert did a good job too, they did okay.

The interaction was terrific. I got a call back the day I called. Sam worked to schedule an appointment that fit with my hectic schedule. He showed up a few minutes before our scheduled appointment with a new project manager. They were both extremely thorough and professional. Sam spent a considerable amount of time asking me questions about the crack in the basement and educating me about water management and the options for addressing the issue. He was extremely thorough and professional. He told me that he would provide me with a written report along with the cost for fixing the problem this week. I was very impressed by his knowledge and experience. Equally important to me was his candor. I felt he was careful not to sugarcoat the situation while also not being an alarmist. Although other companies provided free estimates, I think the $179 fee will be well worth the consult, particularly given that it will include a written report of the problem.

The owner didn't come his brother did. There is waviness in our floors. It took awhile for them to respond. He didn't seem to answer the questions I had and I wasn't sure if he was qualified

Sam arrived on time, started inspection at the basement immediately. My concern was foundation strength because of there are a lot of roots coming towards the house. Sam looked each walls/corners of in and out of the basement, explained to me along the way his concerns and corrective measures. Got report a couple of weeks after.

Basically, there was a death in the provider's family and they never provided the service as expected, despite repeated attempts on our part to get them to respond. We have written the coupon off as a loss.

It was fine. He gave us his opinion on what needed to be done. He gave us a quote a couple of days later. The quote was just so insanely expensive, there is no way that we can do what they recommended. There were no extra charges; it was just the price of the big deal. He looked down in the basement and then walked around the outside of the house. He did give us some ideas of things that we could do that might help keep water from coming down into the basement in the future. Which was taking trees down that were too close to the house and grating down the soil around the foundation. His recommendation was digging a big trench around the foundation. He was a nice guy and on time. I would not use them again. The quote was way too expensive.

This was not a good experience. The worker came out and did the inspection. We did not get our report in a timely manner because the worker they sent out had personal issues. They eventually we needed a sump pump installed. Another company did the inspection and found just a small crack and found that sump pump work did not need to be installed. The problem was fixed much cheaper and done very well. If we followed the Foundation Expert’s advice, it would have cost twice as much money to not fix the problem.

I thought as far as what the end product was, I was disappointed. It was just a peripheral view of the inside of the house to see that it was just dry and that the foundation was not deteriorating. There was not any real detailed work. It was just a man walking through and a light report that said that the foundation was actually fine. I was expecting something more professional from him. He was here when he said he would be. I would not use him again.

It was an Angie's List Big Deal that I purchased. I was not really satisfied at all. It was advertised that he was going to come in and give us an idea of what needed to be fixed. He never really pointed out what needed to be fixed or do as he advertised. He shuffled us back between 2 or 3 companies, I had 3 or 4 people here at the house because he was either unavailable or doing something else. I really didn't understand. I thought that he was supposed to come here and tell me what needed to be fixed but it was more like this is how much it's going to cost you. I was kind of disappointed and he didn't leave behind anything, a paperwork or anything that discussed the foundation, it was just an estimate. He was a nice enough guy but I don't think he facilitates his part of the deal in giving us some kind of a leave behind. I called him several times on occasion and I think there was just some misunderstanding of what I wanted but the deal was there would be a leave behind and he kept sending people out to give me an estimate on how much it's going to cost to fix it but he never actually told me what needed to be fixed. The guy who came out was really nice and he was willing to work with us but he completely misunderstood the deal that he had on Angie's List and I kept asking him via email for a leave behind and he kept sending people out to my house to give me an estimate and that was precisely what I didn't want and I stated that in the emails. The price of the Big Deal was good that was why we took it but he didn't necessarily deliver on his end. We could have called for an estimate from anybody without any cost. I understand that this guy does really good work but he didn't perform any work on our house. He showed up when he told me. I'll probably not use them again in the future.

It was wonderful! They completed the work on time, cleaned up after themselves, were polite and informative.

I started by speaking with Sam after contacting The Foundation Experts through Angie's List. I spoke with Sam on Monday morning, he reminded me that they charge for the inspection and I understood. We set up an appointment for Wednesday afternoon. Later that day, he called and told me that Rick would be the inspector coming to my property on Wednesday. Wednesday morning, Rick called and wanted to set up an appointment for the inspection. I told him I thought we had an appointment for 3 pm that afternoon. He then reread the information Sam had provided him and fortunately had not double booked the time. We met at the house at 3 pm. I showed him the garage leak and wall that we needed repaired. We then walked around the property and discussed a crack in the garage wall, solutions for side yard erosion, and how to repair the leak in the garage. Rick told me that he would provide me with a written proposal by the end of the week (June 7th). I did not have Rick's direct number, so Monday June 10th I called and left a voice mail message for Sam to pass on to Rick requesting the written proposal. I did not hear back from either Rick or Sam. It is now Thursday June 14th - more than a week later and I still have no written proposal. That is too bad, I was very impressed with Rick's knowledge and professionalism at the time of the inspection. I was ready to move forward with this company. I would now state this The Foundation Experts' business model is about "scaring" small projects off by charging for an inspection that other company's provide as part of their service. I had to move my project forward and The Foundation Experts decided to sit this project out. Shame on me for giving this company a chance when other Angie's List reviews warned of this company's lack of interest in smaller projects.

I had three structural experts come out to do an inspection in a crack in the basement. Two did free estimates, only Sam charged. I felt that was fair, and I'm glad he came out. Both other inspectors wanted to charge me $8,000 to do the fix - the only problem was that they both stated the problem was COMPLETELY DIFFERENT and suggested different fixes! Sam on the other hand came out for an actual inspection - not an estimate! His result was that the crack was fine, he could patch it up if I wanted but he stated it really wasn't needed. Honesty! Can't pay enough for solid advice! Thank you Sam!

It was an Angie's List Big Deal that we purchased. It was pretty good. We knew about a crack because of a water leak and we showed him that and he suggested a way of fixing it in his report. He found a couple of other leaks. He did a good job and gave us a good report. We have a new house and we provided that to the vendor and they fixed it. The price was fine.

Charges almost $200 for estimates. I get his point that he's an "engineering company, not a sales company." But I won't do business with an engineering company that expects $150+ for what may not even amount to a glorified estimate. I'm sure I'll receive a response from the proprietor that is filled with ad hominem responses, just like any other critical review. UPDATE: Weisgal misrepresents my email, which in fact ends as follows: "I don't expect anyone to work for free , but I don't pay contractors to respond to an RFP, especially when I find out that the quote will cost me 8% of either consensus proposed solution." Weisgal says I'm angry. I wasn't angry then, and only told him on the phone, upon finding out he charged for estimates, "that will not work." Now that I find out Weisgal has omitted half my email to make it say the opposite of what I said, I am angry. To paraphrase, "You be the judge - is this a contractor you can trust?"