Badger Basement Systems

Outstanding service, very professional. Took care of all permits and scheduling of inspection. Crew foreman was very expert and walked me through their process and explained what they found and how they fixed the drainage issues I was experiencing. I have have no problems during two large rainfalls since they were here - both would have led to water in my basement prior to the work. The price was fair - some have called it high - I think I got the quality of what I paid for.

I recently purchased a foreclosed home which had been vacant for several years. The main floor of the home was sagging quite badly (over four inches), as many of the floor supports in the crawl space had rotted and/or broken over the years. The prior owner had thrown everything from old lumber to concrete blocks into the crawl space in an attempt to fix the problem, but with little success. In short, the foundation was a mess, and the home was pretty much unliveable because of it. I contacted several local foundation repair firms to get estimates to repair the foundation properly. One gave me an estimate in the $15-20K range, but with few details on how they would actually do the job. They didn't seem particularly eager to crawl under the house, or confident in their ability to do the job. A second firm came out, took a look, and didn't even send me an estimate. Fortunately, Badger Basement Systems was completely different. The initial inspector (basically a salesman, but he was very knowledgeable) came out when promised, carefully checked everything under the house, and measured how much the floor was sagging, and where. They sent me a detailed proposal within a couple of days, and committed in writing to get the floor to within 1 inch of level (reasonable for a 75 year old home). They proposed to use a series of "SmartJacks" to both raise and support the floor, as well as install additional floor joists in areas where existing joists were spaced too far apart. All of the work had to be done within the existing crawspace - in an area typically less than 3-feet high. Many of the new floor joists had to be custom cut and fitted as well. Once the SmartJacks were installed, the home was lifted about 1/4 inch per week, until the floors were level. Badger's initial quote was about $9,000 with the understanding that there was a possibility that some additional supports might be required, once they really started working underneath the home. They did end up needing to install some additional Smartjacks, as well two new support beams under the front of the home, bringing the total cost to about $11,000. In summary, I spoke to several different foundation repair "specialists", but Badger was really the only one with the right tools and the right know-how to take on a very difficult and complicated job. They were prompt, professional, and ended up costing substantially less than what other firms quoted. In short - there are no doubt lots of foundation repair firms who can waterproof a basement or install a drain tile, but if you have a major problem that other firms cannot handle, these are the guys to call. I would definitely use them again (but hopefully I won't have to).

The system they installed is garbage, there is one area where they didnt install any re-inforcement, said it wasnt needed and the bricks are now pushing out of the wall. I now have to hire a competent basement contractor to come properly fix the wall. problems. Basically hiring them was equivalent to throwing money down the drain

The estimate he sent only had a price. It did not explian work that would be done. I emailed him asking for a detailed estimate explaining what work they would be doing and never herd back from him. Very unprofessional. I will never call this company again.

The man who came out was right on time and everything. But he said that he had to put this in his stumper file because he said that he was confused of how to go about it. He said he would give me a call back in about a week. But he never called back. I called him two weeks ago and he said that he will get back to me. I have not heard a word after that. I just did not like being treated like that. If they could not figure it out they should have let me know. He did not give me quote.

They were wonderful and very professional. They were very specific about what they could do to help me. They came out on time, which is very important in my book. They did nice work and understood my problem. While working with them, I felt very comfortable. I would recommend them to others.

May not fix the actual issue at hand.

The estimator that came out really new his stuff. Showed us the product and method that they would use. We really didn't have any questions.

They were very professional. We actually had them come out twice to quote different things because we decided to expand what we were doing. They came back and requoted. The guy showed up when we scheduled it and they actually finished earlier than expected. They didn’t leave any mess. They were very courteous and explained the warranty. They left us with paperwork and sent us everything in the mail to follow up. They were lower than another company but it still seemed very expensive. We would recommend them.

Excellent work. From the sales call, to the pre-inspection, to the actual installation, everything was done very well. The pump system is a bit expensive, but it is well engineered and runs very quietly (no noise or vibration at all) and the pumps are backed up with a lifetime warranty. I can't think of anything they could have done better.

We purchased our 1949 home five years ago and the "flipper" who was selling the house did a good job at covering up the problems in the basement with carpet, paneling and fresh paint. The heavy rain showed us that we had problems and after removing much of the carpet and the paneling along the west wall we decided to get that side fixed first. Two years ago we had the west wall of the basement braced and the drain tile replaced along with an installation of a sump pump to take care of the problem on that side of the house. This year, after seeing water pooling at the bottom of the stairs down to the basement, we decided to have the east wall of the basement repaired. After looking on Angie's List, we selected three companies to solicit bids from and after looking at the scope of what we really needed to get done, we selected Basement Badger Systems. Brian Kammer from Badger Basement Systems provided our initial estimate and he provided us with a packet of information that he went through with us while he was going over the estimate. He went over what the work would entail and also provided options to the estimate should we think about expanding the scope of work. Scheduling the work was pretty easy since we were planning the work to be done well in advance of the four week schedule since we had to do the demolition work to remove the existing paneling and carpet as well as move any personal items four feet (according to the estimate) or five feet (according to a second information packet) away from the affected walls. We received a second information packet about a week before the work was scheduled to be done that had some additional information about the payment plan we chose to utilize, some short biographies of the employees who were going to be doing the work and a checklist of items. There was a pre-inspection appointment set up and that was the first time we met, Aaron Underwood, the foreman who was going to do the work. He walked through the scope of the project checking out the area to make sure that there would not be any surprises. On the day of the job, Aaron and his co-worker, Robbie showed up in the morning and started working. There was surprisingly very little dust during the jack-hammering and drilling of the base CMU blocks. There was a difficult area of the floor that had to be worked on since the stair to the basement was over this particular area and the crew was able to work through that area just fine. The job lasted two days just like we were told and Aaron and Robbie were professional throughout the process taking time to answer any of the questions that I had. After the job was completed, my wife noticed a small hole of unfilled concrete around the clean out for the drain tile so I placed a call to the office to see if someone could look at it. Making the appointment was easy and after a couple of days Dan showed up, looked at the area in question and sealed the hole. We have had a couple of days of rainfall since we had the work done and we are happy to report that the affected area remains dry and the CMU wall that is now covered with the "BrightWall" product looks good.

Representative was late. Did not quote work requested. Was friendly and polite.

Badger's salespeople are great. They arrive when they say they will, they show you examples of systems that work and don't work, fully explain why you need what you need. They don't try to upsell you on things you don't need (well, except for the $2k dehumidifier, which is still up for debate), and they are pretty competitive in pricing. They price-matched my second bid, and even threw in an extra 15ft. of tile that the secondary bid did not account for. That, along with Badger's great reputation and industry-standard warranty sold me on them. We agreed to schedule the work, and fit it in within 4 weeks of agreement. For peak-season basement waterproofing, I thought 4 weeks was pretty reasonable. The work was to take 3 working days. Prior to the work, they send you a packet of information that outlines what will happen, what you need to do to prepare, as well as profiles of the employees who will perform the work, complete with personal backgrounds. For an industry that is chock full of shady people, I definitely appreciate this. Up to this point, I was very pleased. The actual installation is what bothered me. We have a tile floor, and I was aware these tiles would need to be removed; the workers didn't save a single one. I know this can be a difficult task to do, but the work was completed in 2 days rather than the estimated 3. I feel they should have taken more time and consideration to save my materials from the landfill. The workers were pleasant enough, but at the start of the second day, I fully explained that one portion of the basement was the source of the problem ? a crack in the floor that continually leaked water. I thought the work estimate, and my clearly outlined expectation would fix the problem. The worker then asked me a personal preference about adjusting some of the work load ? did I want the exterior concrete pad removed and replaced, or could they just route around the pad? The work order was explicit in its detail, and I asked that they perform what we agreed on. This was my first indication that the workers were trying to do less than contracted. Later during the second day, they decided to enter the upper section of the home. To their surprise, my sig other was at home, and when questioned what one of them was doing, they explained they were looking for the restroom. They knew the location of the restroom ? immediately in front of the basement door. To this day, we don't know what they were looking for. I received a call at the end of the second day letting me know the work was complete. I was asked if I could return home from work early so that I could make payment in full (note: the request was for payment, not for review of work performed). I denied their request, and instead met them the next morning. When they returned, I showed him that the single problem area had not been addressed ? there was still a crack in the floor. He asked that i make payment in full since "98% of the work is done..." I denied the request again, and he returned that day to finish. Unfortunately, he did not prepare the area as well, and tracked dirt and mud up our carpeted stairs that he had previously covered with a drop cloth. I paid the next day in full. Within 10 days, we had a leak. Good on their word, Badger returned and modified their prior work to give me what I paid for. For the past month, I have now had a dry basement. We will monitor to see how it holds up through the wet season. In the end, I have paid a reasonable price for work that needed to be completely monitored the entire way through, encountered some workers who were trying to do as little as possible, and gave me a bad experience that removed my trust from their services.

Things went great. We were happy with things just thought they were on expensive side.

They had a good representative that came out. He was very thorough. He talked to me quite a long time. He told me the pro's and cons. The workers were excellent! They cleaned up after themselves all the time. They were clean and neat. They finished within a good period of time. They did all of the work with getting the permits and contacting the plumbers. It was all included in one price. They re-plumbed some of my stationary tub that was attached to the sump pump that went outside. They took care of all of that. I was very happy with the work. I would recommend them.

I spent a lot and it was like $19,000 because I had a really bad basement, but you always want something a little more reasonable. There was quite a lot of work involved, but it took them about a week. Everything was good. They cleaned everything up when they were done. The guys who came and serviced were all really nice. They were real down to earth people. They were here for a while tightening all those.

Extremely pleased with the service. Very professional & sent out a bio & picture of service technician ahead of time who would perform the work. I highly recommend this company!

They were in and out quickly and seemed to do a good job.

They don't do a real structural repair, and I question how long it will hold. They cost slightly less than having the whole basement rebuilt. I am going to spend the little extra and have it done properly. I liked the sales person, but I didn't like what they proposed.

The guy was very nice, explained a lot of different things about water in the basement, and tried very hard to sell me on a VERY expensive sump pump, then explained to me that even if they replaced my sump pump, they would not warranty my basement staying dry because they did not do the drain tile work or other waterproofing work around my building (I live in an attached townhome). I felt $1200 was very excessive for a sump pump replacement when they did not even need to dig a crock for it.

My initial contact and setting up the quote went well. They were very thorough and professional. They mailed ahead some information, including a bio of the sales guy; I thought that was a nice touch to let you know who they are sending to your home. The quote itself seemed to go well. Willy seemed confident and thorough. He noted our HARD CLAY SOIL (all caps because I'll be coming back to this a few more times). Although the price was pretty high and non-negotiable, he explained the amount of work, the logistics, and the material costs, and did a good job selling us on the services. We put down our deposit and scheduled the installation six weeks out. A few weeks later Willy called to let me know that the window well I had purchased was not available, and to get approval on the substitution. The actual installation was pretty impressive. The crew of half a dozen guys rolled in as I was leaving for work. They put down rubber mats on the lawn to distribute the load of the truck and the excavator, put down drop cloths through the house to the basement, and made sure we were agreed on the exact location of the window. Six hours later the window and well were in and they were gone. The only disappointing part of the installation was that they backfilled around the well with large chunks of our hard clay soil, so there were huge voids and it didn't look too great. Breaking up the chunks and mixing in a couple of yards of topsoil would have gone a long way, after spending $6,650. I got my own topsoil, dug out some of the clay chunks, and started filling in around the well. There was a broken piece of one of my lannon stones that seemed to be capping a hole directly adjacent to the well, so I called their office to find out if I need to leave that hole for drainage. One of the installation crew members explained that it was just a result of back filling with clay and I went back to work filling the holes. A couple of days later, the service guy, Nick called to say that he was in the area with half a dump truck of topsoil if I would like him to bring it over. I thought that was a really nice touch, and since my topsoil had settled way more than I had imagined, I still needed it. A couple of weeks later, on a Saturday evening, we had a pretty serious rain, and I went down to the basement to take a look around. I didn't really have a reason to worry, other than the freshly cut 6x6 hole in my foundation, so I was pretty shocked to see that the window well was full of water up to the bottom of the window. I grabbed a couple of five gallon buckets and started bailing, while calling Nick (the service guy that had offered to bring by the topsoil). Nick (sick as a dog and off the clock) answered and told me that I could call the emergency number and get in touch with Dale, who was on call. I left a message and Dale called back within minutes. I told him what was going on and he said he would be there in an hour with a submersible pump to get things under control (he drove from Fort Atkinson to Muskego, in the rain, at 10:00 on a Saturday night). When he got there, he put in the pump, with a hose running well away from the window. However, he couldn't resist trying to sell me on their waterproof flooring. Everyone else that had seen my OSB over XPS floor seem to like it, and there was no way I was going to rip it all out and start over; I thought it was an odd time to try to sell me something else, when my initial purchase wasn't working properly. I called the office on Monday morning to schedule a service appointment to permanently deal with the apparent defect. The best they could/would do, is send Nick (topsoil guy) on the following Friday. Once he arrived, he quickly diagnosed the problem... they hadn't installed a "well drain." We hadn't bought one, because Willy the sales guy had never mentioned it. We didn't know what it was, but apparently the well drain is the most important part of the system, ESPECIALLY for hard clay soil. When they cut the 6x6 hole for the window, they lay it down and set the window well on it, thereby blocking the external drain tile. The well drain is a basket looking thing, with a PVC pipe through the wall and down to the internal drain tile. Nick told us that it would be another $500 (and about an hour) to install the well drain, and that there would be minimal framing and flooring damage. We went around and around on that for a little while, and eventually Nick got permission from the office to install the well drain free of charge, since it wasn't clearly indicated during the sale that our $6,650 window would flood our basement without it. Once the well drain was installed, everything was fine. We didn't get a drop of water in our basement on the eight-inches-of-rain-in-a-few-hours day in July. Looking back, I wouldn't have been any less willing to pay $7,150 than I was to pay $6,650. The well drain should be included in the egress window installation to avoid this problem in the future. So that explains my ratings... Quality was eventually very good, once the well drain was installed. punctuality was good, from the install to the service call. Responsiveness was outstanding; the 10pm emergency visit saved me a long night of bailing water. The professionalism varied; I had to deduct for the the late night flooring pitch. And last, but not least, the price was quite high. Believe it or not, I would use BBS again. Now I know what a well drain is, and I know that I definitely want one whether it is offered or not.

They did a great job. Punctual, neat, and professional. They re-routed our back yard downspouts into our drainage ditch and our front yard downspouts into the front yard. In both cases, they needed to dig under concrete patios/walks. They installed the new pipes without damaging the concrete and barely disrupting the grass. You would never know they were there. The sump pump inside looks great--hopefully, it will work great too.

In general the work went very well. They do know what they are doing - we'd fooled around with landscaping and other remedies. Skip that and call BB if you have a wet basement. It may seem expensive, but it is really the way to go. One minor gripe: the estimator for the job was completely unavailable and unresponsive after he left. My advice is to contact the crew captain for your job - they are assigned in advance, so you can call them with any concern or follow up. The crew captain was quite responsive to our questions.

Job took two days to complete and in general went very well. The crew arrived a little after 9a after driving down from Ft. Atkinson. After a brief review of the plan they promptly got to work. The crew did a good job dealing with my extra thick slab and a difficult inspector. They did a good job at keeping the dust to a minimum and cleaning up after themselves. I was disappointed that they left the 2x4s and drywall they removed from the walls in the basement and wished they would have offered to take the material I can not reuse with them. Due to Wauwatosa regulations they were unable to install the buried drain and yard discharge, but when I asked they removed the cost of the material and labor from my bill. While I don't think they appreciated me in the basement while they worked, they did a good job explaining the process and answering my questions. Repair cost was painful, but given the extra effort the team had to put in I think I got a deal.

Aaron & Scott were punctual, very professional, and polite.