Need basement/foundation repair, any recommendations?

[LEWETHETIGER73]

Who's this ever dry company? Are they affiliated with Never Dry!?!? Maybe there twin companies, I wonder which one is the evil one?

[ND4SPD]

Well Everdry was out... sounds like their estimate is going to be ~$47,000 because all 4 walls are shearing. McCoy wouldn't give me an estimate because they wanted me to rip the paneling off the front wall (even though everdry noted that there was a bare area where a refrigerator had been near the bar). Even so it sounded like McCoy was going to be around the same amount. FVCK! and I was pissed when it was going to be $10k to $20k. So much for doing anything more with the car anytime soon... shit, I'll be lucky if I don't have to sell it to help pay to fix the damn house. So next up will be CRC and Mudjackers (again... we'll see if they actually send me an estimate this time).

[ND4SPD]

Everdry's final estimate was $37,000... still way more than we can really afford. Initially they were going to major-ex all 4 walls, then put pillars in every 48" or so and it was ~$47k. Then the guy (who was very nice) came back out he said he could do it for $37k... that they didn't need to major-ex all 4 walls. Huh, $47K - 20% is ... ~$37k. So the "buy now and get 20% off" thing must be a pretty common sales technique for them, so good call Pork. I was hoping when the guy said they'd cut the excavating down by half that the price would go down into the 20's... which would be getting into a reasonable range... but no dice.

As far as the engineering stuff, we had an engineer come out 4 years ago and again last year (and I'm strongly considering having him come out again)... even though it's $350 a pop. The two reports basically said the same thing, though all the contractors that have been out since seem to think the walls are in more than the engineer's report says. Too bad it's not buy 2 reports get the third free. I'll see if I can take some pictures, but basically all 4 walls have some amount of step cracking, and shearing. I keep hearing that virtually all the homes in my neighborhood have had, or will have the same problem eventually due to the soil composition (lots of clay).

Tomorrow's contestants will be Badger Basement and B-Dry. Then I have to see if I can get CRC and Mudjackers to come back. Forget McCoy... I didn't get a real good vibe from the guy when he was out. I don't think there's any point in calling American, because from what I hear they will charge just as much, if not more than McCoy and Everdry who already want more than we can afford.

[pOrk]

DO NOT USE EVER DRY, 3 people I know used them and all 3 were over charged and bent over backwards...

Call Accurate, they do good work from what I've heard

[ND4SPD]

DO NOT USE EVER DRY, 3 people I know used them and all 3 were over charged and bent over backwards...

Call Accurate, they do good work from what I've heard

I will do that. Thanks for the info.

[GTO RLY?]

When looking for contractors I reference NARI. MilwaukeeNari.org It gives you a list (by work type) of member contractors.

That's kind of a ruse though. Town & Country Electric/Faith Technologies is a member, and they suck balls like a lottery machine, plus they treat you like you're an idiot. Talk to Daryl Filipek (the guy who runs the place) and you'll know what I'm talking about.

As for basement guys, avoid Salinas 2 Construction like the plague. I cannot stress that enough.

[awsomeears]

Stay far far far......... far away from Badger !!!

They literally FUCKED up my friends basement, city inspector said " No permits were pulled even " and right now there is a large enough gap in the cinder block a baseball bat could fit in it...........

He bought the house based off this work getting done, it was done and I think in less then 2 years crumbled.

Personally be a member on Angieslist.com and check it out...........

[animal]

Heh, seems like this thread is pretty good at eliminating all basement repair companies for basement repair needs

[ND4SPD]

Okay regarding Badger... they came out and we got a VERY attractive bid from them (not ridiculously low, but competetive) which also included a lifetime transferrable warranty backed by them and a default 25 year warranty from the manufacturer. I joined Angie's List and looked them up and they have overwhelmingly good reviews. So I guess I'm wondering if there's more to the story with your friend's basement. And if it started falling apart again, why didn't your friend pursue the warranty coverage?

[Car Guy]

Okay regarding Badger... they came out and we got a VERY attractive bid from them (not ridiculously low, but competetive) which also included a lifetime transferrable warranty backed by them and a default 25 year warranty from the manufacturer. I joined Angie's List and looked them up and they have overwhelmingly good reviews. So I guess I'm wondering if there's more to the story with your friend's basement. And if it started falling apart again, why didn't your friend pursue the warranty coverage?

Mike (our friend) had a VERY shady experience with Badger, essentially he was screwed out of the amount you are about to spend. I would never deal with them after learning about the entire situation first hand and with my own eyes.....


.

[Lash]

Okay regarding Badger... they came out and we got a VERY attractive bid from them (not ridiculously low, but competetive) which also included a lifetime transferrable warranty backed by them and a default 25 year warranty from the manufacturer. I joined Angie's List and looked them up and they have overwhelmingly good reviews. So I guess I'm wondering if there's more to the story with your friend's basement. And if it started falling apart again, why didn't your friend pursue the warranty coverage?

Badger is actually pretty well known too.

I guess it is possible for people to have a bad experience with even the best of companies from time to time.

[ND4SPD]

I need details people... because if if they are in the final running I'll hit them with the accusations and see if they have a response. It doesn't do me any good to say I've heard a coupld of people on an internet forum say that you screwed their friends over.

[ND4SPD]

I had two more contractors come out today All-City Mudjacking and The Mudjackers. All City took one look at one wall, didn't take any measurements and just said they had to excavate the entire house. The guy from Badger was here for almost 2 hours doing his measurements and built a quote on the spot (I think he spent most of the time on the quote building because I asked for separate quotes for the drain tile replacement and fixing the walls).

[Car Guy]

I need details people... because if if they are in the final running I'll hit them with the accusations and see if they have a response. It doesn't do me any good to say I've heard a coupld of people on an internet forum say that you screwed their friends over.

The story is very long and complicated, I literally spent hours talking with Mike about it. Badger might do great work but saw an opportunity with Mike's house to make quick/big $$$ by pulling a 'fast one' and did. Mike spent thousands trying to get somewhere legally and in the end could not compete with Badger's bank account.....

[ND4SPD]

Well I would like to hear some details for no better reason than I wouldn't want to let them do the same thing here.

[Yooformula]

out of curiosity, does any part of home owners insurance or home warranty cover this?

[awsomeears]

I'd love to give you mikes phone # but he's done talking about it, Mike is a ASE mechanic that knows his way around pretty much everything. He did his homework on basements and even questioned the guys that would come and tweak the bolts and say its working.

From when Mike bought the home till now ( 5-7 years ) the wall looked ok then just opened up and is falling apart, even when they came out to tweak the bolts is was messed up. I think Mike told them " Your not allowed back to tweak these bolts that are doing nothing "

Time to time even A+ companies have issues, could be bad materials or bad workers( out of there control )

But Mikes wall is so Split open that some of the other companies for Quotes said " go after badger " for money or to fix it the right way. Most other companies wouldn't say that because they want the job.

Theres really nothing more Car guy or I can say, its cool to fix a wrong and admit it and or foot the bill. But to just say Nope nada nada nada shows your a Con.

[SSDude]

Before you sign with anyone check them out on BBB and http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl. You'll see more than just the opinions of Angies list.

[ND4SPD]

out of curiosity, does any part of home owners insurance or home warranty cover this?

I did check with my insurance agent about that possible aspect. The answer is "no". Homeowners insurance doesn't cover damage to the foundation via decay, hydrostatic pressure, etc... It *could* be considered "flood" damage, however you would need flood insurance and generally you would need to have 3 adjoining properties that had similar conditions.

I guess I'll bounce that scenario off the guy and see what he says.

See the problem I'm running into here is I've had 8 different contractors come out and give me 5 different stories (and they all bash each other of course). So who do you believe? McCoy, Everdry, All City all basically say you have to excavate the entire thing. Mudjackers says you only have to excavate some, Badger says you don't need to excavate anything, that you can push the walls in from inside. So WTF?

[awsomeears]

Before you sign with anyone check them out on BBB and http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl. You'll see more than just the opinions of Angies list.

I thought BBB was the industry standard on checking on companies !!!

Angies list is nice because I have used it and I'm on there for jobs completed