Ark Basement Services, Inc.

Mike, the owner came out under 24 hours for an estimate on our basement. We had 6 other waterproofing companies who quoted us 6-16,000 dollars. We paid under 2500 and they included jackhammer ingredients old cement porch and hauled it away and filled it in for us to build a wood porch. The young men Dave and John were such hard workers. They busted their butts. I cannot said enough good things about this company.

Review: I had water coming into the rear of my basement on rainy days and there were water spots on the rear basement wall. On 12/9/11 I entered a contract for a 27 linear feet interior french drain, a submersible pump and wall treatment. I have made numerous calls to Jim about on going water in the basement on rainy days. Jim never followed through with appointments to have the problem corrected. I found out about Mike, co-owner who has responded by sending Fred out to the house however, his attempts to resolve the water problem have not been effective; hydraulic mix where drain stopped, gravel and membrane. The french drain was never extended the full length of the wall; the section behind the furnace. Fred advised me to have an air conditioner contractor and a plumber come out due to observed water leaks from my furnace at the time of one of his visits. I have had both contractors come to the home. The air conditioner condensation line was repaired. The plumber discovered that the ARK sump pump was not working,that it had been connected to a shut off underground downspout and that there was a build up of water underneath the basement floor which was causing the odor. I had to remove carpet from a section of the basement due to wetness and odor .On 7/25/15 I left a message for Mike and called him again on 8/3/15. Mike was informed of the plumbers' report. He didn't believe that his workers would install the pump to a shut off line. He would send Fred out yet again. I called on 8/14/15, left a message; he returned my call on 8/18/15 and scheduled an appointment for he and Fred on 8/24/15. Fred appeared but, Mike was unable to. Fred found the pump connected to a shut off drain line, he had to installed a new pump,and reroute the drain line for the water to flow into my back yard. I don't no what kind of problem this will bring. Fred was unable to reach Mike to resolve the french drain issue. It has been over a week and I have not heard from Mike.Desired Settlement: I paid $2376 to stop water from coming into my basement; water is still coming into the basement. Find a solution to stop the water from coming into my basement. If you can't extend the drain behind the furnace as contracted install an external drain.

Use the downspout at the addition to the house as specified instead of the main house downspout where the water is running into the yard.

Business

Response:

ARK strives for 100% satisfactory with all of our customers. ARK and Ms. [redacted] entered an agreement to installed 27 linear feet of interior French drain and 1 submersible pump in 2011. We received a phone call from Ms. [redacted] about water behind her furnace. Ark sent the service manager, Fred out in July to observe the problem and figure out a solution. Fred tried several different techniques to solve her issue. We were in contact with Ms. [redacted] multiple times and also visited her home several times. We have contacted Ms. [redacted] and schedule an appointment next week to work on resolving her water issue.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted]. Yes there is another appointment scheduled for 9/16. This does not mean the issue is resolved as there have been several appointments in the past. The issue will be resolved when the french drain is completed according to the contract and when there is no longer water in my basement.

Review: My basement flooded because they did not do the job correctly. They put dirt on top of the pipes instead of gravel so the pipes clogged eventually and so the water could not seep into the pipes so it could then be drained away from the house so all the excess water went into my basement and ruined all of my tenant's furniture he stored in the basement and garage. I think they are a bunch of is. They give a lifetime warranty but do not respond to complaints and make you feel like a pain when you call w/a concern. One time I kept getting water into my driveway and [redacted] goes over and said it was not their fault. Well my landscaping guy told Ark that it was their fault because they had the sump pump pumping water right into my driveway. They fixed it for free then (after they were caught). I would not refer anyone to them. Just this year (2014), I called them w/another concern and they said they would be over Friday and NO SHOW/NO CALL!!!! So three days later the basement/garage flooded. So my tenant had to make a renters insurance claim on the furniture he lost that he stored in the basement/garage. My tenant and neighbor are the ones who figured it out that they put dirt on top of the pipes instead of gravel and this is why the basement/garage flooded. I live out of town and they took advantage of that. I want a refund of $5000. Worse $5000 I ever spent. My landscaping guy also called me frequently that he saw problems on the walls all the time and Ark said that was nothing. They never went over to check that out. Potential health issues to tenants w/mold. I want any money lost to the tenant refunded by Ark and I want refunds for the bad work they did. The lifetime warranty is a big joke and just a sales pitch because once they get their money you are history.Desired Settlement: I want a second opinion on all the work they did and request a refund up to the point of all that needs to be re-done to remedy their lousy work!!!!!!!!! I do not trust them to fix the problems. They do not care at all about their workmanship and do not care that I gave them $5k and do not back their work. Want them to repay tenant for any losses he had over his furniture getting ruined.

Business

Response:

In 2006 we did a job for Mrs. [redacted] for 3900.00. Internal drainage on rear wall and side walls and a pump. We currently will be in litigation with her. We are in process we had to sue her for slander. We went to every service call, never to find a problem. The only problem is she has a dirt driveway and it slopes to the house with water coming under garage door into her renters stuff. We told her numerous times that has nothing to do with the drainage system on the back wall. In 2014 she sold the house to a Mr. [redacted] he has since called us to review what the work done was. We went out and have a great relationship with him he said she is a [redacted] and a [redacted] When we went out to meet with him he needed a new pump. Which he has since replaced. Also since then 4 months ago he claims everything is fine. The pipe she claims that was in dirt is the discharge pipe from the pump. We found the pipe and it was fine and by the way it is surfaced away from house like it should be. thank god she sold the property we now have a [redacted] customer to deal with, however she has slandered since she sold the house that is why we are in litigation currently. thanks please call [redacted] if needed ###-###-####

Review: I signed a contract on Thursday 2/11/16 between 5:30pm-6:00pm. I paid 10% of the total project cost. The contract states that if I cancel after 3 business days then there wouldn't be any 33% fee. I called the company on Tuesday 2/16/16, on the 3rd business day, and cancelled the service. The check that I provided was cashed but the money has not been refunded to me.Desired Settlement: I want to be refunded the $287.20 that I paid.

Business

Response:

We went out to Ms. [redacted]s home and gave her a free estimate two week prior to her signing the contract. Ms. [redacted] called Jim and said she wanted to go with Ark Basement Services. The contract was signed on Thursday 2/11/2016. Ms. [redacted] said she really wanted to get this done so we were able to get her on the schedule for the following Wednesday, 2/17/2016. On Tuesday 2/16/2016 we received a call in the evening from Ms. [redacted] stating that she wanted to terminate the contract. This was the evening before the job was supposed to start. We told Ms. [redacted]s that she had to pay the 33% because the material was already purchased and it was past the 3 day grace period. We consider Saturdays a business day since we work that day, making her last day to cancel the contract on Monday. There seems to be miscommunication somewhere throughout this situation. We always want our customers to be happy, even if they decide to not choose us. We are willing to not charge her the 33% to ensure her satisfactory.

Consumer

Response:

Review: According to the contractor, the warranty for the completed job is on the back of the receipt. The problem is that we never got any receipt. After finishing the job, the foreman told us that the company will send it to us within two weeks. So far we have not received it. We have contacted the owner and explained to him that we never got the receipt (left phone messages), but he has not responded to our request.Desired Settlement: We are just asking for the receipt and the warranty document that is supposed to be on the back of receipt. In addition, when the owner gave us the estimate, he agreed to waive the $35 annual inspection fee for the next 10 years. This should also be respected as part of our agreement.

Business

Response:

On the contract it states the warranty and what the customer paid for the job I am assuming he lost that?? I am the owner [redacted] and I just contacted Mr [redacted] and I am emailing contract to him. Also I never spoke to him on this matter. He stated he talked to me. He just admitted that was a mistake on his part. Either way it is handled. [redacted] emailing him it by the end of business hours today

Consumer

Response:

Review: ON 4-10-13 I SIGNED A CONTRACT WITH [redacted] OF ARK BASEMENT SERVICES TO PERFORM WORK AT MY HOUSE. THEY WERE TO INSTALL OUTSIDE DRAINS 2-3 FT. DEEP FOR ABOUT 18 FT. ON ONE SIDE AND ABOUT 6 FT ON THE OTHER. THEY WERE TO SCRAPE AND GRIND THE EFFLORESENCE OFF THE INSIDE WALLS, TREAT MOLD AREAS, INSTALL SMALL AIR VENTS (TWO AND ONE HALF INCH PLASTIC VENTS) AND PAINT. IN SIX WEEKS THE WALLS WERE TURNING YELLOW AGAIN. AFTER CLOSER INSPECTION I COULD SEE WHERE THEY JUST PAINTED OVER THE EFFLORESENCE. I CALLED THEIR SERVICE MANAGER, FRED CARR. HE CAME TO MY HOUSE AND AGREED THAT THEY DID NOT SCRAPE THE WALLS PROPERLY AND IN ONE MONTH ( HE SAID THE WALLS NEEDED MORE TIME TO DRY)THEY WOULD RETURN AND SCRAPE THE WALLS AND REPAINT. AFTER THREE MORE WEEKS AND THREE MORE PHONE CALLS FRED SAID THEY WOULD BE AT MY HOUSE ON THE FOLLOWING WEDNESDAY. ON THE MONDAY BEFORE THAT (7-22-13) [redacted] CALLED TO COME OVER. HE LOOKED OVER THE WALLS AND CONCLUDED THAT THE PROBLEM WITH MY WALLS WAS FROM AN INTERIOR DRAIN I HAD INSTALLED 15 YEARS AGO. HE REFUSED TO DO THE WORK THAT HIS SERVICE MANAGER HAD AGREED TO DO. I PAID THIS COMPANY $3000.00 FOR THIS WORK. THE MATERIALS USED WHERE VERY LOW COST. THEY HAD THREE WORKERS HERE FOR APPROXIMATELY FIVE HOURS. THAT COMES TO ALMOST $200.00 PER MAN HOUR. MY WIFE AND I ARE BOTH RETIRED. WE CERTAINLY DID NOT GET OUR MONEY WORTH.Desired Settlement: EITHER A REFUND OR THEY REDO MY WALLS. I WOULD PREFER A REFUND, I'LL HAVE SOMEONE ELSE DO THE WORK.

Business

Response:

In regards of this job:

We were called for an estimate, I [redacted] went out and explained he needed to do his interior drain over or call the previous company who in stalled the drains When I was there he had mold and efflorescence on walls from a backing up of a non working inside French drain. He did not want to spend 5000.00 on a new job nor did he want to call the previous company? The next option was to put a exterior drains on both sides of house in stall vents in walls and scrape and re-seal walls. This type of work has no warranty like a inside drains would have a lifetime warranty.

Job was finished looked great and was paid in full. He the customer called 2 months later with service , when I went out I explained to him, that the walls are fine and they are the way they are due to a inside drain not working. Again I said call the company who did the inside drain there should be a warranty on the work. Then he explained they are out of business. He knew there isn't warranty on our job and the only way for the walls to be in pristine shape is the work we did with also a inside drain working.

I don't know what to do for him other than he needs a new inside drain installed which would cost 5000.00.

Keep in mind I understand he has a drain inside that doesn't work nor is that company in business , however I cant be held for others work that has failed.

I am willing to touch up again but I get the feeling this will be ongoing forever.

Thank you

Consumer

Response:

First of all let me clear a few things up. The inside drain system works fine and the contractor that installed that system is indeed still in business. Their guarantee is that there will be no "visible seepage". There never has been any since the drain was installed in 1998. This issue has nothing to do with that system, but it has to do with Ark basement services not doing the work that was contracted. They did not scrape the wall completely and painted over efflorescence. This stuff did not return in the six weeks before I called their service manager, it was merely painted over. If this in not so, why did the service manager, [redacted], inspected the walls and agree that the walls were not properly scraped and cleaned and they would return to redo the work in question? Only after I waited another month of so did [redacted] inspect my walls and declared the inside drain was at fault and refused to honor the work his service manager committed to do. I do not want [redacted] to held for work of others that has failed, I want him to be held for his work that has failed.

Business

Response:

response to his rejection. In this project we only sealed walls with no warranty. the original system like said before is the problem however, we want to make all customers happy. so with that said , we will love to go back and seal up areas that need it again. Please have him call our service mgr [redacted] or myself and we will be there asap.

In this type of work prep work requires scrape loose paint then seal walls also we drilled dells and put in some vents for the walls to breathe. All this was done properly

Review: I had my basement waterproofed 2 years ago by Ark Basement. I was supposed to get 2 pumps, which I did. But one of the pumps is not in a proper basin. It is in something similar to a [redacted] bucket with a flimsy lid that has already cracked. The crew that installed this pump said they could not fit a full size basin. Another employee told me he could fit a full size basin in that spot. The owner agreed to have this employee replace this basin, but I would have to wait until business was slow. I understood his reasoning, so I waited. He finally called six months later wanting to come the next day! We happened to be out of town. After we returned home, I called the owner. Now this employee no longer works for him!! So now he is telling me if I want this done I have to sign some sort of waiver according to his attorney!! The system is working and that is all I ever hear from the owner when I talk to him. But the bottom line is I was promised a replacement basin and since the owner put it off for so long and this employee no longer works there, the company is not going to honor their promise.Desired Settlement: Replace the [redacted] bucket with a proper basin as promise. No attorneys and no waivers involved.

Business

Response:

In August 2013, ARK Basement Services installed French drains on three walls in Ms. [redacted]’s home. During installation the foreman realized that a normal sized crock would not fit because of the water line coming into the basement. The foreman decided to install a smaller size crock. This is not uncommon to make changes once the foreman see what they are dealing with for the dig area. About a year later Ms. [redacted] called and told ARK that the fourth wall in the basement was now leaking and needed to be waterproofed as well. ARK Basement waterproofed the fourth wall for only $400, when it should have been a $1,800 job. During the installation of the fourth wall, Ms. [redacted] talked about the crock being smaller and supposable a seasonal sub-contractor told her he might be able to put a normal size crock in, however he did not inform ARK of this. Ms.[redacted] called to schedule the job to change her crock size, which is when theseasonal sub-contractor informed ARK that he thought he may be able to do it. Due to scheduling issues, ARK called several month later to set the appointment up to change the crock, however Ms.[redacted] was out of town. When she finally got back to us, the seasonal sub-contractor no longer worked for ARK. None of the employees at ARK were comfortable putting the larger crock in with the waterline. We informed Ms. [redacted] that if she got someone in there to move the waterline then ARK would come in and install the larger crock. Since the system was installed in 2013, Ms. [redacted] has never called for any type of service call and her basement has been dry. After meeting with the company engineer and seeing that Ms. [redacted] has had a dry basement, ARK does not want to mess with a properly working system, especially with the water line so close.

Consumer

Response:

The small crock in my basement is just one of the manyproblems I had with the waterproofing work that was done at my home August 19 –21, 2013. I agreed to pay $5,000 for the work, even though this wasnot the lowest quote I received, mainly because of the additional items Mikeagreed to take care of for me. The twomost important items I wanted fixed, in addition to the basic waterproofing,were the leak from the hot water tank and the downspout that appeared to beclogged. I had a pipe from the hot water tank to the floor drain tocontain the leak. I hated this pipe andMike said he would be able to divert the leak directly into the Frenchdrain. Then when the time came hisinstaller explained that this process would be dangerous and did not remove thepipe. Another waterproofing company cameto my house and said there was no reason why this could not have been done aspromised. My hot water tank is in a verytight space, but I was told they would tunnel underneath it. I paid for a French drain along that entirewall, but they skipped several feet.Mike agreed to take care of the downspout problem. I wasn’t sure how, then he told me to capit! I finally got him to cap it onSeptember 4, 2013, but that wasn’t the solution I expected.In fact, the front corner of my home was included in theplan, but was not done until I called to complain about water coming in! They are supposed to return service callswithin 24 hours, but I waited 3 days for a return call. By then the water had dried up and theservice person acted as if I was imagining things. The next time water came in I called againand again I waited more than 24 hours for a return call. This time we had taken pictures and theservice person finally admitted there was a problem and fixed the front cornerof my home. After this corner was fixed, I continued to get water. I called Ark again and Mike returned my call4 days later. He said he would do the frontwall for $35 per foot. I didn’t think Ishould have to pay anything to have this problem fixed, especially after all ofmy disappointments concerning this job. Ark waterproofed my front wall and tookcare of the drain from the hot water tank on March 14, 2014, 7 months after theinitial job. This was not a year later and this was not the first problem I hadwith water coming in my basement after the original install in August 2013. When I complained about the one pump being in a [redacted]bucket, the water proofer told me that he could fit a full size crock in thatspace. I finally got Mike to agree toreplace that crock, but it had to wait until things were slow. So I waited andwaited and waited. Then when I was on vacation he called. After I returned home, I waited for him tocontact me. But when he never called, I called him. That employee didn’t work for himanymore! Then he came up with the excuse about moving the water lineand telling me what his attorney said. That was never mentioned before. Thespace where the crock is currently located is the same size as the space wherethe water line is, so I don’t know why it will fit there and not where it iscurrently. The bottom line is I was promised a full size crock and ithas never been replaced. I keep hearingthe same excuse that the basement is dry and I should be happy. Yes it is dry, now. But I had to have the water proofers backseveral times before it was completely dry. I had to fight every step of the way to get it dry and to get otherpromises fulfilled.If Ark refuses to honor the promise they made to me, then Iwant a $200 refund. Regards,

Review: Shoddy Workmanship...Requested $100.00 compensation for return on the job 3 times.Compensation requested is for use of water, gas and clean up of cement dust and sewer water residue.Desired Settlement: Requested $100.00 compensation for return on the job 3 times.

Business

Response:

in regards to this complaint:

We waterproofed this home and everything was fine and paid for. Three months went past and the customer called stating that his tenant that lived in the rental we did was having a smell in basement. We sent on service and all agreed that we would open the system of the interior drain and see whats going on When we did this we found a old terra cotta pipe cracked (which could have been from vibration or being old ) we still as a good company went ahead and fixed the probem. When we did this we cut out a piece of vinyl floor to fix for him all being for free when we finished the project, he complained about the 1x2 area of flooring by the furnace we cut once again we went ahead bought a whole new 10x10 and replaced THE FLOOR FOR FREE

now we have the customer which we went way above for asking for 100 bucks for the water used to mix concrete REALLY if this was about 10 bucks of water I would be very surprised again you tell me what to do we went and did plumbing for free flooring for free whats next???

please tell me [redacted]

Review: Failure to comply with contract agreementDesired Settlement: Michael Perry OwnerArk Basement Waterproofing Service[redacted]January 15, 2015 Dear Mr. Perry:Issues discussed during an inspection of the discrepancies from our original contract and the work completed and the resulting damages. Present were Michael Perry owner of Ark Basement Services, your risk manager, the owner operator of [redacted] and [redacted] Wednesday January 14, 2015 @ 10:00 AM: At the time of this visit the cemented humped over drain was opened and left. The patency of this drain was not evaluated at the time because there were not tools available to complete this. This was also to be completed (Including a new drain cover) with the work described below.1.In reference to the services (work) to my garage, porch and basement den located at [redacted] completed June 2007. I am possession of the original contract that specific

Business

Response:

Ark Basement Services strives for 100% customer satisfactory. Since 2004 we have completed over 200 jobs per year. This was a very unique situation for the this job. On May 2007. Ms. [redacted] called regarding water leaking thru the ceiling into the garage and basement. She already had an insurance claim. I, Mike Perry, President of ARK Basement Services, went out to Ms. [redacted]s house and said for a grate drain in front of garage, new gutter, seal the ceiling in basement, seal garage floor, and put one inch thick cement coating on the back porch. When doing job we discovered this was a plumbing job for the floor drain and we are not plumbers. We had mutual agreement between Ms. [redacted] and myself to cap the floor drain and eliminate the grate drain for the same price. Once job was completed we received payment in form of a check, however Ms. [redacted] stopped payment on the check. The next day we went back to fix the ceiling to her satisfaction and we were issued another check. In January 2015, eight years later, Ms. [redacted] contacted our office for service, which Mike and the service manager responded to within 24 hours. Upon arrival Ms. [redacted], had her son-in-law, who owns a concrete company, who questioned us on why we capped the floor drain. Then we proceeded by uncapping the drain and agreed to put in a grate drain, all free of cost, on April 11, 2015. In the beginning of April we called to confirm our scheduled installation date with Ms. [redacted] in which she informed us that she is exploring her other options and we should not come out. Ms. [redacted] wanted us to replace concrete on the back porch, saying that it should be under warranty. Our contracts state that we do not warrant the concrete. To verify that my business is being practical I check around to three different cement companies, which all confirmed that they do not warrant concrete after one year. Under the terms and condition on our contract, we cover water where the floor and wall meet. We went above and beyond to satisfy MMs. [redacted].

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[redacted] I am agreeable to the proposed repair for July 17, 2015. If a date open before this time please call and I will free my time.[redacted]

Business

Response:

That works for us July 17th if something comes sooner we will .