Installed a interior french drain and they cemented over the drain to my washer. I called twice to complain and had to speak to the secretary, because the manager/owner wouldn't talk to me. They denied what they did it, even though there is water all over my basement floor, and was ignored. Washer worked fine until work was done by them. Save yourself a lot of money, time and aggravation and stay far away!
The installation took a few days, was delayed a day to have the stack pipes replaced which cracked at the base when jack hammering. No way to avoid them. The process went otherwise very smooth. Ken K., the foreman, and his crew were very professional and kept me up to date on the process as they went along. There was some preparation on my part. Circuits to be installed, plumbing moved, and all items in basement moved and covered prior to installation. The basement now looks wonderful and very clean. There was not much dust at all, nothing like I expected. I just had to mop the stairs and sweep just a little. The wall covering, Clean Space, is fantastic. Very bright, and helps keep the water from entering the basement. We selected the Triple Safe Sump Pump to ensure back up and maximum duty. We are very pleased. And the main thing, NO WATER, finally!!!
Review: I paid the 20% down. I didn't sign any agreement informing me that the company would hold that and that it was nonrefundable if there was a cancellation. The company didn't perform any work because I was in the process of moving. I paid at least $5000.00. My total bill was a little over 7000.00. They refused to give me back my money. The only amount I received was the $3500.00. I was told that I was lucky to receive that and that I wouldn't be getting the 1400.00 that I paid as my down payment. I told them that they didn't perform any work on my house and I didn't sign anything stating that they could hold 20% of what I paid into them.Desired Settlement: I would like my 1400.00 back which I feel that they owe me because no work was performed. I didn't sign any agreement stating that my 20% down was not refundable.
Business
Response:
The original appointment was June 2011 and we supplied a proposal. We were requested to come back and review the project again in September of 2013. After the reevaluation, the project was scheduled for December of 2013 but ended up cancelling. March 10th of 2016 we were asked to come out and review project again which was not a problem. On March 21st the job was reviewed and scheduled for May 9, 2016 and we were given a $1435 deposit to hold that time in our schedule. April 12, 2016 customer decided to send in another partial payment (not required from us) of $1500. April 29, 2016 she mailed in another partial payment of $2000 (again not requested by us). When we called her on May 2nd to confirm we will be there the next week she explained that she was not ready and asked to be pushed back in the schedule. We shuffled the schedule and set a side a new start date of June 20th 2016. May 13,2016 she called back in and said now she does not want to do it at all and wants all her money back. Call center explained that deposits are not refundable after 3 business days but we would have her Representative call her which he did that same day and explained that the deposit is not refundable. She called back May 16, 2016 and wanted a Manager and the Sales Manager again explained rules of the deposit but said we will mail her a check for the $3500 since that was not required by us to hold the schedule date or dates in her case. We told her the $1435 would be a credit towards that project if she changes her mind again and does the work with us which she agreed too. After getting a check from us for $3500 she called back and said she wants the remaining deposit back or she is calling her lawyer. We said we were sorry but that deposit was not going to be refunded. We worked with the customer over the course of 5 years, multiple trips, multiple schedule dates, 3 different proposals that all stated the 3 Business Days right to cancel in two different spots on the contract page 1 and page 6. We felt the right thing to do was give the $3500 back which we did. I am sorry she does not understand the negative effect of reserving time for her project and cancelling has on our crew and company.
My crew was on time and they worked very hard to complete the work. In fact, they were a day early in completing my job which turned out to be more than expected. When my paneling came down we found a crack which needed the carbon fiber strips to prevent more cracking and bowing of the wall. They were helpful in explaining the job and answering any questions I had about the job.
Working with Baker's was a very positive experience from the initial meeting and estimate to the job completion. Meeting with George, the sales rep, put me at ease about my job. In choosing the service I needed was, he was very helpful and did not recommend anything that was more than what I needed. Receiving my estimate was done very professionally and the prices were reasonable.
I would recommend Baker's to anyone who has a water or water related problem. I am planning on contacting them for further service to level my concrete pads at my front steps when I have a gutter problem fixed.
Review: During the recent heavy rains I noticed the french drain/waterproofing that was installed was not working correctly and that I had water coming into my finished basement. We lost carpet, furniture and other stuff as a result of the poor workmanship. It would have been worse but my son was able to salvage some stuff before water got to it. I am also concerned that the water sitting behind the wall could eventually cause mold issues in the house.Desired Settlement: I want the work redone so that the french drain and sub pump work the way it should. The company also needs to pay to replace the carpet and entainment center that was lost due to the water damage. Also when we contacted the company they said were not able to come out and look at the the issue to late July, I would like someone to come out sooner as we are at risk of more water coming in if it should rain again.
Business
Response:
During the flooding rains of 7/10/13 we received a call from the homeowner whom felt our waterproofing system was not working properly. Without hesitation our call center instantly scheduled a service appointment for 7/24/13. We will go out and flood test the system to see if the 12 foot section that we installed 7 years had failed. We have no record of their ever being a problem before but maybe there is something wrong now. We will also check the functionality of the 7 year old sump pump. It is also possible, the leaks are in an area we never treated. We will know for sure after the service appointment.
It is understandable for the customer to be frustrated about their water problem but I did not feel they had to yell at the young lady in our call center who was just trying to help them. If it ends up that the water came from the area we treated, we will stand by our warranty on the contract the customer signed. We will not be replacing carpet or their entertainment center. It states on the proposal "Contractor has no responsibility for consequential water damage only repairs to the system." This is the industry standard for obvious reasons.
I received a follow-up call from the son. He yelled the 14 day wait was unacceptable and not going to happen. I explained it was the best we can do, but if we are able to come sooner we would. He continued to yell and explain how he would be calling his attorney. After he was done yelling the father called back to voice his displeasure in similar ways also. Even though I was frustrated, I never raised my voice or spoke to them in the manner they treated me. I was happy with the way the call center ladies handled themselves and scheduled the service appointment. It is not easy getting yelled at for something you had nothing to do with.
Review: We signed a contract with Baker's Waterproofing on 5/18/14 to install 5 wall anchors and 5 piers to stabilize the foundation and wall of the garage of my home. They came on 5/27/14 to do the job. After digging 2 deep holes in the concrete sidewalk outside the garage they determined that they would not be able to attach the piers to the footer. They said they would try to come up with a solution and left that day. The following day, I was contacted by [redacted] who said that Baker's could not do the job. We called on 5/29/14 to request a refund of our deposit and was told that [redacted] would call us back. We did not receive a call and sent a letter on 6/3/14 again requesting the refund of our deposit. We received an email on 6/11/14 from [redacted] stating that the deposit would not be refunded since they had to do work to dig the holes. The contract does not state that the deposit is nonrefundable if the job can not be completed. We had another company come ([redacted]) who said they can do the job by making alterations to the support bracket of the pier.Desired Settlement: Refund of deposit of $1090.40.
Business
Response:
I guess doing the right thing does not always pay. I will fill in some of the gaps left by the homeowner.
We first bid the project in March of 2013 not 2014. At that first meeting our representative let the owner know that he had some concern that the hillside may be moving and the Piers would not stop that problem.
May 9th 2013- The owner called in to schedule the job but requested another contract because he lost his first one. We drew up another contract and scheduled them for 6-10-2013. The owner ended up calling and moving the tentative start time to 6-24-13. No problem.
6-26-13 and 6-27-13 --We worked at the owners home. Our 3 man crew first saw cut and removed some of the sidewalk. We then hand excavated some of the foundation we were planning on repairing. Once enough of the foundation was exposed we could see that this place was not built in typical fashion. We showed the owner that a buttress wall was sticking out so far that we would not be able to install the piers. The device used to drive the piers can not attach with the buttress wall in our way. There was no way to know this prior to the excavation. Our Production Manager immediately explained the challenge and gave him the option for us to install the piers from the other side of the wall. He told us he will discuss with his wife and let us know if he wants us to do it that way. We requested he do that right away so that we can inform our crew as to what to do next. He told us he was to busy to talk to her now so he will let us know later. We now had to backfill and tamp the part of the foundation we exposed and left the project. Now it was in the hands of the owner to let us know if he wanted us to perform the work from the other side of the wall.
7-29-13 --After many discussions with the homeowner we sent a 3 man crew out to the house to install the piers from the inside wall. The owner waited until we arrived at his house to inform us he changed his mind and now wants an engineer to look at it. Our Production Manager told the owner he will be getting billed for that crews time. The homeowner was not happy about having to pay for the expenses we had to incur so I never sent a bill for the trip or to pay the 3 men he sent away. Once again we are in a holding pattern to see what the owner would like us to do.
November 2013-- Sales Representative went back to the owners house to go over the engineers recommendations. We now came up with a new plan that allowed us to cut out the buttress wall that was preventing us from driving the pier tubes. Anchors were now added to the proposal for some lateral support. Our rep wrote the new proposal and waited to hear from the owner.
1-24-14 --The owner requested some changes to the warranty language so we changed the proposal again. Now I believe this was the 5th proposal.
4-1-14 --The owner called in and scheduled the revised plan to his garage. We told the owner we could do the job at the end of May. He did request a few more changes to this proposal. We got his 6th proposal out to him.
4-9-14 --The sales rep. followed up to make sure he had everything and to make sure he was happy with all the language in the contract.
5-27-14--Now we sent a crew to his house for the third time. We again hand excavated. This time we had dug all the way to the bottom of the footing. Our foreman, who has over 20 years experience installing piers found that the bottom of the footing was in horrible shape. He felt that it was not stable enough to attach the bracket to the compromised, rounded footing. Our foreman went over what he found with the homeowner. Our Sales Rep. and our Production Manager also went out that day to see if they could come up with a good solution. Our Production Manager had us excavate another section of the wall. We wanted to see if the footing was bad in that area and unfortunately it was bad also. This sure does not sound like a company that was not trying its best to come up with a solution. The owner requested that we do not backfill the area we dug. He was hoping to leave it exposed so the engineer could take a look. Even though this meant we need to make another trip back to backfill it later we agreed.
5-28-14 --Our Sales Rep called the engineer direct to explain what we found when the footing was exposed. We did not feel it would be correct to make alterations to the brackets in a way they are not engineered to be used. We are not the type of company that will just create a make-shift repair just to get paid. If the job is not going to be done properly then it should not be done. We call this being responsible and professional.
6-6-14 --I received a letter from the owners requesting their deposit back so another company could do the repair. I must admit that I was shocked by this request. I spoke with the sales rep. who informed me he left multiple messages with the owner but could not get in touch with him. He finally resorted to an email explaining the deposit will not be returned. The deposit does not even come close to covering the expenses we incurred over the past 15 months of trying to help these folks out. There will be no refund. If anything I should be mailing them a bill which I do not plan on doing. I guess the owner feels we should have zero compensation for our time or efforts. At the very least we have some of the foundation already dug for another contractor. That will save them quite a bit of money. The garage was not built to code and nobody knew that until the foundation was exposed.
We still need to make yet another trip to the home to retrieve our 8 barrels that we used to hold the excavated material. As a courtesy, we were trying to keep the work area as clean as possible and by not piling the dirt in their yard or on their sidewalk.
Maybe other companies would have just thrown the piers in, buried them under ground and got paid. We REFUSE to be that that kind of company but have received a complaint because of it. I am disappointed with this outcome but I am proud of my guys for doing the right thing.
Review: We paid Baker's Waterproofing over $11,000 to dry up our basement, as we planned to finish it. The specific problem we had, (and still have after 18 mos and many calls for service), was water coming into the space through the basement closet located beneath our front porch. Our front porch and front door are exactly the same as they were when Baker's came, assessed our property and determined what they needed to do to solve our wet basement issues. We have had to call them for service no less than 5 times because we still have water coming in. We called today when we noticed our newly installed, (expensive), cork flooring was buckled and no longer stuck to the foundation. Now, they are saying they are not responsible for our wet basement. Yet, their advertisement promised, to solve our water issues. We bought everything they said they would need to do in order to fix our water issues, and paid them over $11,000 for the job.Desired Settlement: Door jamb brought to viability.
Business
Response:
Our service advisor first visited the property on April 18th 2012. To get background information about the property our advisor asked the owner questions off of our (Fact Sheet). We asked "Where does the water come in?" The homeowner responded "everywhere". The owner also said water was leaking thru the porch ceiling-which is concrete. At no point were we aware of water leaking thru the front door framing. We do not treat doors or windows. We came up with a plan to repair the basement with the information we knew about the property. To address the seepage thru the concrete ceiling we included an elastomeric coating over the pad. We charged the owner $149.70 total for the coating. The only other work we did outside was reroute 1 downspout line. The rest of the waterproofing and structural repair ($11206.30) was performed inside the basement.
I have record of three service calls. 1) We received a call that water was leaking thru the pad we coated with elastomeric coating. We set an appointment for 10/11/12 and the owner had condensation on the concrete ceiling. The pad was not leaking. We should have charged for the non warranty related service call but did not. The service guy even touched up all the coating while he was there. 2) We went out 7/18/13 because of suspected water in area we treated. Our service tech flood tested the areas for over 90 minutes and could not get anything to leak. We did find a tear in the vapor barrier that we repaired even though we were not the ones that tore it. We could not find any leaks and again did not charge for the service call. 3) Owner called in 10/7/13 and said water leaking in around that concrete pad area. We called our service guy and had him stop out that same day to see what was wrong. There was water showing on the ceiling in the 2 spots under the front doorway. Our service man tried to show the owner where he felt the water was leaking in around the front door framing. The wood showed rot and water came out of it when our service man pushed on it. Our service man explained that we can not fix that type of problem. Our service man was going to flood test that area with a hose just to be sure about the leaking area but the owner told him to leave. She will need a carpenter or someone who installs doors. The owner called the office and yelled at our man on the phone that was trying to explain what needs done. I am sorry she is upset and I am sympathetic but it is an issue that needs resolved by someone in the door installation industry. I do not know if this door was part of her leakage problem from over a year and a half ago or not. If we knew it was part of the problem we would have suggested having someone else take care of it. This is not a job we can perform and it was definitely not included in the project. We obviously are not trying to avoid the customer since we came out to their property every time they called us. We will stand by our warranty we gave them for the work we performed. I can not take responsibilities for other problems out of the work we were contracted to do.
Review: I want to express my disappointment with the Service provided by Baker's. I had work done in my home for the purpose of waterproofing by basement. I was asked to move any valuables, tv, computer etc. Which I did. I was given less than 24hrs notice before they began the work. When they arrived they said they had to use a Jackhammer to break up the floor. They let me know it would be noisy. I asked them if everything was ok so that they can do the work? They could have given me a warning about the extensive dust/debris. I smelled the debris/dust and I looked down the stairs and the whole room was engulfed in dust and debris! I went to look and they had not made any effort whatsoever to contain the dust and debris and did not even have the decensy to at least warn me as to the amount of dust and debris that may be created. They even left their muddy footprints on my rugs!! I expressed my concern and dissatisfaction to Gary, he said "I agree with you that they made a mistake not warning me, but, there is nothing they can do for me". They have 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. I'm not satisfied at all. They claim the customer is "responsible for the dust". I understand any work has cleanup, but this is Unbearable and unacceptable!! This is complete negligence on their part. This is "bad business"! I have also taken photos of the basement. A month ago, I had my heating ducts and vents cleaned a few weeks ago and that company even wore booties when they walked on my floor!Desired Settlement: I need $200 deducted from my bill to pay someone to clean up the mess. The amount of cleaning that needs done, needs done professionally. Floor to ceiling, Couches, tv, etc. is completely coated with debris.
Business
Response:
I would like to express my disappointment in receiving this complaint. The customer says she is upset that she did not have enough notice prior to the start of the job. On October 16th, 2013 her boyfriend called us to schedule the work for the week of February 3rd, 2014. She called us on November 8th to complain that she did not want to wait until her schedule date in February. Our production manager said he will try to get her in sooner, if possible, but our schedule is full. When we had a small opening in the schedule for November 22, 2013 our production manager called her to see if she wants moved up to that install date. She said yes, so we thought we did a good thing in moving her up like she requested. Now part of her complaint was we did not give her enough notice??
Now the issue of dust. She expressed that she did not realize we would need a jackhammer to cut the cement until the foreman told her. We sent her a book explaining the process, our field representative explained the waterproofing process, our rep even showed her a video of the system being installed. Our Representative explained that he is not sure how much she was hearing because she was watching the [redacted] as he reviewed the project with her. On page 1 of the contract she signed, it states "Homeowner responsible for preparing work area for installation. Dust should be expected and homeowner is responsible for protection as they deem necessary. On Page 2 of the contract our representative noted "Owner to protect from dust". This is on the contract she signed. Even though most folks understand that cutting concrete is dusty we go out of our way to express it is dusty and owner needs to protect from dust. Let there be no misunderstanding this work is dusty. One final note is that the foreman also told the homeowner it was going to be dusty before he started.
This is the first I heard about muddy footprints on her rugs. In the pre production photos I can only see vinyl tile and unfinished cement floors. When she called asking for money back for cleaning she never gave any mention to the footprints. Even though it is very clear that we are not responsible for the dust, I offered to give her $50 towards cleaning if she paid us with a check and she refused this offer. She said her purchase price was $1700 but just for the sake of accuracy the total was $1544. I admit I am frustrated by this complaint.
Review: I entered into a contract with Bakers Waterproofing on 9-11-2012 , the work was completed on 10-22-2012.They installed an indoor system in my basement to drain away water. After completion of the work the salesmen [redacted] tried to sell me a very expensive dehumidifier for my basement. I did not appreciate this Alacarte type of sales after I had entered in a contract .Christmas came around and I tried to have tile installed on the floor only to find that the concrete was to damp and they could not perform the work. Spring time came and I painted the walls with a dry lock paint. When summer arrived the basement was so damp that mold grew on the dry wall . the metal strips on the edge on the drywall turned rusty. I called my sales representative [redacted], to find out he was now working for [redacted] He suggested an out side system and gave me a phone number that he thought would be use full. February 20 th 2014 a technician from Bakers came to my home to advise me. He suggested I but up a moisture barrier on my walls. When asked about the rust on the metal strips under the plaster he was clueless as what to do and the wood work around the drywall. At the end of our conversation I inquired about dehumidifiers he gave me a brochure for a $1,700 unit he had no knowledge of. When asked questions about the usage and square space it could handle he was clueless. At the conclusion of our conversation he said their was a service charge for him to come to my home of which I refused to pay. I fell like I have been deceived and misinformed about their product they have not been entirely forthright and honest.Desired Settlement: I want my basement dry as advertised and as promised .
Business
Response:
The customer entered into the contract on 9-11-12 which was the second appointment we had set for him. He cancelled the first appointment when we called to confirm. The work was not completed on 10-22-12 because he cancelled the install date because he was too busy. It was not a problem and we rescheduled for the week of 11-26-12 per his request. We installed the interior drain on 11-27 and 11-28. Although now the owner changed the plan of what he wanted us to do. [redacted] wrote up a new contract with his requested changes on 11-26 (no problem). The owner said that [redacted] tried to sell him a very expensive dehumidifier after the job was complete. In fact the option for the dehumidifier was on the first contract he signed and again on the second contract he signed. I am sorry if he does not like the alacarte type of options we provide. We feel the choice should be given to the homeowner so they can decide what to include or not include in the contract.
The owner did not pay for his work at the completion of the job like he agreed upon. He also took it upon himself to discount the job $ 100. He felt that we knocked the furnace condensation overflow tube out of his condensation pump. In essence the tube needed to be moved an inch or two back into the condensate pump. If he told us this was a problem we would have went to the home and took 5 seconds to set it back for him. He never notified us. He also included the charge to clean dust of his furnace vestible. Although I had a picture taken on 9-11-12 that showed the furnace totally filthy before we did the work, I did not want to argue with the owner and I accepted his self induced deduction.
The owner explains he still has some dampness and mold. The interior drain will not stop dampness or mold and we do not claim it will. To help control dampness a dehumidifier should be used. It is also very important to control humidity levels if you want to minimize mold. This is the reason why [redacted] gave him the option on his contract two times for the dehumidifier.
The owner called our service guy clueless and I do not agree. [redacted] went to his house to try to help him. [redacted] gave him some suggestion of what could be done to help. [redacted] also suggested a dehumidifier. [redacted] explained to me that the owner wanted to know how many square feet the unit was rated for and [redacted] explained he is not sure of the footage but it would be plenty big enough for his basement. Just to be clear, that particular unit is good for up to a 3000 sq ft basement. [redacted] did tell the owner there should be a service charge for him going to the house since there were no issues pertaining to the work we performed and warranted. The owner did refuse to pay the service charge and that was on 2-20-14 and I did not bill him or send any type of invoice because I did not want to upset him more. I understand he is frustrated but it should not be with us.
Review: I paid almost $10.000 to have my basement waterproofed and they sent out three young fellows that left my home in disrepair. They caused a water pipe to leak by pulling on the pipes to install a vinyl lining (clean space) , they left holes in my concrete floor from the heavy containers used to remove concrete, they left my wiring hanging off the wall,they left my washer water pipes hanging off the wall, they left work lights running all night in the basement, left vinyl paper hanging off the wall and they refused to send someone to my home to evaluate my leaking hot water pipe they caused to leak which eventually burst causing my floors to flood out. I lost a days work to repair my leaking pipes.The fellow in charge of the work crew (one of the young men was his son) told me that they were not plummers, and that the floors that contained some damage was the result of thin floors and therefore was my fault. They refused to meet with me so I went to them but they did not want to hear from me.Desired Settlement: refund for repair of water pipe repair. refund of one day's pay. An apology for poor workmanship.
Business
Response:
I will address the issues in the order I see them in the complaint.
The cost of the project was $9884. I spoke with the foreman who did their job and he was unaware of any pipes dripping or leaking. It is possible for an old pipe to start leaking because we had to disrupt it in order to install the vapor barrier properly. If we saw the pipe dripping, we would have taken care of it while we were there.
The guys said they did not put holes in their floor by setting barrels on it. If just setting barrels on the floor creates holes then I would say there is a problem with the existing cement floor.
The complaint states that we did not attach a wire and water lines to the wall. We normally reattach items to the wall unless we have a good reason to not attach them. The foreman could not recall if he attached these to the wall. If we did not attach them we should have. To attach these type of items to the wall is very easy and would have taken just a few minutes. I am sorry if we did not attach them.
The foreman did leave one light on when he left the home on the first day of the job. He was told by the owner, that he did not turn it off and proceeded to turn it off the rest of the days. We are sorry we left the light on that one night.
It is stated that we refused to send someone out to look at these problems. This is not true. The homeowner called on Wednesday June 5th at 10:40 am and our service manager proceeded to book an appointment while he was on the phone. The first available appointment was in 3 business days. The appointment was set for noon on June 10th. He was unhappy we could not come sooner and all we could do is apologize. The owner called in on June 7th at 4:00 pm and cancelled the service appointment. The homeowner complained about the above issues to our call center lady and she explained she was sorry that he was unhappy. She offered for him to speak to a manager but he refused.
Mr. Homeowner states that our foreman told him we are not plumbers and the floor damage was his fault. Our foreman explained that they only saw Mr. Homeowner on the first day of the project and never had that conversation. The foreman was never even aware of any of these concerns. I believe the owner was unhappy with some things but we would have addressed those concerns during our service appointment but he cancelled the appointment. We are willing to come out and look at these issues if the owner wants us to come out. We are happy to take care of anything that is our responsibility.
The owner did come directly to the office on June 20th and paid his bill. He mildly complained to one of the call center ladies and then our Production Manager spoke with him and thought everything was OK. I am sorry the owner is upset and I hope we can work everything out. I will mail them a check to cover the supplies he bought to address the water line.
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.
The foreman was totally aware of my water leak emergency, the cracks/holes in the floor and failure to replace existing wiring/piping and other concerns. The company would not address my problems that they caused most likely because it would be cost effective for the home owner to repair the problem rather than send out someone out from their company or send in a professional to solve the problem. The three boys (20 plus years old) finished their work on Friday afternoon 5/31/13. When I arrived home on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. they were already gone but my my hot water pipe was leaking all over the floor and on the newly poured concreat. I called the business with no response. I called on Monday 6/3 explaining the water leak and displacement of services with pipes hanging wiring hanging, floors damaged, ect. I also e-mailed them. The secretary responded with "I'll relay your message" I called on 6/4/13 after no return call and stated that the water leak was worse. They stated "we can't send anyone out we are too busy, send us pictures we will try to send someone out next Monday June 10th (7 days later, NOT 3 BUSINESS DAYS) if you still have the problem. I continued to explain that I was losing hot water and my floors were wet with water and they did not care. They said they receivedt my pictures and that a foreman would get back to me. On 6/6/13, I had to shut off my water because I did not have a shut off valve to the leaking pipe that was getting worse. Again I called on Thursday 6/6 to inquire if the person coming out on Monday 6/10/13, at noon time would fix my bad water leak or what? and I was told "he will only evaluate the problem and go from there" ( I needed it fixed). On Friday 6/7/13, I needed to turn the water back on for my morning shower the pipe exploded I had to take off work to secure supplies and repair the leaking water pipe. I also repaired the hanging pipes, hanging wires, the holes in the floor, ect. After fixing the damage I called the company and asked them not to send anyone out on Monday 6/10/13 at noon for an evaluation of the leaking pipe as I had already repaired the damages after waiting 10DAYS to get someone to respond ( I would have had to call off another day of work to wait for someone to arrive at noon) . I did visit the company and they first refused to let me speak to anyone except the secretary. After 25 minutes the foreman happened by and I explained this all to him. He acted disinterested and tried to blame ME for all the problems. He stated "We are not plummers, we are not electricians and home owners should expect to fix some problems caused by water proofing we might put that in our contract in the future? I think one of those boys was my son, i'll speak to him" I selected a company that I felt was top notch more expensive than most and ended up feeling like I was not important or respected. Yes, they will give me the $64 for my concerns but where is the justice.
I want an apology from Mr. Baker himself because I don't think he is aware of the kind of workmanship his company is providing or how they are treating their customers. With that, I will know that he is aware of the situation.
Review: I hired Bakers to fix a water problem in my basement in 2014 - water was coming in on one side of the basement wall. They came, tore up the finished wall on one side of my finished game-room, examined everything and installed a sump pump. Cost was thousands. We had to put the wall back up because they said they don't do that kind of work. We fixed it and painted.
About a 6 months later the water started coming in again and there was mold so I called and they said I did not ask for a water barrier to be installed. I didn't know I had to tell them I needed one. They came and tore out the wall again. They placed pieces of water barrier in 2 and 1/2 foot pieces to the bottom of the wall. We paid more money and we had to fix the wall again.
In March of 2016 I discovered that I had mold growing on the walls in my living coat closet. I set up an appointment for a mold service. They came and examined the closet and the outside drain pipe which was against that wall. Apparently the elbow on that pipe was completely split on the bottom. The water was not draining into the take away pipe. It was running right against the wall which I had Bakers "take care of." This company fixed the pipe which was main the point of the water problem, fixed my closet and then asked to see the underside of that wall in my basement. This cost $950.00.
When they went into my game room they took away the paneling on one portion of the downstairs and the wall was soaking wet. The paint on the basement wall was so soaked it it was running down the wall AND now there is mold on the surface and the back side of the paneling on that wall. It has also started to grow on the front wall which was not affected to begin with.
I called Bakers. They sent a man to take pictures. The supervisor called me today. He said the broken pipe elbow was not their problem. He said they fixed the water problem in our basement. Apparently they do not care about their customers. I believe they should pay me for the additional repair cost of $950 I had to pay to fix initial source of the entire water problem which they as"foundation specialists"should have discovered years ago.Desired Settlement: I paid $950 which was the cost of the repair of the broken pipe and the closet mold and leakage. I will have to pay an additional $450 for the gentlemen I hired to come back and fix the basement water leakage and the mold and return my game room to normal once again. I am thoroughly dissatisfied with Bakers and would not recommend them to anyone. If they are experts the source of the problem should have been identified when they first did the inspection of that wall.
Business
Response:
1/8/13 we gave a proposal for this homeowner. She agreed to the project, and we installed on 2/27/13 just like we discussed. 12/9/14 the owner called us because she noticed water on the floor and some mold. 12/11/14 our Service Tech diagnosed that water was running down behind her finished wall and onto the floor. Whomever finished the basement did not install a vapor barrier between the concrete block wall and the framing for the wall. Since the wall leaked the water could not get into the sealed waterproofing system. No warranty from wall leaks getting on the floor is clearly stated on the contract. 12/19/14 we cut out the bottom half of the finished wall and installed a vapor barrier to exposed this section of the wall. Since this repair we were told there has not been water on the floor in the treated area. More than 2 years have passed and we received a call (3/28/16) that there is mold on the paneled walls. This is not a warranty item but we went out to look at it for her on 3/30/16. The Service Tech gave her a couple options to help with the mold concern. 1) We recommend a high quality dehumidifier/ air filter to minimize the opportunity for mold growth (still can not guarantee against mold) 2) Extending the vapor barrier higher up on the wall which would require removing the paneling on the walls. Both of these options are not warranty items and have charges associated with them. The owner was frustrated and said she want to speak to a Manager. 3/31/16 the Service Manager explained that he is sorry but these are not warranty items that we can perform for free. The owner told us that we diagnosed the problem wrong. She had another contractor charge her $950 to repair a downspout line and do some mold remediation. She told us the other contractor intimated that our work was not needed. This statement is obviously false seeing that she is still having some issues even after that work was completed. The Service Manager tried explaining that the drain system we installed was to keep water off her floor and it is working. She agreed that she is not getting water on the floor in the treated area. She found herself compelled to yell at our Service Manager who was trying to explain the situation. He asked her to please stop yelling at him. The conversation ended with her explaining she did not want us to do anything at her house and she will not recommend us. I feel bad that she is upset with us and that we are unable to communicate that the problem she has can not be solved with a drain system alone.We will not pay the $950 for her downspout repair/ mold issue since it was not part of our project or responsibility. If a problem would ever arise that is part of our project or warranty we would certainly repair free of charge. Please refer to attached proposal and warranty that explains no warranty from wall leaks, mold or repairs to finished walls.
The overall experience with this company was positive. They were professional with the installation and gave a fair price. My negative experience came at the end. Final payment is due upon the completion of the work. However, I was not present at the completion of the work and the workers did not leave a final invoice. Three months later I was told that I owed interest on the bill. 1.5% for each month past due. The amount in minor but it is principle. They said that they sent us an electronic invoice, which we never received. When I asked for a hard copy of the invoice, it was mailed out and paid in full two days later. Clearly we were not trying to avoid our final payment. When I called to pay and ask about the additional interest, they just kept referring to the contract that says all final payments must be paid in full after service is completed. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't just pay a random amount of money without an invoice. If you go with this company, which I suggest you do, please make sure you ask for a hard copy of the invoice at the completion of the work or call the next day to ask for one. All else fails, check your SPAM folder in your email (we didn't have it there but maybe others do).
Installed a interior french drain and they cemented over the drain to my washer. I called twice to complain and had to speak to the secretary, because the manager/owner wouldn't talk to me. They denied what they did it, even though there is water all over my basement floor, and was ignored. Washer worked fine until work was done by them. Save yourself a lot of money, time and aggravation and stay far away!
The installation took a few days, was delayed a day to have the stack pipes replaced which cracked at the base when jack hammering. No way to avoid them. The process went otherwise very smooth. Ken K., the foreman, and his crew were very professional and kept me up to date on the process as they went along. There was some preparation on my part. Circuits to be installed, plumbing moved, and all items in basement moved and covered prior to installation. The basement now looks wonderful and very clean. There was not much dust at all, nothing like I expected. I just had to mop the stairs and sweep just a little. The wall covering, Clean Space, is fantastic. Very bright, and helps keep the water from entering the basement. We selected the Triple Safe Sump Pump to ensure back up and maximum duty. We are very pleased. And the main thing, NO WATER, finally!!!
Review: I paid the 20% down. I didn't sign any agreement informing me that the company would hold that and that it was nonrefundable if there was a cancellation. The company didn't perform any work because I was in the process of moving. I paid at least $5000.00. My total bill was a little over 7000.00. They refused to give me back my money. The only amount I received was the $3500.00. I was told that I was lucky to receive that and that I wouldn't be getting the 1400.00 that I paid as my down payment. I told them that they didn't perform any work on my house and I didn't sign anything stating that they could hold 20% of what I paid into them.Desired Settlement: I would like my 1400.00 back which I feel that they owe me because no work was performed. I didn't sign any agreement stating that my 20% down was not refundable.
Business
Response:
The original appointment was June 2011 and we supplied a proposal. We were requested to come back and review the project again in September of 2013. After the reevaluation, the project was scheduled for December of 2013 but ended up cancelling. March 10th of 2016 we were asked to come out and review project again which was not a problem. On March 21st the job was reviewed and scheduled for May 9, 2016 and we were given a $1435 deposit to hold that time in our schedule. April 12, 2016 customer decided to send in another partial payment (not required from us) of $1500. April 29, 2016 she mailed in another partial payment of $2000 (again not requested by us). When we called her on May 2nd to confirm we will be there the next week she explained that she was not ready and asked to be pushed back in the schedule. We shuffled the schedule and set a side a new start date of June 20th 2016. May 13,2016 she called back in and said now she does not want to do it at all and wants all her money back. Call center explained that deposits are not refundable after 3 business days but we would have her Representative call her which he did that same day and explained that the deposit is not refundable. She called back May 16, 2016 and wanted a Manager and the Sales Manager again explained rules of the deposit but said we will mail her a check for the $3500 since that was not required by us to hold the schedule date or dates in her case. We told her the $1435 would be a credit towards that project if she changes her mind again and does the work with us which she agreed too. After getting a check from us for $3500 she called back and said she wants the remaining deposit back or she is calling her lawyer. We said we were sorry but that deposit was not going to be refunded. We worked with the customer over the course of 5 years, multiple trips, multiple schedule dates, 3 different proposals that all stated the 3 Business Days right to cancel in two different spots on the contract page 1 and page 6. We felt the right thing to do was give the $3500 back which we did. I am sorry she does not understand the negative effect of reserving time for her project and cancelling has on our crew and company.
Consumer
Response:
My crew was on time and they worked very hard to complete the work. In fact, they were a day early in completing my job which turned out to be more than expected. When my paneling came down we found a crack which needed the carbon fiber strips to prevent more cracking and bowing of the wall. They were helpful in explaining the job and answering any questions I had about the job.
Working with Baker's was a very positive experience from the initial meeting and estimate to the job completion. Meeting with George, the sales rep, put me at ease about my job. In choosing the service I needed was, he was very helpful and did not recommend anything that was more than what I needed. Receiving my estimate was done very professionally and the prices were reasonable.
I would recommend Baker's to anyone who has a water or water related problem. I am planning on contacting them for further service to level my concrete pads at my front steps when I have a gutter problem fixed.
Review: During the recent heavy rains I noticed the french drain/waterproofing that was installed was not working correctly and that I had water coming into my finished basement. We lost carpet, furniture and other stuff as a result of the poor workmanship. It would have been worse but my son was able to salvage some stuff before water got to it. I am also concerned that the water sitting behind the wall could eventually cause mold issues in the house.Desired Settlement: I want the work redone so that the french drain and sub pump work the way it should. The company also needs to pay to replace the carpet and entainment center that was lost due to the water damage. Also when we contacted the company they said were not able to come out and look at the the issue to late July, I would like someone to come out sooner as we are at risk of more water coming in if it should rain again.
Business
Response:
During the flooding rains of 7/10/13 we received a call from the homeowner whom felt our waterproofing system was not working properly. Without hesitation our call center instantly scheduled a service appointment for 7/24/13. We will go out and flood test the system to see if the 12 foot section that we installed 7 years had failed. We have no record of their ever being a problem before but maybe there is something wrong now. We will also check the functionality of the 7 year old sump pump. It is also possible, the leaks are in an area we never treated. We will know for sure after the service appointment.
It is understandable for the customer to be frustrated about their water problem but I did not feel they had to yell at the young lady in our call center who was just trying to help them. If it ends up that the water came from the area we treated, we will stand by our warranty on the contract the customer signed. We will not be replacing carpet or their entertainment center. It states on the proposal "Contractor has no responsibility for consequential water damage only repairs to the system." This is the industry standard for obvious reasons.
I received a follow-up call from the son. He yelled the 14 day wait was unacceptable and not going to happen. I explained it was the best we can do, but if we are able to come sooner we would. He continued to yell and explain how he would be calling his attorney. After he was done yelling the father called back to voice his displeasure in similar ways also. Even though I was frustrated, I never raised my voice or spoke to them in the manner they treated me. I was happy with the way the call center ladies handled themselves and scheduled the service appointment. It is not easy getting yelled at for something you had nothing to do with.
Review: We signed a contract with Baker's Waterproofing on 5/18/14 to install 5 wall anchors and 5 piers to stabilize the foundation and wall of the garage of my home. They came on 5/27/14 to do the job. After digging 2 deep holes in the concrete sidewalk outside the garage they determined that they would not be able to attach the piers to the footer. They said they would try to come up with a solution and left that day. The following day, I was contacted by [redacted] who said that Baker's could not do the job. We called on 5/29/14 to request a refund of our deposit and was told that [redacted] would call us back. We did not receive a call and sent a letter on 6/3/14 again requesting the refund of our deposit. We received an email on 6/11/14 from [redacted] stating that the deposit would not be refunded since they had to do work to dig the holes. The contract does not state that the deposit is nonrefundable if the job can not be completed. We had another company come ([redacted]) who said they can do the job by making alterations to the support bracket of the pier.Desired Settlement: Refund of deposit of $1090.40.
Business
Response:
I guess doing the right thing does not always pay. I will fill in some of the gaps left by the homeowner.
We first bid the project in March of 2013 not 2014. At that first meeting our representative let the owner know that he had some concern that the hillside may be moving and the Piers would not stop that problem.
May 9th 2013- The owner called in to schedule the job but requested another contract because he lost his first one. We drew up another contract and scheduled them for 6-10-2013. The owner ended up calling and moving the tentative start time to 6-24-13. No problem.
6-26-13 and 6-27-13 --We worked at the owners home. Our 3 man crew first saw cut and removed some of the sidewalk. We then hand excavated some of the foundation we were planning on repairing. Once enough of the foundation was exposed we could see that this place was not built in typical fashion. We showed the owner that a buttress wall was sticking out so far that we would not be able to install the piers. The device used to drive the piers can not attach with the buttress wall in our way. There was no way to know this prior to the excavation. Our Production Manager immediately explained the challenge and gave him the option for us to install the piers from the other side of the wall. He told us he will discuss with his wife and let us know if he wants us to do it that way. We requested he do that right away so that we can inform our crew as to what to do next. He told us he was to busy to talk to her now so he will let us know later. We now had to backfill and tamp the part of the foundation we exposed and left the project. Now it was in the hands of the owner to let us know if he wanted us to perform the work from the other side of the wall.
7-29-13 --After many discussions with the homeowner we sent a 3 man crew out to the house to install the piers from the inside wall. The owner waited until we arrived at his house to inform us he changed his mind and now wants an engineer to look at it. Our Production Manager told the owner he will be getting billed for that crews time. The homeowner was not happy about having to pay for the expenses we had to incur so I never sent a bill for the trip or to pay the 3 men he sent away. Once again we are in a holding pattern to see what the owner would like us to do.
November 2013-- Sales Representative went back to the owners house to go over the engineers recommendations. We now came up with a new plan that allowed us to cut out the buttress wall that was preventing us from driving the pier tubes. Anchors were now added to the proposal for some lateral support. Our rep wrote the new proposal and waited to hear from the owner.
1-24-14 --The owner requested some changes to the warranty language so we changed the proposal again. Now I believe this was the 5th proposal.
4-1-14 --The owner called in and scheduled the revised plan to his garage. We told the owner we could do the job at the end of May. He did request a few more changes to this proposal. We got his 6th proposal out to him.
4-9-14 --The sales rep. followed up to make sure he had everything and to make sure he was happy with all the language in the contract.
5-27-14--Now we sent a crew to his house for the third time. We again hand excavated. This time we had dug all the way to the bottom of the footing. Our foreman, who has over 20 years experience installing piers found that the bottom of the footing was in horrible shape. He felt that it was not stable enough to attach the bracket to the compromised, rounded footing. Our foreman went over what he found with the homeowner. Our Sales Rep. and our Production Manager also went out that day to see if they could come up with a good solution. Our Production Manager had us excavate another section of the wall. We wanted to see if the footing was bad in that area and unfortunately it was bad also. This sure does not sound like a company that was not trying its best to come up with a solution. The owner requested that we do not backfill the area we dug. He was hoping to leave it exposed so the engineer could take a look. Even though this meant we need to make another trip back to backfill it later we agreed.
5-28-14 --Our Sales Rep called the engineer direct to explain what we found when the footing was exposed. We did not feel it would be correct to make alterations to the brackets in a way they are not engineered to be used. We are not the type of company that will just create a make-shift repair just to get paid. If the job is not going to be done properly then it should not be done. We call this being responsible and professional.
6-6-14 --I received a letter from the owners requesting their deposit back so another company could do the repair. I must admit that I was shocked by this request. I spoke with the sales rep. who informed me he left multiple messages with the owner but could not get in touch with him. He finally resorted to an email explaining the deposit will not be returned. The deposit does not even come close to covering the expenses we incurred over the past 15 months of trying to help these folks out. There will be no refund. If anything I should be mailing them a bill which I do not plan on doing. I guess the owner feels we should have zero compensation for our time or efforts. At the very least we have some of the foundation already dug for another contractor. That will save them quite a bit of money. The garage was not built to code and nobody knew that until the foundation was exposed.
We still need to make yet another trip to the home to retrieve our 8 barrels that we used to hold the excavated material. As a courtesy, we were trying to keep the work area as clean as possible and by not piling the dirt in their yard or on their sidewalk.
Maybe other companies would have just thrown the piers in, buried them under ground and got paid. We REFUSE to be that that kind of company but have received a complaint because of it. I am disappointed with this outcome but I am proud of my guys for doing the right thing.
Consumer
Response:
Review: We paid Baker's Waterproofing over $11,000 to dry up our basement, as we planned to finish it. The specific problem we had, (and still have after 18 mos and many calls for service), was water coming into the space through the basement closet located beneath our front porch. Our front porch and front door are exactly the same as they were when Baker's came, assessed our property and determined what they needed to do to solve our wet basement issues. We have had to call them for service no less than 5 times because we still have water coming in. We called today when we noticed our newly installed, (expensive), cork flooring was buckled and no longer stuck to the foundation. Now, they are saying they are not responsible for our wet basement. Yet, their advertisement promised, to solve our water issues. We bought everything they said they would need to do in order to fix our water issues, and paid them over $11,000 for the job.Desired Settlement: Door jamb brought to viability.
Business
Response:
Our service advisor first visited the property on April 18th 2012. To get background information about the property our advisor asked the owner questions off of our (Fact Sheet). We asked "Where does the water come in?" The homeowner responded "everywhere". The owner also said water was leaking thru the porch ceiling-which is concrete. At no point were we aware of water leaking thru the front door framing. We do not treat doors or windows. We came up with a plan to repair the basement with the information we knew about the property. To address the seepage thru the concrete ceiling we included an elastomeric coating over the pad. We charged the owner $149.70 total for the coating. The only other work we did outside was reroute 1 downspout line. The rest of the waterproofing and structural repair ($11206.30) was performed inside the basement.
I have record of three service calls. 1) We received a call that water was leaking thru the pad we coated with elastomeric coating. We set an appointment for 10/11/12 and the owner had condensation on the concrete ceiling. The pad was not leaking. We should have charged for the non warranty related service call but did not. The service guy even touched up all the coating while he was there. 2) We went out 7/18/13 because of suspected water in area we treated. Our service tech flood tested the areas for over 90 minutes and could not get anything to leak. We did find a tear in the vapor barrier that we repaired even though we were not the ones that tore it. We could not find any leaks and again did not charge for the service call. 3) Owner called in 10/7/13 and said water leaking in around that concrete pad area. We called our service guy and had him stop out that same day to see what was wrong. There was water showing on the ceiling in the 2 spots under the front doorway. Our service man tried to show the owner where he felt the water was leaking in around the front door framing. The wood showed rot and water came out of it when our service man pushed on it. Our service man explained that we can not fix that type of problem. Our service man was going to flood test that area with a hose just to be sure about the leaking area but the owner told him to leave. She will need a carpenter or someone who installs doors. The owner called the office and yelled at our man on the phone that was trying to explain what needs done. I am sorry she is upset and I am sympathetic but it is an issue that needs resolved by someone in the door installation industry. I do not know if this door was part of her leakage problem from over a year and a half ago or not. If we knew it was part of the problem we would have suggested having someone else take care of it. This is not a job we can perform and it was definitely not included in the project. We obviously are not trying to avoid the customer since we came out to their property every time they called us. We will stand by our warranty we gave them for the work we performed. I can not take responsibilities for other problems out of the work we were contracted to do.
Review: I want to express my disappointment with the Service provided by Baker's. I had work done in my home for the purpose of waterproofing by basement. I was asked to move any valuables, tv, computer etc. Which I did. I was given less than 24hrs notice before they began the work. When they arrived they said they had to use a Jackhammer to break up the floor. They let me know it would be noisy. I asked them if everything was ok so that they can do the work? They could have given me a warning about the extensive dust/debris. I smelled the debris/dust and I looked down the stairs and the whole room was engulfed in dust and debris! I went to look and they had not made any effort whatsoever to contain the dust and debris and did not even have the decensy to at least warn me as to the amount of dust and debris that may be created. They even left their muddy footprints on my rugs!! I expressed my concern and dissatisfaction to Gary, he said "I agree with you that they made a mistake not warning me, but, there is nothing they can do for me". They have 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. I'm not satisfied at all. They claim the customer is "responsible for the dust". I understand any work has cleanup, but this is Unbearable and unacceptable!! This is complete negligence on their part. This is "bad business"! I have also taken photos of the basement. A month ago, I had my heating ducts and vents cleaned a few weeks ago and that company even wore booties when they walked on my floor!Desired Settlement: I need $200 deducted from my bill to pay someone to clean up the mess. The amount of cleaning that needs done, needs done professionally. Floor to ceiling, Couches, tv, etc. is completely coated with debris.
Business
Response:
I would like to express my disappointment in receiving this complaint. The customer says she is upset that she did not have enough notice prior to the start of the job. On October 16th, 2013 her boyfriend called us to schedule the work for the week of February 3rd, 2014. She called us on November 8th to complain that she did not want to wait until her schedule date in February. Our production manager said he will try to get her in sooner, if possible, but our schedule is full. When we had a small opening in the schedule for November 22, 2013 our production manager called her to see if she wants moved up to that install date. She said yes, so we thought we did a good thing in moving her up like she requested. Now part of her complaint was we did not give her enough notice??
Now the issue of dust. She expressed that she did not realize we would need a jackhammer to cut the cement until the foreman told her. We sent her a book explaining the process, our field representative explained the waterproofing process, our rep even showed her a video of the system being installed. Our Representative explained that he is not sure how much she was hearing because she was watching the [redacted] as he reviewed the project with her. On page 1 of the contract she signed, it states "Homeowner responsible for preparing work area for installation. Dust should be expected and homeowner is responsible for protection as they deem necessary. On Page 2 of the contract our representative noted "Owner to protect from dust". This is on the contract she signed. Even though most folks understand that cutting concrete is dusty we go out of our way to express it is dusty and owner needs to protect from dust. Let there be no misunderstanding this work is dusty. One final note is that the foreman also told the homeowner it was going to be dusty before he started.
This is the first I heard about muddy footprints on her rugs. In the pre production photos I can only see vinyl tile and unfinished cement floors. When she called asking for money back for cleaning she never gave any mention to the footprints. Even though it is very clear that we are not responsible for the dust, I offered to give her $50 towards cleaning if she paid us with a check and she refused this offer. She said her purchase price was $1700 but just for the sake of accuracy the total was $1544. I admit I am frustrated by this complaint.
Review: I entered into a contract with Bakers Waterproofing on 9-11-2012 , the work was completed on 10-22-2012.They installed an indoor system in my basement to drain away water. After completion of the work the salesmen [redacted] tried to sell me a very expensive dehumidifier for my basement. I did not appreciate this Alacarte type of sales after I had entered in a contract .Christmas came around and I tried to have tile installed on the floor only to find that the concrete was to damp and they could not perform the work. Spring time came and I painted the walls with a dry lock paint. When summer arrived the basement was so damp that mold grew on the dry wall . the metal strips on the edge on the drywall turned rusty. I called my sales representative [redacted], to find out he was now working for [redacted] He suggested an out side system and gave me a phone number that he thought would be use full. February 20 th 2014 a technician from Bakers came to my home to advise me. He suggested I but up a moisture barrier on my walls. When asked about the rust on the metal strips under the plaster he was clueless as what to do and the wood work around the drywall. At the end of our conversation I inquired about dehumidifiers he gave me a brochure for a $1,700 unit he had no knowledge of. When asked questions about the usage and square space it could handle he was clueless. At the conclusion of our conversation he said their was a service charge for him to come to my home of which I refused to pay. I fell like I have been deceived and misinformed about their product they have not been entirely forthright and honest.Desired Settlement: I want my basement dry as advertised and as promised .
Business
Response:
The customer entered into the contract on 9-11-12 which was the second appointment we had set for him. He cancelled the first appointment when we called to confirm. The work was not completed on 10-22-12 because he cancelled the install date because he was too busy. It was not a problem and we rescheduled for the week of 11-26-12 per his request. We installed the interior drain on 11-27 and 11-28. Although now the owner changed the plan of what he wanted us to do. [redacted] wrote up a new contract with his requested changes on 11-26 (no problem). The owner said that [redacted] tried to sell him a very expensive dehumidifier after the job was complete. In fact the option for the dehumidifier was on the first contract he signed and again on the second contract he signed. I am sorry if he does not like the alacarte type of options we provide. We feel the choice should be given to the homeowner so they can decide what to include or not include in the contract.
The owner did not pay for his work at the completion of the job like he agreed upon. He also took it upon himself to discount the job $ 100. He felt that we knocked the furnace condensation overflow tube out of his condensation pump. In essence the tube needed to be moved an inch or two back into the condensate pump. If he told us this was a problem we would have went to the home and took 5 seconds to set it back for him. He never notified us. He also included the charge to clean dust of his furnace vestible. Although I had a picture taken on 9-11-12 that showed the furnace totally filthy before we did the work, I did not want to argue with the owner and I accepted his self induced deduction.
The owner explains he still has some dampness and mold. The interior drain will not stop dampness or mold and we do not claim it will. To help control dampness a dehumidifier should be used. It is also very important to control humidity levels if you want to minimize mold. This is the reason why [redacted] gave him the option on his contract two times for the dehumidifier.
The owner called our service guy clueless and I do not agree. [redacted] went to his house to try to help him. [redacted] gave him some suggestion of what could be done to help. [redacted] also suggested a dehumidifier. [redacted] explained to me that the owner wanted to know how many square feet the unit was rated for and [redacted] explained he is not sure of the footage but it would be plenty big enough for his basement. Just to be clear, that particular unit is good for up to a 3000 sq ft basement. [redacted] did tell the owner there should be a service charge for him going to the house since there were no issues pertaining to the work we performed and warranted. The owner did refuse to pay the service charge and that was on 2-20-14 and I did not bill him or send any type of invoice because I did not want to upset him more. I understand he is frustrated but it should not be with us.
Review: I paid almost $10.000 to have my basement waterproofed and they sent out three young fellows that left my home in disrepair. They caused a water pipe to leak by pulling on the pipes to install a vinyl lining (clean space) , they left holes in my concrete floor from the heavy containers used to remove concrete, they left my wiring hanging off the wall,they left my washer water pipes hanging off the wall, they left work lights running all night in the basement, left vinyl paper hanging off the wall and they refused to send someone to my home to evaluate my leaking hot water pipe they caused to leak which eventually burst causing my floors to flood out. I lost a days work to repair my leaking pipes.The fellow in charge of the work crew (one of the young men was his son) told me that they were not plummers, and that the floors that contained some damage was the result of thin floors and therefore was my fault. They refused to meet with me so I went to them but they did not want to hear from me.Desired Settlement: refund for repair of water pipe repair. refund of one day's pay. An apology for poor workmanship.
Business
Response:
I will address the issues in the order I see them in the complaint.
The cost of the project was $9884. I spoke with the foreman who did their job and he was unaware of any pipes dripping or leaking. It is possible for an old pipe to start leaking because we had to disrupt it in order to install the vapor barrier properly. If we saw the pipe dripping, we would have taken care of it while we were there.
The guys said they did not put holes in their floor by setting barrels on it. If just setting barrels on the floor creates holes then I would say there is a problem with the existing cement floor.
The complaint states that we did not attach a wire and water lines to the wall. We normally reattach items to the wall unless we have a good reason to not attach them. The foreman could not recall if he attached these to the wall. If we did not attach them we should have. To attach these type of items to the wall is very easy and would have taken just a few minutes. I am sorry if we did not attach them.
The foreman did leave one light on when he left the home on the first day of the job. He was told by the owner, that he did not turn it off and proceeded to turn it off the rest of the days. We are sorry we left the light on that one night.
It is stated that we refused to send someone out to look at these problems. This is not true. The homeowner called on Wednesday June 5th at 10:40 am and our service manager proceeded to book an appointment while he was on the phone. The first available appointment was in 3 business days. The appointment was set for noon on June 10th. He was unhappy we could not come sooner and all we could do is apologize. The owner called in on June 7th at 4:00 pm and cancelled the service appointment. The homeowner complained about the above issues to our call center lady and she explained she was sorry that he was unhappy. She offered for him to speak to a manager but he refused.
Mr. Homeowner states that our foreman told him we are not plumbers and the floor damage was his fault. Our foreman explained that they only saw Mr. Homeowner on the first day of the project and never had that conversation. The foreman was never even aware of any of these concerns. I believe the owner was unhappy with some things but we would have addressed those concerns during our service appointment but he cancelled the appointment. We are willing to come out and look at these issues if the owner wants us to come out. We are happy to take care of anything that is our responsibility.
The owner did come directly to the office on June 20th and paid his bill. He mildly complained to one of the call center ladies and then our Production Manager spoke with him and thought everything was OK. I am sorry the owner is upset and I hope we can work everything out. I will mail them a check to cover the supplies he bought to address the water line.
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.
The foreman was totally aware of my water leak emergency, the cracks/holes in the floor and failure to replace existing wiring/piping and other concerns. The company would not address my problems that they caused most likely because it would be cost effective for the home owner to repair the problem rather than send out someone out from their company or send in a professional to solve the problem. The three boys (20 plus years old) finished their work on Friday afternoon 5/31/13. When I arrived home on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. they were already gone but my my hot water pipe was leaking all over the floor and on the newly poured concreat. I called the business with no response. I called on Monday 6/3 explaining the water leak and displacement of services with pipes hanging wiring hanging, floors damaged, ect. I also e-mailed them. The secretary responded with "I'll relay your message" I called on 6/4/13 after no return call and stated that the water leak was worse. They stated "we can't send anyone out we are too busy, send us pictures we will try to send someone out next Monday June 10th (7 days later, NOT 3 BUSINESS DAYS) if you still have the problem. I continued to explain that I was losing hot water and my floors were wet with water and they did not care. They said they receivedt my pictures and that a foreman would get back to me. On 6/6/13, I had to shut off my water because I did not have a shut off valve to the leaking pipe that was getting worse. Again I called on Thursday 6/6 to inquire if the person coming out on Monday 6/10/13, at noon time would fix my bad water leak or what? and I was told "he will only evaluate the problem and go from there" ( I needed it fixed). On Friday 6/7/13, I needed to turn the water back on for my morning shower the pipe exploded I had to take off work to secure supplies and repair the leaking water pipe. I also repaired the hanging pipes, hanging wires, the holes in the floor, ect. After fixing the damage I called the company and asked them not to send anyone out on Monday 6/10/13 at noon for an evaluation of the leaking pipe as I had already repaired the damages after waiting 10DAYS to get someone to respond ( I would have had to call off another day of work to wait for someone to arrive at noon) . I did visit the company and they first refused to let me speak to anyone except the secretary. After 25 minutes the foreman happened by and I explained this all to him. He acted disinterested and tried to blame ME for all the problems. He stated "We are not plummers, we are not electricians and home owners should expect to fix some problems caused by water proofing we might put that in our contract in the future? I think one of those boys was my son, i'll speak to him" I selected a company that I felt was top notch more expensive than most and ended up feeling like I was not important or respected. Yes, they will give me the $64 for my concerns but where is the justice.
I want an apology from Mr. Baker himself because I don't think he is aware of the kind of workmanship his company is providing or how they are treating their customers. With that, I will know that he is aware of the situation.
Regards,
Review: I hired Bakers to fix a water problem in my basement in 2014 - water was coming in on one side of the basement wall. They came, tore up the finished wall on one side of my finished game-room, examined everything and installed a sump pump. Cost was thousands. We had to put the wall back up because they said they don't do that kind of work. We fixed it and painted.
About a 6 months later the water started coming in again and there was mold so I called and they said I did not ask for a water barrier to be installed. I didn't know I had to tell them I needed one. They came and tore out the wall again. They placed pieces of water barrier in 2 and 1/2 foot pieces to the bottom of the wall. We paid more money and we had to fix the wall again.
In March of 2016 I discovered that I had mold growing on the walls in my living coat closet. I set up an appointment for a mold service. They came and examined the closet and the outside drain pipe which was against that wall. Apparently the elbow on that pipe was completely split on the bottom. The water was not draining into the take away pipe. It was running right against the wall which I had Bakers "take care of." This company fixed the pipe which was main the point of the water problem, fixed my closet and then asked to see the underside of that wall in my basement. This cost $950.00.
When they went into my game room they took away the paneling on one portion of the downstairs and the wall was soaking wet. The paint on the basement wall was so soaked it it was running down the wall AND now there is mold on the surface and the back side of the paneling on that wall. It has also started to grow on the front wall which was not affected to begin with.
I called Bakers. They sent a man to take pictures. The supervisor called me today. He said the broken pipe elbow was not their problem. He said they fixed the water problem in our basement. Apparently they do not care about their customers. I believe they should pay me for the additional repair cost of $950 I had to pay to fix initial source of the entire water problem which they as"foundation specialists"should have discovered years ago.Desired Settlement: I paid $950 which was the cost of the repair of the broken pipe and the closet mold and leakage. I will have to pay an additional $450 for the gentlemen I hired to come back and fix the basement water leakage and the mold and return my game room to normal once again. I am thoroughly dissatisfied with Bakers and would not recommend them to anyone. If they are experts the source of the problem should have been identified when they first did the inspection of that wall.
Business
Response:
1/8/13 we gave a proposal for this homeowner. She agreed to the project, and we installed on 2/27/13 just like we discussed. 12/9/14 the owner called us because she noticed water on the floor and some mold. 12/11/14 our Service Tech diagnosed that water was running down behind her finished wall and onto the floor. Whomever finished the basement did not install a vapor barrier between the concrete block wall and the framing for the wall. Since the wall leaked the water could not get into the sealed waterproofing system. No warranty from wall leaks getting on the floor is clearly stated on the contract. 12/19/14 we cut out the bottom half of the finished wall and installed a vapor barrier to exposed this section of the wall. Since this repair we were told there has not been water on the floor in the treated area. More than 2 years have passed and we received a call (3/28/16) that there is mold on the paneled walls. This is not a warranty item but we went out to look at it for her on 3/30/16. The Service Tech gave her a couple options to help with the mold concern. 1) We recommend a high quality dehumidifier/ air filter to minimize the opportunity for mold growth (still can not guarantee against mold) 2) Extending the vapor barrier higher up on the wall which would require removing the paneling on the walls. Both of these options are not warranty items and have charges associated with them. The owner was frustrated and said she want to speak to a Manager. 3/31/16 the Service Manager explained that he is sorry but these are not warranty items that we can perform for free. The owner told us that we diagnosed the problem wrong. She had another contractor charge her $950 to repair a downspout line and do some mold remediation. She told us the other contractor intimated that our work was not needed. This statement is obviously false seeing that she is still having some issues even after that work was completed. The Service Manager tried explaining that the drain system we installed was to keep water off her floor and it is working. She agreed that she is not getting water on the floor in the treated area. She found herself compelled to yell at our Service Manager who was trying to explain the situation. He asked her to please stop yelling at him. The conversation ended with her explaining she did not want us to do anything at her house and she will not recommend us. I feel bad that she is upset with us and that we are unable to communicate that the problem she has can not be solved with a drain system alone.We will not pay the $950 for her downspout repair/ mold issue since it was not part of our project or responsibility. If a problem would ever arise that is part of our project or warranty we would certainly repair free of charge. Please refer to attached proposal and warranty that explains no warranty from wall leaks, mold or repairs to finished walls.
The overall experience with this company was positive. They were professional with the installation and gave a fair price. My negative experience came at the end. Final payment is due upon the completion of the work. However, I was not present at the completion of the work and the workers did not leave a final invoice. Three months later I was told that I owed interest on the bill. 1.5% for each month past due. The amount in minor but it is principle. They said that they sent us an electronic invoice, which we never received. When I asked for a hard copy of the invoice, it was mailed out and paid in full two days later. Clearly we were not trying to avoid our final payment. When I called to pay and ask about the additional interest, they just kept referring to the contract that says all final payments must be paid in full after service is completed. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't just pay a random amount of money without an invoice. If you go with this company, which I suggest you do, please make sure you ask for a hard copy of the invoice at the completion of the work or call the next day to ask for one. All else fails, check your SPAM folder in your email (we didn't have it there but maybe others do).