Woods Basement Systems

I called Woods Basement to waterproof my basement in my condo after a small flood I had in August. Since then, it has been nothing but issues with them and my basement project is still not completed. Their initial visit to my home was on August 20th with their sales rep who came to inspect the property and determine and quote the scope of work that needed to be performed. Once I was sold on the project, paid them the deposit, and set up repairs, I was able to begin to schedule the next phases of work. I called a flooring company to come out and they advised that they would not be able to complete work because of what they noticed to be asbestos tile in the basement I immediately called Woods Basement Systems to advise of same to ensure there would be no issues moving forward with my project. Rather than coming back out to inspect(which they had full view of the alleged tiles at the first visit) the rep I dealt with asked me to send him photos of the tile by text. After reviewing the photos, he texted me back to let me know the tiling would not be an issue for them to complete work. I asked again if he was sure and assured me in the text message it would not be a problem. The original appointment scheduled with Woods was canceled just hours before with no notice to me at all because another project ran over on time. I had to initiate a call to them myself to even find out this information. I had to fight tooth and nail to be scheduled at the next possible time because I had already scheduled projects to be completed after their work. Once Woods came to my home on September 24th, they began work in one of the areas covered by the scope of work. As they began to work on the area with the suspected asbestos tile, they had to stop immediately and then informed me that it was in fact asbestos and they could not complete the entire project in the contract. At this point, I was livid and called their offices immediately. The crew that was here finished what they could and then left. A project manager from their company came to my home a week later on October 1st to inspect the work that was done and come up with a resolution from the dissatisfaction I had with their first visit. The project manager spent about 20 minutes walking through my basement when he came to propose several solutions to me, which were not explained with full detail. I assume his resolutions came about as he knew the initial job done in my basement would not guarantee to keep water out since it wasn't completed to the specifications of the original contract. At that time, I agreed to the solution as he advised the service would free and would guarantee to keep my basement dry. Another appointment was then scheduled for a crew to come out. The crew showed up on October 16, without the project manager, and were totally unprepared to take on the project. After putting plastic down and walking around for 20 minutes, they came to ask me what the discussion was with the project manager and what work was I expecting to be done. That is unacceptable. I immediately called the property manager and got his voicemail and then was told by the crew he was on vacation. I then called the office and left a message with the project coordinator. One of the crew members was finally able to contact the project manager and they discussed the work that was to take place. The crew went back down to gather a plan of action and determined what the project manager suggested was not going to work logistically in the basement. After 2.5 hours at my home, with nothing done but a plastic runner, and multiple subsequent calls with their project coordinator and project manager, I made the decision to send the crew home. They themselves felt that would be best as they felt the project manager really should have been on site to deal with this. After 2 months of dealing with Woods, my basement, which also happens to be my bedroom and closet, is still in total disarray and I have zero confidence in the water proofing that did take place in my basement and the second scope of work has yet to be resolved. They have been an absolute pain to deal with since onset. They are wrought with communication issues and incompetence on a fairly simple job.

They don't uphold their warranty - their work is poor quality & they can't seem to get here to repair it either -
I have made numerous appointments & they have either had trucks break down (twice!?!)
no-shows, no calls, lies, just the biggest run-around you can't even imagine!
So then I asked for a full refund & got sent to Customer Relations to start
the whole mess all over again! No I refuse to do it again!

We were very pleased by both the construction crew led by Juan Hernandez, as well as the cosmetic installation crew led by John. Each crew was here 2 days apiece, both called ahead to let us know their arrival time, and they were consistently on time. In addition, all of them worked hard while being friendly and professional. The final job each crew did was complete, well done, and cleaned up completely. We were very happy with our experience with Woods and we are pleased to recommend them to anyone needing a quality basement waterproofing job done.

Foreman Juan Hernandez, and his crew were super professional, friendly, and communicative throughout the whole process. Juan walked us through everything from beginning to end and made sure to give us progress updates throughout and at the end of each day. The end result (a nifty new sump pump and Waterguard system) gives us peace of mind. We would highly recommend Juan and his crew!

My basement had two windows that were very old and leaked profusely. I had Woods Basement give me a quote on how to fix this problem two years ago. I purchased three new windows and two window wells from Woods Basement. This cost $2,500. The salesperson explained that they were enclosed wells, that were sealed tight and would not allow water in. He said that these would be in place of a drainage system. Water has since then filled up each window well and leaked into our basement.

I called Woods Basement back this month and asked for someone to come look at our windows and fix them. The service tech said the water filling up the wells was not covered even though I was specifically told that these would not let water in. He gave me a quote for a drainage system that included holes drilled into my concrete walls where the window wells are to drain the water into my basement and down into a system with a sump pump. This quote was for $5,000. I was then asked to pay $119 for the ‘service call’, even though no service was provided. I gave him a check because I didn’t want to cause myself any problems with my credit. I called Woods Basement to complain about the charge. The person I talked to responded by saying a solution was provided by being given a quote that would fix my issue and the $119 was for that ‘service’ provided.

Since then, I had another company come out to give me a quote. They are a nationwide waterproofing and foundation repair company. The salesman checked the window wells and found that one well is filled with 8 inches of water and the other is filled with a green sludge that is housing a mosquito colony. The salesperson said that I should never have been sold these wells in the first place. There should have been a drain in the bottom of each window well running out to the road. He said for his company to fix this would be to rip out the window wells and replace them with wells that are filled with gravel and a drainage system.
I feel like I was lied to and provided with false advertising by Woods Basement. Their inability to sell me an adequate solution in the first place is incomprehensible. Then to be given a quote for $5,000 to fix their mistake is absurd. These window wells are not watertight like what was explained and for them to be sold as the answer to my water issue was reckless.

In January of 2014, I agreed with Woods to waterproof my basement and to install an egress window. The Woods representative promised the basement would be "all dry all the time". He then said that their lifetime guarantee backed this up. Since I was spending a large amount of time and money to remodel my basement, I felt waterproofing it was critical. Therefore, I paid Woods $19580 to ensure it was waterproof. Everything seemed to be going well until last year when we got a large amount of rain. Water flooded into the egress window and into the basement. I contacted Woods to back up their lifetime guarantee and they informed me that it was not covered by their warranty. Keep in mind, Woods installed the waterproofing in the entire basement and also installed the egress window. Water is coming thru the egress window and somehow it is not covered. They said they would be glad to fix it however they didn't pay the cost of the damages done to my basement. Those damages cost me a total of about $3000. I was obviously upset but just wanted to move on and Woods assured me they fixed the issue by regrading the ground around the window and they cleared the mud from the waterproofing system. The heavy rains stopped over the Fall and Winter but in the Spring, the window flooded again and once again, my carpet and drywall was damaged. I reached out to Woods and they once again said it was not covered by their warranty but they would fix it for a cost. I reached out to some upper management at Woods via email but received no response. Furthermore, no other vendors will agree to repair the system because they are afraid of compromising the Woods warranty. At present, I am stuck with an egress window that continues to flood and Woods seems incapable of fixing the issue and no other vendors will touch it.

In March, we signed a contract and hired Woods Basement to waterproof our basement. Due to Covid-19, the job could not be scheduled until June 3rd. We were told it would be a 2 day (W-Th) job. The night before our scheduled work, we were contacted at 7 pm and told me that there was a scheduling issue and the team would be 4 hours later than planned and that the job would now take 3 days, requiring me to stay home a third day. The team was even later arriving than I was told, and they did not finish until 3 pm on Friday. They rushed to finish as I was told by the foreman that they had another job after ours. There were a number of issues with the quality of the work completed due to the team being rushed. In the process of fixing the basement, one of our basement steps was broken and replaced with a dangerous, crooked and poorly made step. The water barrier installed on the wall was not properly installed- it was simply taped, and within 2 days started falling off of the wall. Outside of the house a dry wall was installed. In our contract it said that the yard would be "landscape-ready," but the hole was not fully filled in, and now the white PVC piping is exposed in the yard and the area around the dry well is over one foot lower than the rest of the yard. We also have a downspout that was supposed to be connected and drain into the dry well- that was not done. I showed the foreman these things, but he said the downspout wasn't written in the job (even though it is) and he did not comment on the other issues other than he replaced the step as best as he could. That day I contacted Woods telling them I wasn't satisfied with the job and explained my concerns. I was told it would take 2 weeks for a man named *** to come out and look at the issues to remedy them. He did- he verified that my complaints/issues were legitimate. He said someone would contact me the next day to get a team out to fix it. At this point I had already made time in my schedule to be home 3 days to resolve this. No one contacted me, so I once again contacted Woods Basement 2 days later to get the job scheduled. I was told they couldn't come until July 11th (over 1 1/2 months after the original job was completed). I would not be able to be home that day, so they talked to a team and were able to get the job rescheduled July 7-8th but had to split it into 2 days of work which I would again need to take off of work for. This morning (July 7th) I was contacted by Woods to verify a team would be fixing the stairs the next day. I asked about the team scheduled to arrive today at 9 top fix the yard and water barrier, and I was told it was no longer on the schedule. They could not explain why it had been cancelled or why I wasn't contacted. I was told a team could not arrive until at least 11 am, but as I have a medical appointment later today, I could not make that work. I have paid $10,000 in full to have my basement fixed. I made a deposit over 5 months ago, paid in full 1 month ago, and it is still not done. I think the scheduling team has done a poor job double-booking jobs and does not understand that a person cannot take off work 5-6 times to get a job finished that was supposed to be done in 2 days. At this point, they need to be rescheduling jobs that aren't fully paid to accommodate my schedule, not the other way around as they were the ones who did not fulfill the contract, not me.

Here's a situation you can evaluate for yourself when determining whether to hire Woods Basement Systems. Just the facts. My wife's family hired Woods to repair a foundation wall in my mother-in-law's house, so the house could be put on the market for sale. The MIL is now in assisted living and needs the equity from the hose to pay for her care. Before the foundation wall could be repaired, the front porch and front sidewalk of the house needed to be removed, which they were. The foundation work was completed satisfactorily on May 22, and the foreman, *** said he would return to do the final foundation backfill and yard releveling at a later date. (The restoration work is critical because neither the sidewalk nor the porch can be rebuilt until the Woods work is completed, so it's in the critical path to get the house on the market.) A follow-up date of Monday, June 15 was set, but *** called that day to say he wouldn't be able to make it, but that he would be there to do the work on Friday, June 19. He didn't keep that appointment either, but called and said he would be there on Monday, June 22 to finish the job.(The job had been paid for in full on May 22. In retrospect, a dumb move to pay in full, but there's a lesson for the reader.) *** did not make the June 22 date either, so I called Woods' main office and was routed to *** scheduler, ***, who informed me that according to the company's records, the job was marked as "completed" on June 15. Even as I explained to her that the work had not been done, she kept reiterating that their records showed it was completed. Frustrating, but after a few back-and-forth's, *** said she would inform "management" and see what to do. In the meantime, I placed several calls to *** cellphone, explaining who I was and what I was calling about, and he has never returned a single one of my calls (now five and counting). *** called the next day and said that a new appointment had been arranged...for July 11! I explained that the delay was untenable, for all the reasons cited above, and asked that she try again on our behalf to get a much sooner appointment. That was on Wednesday, June 24, and today, June 26, I've heard nothing back. And the last two calls placed to *** have gone un-returned. That's the story, just the facts. I would like for Woods to PROMPTLY schedule the final work, thats all. Seems simple, but not so far.

The foreman, Juan ***, and his crew were super professional, friendly, and communicative throughout the whole process. Juan walked us through everything from beginning to end and made sure to give us progress updates throughout and at the end of each day. The end result (a nifty new sump pump and Waterguard system) gives us peace of mind. We would highly recommend Juan and his crew!

Woods Basements Systems claims to be the expert in all things basement including waterproofing and foundation repairs. Woods has proven to be less than novice at anything basement including waterproofing and foundation repairs. We contracted with Woods to install a channel drain system and sump pump in our basement, after waiting months and payment a substantial amount upfront, a system was finally installed. The crew did not follow the job detail plan submitted by the Project leader and dug a pit for the sump pump in our spare bedroom. I insisted they remove it and place it according to blueprint. This however threw their deadline of installation in three days off since they had to fill the pit and dig a new pit, which caused them to be at my home until 10:30pm scrambling to complete the job. They said we had to wait two weeks until concrete cured to rehab basement. We would told this system was quiet and efficient, top of the line. However we could continuously hear water going through, we thought this was normal since we had never had a sump pump, that it was getting rid of the excess water build up, which was being discharged in the middle of my back yard creating a lake. About a week in it started softly whistling intermittently, then daily louder and more prolong. We finally called the company, they were in no hurry to come check out their system, but scheduled 2 weeks out. For 2 weeks we listened to the slurping and whistling, finally they came out and said the whole system, channel drains and pump needed to be replaced. Again in no hurry to correct this situation we were placed on the schedule another 2 – 3 weeks out. Once the system was replaced the forgot to reinsert the condensation line from our central air unit which caused another flood when we turned the air on, again we had to wait another 2 weeks for someone to come out. While having a sewer issue check out we discover now that waste being discharged from our home is going through the sump pump system and being released in our back yard making a nice little swamp. Woods was notified and after another wait, a crew came out to state that it was a plumbing problem. I cannot express how painful and expensive this experience has been. I would just like to be rid of this company and save someone else from the company.

Our sump project for some reason did not go as planned. Had multiple crews out over several days to finish and eventually clean things up. Customer service was always good (Laura) and supervisor Mike *** was responsive when things turned south and needed to get addressed. I don't have all the names of the various foreman who worked on my project but Frank's crew who did the clean up and carpentry repair was excellent as was the crew led by Miguel. The final crew that came in to do some cement repair was led by Juan ***. He called before arriving, showed up on time, was very professional and efficient with his work. I could tell that he took pride in his craftsmanship.

When my baseboard separated 3/4" from the floor, for 15 feet, I called Woods Basement Systems. It was just the beginning of the most professional, knowledgeable and quality service unprecedented. Blake identified the work needed and costs involved. Juan is an exceptional crew foreman who is very knowledgeable and kept me informed as he accomplished the necessary repairs. Upon completion of these repairs, the work area had been kept orderly and was cleaned up inside and outside as though nothing had been disturbed.
I have confidence that my investment has been protected by the best and most knowledgeable company in the business.

They put a sump pump and trench in our house. They told us they would be wearing protective gear. They are not. I contacted the company this morning and I got the runaround. Finally when I was able to talk to someone they said they would contact the crew (they are working at my house now) and said they would call them and tell them to wear protective gear. All three of us in the house have compromised conditions. I don't know if they have contacted them or not, but they have not changed their behavior, by wearing the protective gear.

Brett, Clem and crew did a great job with the drain and brightwall in my sump room.

Have to agree with the recent reviews. Had brightwall installed in basement. Countless issues, install crew had to come back 3 times and it still isn't fixed. Duct tape put everywhere that the install required basic skills to fit the paneling properly. This tape was even placed on the gas water heater exhaust, causing a major fire hazard!

They could not keep an appointment on 2 of the days that I took off work to be home. 2 times they came out, confused me with another job and had to go back to the shop 3 times to get the equipment that they needed. Nothing got done that day. The next day, the same thing happened then they decided to not show back up.

Very disappointed with the execution of this job. Left food all over my basement & did not clean it up, still missing and very sloppy trim work. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!

Our basement has been finished and protected by Woods Basements since 2014. We have always been very pleased with the products and services that Woods offers, including the fact that they come once per year to do a maintenance check on the pumps and warning device, for a fee of course. But a couple weeks ago, the main sump pump switch malfunctioned in Woods' system. We immediately called and scheduled a service tech to come. During his visit yesterday, I asked if only the pump float switch could be replaced, and he said they only replace the whole pump assembly, not specific parts. He was a very courteous and professional tech. Within about 15 minutes, he had the old pump out, the new pump installed, and was paid and on his way. Our new pump (***) cost us $529 plus a $119 labor and service call charge. After he left, we looked up the pump to see if it would be worth our time to have the old pump repaired to use as a backup in case of emergency. To our complete shock, we found our EXACT pump for sale on *** website for $179.99. We could have purchased 3 pumps for what we were charged just for the 1 pump. I had a very cordial conversation with a rep named Cory about the cost of the pump. He offered no reprieve. He DID try to convince me that part of the price of the pump helps insure that we have a trained tech to perform the work, and that he is equipped with all the proper tools to do the job. And that explanation would be helpful had they not also charged a $119 service call labor charge. So that part of his explanation was invalid. My advice to ANY CUSTOMER OF WOODS BASEMENTS would be to perform your own annual maintenance check on your Woods system, and purchase your own pumps / parts. Woods will still install what you purchase for a service call fee. But these things will NOT void your lifetime transferable warranty. It WILL, however, save you lots of money over the course of time.

I reached out to Woods Basement Systems on September of 2019 for work to be performed on my basement. I met with *** who wrote an agreement urged me to pay a third of the initial cost of the project to get in on their discount. I paid them $4906 on September 25th in good faith that my questions would be answered. However the details as to who will be performing the demo and the exacting details of the project were not discussed.
I reached out to Woods to inform them that before any work was to start, that I would need clarification of the details. I had to call twice as my initial inquiry went unresponded. It was then that they sent another sales man *** who stated that I was oversold and that they sent him in error as I had been working with *** but he was no longer with the company. *** stated that he would get someone to come review the project and make corrections and suggestions.
I met with *** December 6th 2019 to review what *** had written. It was found that there were a few things they were wanting to change. I also brought up the issue of my wife and I being asked to tear down the drywall and prep for the construction as we are not really able to perform that work. They were to take their findings and present to me another agreement that would include the new suggestions as well as the demo. I never heard back from the company.
I got a call in February that they were going to start construction that next Monday. I stated that they still have not provided me with the details and amendments. She stated that she would inform them. Again, I never heard anything back. The week of March 15th, the utilities were marked out in paint on my freshly sodded ground. I called Woods and asked why they were marking the lawn when the construction is inside, my lawn was freshly laid, and they still had not filled me in on details. Again the lady on the phone stated that she would talk to the company. Again, I never heard back.
Last week we find out that the contractors that were doing the landscaping completely messed it up and we have to wait for an uncertain amount of time before it is corrected and we can move to the basement. I reached out to Woods and explained to Brian Hendren who submitted the cancellation and explained the situation as clearly as I think I could have. He said they would review it and get back to me no later than Apr 28 at noon. I had to reach out to him a couple of times before he said that the company would not refund the amount I have deposited. At this stage, no work has been done on the basement and we would like for them to refund the deposit so that we may address bigger issues. Keeping the deposit is not right since there was never any work performed and they could not communicate the work.

I've had Woods out several times to do work and it's always been done - no problem. Recently came out to install bright wall in the basement, along with a new sump pump with battery back-up and Juan H did an excellent job, along with his co-worker. Cleaned everything up and looks great.

Woods Basement Systems did a tremendous job waterproofing my parents basement. From the initial bid to the installation they were all very professional and courteous. They took the time to explain what was needed and the process of how it would be completed. The foreman Juan *** did an exceptional job on the day of installation. His crew completed a big job very efficiently. They did a great job keeping the space clean while working and cleaned up well when it was finished. I highly recommend them.

Our job took 2 visits. Juan and Luis were the crew managers and both teams did an excellent job. They installed a new sump pump, dehumidifier, and waterproofed the area where they sit. They called before coming over, arrived on time (actually early), were very courteous and polite, explained everything they were going to do, and left the place very clean. They were easy to work with.