A-1 Waterproofing

Contractor did not perform work per the contract.  Required legal action to resolve.

I felt they did a fairly good job. I will use them in the future.

They were puntual.

They explained what they were doing, the condition under the concrete, the condition of the walls.

They cleaned up perfectly.

Basement looks great.

Very experienced crew.

For 2 months system worked through summer rain storms. I left on vacation for 2 weeks and came back 2 days after Tropical Storm Irene. My basement had flooded with about 8-10" of water and then drained leaving about 3-4" and about $1000 worth of damage to my possessions. It cost me $3500 to have the basement cleaned and sanitized. I called Rocco immediately and he sent out the original 2 installers. They apologized for what they saw and looked at battery and said the battery failed. They took the battery and said their office would call. I received a call that told me A-1 was not responsible for the equipment they install -only installation.I called back and said if you weren't responsible, then why did you take my battery? Rocco called and said there was nothing wrong with battery, but it had completely discharged due to prolonged power outage. My neighbors said we only lost power for about 12 hours. I called the Watchdog company and 2 things became apparent: 1) they sold me the wrong size back up for my basement. This was the do-it-yourself cheap model available for $263. So they charged me about $400 for labor and mark up. Watchdog said that the appropriate system or their top of the line system was about $300 more, had a stronger pump and a heavier battery. 2) BUT he said my battery should have lasted through a 12 hour storm as the battery would not have been running continuous. I also had continuous alarm going because of discharged battery (which A-1 returned to me) and never even knew there was a reset switch or that if my battery discharged I needed to bring it to service station to recharge. They gave me no instructions on back up system. I told this to Rocco in voice mail and he never returned call. 2 weeks later we had another tropical storm, no power outage, I was home, and my sump pump pit filled to rim in 2 hours of rain, and was about to my flood my basement again, and I looked outside, and water was trying to get out of pipe attached to dry well. I knocked it off and suddenly my sump pump poured water out this pipe for next 45 min. Mystery solved. It was their lousy installation that caused the flood. I called Rocco and he came over next day. I showed him what HIS installation caused and his reply was,"And you called me out here for this?You wanted dry well we gave you dry well. I'm not responsible for damage or flood." I am in litigation with him now. While his 2 installers were apologetic when they came over and said somebody should be responsible for this, of course they were assuming it was the battery. I found the owner to be caustic, non apologetic, and a liar. When I told him that he sold me an inferior back-up system, he said to me," that would have cost you more money." Money was not the issue, piece of mind and having a dry basement was the issue. I trusted him to quote me a price for what I wanted - not to have a wet basement again. The company watch dog is going to take my 3 month old system on a trade up for their top system, and they have a list of recommended plumbers who install their system. A-1 is not on it!

Prompt, courteous, and professional workers; see above. Came out and resolved the problems for me. They are the company to call if you have water problems in your basement.

Chose this company over 2 additional companies because the owner, Rocco was easy to talk to,and he provided information regarding the guarantee of his work. Price wise A-1 and one other were comparable; the other was $5000 over the others. A-1 installed the system and sump pumps (one additional at my request) August 13 and August 14; the workers were pleasant and professional, however, I had already removed everything from the room so they could begin immediately. They only had to move the washer and dryer in the laundry room. After my urging, the crew supervisor returned 8/15 to move the washer and dryer back as "his favor?? On 8/16 the crew supervisor called me again to say "Oh, I forgot to tell you, you have to plug in the sump pumps in the crawl space -- you might need extension cords". I am a widow and I felt misled this was not included in the price I paid. Called and left a message for Rocco, the owner. To my disappointment, I never heard from anyone at A-1 again.

Both times that they came to my place the employees were professional and courteous. The extent of the work they did exceeded any of my expectations. I'm giving a C on Responsiveness because twice the owner forgot to come to check the work and had to make separate appointments. The employees who came were on time (even early the second time).

A-1 called back in a timely manner, showed up for the appointment on time, provided a proposal within 2 days. A-1 showed up exactly on time when scheduled to do the work. The guys working were very knowledgeable, friendly, polite, and well mannered. A-1 did exactly as they stated they would do in the proposal. Our overall experience with A-1 was great and I would definitely recommend them.

I THOUGHT THE PRICE WAS TOO STEEP UNTIL I TALKED TO SOME OF MY FRIENDS THAT PAID LESS. I NOTICED THAT THEY DID A GREAT JOB ON MY HOME AND THE CHEAPER COMPANIES DIDN'T DO SO HOT.