MidAmerica Basement Systems

I had a wonderful experience with MidAmerica Basement Systems & highly recommend them if your having any waterproofing needs. My project: I purchased my home 3.5 years ago & it started getting water in the basement last year after the outside drainage & tiling system put in my previous owners failed miserably. It would literally be full days of pumping water out of multiple locations in my basement. There were issues of moisture even with two dehumidifiers running & subfloors the crew took out & cleaned up after as well. Scheduling: They will schedule a ways out for appointments but only because it's a high demand working system. Others may be able to offer services quicker but there is likely a reason they are not busy. I got several bids in the time I waited for my MidAmerica Basement Systems appointment & encourage you to as well but definitely wait until after your appointment to make a decision. They were not the cheapest but had the best guarantee (100%), best working system, and a few things I've learned in my 20 years of homeownership is if you go cheap & need to redo it your typically spending more than if you did it right the first time & your home is not something to skimp on or take chances. MidAmerica Basement Systems will send you detailed emails as to what you can expect for each appointment. They will mail you a packet of information regarding different systems that work vs fail & throughly explain the dangers & hazards water/moisture in your home will cause. Our basement got so bad from the Derecho the only dry place was in our basement was the shower & my celing developed black mold quickly from the moisture. Not only did they offer a system to waterproof my basement but a whole house dehumidifier & air purifier which would have saved my ceiling if I had earlier. Sales: I had Justin A for sales & he was very thorough in listening to my problems & needs as well as took his time in explaining & showing me how they could fix my issues, how the system works, as well as answering all of my questions with detail & no hurry. He was absolutely great about changes I made in adding work later on (before my appointment) as well. He doesn't make it feel like a sales pitch, is not pushy at all, & really works to get you the most work in your budget (prep & finish work offered), as well as taking his time with you through the entire process. The office crew: The office staff was very polite & helpful. I mostly worked with Desiree S & Kim B who are extremely responsive in working with me. The Crew: My crew consisted of Brandon T, Sam G, & Ethan T who I highly recommend! These young men are the exact type you want on your project! They are polite, respectful, hard working, efficient, trust worthy & have a great work ethic! They not only got the job done in the time allotted but left my basement incredibly clean which I didn't expect. They thoroughly go over the work before & after as well as answer any questions you have along the way & explain in detail any changes if something isn't to plan before just doing something differently. They called before heading to my house as well which I thought was very courteous. I imagine they have a lot of great workers but anyone I know that I send their way, I'll have them ask for these men as the crew on their home. Overall: Overall I give them 5 stars & they earned it all the way. I will say it's winter so not when one typically gets water in their basement so I am unable to review how the system works fairly. I do, however, plan to leave another review after we get some lovely wet Iowa spring weather or melting of our snow mountains to test it out. I don't expect my review to change & feel confident in the upcoming months & years. Thank you MidAmerica Basement Systems!

Semi competent unbelievably unreliable and totally inconsiderate of your time I contracted them to do waterproofing in my basement and install an egress window. The waterproofing was done in June and it did great keeping up with the +10" of rainfall we got a few weeks ago, so for that I am pleased and couldn't be happier with that part However, I was supposed to have the egress window installed Monday 9/17 and 9/18. On Thursday 9/13 I noticed the underground lines had not been marked yet so I called them to see if I needed to do that, they told me the foreman that does the egress windows had a medical emergency and they didn't know when he would be back but were getting someone else trained. She also told me she tried calling my home phone on the 11th but no one answered and she could not leave a voicemail, this I believe but she said she had my cell phone as a backup number why not call that? isn't that why they had the backup number? Now I see there was a guy that was getting concrete leveled 2 weeks ago but they had to back out because they claim the foreman for PolyLevel was injured and will be out 6-8 weeks. Either their stories reek of B.S. or this is a poorly ran company to have one guy cover egress windows and/or concrete leveling with absolutely no backups in as big of a service area as they advertise. The scheduler for egress offered to call me once a week to give me an update but judging by the other posts I shouldn't hold my breath. What's worse for them is I have 2 other services that could be done to my house, but as of now I won't even consider them. It's a shame how one bad experience can completely destroy a great one. I actually went with these guys over a lower bid for the same work because these people seemed more professional, I guess I was wrong. I hope I never have problems with my waterproofing systems because I can only imagine the nightmare these people are to work with

Things I liked: David and his crew were extremely polite, personable, and professional. (The "three ps" of a good contractor.) They were willing to work around my schedule, particularly because of the later start. These guys were fast...like really fast. Got my job done in a day! Everything was explained to me, and I got some instructions on care and limitations of finishing over top of their trenches. They came back to do some brief touch-up work the next day, and left everything clean and tidy. David even worked around some of the goofy stuff in my basement. You know, the stuff you might find in a 100+ year-old house. All of the various drains, services, and pipes were left untouched, which is impressive because some of them were veeeeeery close to the perimeter where they were installing the drain. Lastly, my basement is now dry. Had a deluge of rain immediately following the work and I have not seen a drop! :D Things that could be improved on: Price - I mean, a price can always be lower, but their price is definitely fair for what is included. Their system was more expensive than some of their competitors, but there were several things about it that I preferred over others. Punctuality - The digital appointment card I was sent was for 8 AM so I was under the impression that they would arrive then (or soon after). I called at 9 to check in and was told they'd be there at 12:30 PM. This was not a problem for me, but I wish I had been told that earlier. Granted, the appointment I was sent could have just be left at the default time. Either way, not a big deal, but a bit of miscommunication. Bottom line: David and his crew were excellent. I would hire them again. My basement is dry. :D

I had originally expressed interest in MidAmerica Basement (MAB) Systems upon attending a home improvement convention in Iowa City, IA. I briefly discussed the need to level the floors to my Cedar Rapids home and left them my contact information. Afterwards, I was contacted by a System Design Specialist named Wes Glasgow. Wes thoroughly assessed the work needing to be performed to the old limestone basement of my home in a professional and straightforward manner. He originally quoted me a price to install floor jacks that was considerably lower, but after further inspection, we both agreed that my home would need steel beams to reinforce my basement support floor framing. I then questioned whether MAB had flooring products available that could be used in my 1st floor laundry room area. He showed me a product called Thermal Dry Tile Flooring; which is typically used for basement floor covering. The flooring complimented my kitchen flooring so well, that I decided to have the product installed. The Sunday prior to the project start date, Wes went above and beyond his 'salesman' role by assisting me in the temporary removal/relocation of my washer, dryer, and a large metal shelving unit. He also offered and assisted me in relocating some items in my basement, in preparation of the work to be performed. Once I finish the trim work and repainting in the laundry room, Wes instructed me to call him again to move back and hook up my laundry room appliances. I am sincerely grateful and humbled, because I have a disability and live alone with limited access to assistance and outside resources. The MAB Construction Team arrived at my house on 6/25/18 shortly after the noon hour; which was a bit later than scheduled. However, they immediately started to work after having been properly introduced to myself and the project areas of my home. The Team consisted of the Project Leader Dillion Heard and crew member Cory for the first 2 days. They worked tirelessly hammering and digging to manually remove concrete, sand and dirt from my basement floor by the bucketful; in order to install 10 Smart Jack XTs. Mind you, my basement does not have any windows, thus, they had to individually carry each filled bucket up a very narrow stairway passage. Props to them both for having maintained courtesy, pleasant attitudes and a sense of humor with me through it all. Dillion kept me well entertained, informed, and updated to each stage of the project; which allowed me the opportunity to purchase a few necessary items before installing the laundry room tile flooring. On the 3rd day of my project, I was introduced to another crewman named Tyler. The 3 of them successfully placed the steel beams, 10 floor jacks and raised them to the necessary heights to help level out the 1st story floors of my house. They also started the tiling and discovered that they were shorted some necessary materials. On the final day of the project, the 3 man crew cemented in the jacks and insulated the outer perimeter of my basement beams with a spray foam product; while I was at work. Despite the unplanned setback in materials, they had traveled back to Davenport to get the missing supplies and returned back to my home by the time I was off work. They then tediously completed the installation of my tile flooring for the laundry room. I had mentioned to Dillion that a small storage area door had to be raised and resized, because it slightly rubbed against the new tile. He painstakingly worked on the door and its latch, until it fit to my satisfaction. It all honestly now looks fabulous! I would 100% recommend MAB Systems for those needing the professional services they provide. Their employees have consistently demonstrated their willingness to go the extra mile for job completion and customer satisfaction. They have renewed an appreciation for my home and their services will allow me to move forward on other projects that were on hold; due to my unlevel floors. I cannot thank them enough. MAB Systems rocks!!!! : )

They sent an inexperienced crew. Nice guys, but clueless. No significant followup. Areas they worked on sunk again within 2 weeks.

He was on time, friendly, answered any questions I had. Efficient. Finished and told me what I should have replaced within a couple of years.

The representitive was polite, informative & easy to talk to. The crew arrived on time & did a good job. I am using "A" as grear job! I thought price was reasonable. I was pleased w/people & job they did.

Mike Clements did an amazing job. He explained everything & did step by step directions. We couldn't be more pleased.

He was friendly, a half hour early, and the first service was free.

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Waterproofers accidentally cut a phone line which I had to have repaired by an electrician. The company reimbursed me after 3 months.

I do not like this company. After I had my crawl space system installed one year ago, I was told that annual service for it was recommended, so I scheduled it. First appointment was a no show. When I called the office on this day, the person I spoke with did not even apologize for the no show until I said "do you think it's right that no one is even apologizing to me for this inconvenience?" We rescheduled for the following day and she told me that the $120 fee would be waived due to the inconvenience of the no show, which was nice. Second appointment was supposed to be at 10:00am, but the technician called five minutes before and said he would be there at 11:00. He said that this was still within the "10-12 time slot for my appointment." I had not been told my appointment was a time slot situation, I was told he would be there at 10:00. He showed up at my house at 11:30. So, in total I had to use 8 hours vacation from work for this 30 minute appointment. I do have flexibility in my job but that is my vacation bank, my hard-earned money, down the drain. He was helpful in answering my questions, but he never apologized for being 90 minutes late. Why is it so hard for people to be polite when they screw up? He also said that the first guy who was a no show had been at work on that day, and that they "currently have a lot of disorganization with schedules in their office." I find this kind of backstabbing talk about one's own coworkers very unprofessional and it makes me feel distrustful towards their business. I really don't care about their sob story, either. Overall, I'm so glad they waived the fee in this case but this was way too much time and hassle. I won't call them again unless something is going seriously wrong with my system that I don't think someone else could fix. The service technician even told me that annual service was not necessary unless there was standing water, mold, or the dehumidifier was not working, so I am glad to take his advice. If I had to do it all over again, I'm not sure if I would have hired this company at all.

Arrived earlier than anticipated.  Very professional and courteous.  Even stayed away from plants that we wanted to save (worked around them.) Job was completed in record time and looks great!  Very pleased with the quality of products provided and aesthetics on the exterior of home.

7 new columns were installed including new footings. This is very physical labor and very taxing on the body: hammering old concrete, hand digging footings, properly installing new footings, this was a lot of dirt, rock and cement going in and out of the basement, yet the crew (Justin, Francisco, Brandon) always maintained a great attitude and worked continuously. The guys were very polite and professional. They were accommodating and answered all my questions. We ran into a few oddities and Justin was able to modify and resolve with a few phone calls to the engineers. We were able to raise the house up 1/4" to 5/8", before we stopped due to plaster starting to crack. We now feel comfortable continuing restoration of this wonderful 100 year old home, onto the next 100 years!!

The company responded to my request for assistance in a timely manner. The problem was corrected. The service rep, had a good attitude.

Excellent.

Repair went well with no issues. Very professional during the repair. They filled the cracks with Polyurethane. Only time will tell how it holds up. There was one snag during the estimate process. The Laser Level of the agent who was making the estimate was off so initially he said the basement walls were leaning and would need to be braced. I was a little surprised they were that bad so afterwards I used plumb lines to verify they weren't leaning. Had the agent come back and he agreed they weren't and said he must have had a problem with the laser level (not swinging freely with gravity). So the lesson here is to double check things as this would have caused costly unneeded repairs.

Tim Lopez was my service technician for the annual maintenance. He called to say he would be early and was that OK. He was very friendly and not bothered by my two big dogs. Tim was efficient and made sure I knew my options as far as what was needed to maintain my system. Overall a great service experience.

No more moisture in basement

He was on time. Performed the job competently & answered my questions.

Took several return trips and a total redo to get things correct and acceptable. Training and skill of employees seemed inadequate and inconsistent.

They called prior to coming, walked through all procedures, cleaned up, and did a final walk through to make sure everything was up to expectations.

Staff were professional and courteous, did the job quickly and cleanly, and tidied up before they left.

The three young men (Justin Bailey – foreman) who did the install were hard workers and experienced at what they did. They were delayed in starting the work on the date we had set due to a local work permit that was need. This was taken care of and they completed the work in one day. We appreciated their professionalism.

On the day of the work, my crew foreman Mike Clementz arrived on time and all work was performed as described in our contract in a professional and speedy manner without any hassles. Mike took time to check in with me while work was being performed and he also walked me around my home at the end to show me a few suggestions for additional improvements that would help make my home more energy efficient and waterproof (foundation crack repair, grading, rotten plate, polyleveling the driveway). I greatly appreciated Mike's patience with my many newbie questions and he and his crew worked hard. I would give Mike an A+. I have to give the provider a C grade though due to some serious miscommunication at the time the estimate/contract was written which nearly put a halt to my project, a gimmicky approach to working with me that made me feel like they cared most about selling their products, and a lack of responsiveness to my messages/being put on hold when I called for long periods of time. My time from initial estimate to when work was performed was nearly seven months - this long wait was due to initial errors on MidAmerica's part at the time of my estimate. (The entrance to my crawl space is very small and there was a kerfuffle over whether or not it would be OK to cut the insulation down to fit it through the entrance vs. cutting a larger entrance.) Overall, I am not thrilled with the service I got from this provider (apart from Mike) but I would begrudgingly use them again as very few work in crawl space repair (from what I can tell). Overall grade: B.