Perma-Seal Basement Systems

Very pleased with the whole experience.

On May 5, 2011 we contracted with Salesman Mike Tigges representing Perma-seal under estimate # XXXXXXXX for a total of $7,631 for which they would install PVC drain tile with gravel, a sump pump, plus floor and wall encapsulation. Our main concern at that time was the noxious gases that were emanating from the floorboards caused by a dirty crawl space. We had just found out that My wife was pregnant and our 16 month old son was having upper respiratory problems and we were looking for the cause Mike assured us that this was a common result of a dirty crawl and that their system would effectively seal off those vapors from being created and entering our home. Essentially ?lock them below our patented no tear, encapsulation liner?, item # 284 CleanSpace Encapsulation System on our contract where it says, ? Patented clean space encapsulation system applied to floors and walls. Reduces Humidity and provides dry useable space.? Definition: en·cap·su·late (n-kps-lt) v. en·cap·su·lat·ed, en·cap·su·lat·ing, en·cap·su·lates v.tr. 1. To encase in or as if in a capsule. THE ENCAPSULATION DOES NOT SEAL AT THE TOP OF THE WALLS ANYWHERE THUS THE ENTIRE TARP ALLOWS ALL GASES TO STILL ESCAPE AND GET UPSTAIRS AT EXTERIOR WALLS/BASEBOARDS. The crew that showed up for the day of installation 5/31/11, first had issues with the approved space, the lead installer claimed he was too big to dig a trench in our crawl space and really gave my wife a difficult time. She even had to call me to put me on the phone with the gentleman so he could complain about his job to me. At the end of the day my wife paid him the balance owed. Upon my later inspection later that evening his lack of attention to finishing and detail was apparent and was very shoddy in nature. I immediately called Mike Tigge, who assured me that he would evaluate the situation. I called once again on 6/3/11 because I hadn?t heard anything, Mike said he was very busy with new sales but would try and drop by that evening. Mike finally came by 6/6/11 and said that I was correct, the installation was performed poorly and he would send someone back the next day, but we had to go through the switchboard processing. The installer showed and said that it can?t be sealed, they shouldn?t have sold you this ? you should speak to a manager about this?.. At this point my wife and I are freaking out about the entire experience and feeling very cheated by PermaSeal. We had contracted off of Angie?s List and they had a lot of derogatory reports against PermaSeal which Mike told us was their competitors smear campaign against them but were starting to think otherwise. As the worker suggested I called a manager at PermaSeal the next day to request an explanation and another visit. The person I spoke to was more concerned with who had told me this, the name of their contractor than my issue at hand. He assured me that the worker had no idea what he was saying. I never heard back from him. I called Mike Tigge back four more unanswered times subsequent to my conversation with a person of management. At this time we decided to contest a portion of the final amount, a fair amount, we thought there was some value in their installation being that we had drain tile and a sump pump. We brought in a third party person who typically pours concrete crawls to seal as an expert opinion on the nature of being sealed. He said that not only does the tarp not seal it could cause a worsened mold condition after one season. PermaSeal somehow put a spin on what we were saying they were contracted to only perform water proofing below grade. If you look at our contract that they had promised to ?encapsulate? our crawl and not ?fix the issue of water that was entering the property below grade?. We never had water getting in and there is still no water getting in? This is a baseless untrue stance which has absolutely nothing to do with our original concern. We feel completely cheated and find it difficult to let this go, we?ve been taken and want to be heard.

Jim Burlison came out out and after listening to what we wanted he gave us advice and suggestions that made sense to us. He noticed our sump pump was very old and we do not have a battery back-up. This was on our minds, but we really weren't focused on it. Perma Seal's pricing is very attractive, so we plan to take care of the sump-pump as well. The other estimates we received from another company were much higher and the salesperson didn't strike us as very professional. The last straw with the "other guy" was the Big Discount -- if we placed the order today...even with the discount the "other guy" was still overpriced. When we brought up concerns that might come up... Jim didn't gloss over them (the other guy did) and he didn't exaggerate his company's abilities. He suggested what we might do in advance with the appropriate professional. We appreciate his candor. We couldn't begin right away, due to other projects in progress and we want a design professional's opinion on the egress window placement. Jim has kept in touch via email with updated company information and holiday greetings. We appreciate the soft touch, which serve as welcome reminders. We hope to finish our other projects and be ready for Perma-Seal by the time the ground thaws. We expect our experience to be a good one. We'll touch back with Angie's List when it is finished

The first thing we had done was the custom window well covers. The guy came out on time and installed them and the covers look great and work really well. At a later date, we had the windows and window bucks replaced for our basement windows. That crew arrived at the specified time, were professional, and did the job well. The thing I was most impressed with was that during the estimate, lintles were included as they couldn't tell before the windows and bucks came out if we'd need them or not. But once the workers got going, they notified us that we didn't need them as the window areas were in good shape and that saved us $1,200. We wouldn't have known if we need them or not and the team could have just installed them and had us pay for it so I appreciated that they were honest and saved us a considerable sum. The workers completed the project on time, reviewed the installation with us which looks great, and had cleaned up the work areas quite well. Our basement looks brighter and feels better insulated with the new double paned windows and with the new window bucks, the windows feel more securely in place. The only downside is how long it took between the signing of the contracts to when all the work was completed. We signed the contracts at the end of Sept, the first available time slot to get the windows measured was end of Oct and then it took some time for the windows to come in and then the first time slot we could get for installation was Dec 21. It just seems like a long timeline but I guess the company is busy because they are that good and reliable. I should also note that our work wasn't urgent as we weren't having active leaking or anything like that in our basement so the long timeline had a little impact on us.

Perma-Seal has a sterling reputation so I did not hesitate to hire them for this job, and they totally lived up to their reputation. Robert Barscewski came to my house to assess the work needed and explained everything to me. He was very professional and patient with all my questions. I was very pleased with the price and with his promise that all the work would be completed in one day! The workers arrived at 7:30 a.m. on the appointed day and the work was all done by 4 p.m. My basement is dry, and I have a lifetime guaranty that it will stay that way!

The sales man was exceptional, knowledgeable, and confidence inspiring. The crew that performed the work was the opposite and typical migrant worker without a supervisor. They performed the work as they desired without regard to the original contract despite protests from us during their work. The back up sump pump was defective, and the pit was not connected to the drain tiles surrounding the house, and the water seal was not performed as per specifications in the contract. Despite many many phone calls I was never able to have them come back and examine their work. I finally had to file a complaint with the better business bureau to resolve my complaint and have them fix their defective work and complete it as per original contract. They also bribed me to remove my complaint from the BBB web site.

They did a good job. We had some confusion with when they were supposed to show up, but they were very professional about it.

I would say nothing too bad about them but from the price standpoint they are not that cheapest. It is not like they were wildly overpriced. They deal with good quality products and that is what they are selling, so we will have to pay a little bit more for it. In the case of a battery backup or anything involving that kind of assurance, it is worth it. I would use them again in the future.

They performed as expected and did a good job. They came when expected and checked in with me as needed. I wish they had done a little neater and that’s the only negative I would say. There was a lot of dust material after they were finished.

They are a really good company. They have worked for me twice. I used them to give me a back up sometime so that I am ready for the spring. So I trust the man. He is very professional and clean. He came in just to do an evaluation. He put slippers on to make sure that the floor didn’t get dirty.

They told me I needed a large installation done, which I had them do. We had a big rain a month later and the water still came in. I called and they told me that I had actually needed something else. It was like they were trying to get the money, not the customer?s satisfaction. I ended up having them do the second work done as well, so I paid about 15000.00 in the end. They also didn?t finish the electrical work for the sump pump, and it upset me that they left it incomplete. ***Updated 4/11/2012: They came and finished the work as desired and I am now satisfied with their service.

The quote that we received was done professionally. We fully understood what our options were, what our cost would be and had a scheduled date of service. The adjuster had a lap top with a flick so we could see how the repair would be done and he printed up a professional receipt for our reasonable deposit on the spot. I had actually phoned 5 other leak repair companies, 4 would only quote over the phone and the one that came to the house was unprofessional and amazingly quoted the same as the other guys which was a much higher amount and we had no idea what type of repair would be done. It was almost 3 weeks before we could be scheduled for repair and when the team showed up from Permaseal we kinda' thru them a curve - we were only scheduled to get the corner repaired, but my husband decided that morning to ask if they could also repair the vertical crack at the same time. They were very obliging and didn't make a big deal of it even though I'm sure they had not planned on having the repair supplies or the time that day. In the end the cost was reasonable, they rearranged their plans to accommodate us and the basement is once again completely dry.

On the day of the repair, the Perma-Seal repairman, Manny, called me that morning to confirm that he was on his way. When he arrived, he explained what he would do. He worked quietly and efficiently within the time frame that I was told to expect for the repair. He cleaned up the area completely and even removed the debris. I have no Dos or Don'ts because Manny did just was I expected and the basement does not leak even after a couple of heavy rainstorms. And, I really appreciate the life-time warranty of the work. Thank you Perma-Seal!

The company reached out to offer the free inspection. The technician cleaned the sump pumps & pit, checked operation of both the primary and backup pumps, and assured me that everything was OK. He also thoroughly answered my questions about things to watch out for, possible failure modes, battery life, etc. I was pleased with the service.

This project was to fix water infiltration in a basement condo Unit. The original estimated work was for about $4,000.00. Then, work was stopped unfinished, and we were told by Perma Seal that the City did not like how they were planning on installing the drain tile system into existing gutters. The work was stopped then scheduling was a complete headache; meanwhile, the landscaping was torn up all summer long. Finally, they gave us a quote for the City approved work for an additional $3,000.00 that required us to install a "super pump". Although we were upset about this, our hands were basically tied since they had already started work. We couldn't get the pump installation scheduled until Halloween. Then, two different crews showed up at different times on the service date and both left. I called the office to find out what happened and they said they couldn't get access to the property. I then come to find out that there were two different people that met with at least one of the crews and granted them access and even gave them keys. I still have not figured out why they haven't completed the work. Even though this scheduling error was completely the fault of Perma Seal, they could not expedite this project for us. It is now scheduled in early December. We'll see if the appointment actually happens... I will never use this company again for anything. It's one thing if there was any issue with the City. And, if there was confusion among the crews, I understand things happen. What is ridiculous is that they will not adjust their schedule to make things right with us. Considering I work for a property management company, this is foolish as we manage multiple properties and could penitentially be the source of a lot of future jobs. If this is how they treat us, I can imagine a homeowner of a single family home would get even worse service.

Things didn't go as I expected. The first salesman who came to look at the leak wasn't able to write me an estimate for the leak because of some settling that had happened in the crawlspace, but he did come up with four or five additional things that I could do. None which would fix the leak I called him about. He also found and suggested repairing a crack that did not leak, and appears to not have leaked in the past (I'm of the if it's not broke don't fix it line of thinking). While the first salesman was at my house we set up the appointment for the foundation salesman, because the salesman for the leak couldn't write an estimate for what I called him about until the settling foundation was addressed. The salesman for the foundation work evaluated the house and told me that I needed to jack up my crawlspace foundation because the house had settled and may still settle more. Not doing this would mean that the foundation might break somewhere else once they use there super-strong leak stopping material, and I'll have a leak again. He also looked at some settling on a garage wall. The estimate came back for tens of thousands of dollars. With an estimate like this, you get second and third opinions. So, I called in two other companies that jack up foundations to evaluate the problem. Both of their responses were 1) There's little visible damage in the house above the cracks, like broken drywall or problems with windows. 2) my family has been in the house for less than 18 months and we don't know when this all happened 3) we don't know if it's still going on. Neither of the other companies would write me an estimate for the foundation jack-up job that Perma-Seal wanted to do in my crawlspace. One did write an estimate for the garage. We've decided to monitor the situation in the crawlspace and garage and see if anything changes. So, overall, I feel that in this case that Perma-Seal was pretty aggressive in wanting to jack up my foundation for what started as a call about a leak because their competitors would not write me an estimate. I've decided to learn more about the situation by monitoring the foundation to see if there is more settling over time. I've also decided to have the leak fixed with out jacking up the foundation. Then we'll see what happens.

They were a great company to work with. Their work was very neat, they were very knowledgeable and professional. I would use them again in a minute and recommend them to anyone.

Everything went smoothly. Eric was very professional and polite, didn't seem to have any unexpected problems, was here for less than 3 hours start to finish. He didn't try to pressure me into making a decision or doing the work today, which I appreciated as I hate a hard sell. I am happy with everything so far... Of course, I won't know if the system works unless we have a power failure or my other pump fails! At least I do feel more secure that if there is a failure I won't have a flooded basement like last year, when my old pump died and the back-up failed (probably my fault 'cause I didn' t know I had to do anything, like check/change the battery on the back-up, and thought the old noisy pump was just the way it was, not that it was moaning that it was old and needed replacing!)

From my initial call to set up an appointment until the technician left our home, our experience with Perma-Seal was the best. Rosie dispatched Cy and he arrived within just a couple of hours of my call. He replaced our sump pump (which had died) and also installed a battery-powered backup pump. I asked several questions while he was working and he was always very pleasant. He was done in less than two hours and left our basement clean. We now have peace-of-mind during heavy rains, thanks to Perma-Seal!

I was very happy with their work and everything has worked great since then. I would recommend them to use.

We are thrilled to finally have a dry basement we have had several rains since the work and not a drop of water in the basement thus far! We were happy with the service, price and work done by PermaSeal.

I gave them a check on the day of the estimate to come back and do the service. Later that day, another company provided a lower estimate than Permaseal and I wanted to go with them. On 7/25/2011 I called the Sales Manager and told him I was going with another company and I wanted to void my check. He emailed me back after receiving my voicemail. He said he was sorry I was going with another company, and he would refund the deposit. On 8/1/2011, Permaseal deposited my check of $193.00. I called back and they said I would have to wait another week to receive a check back. I asked why they deposited my check. They said it was miscommunication and were sorry. On 8/5/2011 I receieved a check issued by Permaseal. The biggest issue is that they deducted payment from my checking account, and I could've bounced a check I wrote for other expenses.

Called for an estimate about several things that needed fixing in my crawlspace. A representative was sent in a reasonable amount of time. Robert was able to give me advice about some of my crawlspace problems even though Perma-Seal could not perform most of the repair. He gave me some references for a new shut-off valve for my first floor water and an electrician to provide a dedicated line for my new sump pump. A technician came on the 13th and replaced my old sump pump with a new one and a battery backup system. The technician was on time, completed the job in what I thought was record time, and was completely professional. He cleaned up any packaging, etc. and explained the new system to me before he left. All in all, this was a good experience

We requested a service call as our sump pump had gone eerily quiet even though we heard water coming out of the pump. Permaseal suggested an inspection. Sure enough, our sump pump needed replacement. As it was still under warranty, there was no cost. Permaseal is always very consistent and honest with the information they provide. We've used them now for over two years and will continue to use them.

They were right in the ballpark with the other companies I received bids from, and I was very pleased with their service. The person who did the estimate and the person who did the work both were very courteous and pleasant people, and people that I didn't mind inviting into my home. The individual who did the job, Jose, had been doing this type of work to 12 years so I was very confident in his abilities. He also took the time to explain to me what all he was doing and kept me informed. Overall I was very happy with the finished products, the only thing is I felt that the clean up could have been a little bit better.