Perma-Seal Basement Systems

I spent around $1500 on the work. They came out and gave me a prompt estimate. They stuck to it and sealed the cracks. I haven?t got any cracks in those walls since then. They were very friendly.

PLUS: = The system seems to work, though the rainy season is not yet upon us. = The crew was quick, thorough and respectful. = Project priced at or below other vendors, included 10% 30th anniversary discount. = The sales person, Jason, was responsive via phone & email. = Jason gave a very good presentation re problem & solution. = It was nice to have a gift certificate for 2 hrs. of ServiceMaster Cleaning (much more cleaning to do, though). MINUS: = They did not have local references readily available -- it took a couple of weeks to get names from sales person (unlike other vendors). = The crew chief did not come a week early to "size" the job and give an accurate estimate (as is the practice with other vendors); the sales person overestimated time to complete (project took 1 day, not 2). Since I was having the sump pump connected to my sewer system, this meant that I had to reschedule the plumber at the last minute -- fortunately, my local plumber was flexible, but it would have been a headache if the plumber was not able to adjust quickly. = One of the workers broke PVC plumbing to the laundry sink. They offered to fix, but we bartered to have an addition crack repaired, instead. = The new concrete was seriously dimpled, not as smooth & level as existing floor in the half of our basement that had previously had a new floor poured. IT'S JUST THE WAY IT IS: = It was lots of work moving and covering furniture, shelves, etc in prep for project. = Crew left the basement broom clean, as promised, but still very messy (concrete dust, chip and "rocks") under the furniture, shelves, etc we had moved & covered. RECOMMEND? Yes, just be aware of what's involved & have realistic expectations.

Just making an appointment with these folks is difficult! You get a person reading a script. They want to send you a newsletter before they even see you. You can't get an appointment for at least a week. And then you have to stay home within a 2-hour window waiting for an appointment that's going to take an hour to an hour and a half!!! No other basement contractors are this difficult! I'll be interested in the quality of their advice!

It ended up being something much more than what Perma-Seal could do, it was outside of their scope of work and so I don't think they were comfortable with the repair. They weren't able to give us a quote because of this. They were punctual and everything was fine with the one interaction we had.

(03/10/2010) The experience was not good. The came in to give me an estimate for crack in my foundation. They gave me a guarantee of 10 years initially. After he came out the second time he told me they could not guarantee their work. The reason why I had cracks in the foundation was because they said my house was still settling. I decided to go with another company because of this. UPDATE (06/01/2010) This is in response to Perma-Seal's response to my original comments regarding their inspections. They stated in their response that wall paneling needed to be removed to do proper diagnosis. I do not nor have I ever had wall paneling. I tore out drywall at two corners of my foundation and the cracks were clearly visible. Another company came out and I was told there was no structural problem, only cracks to be sealed, which they did. One of the cracks was around an old fashioned drainage pipe (where the down spouts use to go down into) and the others were just cracks. They have been repaired and everything has been fine.

The price was a little high, but I do beleive they do quality work. It is better to go with a reputable comapny than try to do the job chepaer and end up with problems. I accepted an estimate from a company that was cheaper, and they did not perform to my satisfaction; my basement still leaks. I would use this company in the future.

We were very pleased with the work and the custom window well covers as well.

Things went very well. They were timely and they were courteous. It took three inspections, but they got the job done and they were there for all the inspections. They stuck with the job until it was finished.

They suggested a full tile drainage system that I thought ran something like $8000 - $10000. They thought that would solve all of our water problems for good but we passed on that because I didn't think it was that big of a problem. We never ended up getting anything fixed but the longer we lived in the house, we realized it's really just one little crack where water was coming in. It really didn't need to be $10,000 fix. It probably requires about $100 of epoxy or something. So, I kind of felt that they tried to up-sell things to us. I am not angry at them or I don't want to give them a bad rating. I just think that they didn't even allow for trying to do the immediate fix first. They went right to the big thing. I really felt like it was a sales pitching. Honestly, I am a pretty smart consumer so I recognized it as such but I think if there was someone who hadn't dealt with contractors and stuff as much they probably would have bought something they didn't need. They professionally tried to mis-lead me.

Their price was fine. I felt like they did their job well. We were satisfied with their service.

We didn't use them, but they were very good. We had to make the appointment about a week in advance. They arrived promptly and took measurements and did all the things they needed to do. They provided us with a complete written estimate so that we would have it to look at. We were very impressed. They were there on time. If we had had the work done, they would certainly have been a consideration. In fact, the person who came out had an engineering background, which was very impressive.

We had 3 estimates for the job and Perma-Seal's cost was in the middle. The agent checked out the areas and although the cost was higher than expected, we felt it was within range once we received two other estimates. We scheduled the work and the 3-man crew came within the time specified. We went over the work to be performed, and then they quickly started the job. It took several hours to complete the job and when they were done they had us inspect the work and answered any questions we had before they left. We are pleased to know that there are still companies who operate with professionalism and work with the customer. Everything was clearly explained by our consultant Michael who worked with us in setting up a convenient time. Jaime, Aurelio and I'm sorry we forgot the other man's name worked efficiently and cleaned up the areas so that all we needed to do was vacuum the fine dust that settled afterward. The whole process of injecting into cracks as opposed to slapping sealing materials on the outside (which is what a company had done with the previous owner) just makes more sense. It's surprising but the cracks look better now and are less noticeable with Perma-Seals method. We look forward with confidence that when the rains come, we'll only need our buckets and shop-vac for spring cleaning.

The person who came out to give the estimate as well as the people who did the work were good. They were highly recommended by Angie?s List and a couple of others who had used them. The work was done perfectly. They were competitively priced too.

It leaked a few times, but they came out and fixed it right away. I was releaved about the pricing too.

The estimator took a good 90 minutes - he spent a lot of time going through his spiel on how water gets in and what they can do about it - stuff I told him several times I already knew. Rule #1: Know your audience. They were the most expensive of the 3 companies by about 10%, which wasn't make-or-break for me. But, there were a lot of issues on them when I searched the BBB until the firm I ended up using. While they may do a great job, I was honestly more comfortable with the

I now have 1inch of water in the drainage system all the time at the lowest points I did not ask if they would check the grade to insure that all of the water would drain into the sump pit, I guess that is my own fault, however when you spend that much money I would assume that would be automatic. Also the plumbing connections that were made were amateur at best..Also be advised that the dust and the mess on the driveway and the lawn is a lot worse than they advise. They will warn you abuot the dust and the mess but it is far worse than you can imagine do not chose this company if you can't clean carpets and change furnace filters and clean your driveway of mud and gravel, plus I'm sure the I will have a lot of lawn repair in the springtime. Let the buyer be ware I wish I had been. They came out and redid the job. Now, it drains the way it supposed to, but I had twice the mess to clean up and twice the inconvenience.

My husband really dealt with them more than I did. I know that they were honest and they did a good job. He liked that they offered a lifetime guarantee that could be transferred to another owner of the house. They were a little expensive.

Installed 5 Grip Tite Patented Wall Anchors on the West wall of the basement. Some anchors had 6 ft rods and some had 9 ft rods. Holes were dug in my yard 6 or 9 feet out from foundation, anchor plates are then placed down inside each of the holes, then additional holes are drilled from inside basement thru cinder block to connect a 6 or 9 ft rod to each exterior anchor plate, then an interior anchor plate is added to interior cinder block wall, connected to the other end of the rod and tighten down. When finished we now have a set of 5 anchor plates (spaced 5 feet apart) along the entire west wall of my basement. These 5 on west wall plus 8 installed 12/23/09 brings the total to 13 anchor plates and 16 Kevlar ties/straps to complete all necessary foundation repairs.

Job went very well and crew was excellent to work with. They told me of the noise and dirt/dust that would be created and were always very professional, careful and protective as much as possible of my property. Began noticing sewer gas smell and water leaks in basement starting in Nov. but could not locate sources but found smell coming from drains. Dec 29th, sewer smell was stronger, when checking sump pump for flooding issues in yard (huge snow melt plus lots of rain 12/13-12/22). Upon lifting the sump pump lid, Permaseal discovered a strong sewage smell and saw grey sewer water in sump pump well. Inspection of drain tiles leading to sump pump produced 3 different broken / collapsed sections of lines, one sewer cleanout stack and 2 floor drains, plus sewer was backing up and filling interior drain tile system. Sump pump was operating but expelling water plus sewer out on to north east side of front & back yard. Water and sewer was cycling back and forth from yard to sump pump. Permaseal turned off sump pump, broke up concrete and removed all concrete plus old drain tile, we had a plumber come in and repair 3 breaks, then Permaseal came back the next day and completed laying new drain tile, inspector came and verified work, crew laid new concrete to complete drain tile install and installed vapor barrier on all walls. During this work we found the West foundation wall was bowing, we contacted Permaseal to have wall anchors installed. They will be back on Jan 18 to complete this work. All in all despite the problems and breaks we found, Permaseal completed this work in 2 days as originally planned. I will definitely use them again and will recommend to my friends and family!

Job went very well and crew was excellent to work with. They told me of the noise and dirt/dust that would be created and were always very professional, careful and protective of my property. To install Kevlar ties; drilling and sanding is required to connect and anchor neck ties to the wall (At top, down the wall and at the bottom), the walls have to be prepared by sanding so that Kevlar straps can adhere to the wall. Each tie was spaced 6 feet a part and installed along our East Wall and South Wall. We had Kevlar ties (vs. Anchor plates) installed on these walls due to front porch and drive way being in the way. On our North wall, to install anchor plates, holes were dug in my yard 18 feet out from foundation, anchor plates are then placed down inside each of the holes, then additional holes are drilled from inside basement thru cinder block to connect an 18 ft rod to each exterior anchor plate, then an interior anchor plate is added to interior cinder block wall, connected to the other end of the rod and tighten down. When finished we had a set of 8 anchor plates (spaced 5 feet apart) along the entire north wall of my basement.

We gave them a call, they came in and did the work and everything went fine. They were able to come the next day after we called. They showed us what the issue was and told us what they needed to do. The leak is no longer there so I assume everything is fine.

They did a fine job. The price was high, so we are holding off on the work for now. However, I will consider them when we have the work done.

Very well. Work done on time, as promised. Workers were very professional. Just wish there was some better way of applying the epoxy "prep" - looks pretty rough. But - no leaks! Sales rep - Karl - very professional. Pointed out a couple of significant differences with competitor products. Very responsive.

They were hard-working and got the job done. They were friendly. The price was fair for the amount of work they did. It was quite extensive.

They have a new product coming within two months that I am interested in so we are holding off until we get the new product. I was very impressed with their professionalism and helpfulness. It has been good so far. They looked at a crack in the basement wall and they explained that there was a drain underneath to me, which I was not aware of at that time. They told me what to do about it and I did it. Now I do not have to worry if the rains come. They gave PowerPoint presentations and they explained very well.