Value Dry Waterproofing

Their price was reasonable; it was one of the best of the estimates that we got, but not the cheapest. The job went fairly well. The only complaint if we would have would honestly be on the nitpicky side, just that their workers dropped a piece of concrete that damaged the floor a little bit but they were quick to offer money off from the job that would have been approximately about the same as what the repair would be. The finish could have been a little smoother, but I understand that concrete is what it is. Otherwise, they were very thorough, very clean and they just kind of explained everything and made sure that we knew how everything worked and that if there were any issues in the future with making sure that things were not working properly to call them and have them come back down. Overall, the quality of the work was excellent. They showed up on time, were thorough, had everything they needed, finished the job like they said they would and explained everything they needed to explain in the timeframe they promised us. I will refer them to others as well.

The estimate process was great.  They did a thorough evaluation and quickly identified the problem areas.  The other 2 companies had multiple causes for the wetness, Value Dry was only one who knew immediately what the problem was.  I received a thorough presentation that showed examples of basements with similar problems, it was very educational.  The proposal was competitive with the others, however, I felt I was going to get better service with Value Dry.  The installation took 2 days and the guys did great work..they were courteous, professional, clean (as much as could be expected) and very hard workers.  Jim is one of the rare guys in the contractor world who truly cares about the customer and the success of the job....thank you Value Dry!

Value Dry did a fantastic job! I greatly appreciated the time they took to explain the procedure they planned to do, how every part worked and what to expect from the project long term. The rep was willing to work with us on design, and price. We are very pleased with their work, and would hire them again if needed.

My basement has been leaking on occasion for years, I had 5 different contractors in my home to offer solutions including JES, Midatlantic Waterproofing.  I was told on multiple occasions that the job could be done and what the cost would be only to have actual crews show up and explain why they could not do the job.  In bright contrast, Value Dry and James Ketterer came to my home as scheduled, evaluated the basement without the high pressure salesmanship previously encountered, and offered me a quality solution at a fair price. His crew showed up as scheduled, kept me informed of their progress, and finished on time and in budget. They even performed a few small details for me that were not stipulated in the contract at no extra charge. I am completely satisified with my basement water proofing and would happily recommend Value Dry again. 

They did a good job. We needed to remind them to finish some of te cleanup

The sales person was very polite and seemed knowledgeable./ He felt this should solve our problem but it could require a ditch along whole wall. ( this seems to be the case as we have since flooded). The pricing seemed reasonable $5,500+ but this was our first estimate  and if we signed that day they would cut price to $4300. Not nasty pressure but still pressured to sign and we did sign that day.
They scheduled the work the next week and the two workers showed up the following week. They were very professional and in very hot quarters worked very hard to complete the job that day. They cleaned up the area before leaving and work seemed to be done well.
Pluses - very professional staff, that left the work area clean. Explained any question I had as job was being done. Took time to explain Sump pump operation and maintenance before leaving. Two great young men.
Negatives - Sales pressure of pricing to sign that day or lose a 20-25% discount.
II would suggest getting other estimates before having Value Dry come in to have a work scope and price comparison. I suspect they may still get the job but you would feel better about price.The work did not solve all of our leak. and I have not had them come back to get a price on extending drainage ditch another 20-25 feet.

Jim and his crew were prompt, courteous and professional.  It was a difficult job as I have an historic 100+ year old house, but they performed the job quickly and cleaned up well afterwards.  I did have to call Jim back twice to correct some water issues, but he worked with me and had his crew return and correct them in a timely manner.  Overall it was a positive experience and I would recommend ValueDry to friends and neighbors.

Matt came out to give an estimate. The first time he stopped by, only my husband was home, so he left. He came back a second time when both of us were there. I'm okay with that policy because I would have been angry if my husband signed a 10k contract without my knowledge. Matt looked at the basement and spent a lot of time talking us through the options. He was a good salesman because we were totally sold on his solution by the time he was done. The part I did not like much was where we had to sign a contract right there and then to get their best discount -- that did not give us time to really think over such a big investment. Prior to them starting work, I had to find an electrician to put in a new electrical outlet for the new sump pump. They showed up on time and finished the job in two days, as promised. They covered some area to prevent dust from spreading to the upper levels. They removed the stairs from upper to lower levels so they could put in a drain in that part of the basement. We expected them to keep the materials so we could just ask someone else to put the stairs back together afterwards. What shocked me was that they threw my stairs away! The foreman said it was rotten due to mold -- if that were true, that would save me a trip to the landfill, but I was never given a chance to look at it myself even though I was in the house the whole time. They also tore out a big chunk of drywall to put in the plastic thingies, which was expected, but we wish they would offer services to put things back together so we didn't have to spend more time looking for someone else to do it. They cleaned up pretty well afterwards. But I notice that a bucket of weatherproofing paint that was in the crawlspace missing -- maybe they threw that away along with my stairs. That paint was left by the sellers of the house, so it was no big deal as I wasn't even sure if it was empty or not.

Update Aug 2012: There is a damp spot in the crawl space now where the french drain ends in a farthest corner from the sump pump. Does anyone else have problem like this with Value Dry?

My wife and I are recent home buyers in Adelphi, MD.  We moved in to our home last fall shortly before two tropical storms/depressions drenched the D.C. Metro area.  After the storms, we noticed that water was starting to bubble and peel the paint on the back basement wall of our home.  The peeling and bubbling eventually subsided, but we were concerned about future torrential downpours and the possibility of mold developing within and on the walls.
We called Value Dry and their representative, Matt Houseknecht, came out to our home in a timely fashion, assessed the problems we were having, explained to us in great detail why we were having them, and finally prescribed several solutions for us to choose from based on Value Dry's experience and the rest of the waterproofing industry. We ultimately chose Matt's recommendation. I want to take a moment to address some of the other comments here on Angie's List regarding Value Dry's requirement that both spouses be present for their consultation.  I personally found nothing wrong with this stipulation and if anything, it was helpful for my wife and I to receive the education regrading basement leaks so that we could make an informed decision before moving forward with the project.
The work was done in a very professional manner. The crew went to great lengths to minimize the impact of the work to the rest of our home by taping plastic from floor to ceiling. The work was completed in two days as quoted.  On the final day the foreman of the project discovered a crack in the cinder block seams on the support wall that had previously been covered with a piece of plywood by the former owner of our home.  He called me at work and messaged the pictures to my cell phone and explained to me how Value Dry could fix it.  I agreed to his solution and he sent me pictures at every step of the process as he repaired and resealed the seams since I wouldn't be able to see the work once it was covered.  I was extremely impressed with this aspect of the project.  I highly recommend this company and would definitely use their services again.

Thought I had water coming up from the basement floor...water treatment was installed back in 2010.  The OWNER of Value Dry (Jim) made the service call.   The house is a rental and the tenant was unaware that the water heater was leaking.  Jim was very kind is helping me to determine what the problem was.  If you have a damp, wet, musty basement...call this company...you will not be disappointed.  They do amazing work in just a few days.

As you can tell from the "work performed" portion - installation of a sump pump and drainage system in the City of Alexandria is no easy task. Given my proximity to a city drain, I was required to tie the sump pump into the city's drainage system. This was a long process (adding $3,000 to the price of my project) and ValueDry, especially Jim Ketterer, was there every step of the way. 

Matt came out to inspect our water issue after the hurricane and rainy summer of 2011. We had water coming in on two exterior walls, one more significant than the other. While many say it is annoying that both homeowners are required to be present, I actually valued it. It's not easy to sink this kind of money into a below ground drainage system and was helpful to have Matt's thorough detail of what needed to be done. We got three estimates and ValueDry offered to match one of our other quotes. We were very comfortable with Matt and their product so we signed on the line. 

Our project ran into some issues with permitting with the City of Alexandria. The people in the permitting office were great, but it was a very lengthy and convoluted process (for what it's worth - it was my first time pulling a permit here). Jim Ketterer was right there every step of the way. He ALWAYS returned my calls and worked with me for several months as I navigated the increasingly costly process of permitting. 

Installation day came and Jim's guys were ready to go right away. The total project took 2 days and they have the process down. There were 3 - 5 guys working through the install and Jim came by to personally check on the project. The house was covered in plastic to help reduce dust and our belongings were 100% respected and cared for. 

Jim's guys couldn't have been more professional and easy to work with. So far my basement's been totally dry and we've had numerous days of rain already this Spring. I would recommend them to my friends and family without a doubt.

The planned work was to inject the external part of the crack with epoxy, then cover that with hydraulic cement, followed by layers of a bitothane (sp?) membrane, vapor barrier (plastic), and then foam board. On the inside, they suggested and we agreed to the installation of a carbon-fiber patch to stabilize the crack and prevent separation. To begin with, we had a very tight set of scheduling concerns. A few days before the job was scheduled to be done we had a problem where the foreman assigned to our job called, wanting to start early in order to keep his team working when they had another job fall through. When we could not deal with the reschedule that particular foreman at first openly expressed frustration and a bit of a temper. He did call back to apologize and we were subsequently able to work it out to our satisfaction. Value Dry, on their own, assigned a different foreman to our project and the 2nd foreman was very accommodating. My wife and I had carefully planned for the day of the install and coordinated with them so that they would have her inspect the work after each successive layer so that she could confirm each layer was applied as the estimator had described in his presentation. A couple of problems happened. The first was that my wife had to remind the team lead to install the vapor barrier. The second was that the team failed to correctly read the diagram and instructions prepared for them by their estimator. As a result, the patch was installed to a smaller area and in a different configuration than what was called for and as it was presented to us by the estimator - and for which we signed for. Only because we were such sticklers about inspecting the work between layers and before the hole was filled in did we catch these issues. On the GOOD side, once I made a call to the estimator and explained the discrepancies, he had the team lead call me immediately, that same night. He was very apologetic, explained what had happened and promised to completely correct the issues right away. The team returned, completely covered the entire area as originally planned, and went out of their way to be accommodating and to satisfy our concerns. All work on the inside was completed satisfactorily on day one, with the sheet rock installed and patch as we had agreed. So - due to the issues with us having to 1) remind the team lead to install the vapor barrier and 2) point out the incorrect installation on the exterior, I have given a (B) rating to Value Dry "Quality". Due to the initial attitude of the first foreman I've rated them with a (B) on "Professionalism". By way of balanced feedback, I must say that the responses of the second foreman and the project team lead to our concerns over the discrepancies in the more than made up for the display of attitude by the first foreman. The 2nd team really went out of their way to satisfy us, for which we were very grateful. Lastly, the quality of the materials and workmanship appears to be (A+). Overall - if Angie's List provided the option, I would give this Value Dry team no less than an (A-).

We bought our 1951 colonial house in July.  I'm August when we had all the rain our basement started to leak in one corer.  I called the insurance company and they suggested we get a sump pump.  At this point we decided to completely gut the basement, put in a drainage system with a sump pump and then remodel it.  We interviewed 10 different companies.  We heard everything from "don't do anything" to you need to spend $20 thousand dollars to fix your problem.  We didn't feel comfortable with any company.  Our contractor then suggested Value Dry.  Gabe came over and did an extensive review and then a presentation about what they could do for us.  It took a really long time but in the end, we felt the best about Value Dry.  We gave him a deposit but didn't do the work until January.  The first day of jack hammering we found that the block walls were deteriorating because they had so much water running through them for so many years.  This was a minor delay.  Value Dry assured me that they would fix the walls and take care of everything.  The next day of jack hammering they found that our sewer pipe was rusted and falling part. I guess cast iron pipes only last about 60 years.  We called a plumber out and found out that we needed our entire sewer pipe replaced from the basement out to the street.  This caused a work stoppage for Value Dry but they took it all in stride and once again assured me that when the pipe was fixed they would be back out to finish.  A week later we had the pipe replaced and Value Dry came back two days later and completed the job.  We had to have additional concrete added due to having dug up the sewer pipe and the deteriorating walls, they were very fair on the price for the additional work.  I will definitely refer them to neighbors and friends.  We looked at many systems and this one was by far the best.

I will say up front that it appears that the waterproofing of the basement has worked with a mild rain. But, I was not pleased with my experience with this company. When I went to obtain the work permit for the excavation, I was informed that I needed far more information such as the material that would be used for the waterproofing and drain, a sketch of how the materials would be installed, etc. Since I didn't have that information, I called the owner and told him that I needed more information. He was upset that I tried to obtain a permit and had waited so long to attempt to obtain one. He told me that there was no way that I could obtain a permit in a day. Since the sales representative that I met with was no longer with the company, we needed to reschedule because the owner would need to come out and review the situation and the estimate that was provided to me. He came out about a week later and provided me enough detail to allow me to obtain the permit. With the proper information in hand, I obtained the permit in a half a day. Work was then scheduled once for early December, but had to be postponed for a week because of rain. Once work started, the excavation and installation went well. The inspector was satisfied with the work when he stopped by. When the refill of the hole and clean up needed to be done, Value Dry sent someone out who never goes into the field. He specifically told me this. He arrived with Day Laborers. They didn't have the right equipment. I had to provide shovels so that the guys wouldn't have to work past dark, and they didn't have a level to be sure that the new downspout was angled properly. When I told them that they needed to put a mesh screen over the exiting pipe so that it could continue to provide some drainage, which was a decision made by the Value Dry employees when they dug the hole, the Value Dry employee who was there that day placed it over the gas pipe, which was not even in the vacinity of the hole, and directed the crew to start refilling the hole. When I came outside to check about 30 minutes later and discovered this, they had to redig the hole to locate the original drain pipe. This took over another half hour. They couldn't find the pipe after a half hour, so I finally told them to give up on it. Then they had to start to refill the hole again. All this led to an unnecessarily long day and a lot of additional mess in the yard. None of this was the Day Laborers fault. They were great - hardworking, friendly and very polite. In the end, the work was done. It appears that the leak has been fixed because we have had some rain since completion of the job. However, I was not pleased with the problems around obtaining the permit or the lack of competency on the last day of the job.

We are pleased with ValueDry. We now understand the importance of requiring both spouses to be present when the ValueDry inspector evaluates the house and discusses options. Gabe met with us for 5 1/2 hours.  There was an incredible amount of detailed information that would have been impossible to convey in the same manner had one of us had to repeat the explanations. Gabe thoroughly inspected every nook and cranny, crawling in and under every part of the house to get a full and accurate assessment.  Previously, we had a structural engineer evaluate our house, as well as other waterproofing companies and Gabe's assessment supported everything we'd been told and even went beyond, in terms of detail, and showing and explaining evidence of the situation.  He discussed all the options for addressing the house needs and patiently answered each of our many questions.  Once we signed the contract, ValueDry (Jim and Matthew) continued to answer our calls and questions, showing patience and professionalism each time. The first part of the project, the actual waterproofing, took a solid 4 days.  Fletcher, the Project Lead, was outstanding in his focus, professionalism, and organization.  He did a lot of the work himself and kept the crew moving so everything stayed on schedule. He kept us informed, communicated clearly and consistently, and ensured everything was cleaned up after each work day and at the end of the project.  The second part of the project took 7 days, as expected. Chris, the Project Lead for the carpentry part of the project also was highly professional and took great pride in his work.  Like Fletcher, he strived to keep the project on schedule and made sure every detail was addressed.  We are thrilled with both parts of the project and notice a big difference in how the basement feels and smells. It is warmer, feels dry, and smells dry.  We would use ValueDry again without any hesitation and we highly recommend this company to others.  For us, this has been money well spent.

After the epic rainfall in the late summer/early fall of 2011, my basement flooded. I had about 3 to 4 inches of standing water and mud in my basement. Water and mud has seeped straight through the cinder block foundation in my basement and filled my basement with water. After a few days of cleaning myself, my son started to have a terrible allergic reaction to the mold that came in with the mud/clay. Immediately, I called Mold Gone (another company that's I've reviewed), who came out immediately to help me clean up the mess and take care of the mold. Soon after, I called ValueDry, hoping to make sure that this would never happen again. Matthew called me and set up an appointment to come out the following weekend. Yes, I've read the reviews where people have been annoyed at the fact that they require both spouses to be home, which is somewhat of an inconvenience, but was an understandable liability issue considering the amount of jack-hammering that was to follow. Matthew was great. Friendly and informative. He's also a great guy (though a bit long-winded, which only goes to show he knows what he's talking about and has passion for what he's doing). After a very comprehensive inspection and consultation, we decided to go ahead. Three weeks later, the crew broke ground (and when I say broke ground, I literally mean they tore into my basement floor). It was loud. The crew was courteous and efficient. One minor annoyance was that on one of the days, the crew arrived almost an hour earlier than expected. I'm not a morning person and couldn't contain my irritation; my apologies to the crew for being short. Still, the crew did a great job and the work does seem top quality. However, as it turned out, the slab floor of my basement wasn't the typical 8-inches as most basement floors, but rather was 12 inches thick. This caused the crew to work harder and longer to get the job done (at no extra charge). But, because the slab was so thick, the jack-hammering produced more concrete dust than normal. The stuff coated everything. This became a problem because the dust was so fine that, after the crew had finished, everything in the basement was coated in this dust (which took 2 full days to clean... p.s., don't use a shop-vac for that... it just kicks the stuff up into the air like smoke). Days later, as the season had just started to turn cold, feeling that the basement was soundly waterproofed, we turned on the heat. Mistake... the excess concrete dust had gotten into the vents and blew the dust throughout the house. I was irate. I called Matthew and Jim and gave them an earful (sorry guys), but both remained professional and Jim offered to compensate me for an additional vent cleaning. Overall, despite a couple snafu's, I'm very pleased with the quality and value of the work. I have a great deal of respect for Matthew and Jim. In fact, I was so pleased with their work and trust Jim as an honest businessmen, I also bought and installed the EZ breath system, which controls humidity and improves air quality in the house. Matt and Jim were great, and while there were a couple problems, this was a major construction project that required jack-hammering up my basement floor, and I appreciate that Jim was extremely helpful and responsive in resolving my concerns. 

All in all, the installation of the drainage, well, and sump-pump took less than a week. We had to schedule another installation time to put up the moisture barriers. Everyone was friendly and professional. I do appreciate all of their work and help. Great company, great people.

The guys that came and worked were really professional. They explained exactly what they were doing. They were really nice. The one thing I disliked is that now that I am having a person put the drywall back up, he noticed that they did some things a little sloppy. They also cut a stud where they didn't need to so the drywall person is going to have to put up another stud. For the most part everything was really good but my contractor is going to have to do a little bit more work because of them.

We are very satisfied. The system works very well, as the system demonstrated following a  big rain storm. A very informative salesman explained our options. The option recommended was not the most expensive.
Work started 5 days after initial discussion and took only 4 hours to complete.

overall everything was satisfactory

These guys were prompt, patient, hard working, and professional.  From the sales guy (Gabe) who came out within 72 hours and did a thorough explanation and walk thru, to Raul and his two crew members who performed the installation, they did a terrific job all around.  

I chose these guys largely b/c I felt comfortable with the sales person.  Previous quotes from other firms came with extremely heavy-handed sales tactics, and one guy I nearly had to kick out of my home.  This company was respectful of our ordeal (basement flooding) and were professional through and through.

It's expensive, no doubt.  However, their quote came under quotes from other firms, and that was obviously a big reason for having chosen them.  

My basement, which had been taking on so much water, magically stayed BONE DRY through Hurricane Irene and the horrible week of rain we had right after Labor Day.  I am even surprised it worked out so well.  I couldn't be happier.  I would definitely recommend Value Dry.  

The representatives from Value Dry arrived promptly at 8am to start the work.  They started with remediation of the mold and jackhammering the concrete floor to dig the trench for the pump system.  They entered into the basement through a window to avoid exposing the rest of our home to the mold and dust from the work.   They reported to us at 2pm before they left that the job would take 2 days (originallly quoted 1 day but I knew it would take 2 because of our basement size) and they would return in the morning.  Once the wall was covered by the mold barrier and the pipes to the sump pump were installed, the representatives completed a walkthru of the work.   They explained how everything would work.   Before the work was completed you could smell water in all parts of the basement when you started walking down the stairs so I never went down into my very large yet nice basement.  During the walkthru, the basement smelled fresh and I could smell no trace of water.  Even now, 2 months later, I can not smell any water in the basement and am enjoying the full use of my home.  I am also relieved that the mold is gone which could have affected the development of my newborn baby. 

I was referred to Value Dry after an assessment by Dave Robey at Drainage and Erosion Services.  I needed to get the work done in a rush since the 1979 townhouse was already undergoing renovations, and had to complete waterproofing before moving forward with the project.  Dave at DES made the first call to Value Dry and the Adam the scheduling representative promptly called me back to set up an appointment.  (initially it was going to take a week for the appointment, but Adam called back with an appointment for the very next day)Matt came out to give his assessment.  The "presentation" was direct and to the point since Dave at DES had provided a full written report of his assessment (good teamwork!)   Based on the recommendation and need for speed, I didn't talk to other companies that specialize in waterproofing.  (did talk to a concrete contractor who verified the value of the work performed).  I was ready to buy, and Matt made the pricing worth my while and what seems to be a good value.Project was all interior, and involved cutting out approximately 30' along the basement perimeter, and installing a drainage system, self-cleaning mechanism and sump pump.   The actual work was scheduled for 3 business days later.  The crew showed up right on time, and completed the entire project in about 6 hours.  Fletcher was a great foreman of the 3 person team.  I wasn't there during the work, but Fletcher kept me informed of the progress and I met him there upon completion.  The house was already a mess from construction, but they actually left everything cleaner than they found it!

So far, so good. I’ve been happy with their work, and it’s held up well.

unknown

I cannot say enough good things about them! Value Dry had the best work ethic and professionalism compared to all of the companies we contacted for the project. They estimated the work would take a week, and they finished within a few days even though the scope of the project turned out to be much larger than expected. They did a complete tear down, including ripping out walls, and hauled away all the trash. I feel perfectly confident recommending them to others. Their service truly impressed me!