Olson Foundation Repair

Took 5 days, but it was fixed

Jim Olson showed up on time, was professional and helpful, and his workers started shortly after. We had multiple bids and their price was very reasonable. They were also highly professional, did their best to minimize damage to my house, and worked their butts off. I am very happy with the job they did. Also, I got an excellent referral for some other services I need. I plan on using Olson Foundation Repair again for some other separate issues I have.

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It didn't go well.  It started poorly because they did the work without authorization.  I wish I had not had them continue, but I felt they were halfway there and should continue.  In hindsight,  I would have never hired them.  They cut the sidewalk off the steps and made a 12 inch "oops" cut into my sidewalk.  The finished work looks so bad, that I am having a new sidewalk and a new stoop poured.  When I tried to work with them to arrange a peaceful reconciliation, it ended up with the owner hounding me for payment rather than getting anything that looked decent as I entered my home.  
I originally was referred to Olson Foundation by a reputable realtor.  The contact the realtors had used was no longer with the company.   Working directly with the owner proved to be a very negative experience.  I have a million details to add, but a few highlights- saying that he would be there doing the work with his son, and instead sending workers who didn't know the scope of the project.  Jacking up the porch without protecting the roof- luckily we got home before my roof was damaged.  My husband stepped in and removed the braces on the porch columns so that they weren't connected to the roof.  Overall, an unbelievably bad experience that I am still working out the aftermath of.
Regarding payment, I paid for the work, minus $700 that I was reserving a token amount until I got a bid for the new sidewalk piece that was destroyed by their "work."  I explained to the owner, Jim, why I was withholding this token amount.  He threatened me with small claims court when I didn't pay it within two weeks of the work "completion."  Remember, this is the company that started work without my authorization, did shoddy work, created problems for me to the extent that I must have all my concrete replaced and I was being threatened for $700.  
I asked Jim if he was proud of the work down at my home.  He said no, it wasn't the quality of their work.  I asked him if they would put pictures of my home on their website as an example of their work.  He said no.  I asked him if he would want  this as the entrance to his home.  He said no.  Price was never an object. I didn't seek the cheapest solution- rather I wanted the best solution.  In the end, I got the worst possible solution, it created tremendous problems and mess for me. 

They did a great job and stopped the water coming into the basement. they were very professional and when they say what time they will be there they are there

Things went great. it was completed in an afternoon. No water since.

They were in the process of moving, so communication faltered at times, but they got the job done. Previously, they also did foundation work (putting up beams, leveling floors, drain tiles) on the house. So I felt good calling them for this job.

The builder of the house I just purchased obviously poured the concrete pad for the family room and garage short and then tied concrete onto the front of the garage section.  A load bearing wall and beam had settled.  Joe from Olson came out and did extensive measuring with laser levels and gave a bid of $1000 per pier.  This was better than some of the other bids I received.  He was prompt, his crew showed up on time to initiate the work and they kept me informed while the work was being done and especially when they were lifting the slab.  They showed me what was being done and had me look at the levels and see how things were lining up.  They were very careful and precise in their work.  They did a great job and the work area was clean as a whistle when they finished.  I would definitely recommend them.

I had no problem arranging a date for the bid and the work was delayed but it was because my schedule changed. The job was done about three weeks after the original date. They were very easy to work with to schedule the work. It was accomplished in the time frame specified, they cleaned up, and the garage is still stable a year later. I have recommended them to others and would use them again. Professional, competitively priced, and quality work.

I bought my first house four years ago. The house somehow passed the inspection. I kept noticing leaves and bugs in the basement but couldn't figure out why. The foundation was not sitting on the sillplate and there was a large gap. I had two companies come to my house and give me estimates - both of those were thousands of dollars. One of them wanted to install 2 sump pumps, drains and more for $26,000. I kicked "Dick Clark" right out the door. I was then referred to Jim, owner of Olson Foundation, by a friend. He was the third person who evaluated my basement. From the start, he was professional and real. He explained to me what work had been done before I bought the home, and what I needed to do now. He installed six beams on one wall and did some cement work. His costs were reasonable. After last years drought, I contacted the company again since I had been noticing more movement. They were busy with lots of work but this time Joe LaGue squeezed me into his schedule to evaluate what needed to be done. Jim spent over an hour taking measurements and trying to figure out what the best plan of action was. He didn't recklessly start the work b/c it was complicated. He advised us to have a Structural Engineer evaluate the movement and then put together a plan. Once we got the "plan" from the engineer, e asked Joe come back to complete the next steps of the work. He came on a Saturday to accommodate our schedule. He gave us loads of advice and did not try to up sell us services we didn't need. He spent another hour with us explaining everything and taking measurements. He truly went above and beyond in his customer service. We appreciate both Jim and Joe for all of their realistic assistance - they both have a wealth of knowledge, integrity and honesty - I would recommend them to any friend or family in fact we already have. Jim worked with my Father-In-Law on his home also.

Getting Joe to come and look at the foundation issue was not a problem. Getting done what needed to be done was also not a problem. Timing was the problem. I got the estimate and initial investigation in Oct.2012. What really hurt me was the delay to actually get the work done. I had other work waiting on that work and other projects costing me money while I waited for this one. At $400.00/month cost the delay cost me nearly 1200.00 since the work was done and completed in Jan.2013. The frustration also came in the form of lack of sticking to a proposed date. I got the middle of Dec.2012 for my first start time, then when I asked for sooner I got the end of Nov.2012 which was almost immediately pushed back to Jan.2013.
I might suggest the project manager for the company study up on availabilities, float or cushion times for projects. If he has studied project management at all, I am not sure he had passed the PMI testing for certification. I know construction projects are not easy to plan and get done. I also know customers do want things done quickly so that they can get on with their lives. I will give him this, he tried to be pleasant and nice through out.
Joe was also nice. In the end, the project is now done. I can now move on to my other projects which had to wait until this one was done.
I can't say I am totally satisfied but also I can't say I am not.
So I will give them a B + . please work on getting time lines for all the pending projects cleaned up a bit so that you can inform your customers with better assurance of their start dates.
Much appreciated.
Thank you.

Joe misrepresented the companies quality of work and the employees. They work was very amaturish and the employess had no documentation to go off of when doing the work. The piering was done one at a time instead of multiple points of support. While piering the house was lifted up and then dropped several times causing internal damanages and fractures all the way across the front wall. Joe came out and looked at it and said he could fix the problem and would knock money off the final bill. When it came down to paying the final bill Joe denied the deduction he talked about earlier and insisted on full payment even though his project manager had restated the cost at the discounted price. They also tried to put in drain tubes instead of drain tile which is required by buildiing codes. They left a mess in my yard and their mess killed my grass. They left a pile of gravel in the street from their truck. I would not recommend this company under any circumstances.

I got a structural engineer report before I started calling Foundation Repair companies. This was money well spent. Most of my estimates were comparable, but Olson was the only company to review the report first. It was also the only company that gave me a list of references with the estimate. The work was done on schedule they cleaned up as best as possible after a jack hammer. After the work was done I had the structural engineer review the work and it passed inspection with no issues.

Joe, from Olson Quality Contractors/Olson Foundation Repair came out after I emailed him the Engineering Report and inspected the site. Joe then gave me a verbal cost for repair and then promptly followed up and sent me a detailed Estimate. Not only did I get this, but a lovely 4-Color brochure detailing the Piering material that they use. Everything that Joe communicated to me was performed.
The workers were professional and communicated with me every step of the way. I was concerned about my two delicate trees and landscaping in the front where they needed to dig. I had other contractors tell me that with their equipment, I would lose all landscaping. Joe told me that they would hand dig. I was so surprised to see that they carefully dug up my Hostas and placed them with their roots on the lawn and then replanted them when they were finished. Unbelievable! My trees were never touched!
For about 5 years we could never close our bedroom door. But last night, I tried it and it was a miracle! We just stood there in amazement opening and closing the door. I know that sounds silly, but the foundation repair really worked! I would highly recommend Olson.

THEY WERE ON TIME, REASONABLY PRICED, BUT NEW CONCRETE WAS NOT EVEN. I COULD NOT REPLACE TILES ON BATHROOM FLOOR DUE TO UNEVEN CONDITION. HAD A FEW NEW CRACKS ON FLOOR.