Basement Care

These are facts: The problem: Hired to move water from walls and floor to a sub pump to be pushed out side per their recommendation because of a leaky Basement. The fact:, upon completion, one plastic pipe, connected with a ferncoe was leaking after their work was complete and they left the job They came back to fix it and did,but said everything was fine..this from their "managing - inspector". We questioned many things to all questions the answer was it is correct. So we hired an inspector because it was leaking from the wall where they attached the sub pump pipe; and the pump is working regardless if its even wet outside. Now from an inspector: INTERFERENCE- Upon inspection and removing the lid, the pump float was restricted. Once the pump was moved it activated and the primary pump continued running even after the water was gone. This was due to the small amount of room in the well causing the pump float to hit the sidewall and not drop down according with the lowered water level. The Inspector moved the pump unit over, however the orientation of the float needs to be corrected (turned) so it is away from the lipped sidewall to prevent reoccurrence, 2. PUMP AND WIRES INTERFERENCE- The secondary pump is piped with same diameter piping but the movement between the pumps/piping can also restrict the float fall zone if pump is not orientated with float away from pit sidewall. The pump wires should be zip tied to the pipe as they also fell into the area of the float and could also prevent float on/ off operation. This pit is small for the size pumps used so orientation and interference of wiring needs to be correct to prevent failure of activation or deactivation. 3. Both pumps should have a check valve be installed in line to prevent pump cycling that could prematurely burn out pump motor. Install two 1.5” check valves in the piping. 4. PIPING LEAK - The piping was leaking out of the cinder block wall at the point of drain penetration. The piping was moving at the interior, but fixed (non movable) at the exterior. This means that the pipe is either cracked or was not glued somewhere within the wall cavity. Break out the cement around the pipe and re-pipe and reglue as required. 5. COVER/LID INTERFERENCE- When trying to install this chopped/cut up cover it causes the pumps (due to piping interference) to move around which recreates the issue in #1 by moving the pump float against the wall. A new lid and proper orientation (away from the sidewalls) needs to be completed. A better piping configuration for this pit due to its size would be to use a inverted wye as shown here, thereby eliminating pumps being pushed together when installing the lid. 6. HOLE MISSING- A 1/8” hole needs to be drilled in the secondary pump line to reduce pressure and prevent pump from becoming air bound and eventually seizing. They canceled last week because of a team sickness and also agian this week. So the weeks pass by, no one comes and they have asked now to reschedule a third time.I asked to be copied on the E-mail asking for a manger to call me to talk about this issue. I was told the owner is on vacation and that the only person I can speak to is sick. So I guess as the water keeps leaking, and the pump keeps running, they consider it not urgent enough t0 handle this situation. In my experience, any owner worth anything woudl want to knw about such a travesty in service, but according to the company. the owner is on vacation and not to be disturbed and anyone that could help will get back to us within 48 hours.

horrible. Repair not done correctly, will not honor lifetime contract, took money from a military veteran and senior citizen. Basically not a good company. Stay away from this company.

Initially everything was fine. Over the years, there have been issues in different spots of the basement and Basement Care would come out and fix it. The repairs are covered under the yearly warranty renewal of $50. I have been paying the renewal faithfully every year, however in 2019 I forgot to pay it. I noticed a section leaking in the basement and called for service in July 2019 (have cell phone records to prove), They informed me that I hadn't paid the renewal and informed me to provide the tech with the warranty renewal check when he arrived. I provided the tech with the check and he made the necessary repairs to the basement. The same spot again leaked in August (twice) and I called for service (again cell phone records show calls from me to them and visa versa). The tech came back out and made repairs. During one of these visits I asked how long does it take for the company to cash checks, he stated that the owner holds them for about 30 days and deposits monthly. I even called the company in Sept (cell phone records proof) and was informed by the girl who answers the phone the same thing. I asked could they please cash my check. Now comes the issue - Dec 2019 I notice that the same spot is leaking AGAIN and I called for service. This time I was informed that I am not in warranty. I stated I provided the tech a check back in July and someone must have lost my check. I offered to pay the renewal by cc over the phone, she would not take phone payments. The girl who answers the phone does not need to be in customer service, she is downright rude and unprofessional. Many times I asked to speak to the owner and was always given the run around and was never able to speak to anyone but the rude customer service girl. Now instead of accepting a duplicate $50 renewal check they want me to pay $200 for a tech to come out since "I'm out of warranty". In their BBB response they state that they do not allow techs to accept checks. Well if I pay the $200 for service, my question is how am I supposed to pay since they don't take cc payments over the phone. Thus I would be providing the tech a check, which directly contradicts their BBB response. Their BBB response also stated that "as a courtesy they came out to tell me that I'm out of warranty". Which makes no sense, why would a company drive from Akron to Cleveland (about 45 mins) to tell me I'm out of warranty? This conversation could be had over the phone. This is no way to treat consumers who shell out thousands of dollars! Why would I not pay my warranty renewal after all the money that was initially spent. It's unfortunate that I have to type this review, since there seems to be no other way to resolve this issue. An issue that can be easily resolved. It's Jan 2020 and my basement is still LEAKING!! I guess my next steps are to contact local news stations in Cleveland and Akron. I had the unfortunate pleasure of speaking to the owner of Basement Care on Jan 28, 2020. The owner is rude, condescending and will try and talk over you, not to mention he hung up on me. Since Basement Care continues to states that I do not have a warranty, even though I was advised to provide a $50 warranty renewal check to their contractor in July to remedy the situation. I will be exploring my legal options since they sent out their contractor multiple times in July and August to perform work on my home that wasn’t “in warranty”. And now their contractor has caused damaged to my home. I will also be sharing my story on social media, various news outlets and any web based business review system, such as Google reviews. The public needs to be made aware of their shoddy work, their poor customer service and a company that doesn’t value long standing customers. EVERYONE, please do your due diligence and look at the BBB complaints, the Ohio Attorney General complaints and their pending lawsuit in Akron. All this information is available to the public, so buyer BEWARE!

Good. There was a payment issue, but otherwise, Ok

They did an excellent job, they are very clean, quiet workers, took out extreme care on my house and did an excellent job. They also explained everything while they are doing it.

They did a great job with the mold remediation and waterproofing of the inside and outside or our basement at a really good price out of several estimates. I will recommend and use them, again.

They did quite well considering the job they had to do down there. All the gentlemen were very nice and polite.

If I have problems, they do come right back out and take care of things, as long as I pay my $40.00 a year for that service.

We signed up with basement care after a family member referred them to us. They did a wonderful job just like they did for my Aunts home in Stow. When the employees come out they helped us move things from the outside of the house while the other guys worked in the basement. Work was started and finished on time and the guys cleaned up after.  Basement care was very professional and I would definitely refer them to my friends and neighbors. Thanks Christina M.

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Everything was okay. Then we ripped the floors up to replace the rot and wear of the flooring. I then noticed that the bricks were not lined up striaght  and that their was cement spilled all over and that there were gaps in between the bricks. I am trying to get the house ready for rent. Without this being fixed correctly I am not able to get the other work done.

When they come out to quote the job, they said $21,000. We said that was rather high. They sent the CEO son’s out and said that it would only be $15,000. When they got here, they went in the game room (which has carpeting) and took up the carpeting. They put the hoses through and everything was fine from the previous waterproofing we had done in 1983. According to my thinking, we should’ve been refunded on that. They started working and they piled everything in our big central storage room. They needed to pull everything away from the wall and told us that two valves were bad in the laundry room. The plumber came and asked if we just moved in because everything was piled so high. The TV kept going on and off and my husband asked them to be careful with the DirectTV lines. That issue stopped. Each day they left kind of early, by around 3pm, because the boss wanted them out of here for some reason. They promised to be back 11/7 to help us put everything back. Well, they didn’t show and I had to do it all myself. While putting everything back, I realized that the sump pump had been running 24/7. We had the water guy come and apparently the workers put the sump pump back incorrectly. The plumber also had to come back and fix the valves on the washer. Then the heat went out in our sunroom. When they were trenching outside they did something to the pipes. We had just had our furnaces serviced, too. The workers were unfurling a tarp and I assumed they were putting them on the stairs. They ran lines up and down the stairs and then the new cement went back down. That was all fine. However, they didn’t put the tarp on the stairs and they had been tarring outside. There is now tar on 3 or 4 of my stairs. We got back from Florida and we didn’t have any TV at all. They ruined all the cables and they had to put all new lines across the back of the house. While we were gone a repairman came and was able to fix the washer and leveled both the washer and the dryer. Apparently the pipe for the dryer had been disconnected and I had ran the dryer since. As far as the carpeting, I have some in the basement but I’m not sure if I have enough for the whole stairs. Apparently they had taken the exhaust covers off the outside of the house and threw them under a tree. So far it has cost almost $300 to repair everything that they’ve broken. It also turns out that the CEO’s “son” was actually a closing salesman. I'd really like them to pay the extraneous bills and address the carpeting.

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They were very courteous and efficient. I was very satisfied with the work done.

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The job itself went really well. Minus them not telling me about the second sump well until it was excavated and installed. It's the things I've noticed since the job has been completed that have upset me. There is black tar smear on my brick walls outside. Some of the trenches outside also weren't filled all the way. I've had to refill and level it myself - my calluses now have blisters. In addition, the concrete work on the inside is messy. The edges aren't smooth, and in some places they just put the concrete right over vinyl tile. When they sealed the cracks on the interior walls, they didn't remove the moldy wall framing - they just did around it. If they had advised me to remove it before work began, I would have. I've since removed them and have had to seal the cracks myself.

I don't doubt the efficacy of the waterproofing job. I just feel that there was a decided lack of attention to detail and the finishing touches were slipshod.

Went as planed.We had one problem with a corner of the basement but Basement care was called and they were at our home in 2 days and corrected the problem.

They're reasonable, they were nice, they were prompt and they have the good deal.

The sump pump plugin was handled by using our extension cord and connecting in a light socket in the ceiling. In the booklet it says it needs to be grounded and should not use an extension cord. It says you need to use a a three prong grounding plug that has an approved cord that should be used. We have made two phone calls to see if it was safe and for them to come out and check it and our phone calls have gone unanswered.

August 2009 - Waterproofed the basement and redirect drains (or at least that's what I paid them to do)!  I have more problems now than I did before!  They stopped next to my patio when laying new drain pipe. Now when it rains, the area beside my patio floods! The second drain pipe went straight down the basement wall where all the water comes through the cinder block!! My basement is constantly flooding and I have to scrape the mold off the walls every month!!!

When I called the manager to complain they tried to tell me that Basement Doctors was NOT Basement Care! THEY ARE. THEY JUST LEGALLY CHANGED THEIR NAME!! I also drove to their office and was told that the owner was not in but they would have him contact me.  Never heard from anyone again.

***UPDATE:  After submitting this review on Angie's List in May 2014 I was contacted by the company president.  He came out to my house and reviewed the damage and took a look at my invoice from 2009.  He made arrangements for the repairs to be made (at no cost to me) in return for me changing my review.  A week later, the team arrived promptly and went straight to work.  Drains were replaced, waterproofing was complete and everything looked great.  Unfortunately, the walkout basement drain was not finished properly and they had to come back a week later and tear up the cement to replace it again.  It's been over 2 weeks and so far, no flooding.  The drains seem to be working fine and I haven't noticed any water coming through the cinder blocks. 

My basement flooded at least 3 times since this work was done in 2009 causing mold issues, carpets torn up, floors steam cleaned, repeatedly scraping paint, bleaching walls, repainting, computer under water, toys ruined, boxes of Christmas decor thrown out... etc, etc. It took a bad review on Angie's List to get them out and FIX the problem the right way.

ANGIE'S LIST MEMBERSHIP:  BEST $40 I EVER SPENT!!!

they didnt do everything they said. plus it leaked once and then a 2nd time where we had 3 inches of water on 5/12/14. all they want to do is punch holes in your floor! Jim Lucco says not gonna fix it! BEWARE!!! TOTALLY F!!!!

Update 5/19/14: after 5/12 flooding, BC wanted to and quot;wash out graveland quot; yet again to fix water that came in thru walls (where they put holes and covered to fall to draining rock system). Didn't approve of that work yet again since it didn't help last time they tried and quot;fixingand quot; their waterproofing. After advising we were seeking an attorney, today we had a 2nd pump installed in our crock to help pump out more water if it leaks again....really? So we should expect water to come in again but at least we now have an extra pump to get it out faster? BC refuses to re-do outside waterproofing work unless it's a last resort....this was our last resort. I guess we still can't finish our basement like we were told back when we signed the contract before they and quot;waterproofedand quot; our basement the first time. We will update rating after the next few rainfalls.

They did really good. The price was good, I checked around on that. I would use them again.

I had two walls of my basement that had shifted and bowed out due to time and weather behind the finished basement walls. All other companies wanted to completely knock down these walls and rebuild both at a cost twice as much as listed above and three weeks of mess and inconvenience. Also they had only suggested and outside drainage system. The sales rep Tim was prompt, friendly and very knowledgable about all aspect of this type of work. He took one look at the walls and said they could be saved no problem and that complete removal and rebuild was unnecessary. He thoroughly explained the save a wall process and all the systems included to protect my wall in the future. Not only did his price include saving my walls but it also included not only an outside drainage system but an inside drainage systems with a pressure relief system that included a sump pump to prevent any further catastrophes in the future. The job was to be completed in three days. The day of service they had sent a crew of 8 men. They were prompt, courteous and very professional. These men worked like dogs. Due to an impending snow storm the next day a few came inside to start the inside drainage system while the rest work outside to dig for the drainage system and prepare for the slush and rebar system to shore up the outside walls. They hand dug the entire job! Which not only saved my planting but cut down on all the mess, but they did not disturb my fencing, the air conditioning unit nor the built in dog cage in the back. All which would have been removed or destroyed using machinery. They were able to complete the outside in one day except the very small area needed to tie in the sump pump to the main downspout. They replace all my side planting when finished and meticulously clean up the outside when they were finished at the end of the day. You would never even know that anything was done. The next day they sent 6 men to work on the inside. Again they worked like dogs! They laid the inside drainage system, added the pressure relief system with sump pump, filled all the inside cracks with a special cement and put up a wall flashing system on the lower wall. They managed to complete the job in not the three days stated but in two. They left the basement clean! The carpet which they covered up was intact and no worse for wear. They had hand carried up in buckets all the jack hammered cement and dirt and hand carried down in buckets all the pea gravel and cement required to do the job for 60 feet of wall. It was truly amazing to watch all of their hard work. All workmen were very pleasant, courteous and answered all of my questions and concerns. I would highly recommend this company! I can't imagine anyone ever giving these guys a bad review. I found nothing but a completely pleasurable experience during a very stressful time.

During the terrible rain storm in July there was horrible flood and sewer could not handle the 4inch rains. We live in the lower part and the streets around us are a little bit higher so everything comes flooding. We were in Europe at that time and 40 days into our trip this flash flood came and the foundation at the back of our house collapsed. So we were in a mess and we did not get home until 9 days later. So the insurance did not cover any of it. So when we got home we had all this crap to deal with. We needed the foundation to be repaired. 18 ft of a 34 ft wall was gone. Water had come into our basement and our whole basement was destroyed. Everybody was hit and there were so many people that had already booked these companies. We were late getting them booked. But Basement Care came out and gave us an estimate which was $12500 to replace the wall. That was fine, they said they would do the work and they put us on a schedule. Then two days before they could start the work another 10 ft of the 30 ft wall collapsed. Now of the 30 ft wall we had only 2 and frac12; ft of the wall holding up the entire house and we called them and they came right out. They moved us then and there to do the work. Since it was an emergency situation they got somebody else to brace the back end the best they could do until they could actually get in there and start redoing everything. This company was actually our life saver. It took us 4 days to even to find somebody that was not tied up or hooked up and then it took them three more days after we called for them to find enough clearance to come give us an estimate. Then their estimate turned out to be probably $4000 less than the next estimate. We got three estimates and they were the ones who could do the work the fastest, the most inexpensively and the most thoroughly. They are a company that we would definitely recommend. They were very responsive too. The $12500 was to replace the wall, clear the debris, put up the water proofing once the new wall was in and put all the dirt back, remove all the debris from the basement which included all the bricks and mud and everything that caved in. The upper back of the house was in place but it was the foundation that gave way. So it was the foundation that collapsed into the basement. Our house was built in 1926 so we had porcelain clay which is a whole different set up than what they do now which is the cement block. So it is a solid wall than just having it hollow in the middle and then when they water proof they put a tar barrier and then put a plastic sheeting all the way across from one end to the other end all the way to the footer line so that the water will not seep into the boarder. It took them probably four days to complete the work. .