A-Advance House Leveling & Remodeling

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The Business never responded to my email requesting information on costs to repair a major foundation problem on this potential investment property.  I was willing to pay for an estimate but never received a response.

Like with all contracts, you should read the fine print and make sure that you understand it.
Make sure that the proposal includes every detail of what you discussed. Everything on the contract was done.
I felt that all phases of went well, except for the landscaping, that is the phase of the job where the aesthetics expectations may differ,
 
The personnel at their office is courteous and helpful; in particular Janice.
Mr. Jarrett Alexander, the owner, is a fair and honest person. His family has been involved with foundation repairs for generation, he understands the business well. He strives to have satisfied customers; therefore he cares about what his customers say about him and the company..

I have a pier and beam property that is very badly sunken in about half of the total area due to floor damage.  I trusted the salesman in that they were going to repair it and level the house.  Although, if youread the contract there is no promise of leveling, so buyer beware.
I was quoted $5K for the job, then after the first day they came in and told me that it would need additional reinforcement work that would be another $5K.  I could see that it did need additional reinforcement so I paid and engaged. The workers were punctual and diligent, and I could see where they were in fact reinforcing the floor.
However, at the end of the week when it came time to level, I was told they could not lift on the sunken area because it was too damaged -- that the house would not bear it.  Looking at the contract, I didn't see any recourse, so I was out $10K and had a crooked house with the only difference that the floor was now reinforced underneath, but the problem area was not fixed.
Fast forward later, and I've engaged another foundation repair team, who did the following:

1.   *  Fixed conditions that they found: including beams which were no longer touching the concrete piers. (note: whether this was due to shoddy workmanship or settling over time I cannot confirm).
2.   *  Directly addressed the biggest problem area and lifted it in one day.
3.   *  Charged a really fair price and actually addressed the problem area.

All in all I was very very disappointed with this company's work, but had accepted that I was just out of luck in trying to level the house. It wasn't until someone else came in and fixed the issue in one day that I realized that I paid so much money and should have had the house leveled the first time.

Did not use.  The saleman was a little too pushy in trying to get contact signed.  And, after having a professional structural engineer evaluate the problem I realized I needed to get bids from a couple other companies.

The floors have actually begun to slope worse since they have been working.  Since I cannot get under the house myself, I don't know if they have actually done the work they said they would, or if they don't know how to solve the problem, or if they won't take the time to do the work properly.  I have spent a considerable amount and have called them back for adjustments several times.  Now I have many more high and low areas in the floors than before they started.  The backyard is getting very unlevel where they have been digging.  I am very concerned that when I try to sell the house, I will not get the full value, due to their failure to solve the problems.

Very nice person, seemed competent.  Gave estimate which we declined to accept.

The evaluation was very quick and I did not see much merit to it. The evaluation was just a cursory examination of the exterior facade and interior areas where I had cracks. No evaluation was done of the roof. No tools were utilized in the quote to evaluate the extent of damage, just the surveyor's intuition; however, the company does use leveling tools if you utilize their services. The company will also repair exterior cracks (re-mortar) as part of their service. The surveyor seemed experienced; however, I did not like the surveyor's attitude towards competitors, as the surveyor bad-mouthed several different competitors.

If you are going to get foundation repair, I highly suggest having a registered, structural engineer evaluate your house first. Otherwise, how do you know the surveyor is over-quoting what you really need. You wouldn't buy a used car without having a professional mechanic look at it first, right? Good luck finding a structural engineer in the Rio Grande Valley that does residential housing, as I had no luck myself. I did find one in San Antonio though, but I'm still debating whether I want to shell out the money for a full report.

They told me exactly what they were going to do. They also did a great job of cleaning up after themselves. They were responsive, punctual, and professional.

THEY CAME OUT TO GIVE ME A FREE ESTIMATE FOR THE LEVELING.  HE WAS VERY PROFESSIONAL AND INFORMATIVE.  THEY STARTED THE WORK IN A TIMELY MANNER AND THE HELPERS WERE ALWAYS ON TIME AND LET ME KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON AND WHEN THEY WERE COMING BACK.  I WAS VERY SATISFIED WITH THE WORK AND I WOULD RECOMMEND THEM TO ANYBODY THAT NEEDS LEVELING OR REMODELING.  I WILL BE CALLING THEM BACK TO DO A BATHROOM AND KITCHEN REMODEL.

I was referred from a friend about this company and called them to come out and give me an estimate. The inspector came out the next day and was very nice and professional and explained in detail how the process of the repairs would go about to fixing my home. I wanted all the repairs done before Christmas and was worried it would not all be done in time but he reassured me that they would be done before then. The work was all completed within a 2 week time frame and I was very satisfy with the results especially the clean up of my yard since I was having company over for the holidays. I recommend this company to anyone that needs home repairs and I thank the hard working men that performed an excellent job.