Alpha Foundation Repair LLC

Michael and his staff initially installed 45 piers in 2002 and the work was completed per plan with zero issues. The company has continued to review the property since that time to ensure that there has been no movement, even post warranty period. The staff is very responsive and easy to communicate with. Michael provided honest, direct facts regarding the property and likely saved us $$ due to his business ethical approach. Recomment that you give this company an opportunity to review and bid on your property.

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It?s a VERY long story that spans from 2001 ? when I purchased the home --  two years after Alpha claimed to put in 26 new piers and relevel the house for the owner at that time.
There?s not enough room to provide all of the details, but I went round and round with Alpha over
the years ? even paying them to do work (excavating, replacing rotten sill
beams and joists, and leveling) that SHOULD have been covered under their
warranty.  I had MAJOR settling
throughout my home, particularly on the west side. Last fall, engineers
calculated a nearly 5-inch differential between the east and west sides of the
house.  Over the years, Alpha consistently
blamed it on too little or too much moisture. At their behest, I took out
trees, installed air vents,  and did (and
paid) for lots of other work to try to correct the problem.  Indeed I had some sewer leaks, but they cannot be blamed for the YEARS of settling.
At one point, in the search for the water source, Steve wrote me an email saying, "You're hired! If every homeowner paid this much attention to their foundation they probably would build them right to begin with."  He added: "Lastly, I am sorry I could not be more help on some of these issues. We do not keep those sorts of records on hand though I agree that we should."   We were discussing pier maps, elevation readings, from their original work.
In fact, Alpha NEVER produced a SINGLE paper documenting anything it had done to my house.
Finally, in October 2014, I demanded that Alpha excavate the perimeter of the house and expose the piers and determine if they were failing -- as some other foundation experts suspected.
The excavation revealed many surprises:

• * only 19 piers could be found -- NOT the 26 it claimed it installed in 1999
• * the piers were placed haphazardly  -- NOT spaced evenly
• * on the west side, where the worst settling had occurred there was one 12-foot section where NO pier existed.

And if all that wasn't bad enough, the biggest problem was that there were concrete slab footers at nearly every corner which Steve eventually admitted had caused differential movement over the years, actually working against its pier system.
The slab footers were THERE when Alpha did the work in 1999, but no one revealed that to me. Why didn't they take them out then or at least disclose that they would cause differential movement? I believe that Steve didn't personally know they were there because he wasn't with the company then, but one of the current owners was involved back then.  Does this perhaps explain why they would NOT want to keep any documentation about my house?
 
 Alpha kept NO records, no elevation readings,
no pier maps about the house, and when they tried to produce a current pier map after the excavation, it was completely inaccurate. Steve and I, along with the engineer, agreed these footers had to be removed, but Steve  wanted me to pay labor and equipment costs, not only for that, but for installing new piers.  When they jack-hammered out the concrete slab footers, they broke my concrete beam in four places.
For four months -- between October and February -- we were at a near impasse. I was trying to get a structural engineer to guide me toward a solution. Alpha kept stonewalling and saying I need to pay for labor and costs.  All the while, mounds of dirt and concrete debris sat around my house, piled up like a bomb had gone off.  When I pushed Alpha to cover up the holes to prevent pets, people or water from getting under my house, they broke windows, window screens and even cut up gutter downspouts, and drilled holes into my brick to attach plastic to 2x4s.  It was a mess that drew a stop work order from the city of Dallas.
Eventually, after involving a couple of fairly high powered structural engineers (at my own expense), Alpha finally offered  to install new piers and relevel the house and clean up the piles of concrete debris that by now, had completely destroyed my yard.
By then, I was being advised by other experts to never let Alpha touch my house for fear I would wind up in even WORSE shape. 
Alpha destroyed my trust, and both they and I were very upset with each other.  Steve let me know he was sick of dealing with me and said he didn't think it was fair for Alpha or me to have to pay for these repairs, but he finally offered to do the work he should have offered four months prior.  By then, however, so much damage had been done. And I had lost all faith, all trust, and all hope that they would do the job well.  Plus, I feared that because they were so frustrated with me that they'd cut more corners, do more sloppy work and I'd be that much worse off.  Others agreed.
So far,  I?ve spent well over $50 thousand to fix damages that occurred while I was supposedly in the good hands, under warranty, with Alpha. I'm still facing thousands more to replace broken windows,  fix the exterior brick, and about 40 interior cracks, and to completely rebuild my landscaping. 
If you want to check further, go to city hall and see how many permits for foundations they've pulled and how many NEVER  got closed with a final inspection by the city. 
Hopefully this information will save someone else from a miserable ordeal.

unknown

Alpha had done work on our foundation in December of 2013, but recently we've had some more movement because of the additional rain and moisture in the area.  Even though it was shortly after their work was warrantied for, they're coming out to do some shimming and adjustment.  They are very helpful and knowledgeable, especially about houses in North Dallas.  Dealing with them has been a big relief for my wife and I.

Mike told us that at that time he would suggest watering more effectively and keeping an eye on it. Another company told us that we really needed 10 piers. I appreciate Mike's honesty.

It went very well.  I am pleased with the work and it looks great.  They came out, did an assessment, gave a great bid,  honored the Angie's List Coupon and did the work in one day.  They didn't even disturb the landscaping!!

Alpha came recommended from a friend. My initial encounter was great. They came out to my house. My wife met them. They were on-time and very professional. My wife had nothing, but positive things to say. The next day I received a quote via e-mail. I was happy with the quote. I felt it was competitive.
That same day I called  and Antonie answered. I said I had a couple questions, but that I likely wanted to schedule a time for them to perform the work.  Antoine said Justin would give me call back that day.
Having heard nothing for a couple days I called again.  Antonie said he was surprised I hadn't heard from Justin and that he would call him and remind him to call me. He noted I should hear from him thatday.
A day or two later I tried again. I had a similar exchange with Antoine.
As of 5/13. Still no follow-up. I gave up. 
While I think not returning a call is extremely unprofessional, I gave them Cs on the Professionalism and punctualiyt because of the initial encounter.

         From the very beginning, working with Alpha was a positive experience. I had them come out and do a quote for my parents home. This is an old home in dire need of a lot of repairs but none of these repairs can be accomplished until this foundation repair was completed. Steve came over from Alpha and was willing to work with us on these repairs by giving us options without sacrificing quality.  He crawled under the house and did a thorough review of the damage and gave us a good idea of what we were up against. I had other foundation repair companies come out to give a quote and they were not as nearly as helpful as Alpha. I felt like they saw the condition of my parents home and treated us as if we couldn't afford their price of their repairs. One of the other companies wouldn't even make an effort to crawl under the house to see what was needed to repair.

          
           We went with Alpha because they were professional and helpful and their quote was affordable. We scheduled for after the holidays and they showed up on the date scheduled bright and early with a huge crew. I was not there when they did the repairs but my parents kept an eye on things. They of course had to deal with a ton of noise and movement of the house but that is what to expect with these kinds of repairs. Everyone on their crew was professional and courteous, cleaning up after themselves.
The repairs took 2 days, 1 day less than what was quoted. Thank god they did not find any other horrible issues during their work. This was one of my fears.
     
               When all was said and done, they completed their work early, did what was quoted with good quality, cleaned up after themselves and left some extra gravel for my parents driveway. That was a nice gesture.
               The only complaint I have is that they could not close up the hole that was created by taking down the siding on the side of the house that most of the repairs were completed on. This was not part of their work. Not in the contract. They are strictly a foundation repair company and do not do siding. I am not in the construction business so I don't know how these things work. I think these kinds of things should be taken care of if they were the ones that had to take it down. But that is not what happened.
        Either way, great job. Glad I found them.

I made an appointment approximately 1 month in advance.  I called the day of the appointment but said I wasn't on the calendar.  I made another appointment for the following week but never showed up.

very professional. Arrived on time and did an excellent job. I am very happy with the work they did and at a great price!

I contacted Alpha Foundation due to their "A" rating on Angie's List.  The were responsive to my initial inquiry, set a date and time, and confirmed with me prior to the appointment date.  I arrived at the house about 15 minutes before the appointment time, and two representatives from Alpha were already there waiting.  We spoke for a few minutes about our concerns regarding what we saw and what the previous companies had found.  They said they would take a look and get back to me their proposal.  The seller's agent arrived, and they all went into the house.  I left right after that. 

A few hours later, I received an email with and estimate that the house did not need any foundation work, but only drainage work.  They stated in this estimate that with proper drainage, the house would settle back into it's "original" position.  Because we have had little to no rain over the past 1.5 years, I had some questions about this.  In addition, there were no elevation measurements included in their estimate to support this assessment.  Therefore, I emailed the company to ask for the measurements.  In addition, I called and left a voicemail asking for the measurements.  

After multiple emails and calls, I never received a response from the company.  In addition, my realtor contacted the seller's agent that was present on the day Alpha Foundation came out to ask him for any paperwork or measurements that might have been left.  He stated that they did not give him anything.  

I was disappointed to not have any explanation or response from Alpha Foundation regarding how they came to their conclusions in their estimate.  I simply wanted to discuss the situation so we could have a better idea of what was going on with this home we are about to purchase.

unknown

Steve - I believe was his name -  who came out to give me a bid went under the house to see in detail what the house needed.  Some of the other companies that gave me bids did not do this.  He was very professional and helpful and told me that I probably didn't need piers at this point but had a lot of rotten wood underneath.  I sensed that since the floors in different places would give and creak badly.  The floor in the bathroom was especially  bad and I was afraid of even going in there!
Everything Steve told be was spot on from my experience in the house and from what other companies had "suggested". He was much more detailed though.   I chose Alpha for the price and expertise they appeared to have and their good rating on Angie's list. 
They showed up when they said they would and efficiently did the work over a four day period.  All of their crew was professional and courteous.  I couldn't have had a better experience. They cleaned up after the project and replanted the shrubs they had to remove.
I had been dreading this project for the last year and could see the problem getting worse by the day.  I am so amazed and impressed with the level of professionalism this company displayed from beginning to end.  Would recommend them to my friends.

Start to finish...experience was nothing but positive.

I started seeing cracks on my ceramic tiles in one of my bathroom and a diagonal crack from the top of one of the bedroom window.  Also, I have 2 doors that are sticking, hard to open/close.  I was so worried that I may have foundation problem as this summer has been brutal -- 100 degrees + days and no rain.  I called this company as it had great ratings in Angie's List and BBB.  I called their office on Monday, 8/22, and got an appointment for a free inspection immediately the next day at 12:30 pm.  That was fantastic as I called so many other foundation repair companies and they are so busy...they can't even come to my house for inspection until September, mostly the end of September.  Justin came with his nephew.  Justin asked his nephew to go outside the house to inspect for any cracks on the bricks outside while Justin inspected the house inside with me.  I showed him all the cracks that I found and he used a leveler tool to determine if my foundation is level and how far off.  His nephew came back in and said I didn't have any damage on my bricks, maybe 1 hairline crack on the brick.  To my utter surprise, he told me that my house has no foundation structure problem.  He said it's normal shifting caused by this particularly brutal summer, that the shifting is seasonal and it will get better as we get cooler weather and rain.  He did advise me to use soaker hose on my foundation every other day for 30 mins.  I was impressed by his honesty.  He could have told me I needed foundation repair.  He also said to be suspicious if other foundation repair company that come to my house say that I need foundation repair.  Justin also advised me on how to repair the cosmetic damages (the cracks on my walls) and the door sticking.  It's refreshing to still see honest business and not try to sell you something.  I immediately told my friends and family about my experience with Justin.  They all wanted Alpha Foundation's contact information.

I was very pleased with the professionalism of the consultant.

very well

After inspection, Justin, a supervisor and partner in the company,determined that my problem was a rotten beam, and not an expensive issue with any piers like I had feared. He gave a very reasonable estimate, we scheduled the repair, and the beam was replaced and other beams shimmed to level. They were professional, reasonably priced, and able to thoroughly explain the problem and repair.

Mike arrived early for our appointment. After measuring and looking around, he told me that my house is sinking in the middle and that his company doesn't do jobs of that magnitude. He referred me to another company that does. I appreciated his honesty.

We used Alpha Foundation in the process of buying our house. Upon inspection, the crawlspace was flooded, and this was caused by the front yard sloping down toward the house and rain water getting under the house. Our realtor got Alpha involved. We closed on a Friday, under the condition from both the insurance and the bank that a french drain would have to be installed immediately. The day after closing (a Saturday), Alpha did the french drain installation. They also installed a sump pump to move the water off the property into the alley. The sump pump was not included in the quote and done at no additional charge. A couple of months later, the crawl space had dried out and Alpha came back to replace some rotted wood in the crawlspace. The french drain and sump pump still work fine, six years later. And the best thing was, the sellers of the house paid for everything :)

I contacted Alpha Foundation Repair because, as a first-time homeowner, I knew nothing about the vents on my pier and beam home, was concerned about the look of some of them, and had lots of general questions. Steve came out on time, took a good look around, and took his time providing me with some great information - I could tell that it was experienced-based - about my foundation and the vents. We discussed and developed some great options for DIY projects as no critical items were found this time. I really appreciated that and will recommend Alpha Foundation Repair to others. Thanks Steve!

Steve Smith and his crew arrived at 7:30 a.m. as promised. They explained exactly what they were going to do, with pictures, so that we knew what would happen. Steve left shortly thereafter to begin another job, leaving the crew with Oscar, the foreman, who spoke very good English. The crew spread canvas over our hardwood floors to protect them as they moved in and out of the crawl space. Steve returned around noon to check on the crew. He showed me the wood that they had removed (it was indeed in bad shape). He also talked to me about preventive measures, like replacing misting sprinkler heads with a drip irrigation system. While we were going from the house to the backyard, a doorknob came off in Steve's hand (I knew it was broken - my husband had tried to fix it a couple of days before without proper tools), and Oscar tightened the lock - no charge. So far it still works! The work was completed an hour and a half earlier than projected, and the crew left the area where they had been working cleaner than it was before they had started. I was really pleased with the whole experience and would recommend their services to anyone. I definitely got more than I paid for, as anyone who crawls under a house in 105-degree weather, and is still courteous at the end of the job, is worth his weight in gold.

I highly recommend this company. They are responsive and fair and performed the work quickly and professionally. They helped me understand and diagnose root causes of problems, gong beyond mere quotation for requested work to consulting for best long-term outcomes. And, prices were very competitive, especially when one considers the quality of service received.

Alpha was excellent to work with - prompt and responsive in every interaction, extremely diligent in their work, and did a great job cleaning up afterwards. Michael and Steve were thoughtful in their approach to developing the project plan and coordinated well with the HVAC company that was onsite at the same time, and the project managers that oversaw the day to day work, Oscar and Omar, were great to work with and very patient with all of my questions. Probably a little more expensive than some other options, but worth every penny. I would absolutely work with Alpha again.