Desert Dry Waterproofing

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I had received quotes from three other waterproofing companies for moisture coming through the wall and causing paint bubbles. They were honest and did not try to oversell me, whereas others tried to sell me on a solution that I didn't need.

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Associated Desert Dry Waterproofing was recommended to me by word of mouth.  I had to the pleasure to work with Rick and Antonio on two different occasions.   Desert Dry gave me multiple options that contrasted price and longevity; they were very good at explaining the most economical solution for me needs.   At no time did I feel pressured or subjected to up sales.   I decided on a water proofing solution that was minimally invasive to the structure while retaining a warranty.   The work was performed on time and within budget.   Based on my experience with them I intend to use them Desert Dry for life.

David Reiff is great to work with.  I find him very honest.  His crew was likewise great to work with. I had multiple estimates from different contractors with a variety of solutions to water in my basement, which was leaking down the wall by one of the window wells.  Water was also collecting in this area outside during heavy rains due to the yard having settled over the years, a leaky gutter(fixed separately), and a leaky window well.   David had an original solution that was minimally disruptive to the house and yard.  Based on his years of experience in this line of work, he told me what he thought would work and what he thought I didn't need that others had suggested.  He surmised that for my particular issues I did not need a french drain system inside the basement, and that I did not need to regrade the entire yard.  His unique idea, after looking at the lay of our land, was where to put a second swale, to ensure that water moved away from the house.  The other contractors who gave me estimates knew the problem, but came up with more cumbersome solutions in order to be able to guarantee their work. I am very happy with the work David's crew performed and with the results.  He gave me a ten year guarantee on the work. (I have heard that swales in this area tend to need to be redone after 10 years.)  The March and June rains this year were the true test, and the swales worked fabulously.  I am grateful.

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Desert Dry did an assessment of our water issue in the basement, which appeared to be due to hydrostatic pressure from below.  They suggested installing a sump pump in a corner of the house.  Other contractors, suggested larger fixes that included adding extensive drain systems and would have been much more expensive.  Desert Dry's position was that we should try the simpler solution first.  I appreciated the effort to keep costs reasonable and only consider the more expensive fix later, if deemed necesssary.
We had water in our basement again 9 months later.  They came out and checked things out.  The sump pump was working properly and the issue was completely unrelated (a neighbor w/ a leaking pipe).  They did not charge for the visit.

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Due to some basement flooding we called and asked for a quote from Desert Dry for either an interior or exterior water management solution.  Bob the operations manager came out and did a great job explaining the options for our house.  In our case he recommended digging out the exterior, sealing the foundation and installing a drain at the base.  In our case the quote was somewhat lower than most because our house is on a hill and needed less digging toward the back.  Bob was on time, knowledgable and made good recommendations.  This was good advice, no hard sell here.  The Falls Church area had just experienced lots of storms so we had to wait several weeks before the work could begin, but this was understandable given that this company gets a lot busier after lots of rain.
On the scheduled day Bob showed up again with the crew manager Rimberto and several workers.  They got right down to business and worked all day.  The job was scheduled for 2-3 days and they were able to stay a little late on day 2 to avoid coming back for a third day.  Since the foundation of my house was exposed after the first day they left the hole secured with a temporary fence and tarp which I appreciated since I have small children who would have just loved to explore (fall in) the dangerous work site.  When I arrived home from work on the second day they were finishing up and Rimberto took some time to go over all the things they had done.  They also included a window well and drain that was not in the original quote for no extra charge.  Cleanup after the job was complete was excellent as well.
We haven't yet had enough rain to know for sure whether the solution worked but based on what I saw I am confident they did a good job.  Also, they offer a 15 year guarantee and they have been in business long enough that I believe they can honor it if needed.

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JT was great. He came to the house and spent a lot of time looking at the water problems and going over different solutions. He was very conscious of not doing excessive work, keeping costs down but meeting our needs, and not creating a lot of repair work to existing flooring and the basement bathroom. He gave me three separate estimates for three different courses of action, all with reasonable prices. His crew was able to get the work done in a day and a half, they were punctual, courteous and very good with clean up and keeping me informed on how the work was going. I would definitely recommend Desert Dry for water proofing work.

The price was reasonable and right in line with other quotes we got. The estimate Bob gave us was exactly what we paid. The service was friendly and professional. They did a great job and cleaned up well. It was probably cleaner after they left!

Overall, it was not a positive experience. I would, however. give high compliments to the sales associate, Bob D. He came out a few times to the home and was genuinely interested in trying to find a low cost solution to the water problem. He was also responsive to phone calls and emails.
The major problem was with the installation team led by Rimberto. The job was supposed to be done in several hours but it required almost two days. He did not place the sump pump and outside drain as indicated in the signed contract. After drilling a hole in the outside concrete wall, he then had to fill it in order to vent the drain in another location. Also, during the installation and removal of drywall,  his team cut an electrical cord.resulting in power failure to part of the home.  Rimberto was difficult to work with  and defensive when questions were asked. His team, however, did clean up the debris and there was no mess to clean up.
I contacted Antonio, the supervisor, who was responsive. He brought in a third party electrician to fix the problem the next day.  He also did a quality control check by filling the sump pump with water to see if it drained properly.
At this point, we have not had a heavy rainfall so I can not evaluate if the sump pump installation provides the solution to the water leakage.

Out of the four estimates from contractors specialized in waterproofing basement (all contractors were found on Angie's list--with estimates ranging between $3,400-$5,600), Desert Dry was the second best. However, Donald Fox could grasp the issue very quickly as Desert Dry has a long experience in waterproofing basements in the District. He explained thoroughly the issue, which resulted from a construction option when the house was built some 80 years ago. Donald advised a course of action to remove the existing tile and vinyl flooring.  He also had a smart solution for the discharge line, and for the placement of the sump pump. We called Donald several times and he was responsive, matching all our questions patiently.
The team arrived promptly as announced at 9:30am, they worked tirelessly until 7:30pm. The foreman was extremely experienced and lead a team of another two. They worked nicely together, and knew exactly what to do. They sealed the vents, protected the appliances and other cabinets. They were all extremely polite and considerate, and tolerated us around....The working trench was ready quickly and debris removed to their truck. While Donald had indicated that the drywall would have to be ripped off, the team managed to get the protective waterproof sheet behind it, and there was minimal damage to the walls. They then filled the trench with gravel and cemented it. The discharge line was installed quite quickly, without excessively damaging the masonry. As we asked for a demo of the sump pump, they filled it with water and let it run in front of us. The yard was left in clean order, all tools, gravels, and construction material removed.
Desert Dry managed to minimize our stress. The team had all the project well in hand from start to finish.

Rick Rethage was a pleasure to work with, very personable, very professional and knows the waterproofing business inside and out.  He worked within our schedule and stayed in contact with us up to the time the work was scheduled.  The crew arrived as scheduled and finished the job on time as promised.  They covered everything securely before they started the work and left the areas clean and tidy when they were finished.  Great Job!  Very pleased.

Plain and simple, it worked.

They were very very good,  obviously understood the problem and corrected it.

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I requested a quote for Basement Waterproofing from Desert Dry, as they had done some work on my house when it belonged to the  previous owner.  I received other quotes, but Desert Dry seemed to be the cheapest, partially because they had installed a sump pump and drains under the houses slab back in 2005.We had some flooding during the 2 hurricanes in the fall (Irene, and.. I forget now...).  But the flooding happened in places where Desert Dry, had not installed drains.  Where they had installed drains, it was bone dry.  This was a good sign, and if I could extend their drain system I thought I could finally be done with flooding.  They came promptly that day and put up plastic sheets on doorways and flooring to keep the debris contained.  They ripped up the concrete slab ( its a floating slab), and installed an extra 61 feet of drain tubing and connected it to the exiasting system.  They also drilled weep holes into the concrete blocks of the walls adjacent to the drain tubing.  It looks very well done, and for the amount of work that had to be done ( 3 guys worked a solid 2 days), it wasn't that expensive.  THey also laid in the black egg carton shaped black plastic liner, from the top of the slab to the drains, so that IF the room were to flood, the water could go straight through that down to the drains.  I'm going to put hardwood flooring into that room now and feel confident doing so.On teh last day, the workmen, also told us about other drainage problems that the house had.  He walked around the house and pointed out some improvements we could make.  Then he spotted a burried column of cinder blocks and poured a bucket of water into them and it came right out at the drains and into eh sump pump.  Not good.  SO he  dug them out adn filled up the void, at no extra charge!!!   Very nice guys, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND these guys. 

We are SOOOO impressed with Rick and this company, we would recommend them to anyone!!  They know what they're doing, and do a nice, neat job (as neat as they could, considering the state of the basement when they started.) 

Best of all, last Wednesday (the 7th of December) we had a HUGE amount of rain; guess what?  Not a drop of rain came inside the house, and the sump pump took care of EVERYTHING; we didn't even have our outside stairwell fill with water like it had done for 20+ years, thanks to their recommending a new drain/grate that drained the water into the newly-added drain to the sump pump.  WHY WHY WHY didn't we do this after the first flood?  I guess we were just in denial.  Call these people; they're the BEST!!!

The job went well and the crew worked into the late evening.  We had heavy rain while they were working and they noticed some seepage up higher on the wall.  Antonio made a special trip to look at the problem and took time to show me where the problem was and the crew took care of the issue. They quickly repaired the wall area and removed the insulation that was getting wet.   I highly recommend this company since they believe in doing the right thing and fixing the problem. 

They came when they were supposed to. They were the cleanest and neatest crew doing the dirtiest possible job imaginable. They had to dig up the front of my house, and I have professional landscape. They placed it on sheets in my driveway and even watered it during the day to make sure that when they replaced it, everything was going to be fine. When they left here at 8:30 at night, they had completely cleaned and replanted. It hasn’t rained, and I am going to hope and pray that my house doesn’t leak anymore. I hope I don’t have to use them again, but if I needed to, I would use them. I would rate them highly and would recommend them.