Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing of VA

I signed a contract with them in January 2019 and paid a deposit. They never contacted me again until the contract expired. Five months later and I still didn't get my deposit back.

They are professional, honest and truthful. The salesperson understood what exactly needed to be done. He recommended excavating and installing a sump pump. The problem is resolved. I would highly recommend their service. Their website is very informative. They left the house clean inside and out.

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We had a very disappointing experience with Mid-Atlantic. They came highly recommended by a neighbor who's used them since 1996, so we didn't look them up on Angie's List, which we later regretted. They gave us a high-pressure but very informative sales pitch on 05/13/2016, and their price for interior waterproofing was half of the quote we got for exterior waterproofing from a competitor. We signed up for their priority installation because we had an ongoing leak that we needed fixed right away.

 

The first crew came on 05/22/2016 to begin installation and worked all that day and the next. They put down sheets to protect our floors but still managed to get mud on our stairs, carpet, and walls. They also neglected to clean up the pee they left on our toilet seats and left the door wide open in the rain most of the day even though we asked them to keep it closed.

 

On day 2, an inspector showed up according to schedule and failed the project because the outlet pipe emptied into our yard directly above the place where it was leaking. No one from Mid-Atlantic showed up according to our pre-arranged schedule, and no one called us to tell us what was going on.

 

We called several times the next day, and they finally showed up well after the window of time we were promised. The foreman never appeared, although he did call when we couldn't communicate with any of the non-English speakers on the team--asking us to cut them a check before final inspection was complete. We had noticed that they still hadn’t tied the outlet pipe into the drainage line literally touching it. The foreman couldn’t give us a reasonable explanation why this hadn’t been done. He did, however, point out that everything had been cemented into place and it was essentially too late to change it now. During this conversation, one of the workers opened the gate and let our dog puppy out into the street. He didn't bother trying to help us get him get him off the street.

 

The following day, another inspector came and failed them again. Instead of making the drain pipe go uphill as the previous inspector had required, they extended it 1.5 feet into the yard, again directly above the leak. The crew didn’t show up again, and no one in the office called. We called the project manager that evening to find out what was going on, and he seemed perplexed that we had failed inspection, not once but twice.

 

Mid-Atlantic ultimately sent a service tech, who shook his head at what he saw. He tried to tie the outlet pipe into our drainage pipe and left afterward. The following day, we got a knock on our back patio door—much to our surprise, a two-person service crew was coming back to work. The tech from the previous day said that we had failed inspection again (the inspector had come and gone without our knowledge). The crew planned on running a PVC pipe on top of our lawn, across our entire backyard, but we didn’t want exposed PVC pipe across our backyard. We finally convinced them to go back to the original plan, which was to tie the outlet pipe into our existing drainage. They got everything in working order, tested it out, and cleaned up a bit of the mud when they overheard us complaining about it. The next day, it passed inspection.

 

When the project was completed, we discovered that the back-up battery, which we understood would be the size of a brick, was the size of a mini fridge and was so loud when it turned on for 15 minutes every hour that we could hear it 2 floors up with the door closed. After many phone calls and a lot of negotiating, we convinced Mid-Atlantic to take it back and return our money. They also agreed to pay us a $300 cleaning fee. A few weeks and several additional phone calls later reminding them that they agreed to this, the project manager came out to deliver the check in person. He himself said that the tiles on the floor and the drywall in the basement were damaged more than required by the project.

 

In the end, we got some of our money back and the basement is waterproof, as far as we can tell. That is the only reason we gave Mid-Atlantic a D instead of an F: they eventually made things right--after we forced their hand.

unknown

They were great. A little salesman like in the start, but they were able to answer all questions and the day of the work to be done they were on time and did it quickly.

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We live in a townhouse.  We discovered we had 3 concurrent issues, and the salesperson at Mid-Atlantic was the most helpful in determining what issues needed what solution.  We decided to go with them based on their suggested solution, after 3 estimates. A friend in MD had also used this company for a repair that was over $25000 and with good results, so we felt they were trustworthy.

We were scheduled for a certain date. As the solution suggested required jackhammering our basement concrete, we made arrangements to move kids and puppy out of the house and notified neighbors.  The first time they cancelled, it was because another job was not approved by the county inspector, and they weren't able to move the crew to our house. No problem, these things happen, and we rescheduled for the following week.  The second time they cancelled, it was because one of their employees wrote down our construction dates wrong. Ugh.

The third time, they came at the time scheduled and worked through the day.  The crew was fine, though the foreman was the primary English speaker and kept leaving.  The communication wasn't great through the work period of this project - there was no night before confirmation call, no overview of what would happen or the hours the crew would keep.  The quality control manager came by and determined the pipes connecting two different drainage systems to one sump pump were not actually connected, and fixed that on day 2. 

I had an issue with water forming a puddle where they had "waterproofed" and I called and left a message. I was concerned as I did not receive a call back and had to follow up with them to fix this issue.  I was pleased when the production manager came to my house himself to help fix the issue (which revolved around my utility sink, apparently not around the work they did).  I am hopeful that has fixed the issue.

Overall, I would say my experience has been good.  I wouldn't say it has been an amazing experience, but I would also say that fair effort has been made to rectify problems as they arose.   Their price was good and I feel that the solution they suggested to our particular problem was the best and most comprehensive of the estimates we received.   

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The original inspector might have been new, but he didn't seem too knowledgeable about the product and tried to oversell us a system we really didn't need to solve our water problem. We let a second inspector come out and re-visit the problem. He saw right away what we really needed and helped us find the right solution. The crew was quick and professional, completing the whole project in two days.

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I discovered that the original drainage system in the house had been installed incorrectly (they used unperforated pipe, so the water could not be collected).  Mid-Atlantic dug a trench in the basement floor and installed a new system.  They came back twice in the next few months to correct minor leaks and, as stated above, replaced a sump pump under warranty.  So far (for nearly seven years) the basement has remained dry.

Mid-Atlantic provided a solution which is guaranteed to last for the life of the house.  The workman worked very hard to contain the dust and clean up after they were done.  Our basement is dry!

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The past year we discovered damp walls in our basement.   While this was not a major problem, we were concerned that it could become major.   We looked at several waterproofing companies.   Mid Atlantic Waterproofing was the first company we talked to and decided not to talk to the other companies.   We met with Scott Summers and were impressed with the time he took to explain how the problem would be solved using the Hydro-Trac System.   He spent time with us going through the basement, asking and answering questions.   We agreed to have the Hydro-Trac System with a sump pump installed in our basement 

 

On the first day of work, Mike Forman, walked us through what he and his crew would be doing.   The crew (Bernie Carr, Trevor Rojas and Zach Elliott) arrived promptly and began setting up to begin their work.  All the men worked efficiently and professionally.  Everyone had a job and they did it well.   They even didn?t mind me showing up to take photos.   At the end of each day, they cleaned up before they left.   Mike and Bernie answered any and all questions we had during the process.   They were very patient and helpful.   On the last day of the job, Manuel Rojas joined the crew.

 

Everyone was well mannered and pleasant throughout this whole process.   The workmanship was excellent.  We were very pleased with this experience.  We would certainly recommend the company to anyone with a wet basement problem

I would advise not to take their first offer. They started with $9000, and I said no thank you, and then they called back with an offer of $7000, and I said no, and the week after the VP called. They did good work.

unknown

They were fast in calling back and setting up the appt. The salesman used all the crappy used car salemanship to get us to sign that night including the phrase "Oh, I didn't know you were going to shop around" followed by a discount. Eventually they discounted the work to a reasonable level and we signed the following week. The workers showed up at the time frame I was told and worked very hard throughout the day. There was one fellow who spoke English, but not well enough to answer some questions. I was not consulted about the location of the pump, (my problem for trusting that the work would be considerate of aesthetics), there was no communication about the following days schedule. At mid morning I called and was informed that the inspector was scheduled to come and I should call back after it passed. I wasn't aware that I was waiting for an inspector, nor that I was to call following, nor any time frame for the inspector to show (sometime between 7:30AM and 4:30 pm.). When the inspector came, the crew came as well. The crew didn't have enough concrete to finish the basement and had to go out for more. The concrete poured in my family room is uneven and rough. The crew while cleaning out their wheelbarrow needed to be told not to dump it in the grass!
In short, I'm sure the basement will be waterproof. I'm also sure that I will NOT recommend this company to anyone.

Update! Chris from Mid-Atlantic was very responsive after this review was published. He called and while the pump was not moved, he had a crew come out and tear up and repair our the concrete so that it was more level. The drain pipe that was left mid-wall was pulled out and replaced in a way that it was no longer visible. He also arranged for a check to cover some of the drywall repair as the first crew wasn't particularly  concerned about how much of it they cut out. While Chris was as helpful as he could possibly be (he personally visited my home several times to evaluate the damage), and all of the concerns I had that could be addressed were addressed; The final inspector came just last month finishing up a 6 month process, I still can't in good conscience recommend this company.

Initial contact with estimator went very well. He was very personable, walked  me through the entire process and answered all of my questions. The issues came after the contract was signed. The estimator arrived at my house on a Tuesday (late afternoon) and by the time we were done it was early evening. He said that he would finish the paperwork and have my information back to the office by Thursday and that I could expect a phone call by end of day Friday to schedule the work. After waiting for several days I called the office to speak to the person that does the scheduling. They took my information and said I would be called. Needless to say this back and forth went on for several days. Finally after two weeks from the original meeting I received the call I was waiting for and the work was scheduled.
The work was due to start of Monday, July 7 and I was a little surprised that I did not receive a reminder phone call, especially since the prior weekend was the 4th of July holiday. On the 7th I called the office to find out what time the crew was to show up and was told that their window of arrival was between 8 - 10 am. The crew showed up just before 10 the first morning and around 9:15 the rest of the week. This after each evening the project lead said they would be at my place 8:30 the following morning.
When I spoke with the scheduler I was told that they job would take 3 days, with the county inspecting coming on the 3rd day. When the inspector arrived the job was not complete and he failed the inspection. So, day 4 the crew was back to finish the outstanding work and the inspector returned on day 5. Finally two days after the original time frame my basement was complete.
Today I am now waiting for someone to come back to remount the wall shelving that was removed which I was told would not need to come down to complete the job.

They are great and always quick. They are good people and very nice. They cleaned up beautifully which I really appreciated. So far, since they have solved the water proofing problems I had, I haven’t had any issues. They aren’t cheap, but they are worth every penny. I’m not saying they cost more than other companies because this kind of work is expensive. At the end of the day, not having to worry about water issues is worth every penny. They have saved us a lot of grief! Waterproofing your home is definitely worth it considering the stress and damage of a flood.