Apex Waterproofing
About us
Welcome to Apex Waterproofing, your one stop shop for whole home remodeling, residential and commercial basement waterproofing and foundation structural concerns. We are a fully licensed, bonded, and insured 3rd Generation General Contractor providing quality services to the Northern Virginia and Maryland areas since 1943.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Whole home remodeling. Basement & crawlspace waterproofing. Basement & home renovations & additions.
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 78% | ||
| 12% | ||
| 6% | ||
| 2% | ||
| 1% |
It was Lou's idea to install white insulation back down in the basement to make it look nicer. It looks wonderful and I cannot express my thanks and appreciation for an excellent job.
Thank you Lou!
Although we had never had water in the basement, we did have crack extending most of the length of the wall, and the wall was bulging inward by as much as 2 inches at the worst point. Before calling anyone for estimates, we hired an independent engineer to provide an opinion. His analysis was that the wall was bulging, probably due to water pressure outside, and required attention, either support with a series of steel I-beams inside the house, or with replacement.
We checked with three firms. One only wanted to do the I-beam solution, which we didn't like because of its visibility, the space required, and the fact it would only brace the wall and prevent further bulging, but would not really fix it. Another firm was willing to do either solution, but their estimate for the replacement wall, based on forecasting a worst-case scenario that there might be more serious damage than was visible from outside, was nearly twice that of Apex.
APEX Chief Inspector Sam Weisgal - a fount of information and advice on all aspects of foundation problems by the way -- recommended only replacement. Apex General Manager Lou Peyton also stopped by later to assess the issue personally, and based on his long years in the construction/foundation fields in our area, and the age/type of our house, surmised that the underlying footer, etc., would have been built solidly, even overbuilt by today's standards, and would most likely not produce major unforeseen surprises. We found that persuasive.
Work started August 10. Lou and Sam arrived at 8:00 with a full crew and machinery and equipment and within the hour were at work on the excavation and the temporary inside support. Throughout the work that ensued for the next five weeks (by my count, 29 working days - I was surprised that the crew worked most Saturdays, and even on Labor Day), work proceeded steadily and very competently. The only slight snag was the unexpected discovery under the front porch of a huge mass of reinforced concrete, removal of which caused about a day of extra work in the excavation phase. (Apex did not bill additional for this.)
Throughout, it was evident that the entire crew involved had a good deal of experience in this sort of project and knew what they were doing. The operator of the rather large Caterpillar shovel, for example, manipulated it expertly in a space hemmed in by trees. Carlos, the foreman who spent a lot of time at the site, was knowledgeable, helpful, and our chief source of information about any problems that arose, or the scheduling. The actual reconstruction of the wall went quickly, delayed only the necessary stops to wait for a country inspector at each phase. The only place we would suggest improvement (we've indicated it under "responsiveness") would be better communication - keeping us informed as to what would be happening next, and being realistic about timing.
While there is no way to do such a project without pretty significant disruption, we felt it had been minimized - the work moved right along without delays or stoppage (and luckily mostly with good weather). We had preparatory and follow-up work to do ourselves (move stuff away from the wall in the basement and put it back; remove plants that we hoped to save, and replant them; get the lawn sprinkler system and outdoor lighting out of the way and replace afterwards; and cleanup -- but by and large the process was as trouble-free as a project this large could be.
This is a job that we would hope never to have to do again, but we certainly recommend Apex Waterproofing to others who may have foundation or waterproofing problems.
"First, this client references a review which gave us all A’s. He is obviously not happy. Our confusion is why is he not happy? We dug outside where HE marked the crack, was there the entire time while our crew dug a hole 8 feet in the ground and applied liquid rubber and protection mat. He called me and said our workers were excellent, excellent – said the word excellent twice! 5 weeks later, we had a rain of 14 inches – virtually every homeowner had a flood in their home. Regardless, he had a warranty on a simple crack repair. Sometimes they are not as simple as they appear because water can come along a brick ledge and bypass the exterior repair and drop down through the crack on the top. In these situations, the only solution then is an interior solution. 5 weeks later he has a leak, 5 weeks later we show up with the same crew and fix it a second time, no charge. He called, we showed up as he says, shortly after he called. We get a B for punctuality??? We showed up on time. Should be an A. We get a D for responsiveness, we showed up as soon as he called us. Should be an A. Professionalism? He cannot even pronounce the name of the drainage composite – it isn’t Miracle Drain – it is Miradrain. Every company in our industry uses it. We’re the highest rated company on Angie's because we’re professionals. We showed up, sealed the crack from the inside with Hydraulic Cement, then sprayed AquaTrete 40 over the entire section of wall – this is a waterproofing liquid polymer that interacts with the cement element to actually create a waterproofed concrete. Then, just to be sure, we opened up the floor and ran the drainage composite from the very top of the wall, down under the floor where all houses have gravel and 100-200 square feet of space where water already sits, and this solution works every time. AND we did this at no charge. He’s complaining that he can’t see water coming into his home that this was a ‘band-aid’ fix. Sometimes when you have a small cut on your finger, all you need is a band-aid. In fact, why is he insulting band-aids? He didn’t need surgery. Even so, we applied a huge bandage on top of a very small crack. No water enters his home. We did everything we’re required to do – seal against water intrusion into his basement which still is dry as a bone. We responded as quickly as the speed limit allows on the roads and we fixed his problem. His main complaint is we didn’t respond back to do weatherproofing of his home and that he cannot see water entering his home. Isn’t that what every homeowner wants? Not to see water entering your home? We managed his water problem, now he has none, yet, we get a D. Dealing with 50 potential customers who call every day whose homes were flooded after a biblical rain of 14 inches in one day took priority over a home that doesn’t have a leak, does not have ANY water entering. We don’t appreciate a D when we deserve an A. Now, because of his improperly graded D review he can try to find another honest company to do his work. Good Luck!"
"This is a review that is fiction, not fact. First, the owner was overseas for 3-5 years, with renters living in the home. When she arrived back in the States, she realized that her basement was flooding from ground water. She called us up, based on a referral from a friend of hers, and Sam went out, inspected the property, and proposed doing an interior foundation drain system with 2 submersible pump systems with battery backups as mandated by Prince Georges County. The county code also mandates drilling holes in the hollow cores of the concrete block of her home. Drilling holes has nothing to do with back-ups. This was not a renovation of her basement, it was an interior drainage system to protect her basement from ground water flooding her basement. We proposed putting back the drywall and framing that was removed, and painting the section that was removed, not the entire basement. Regardless, clearly stated in the contract, she was responsible for buying the paint. She didn’t provide any paint but we did fix the framing and drywall. She mentions it was not a very good job – it was a great job; we wonder where she has the experience to grade the quality of work we did. It was inspected 2 times by county inspectors – we passed their inspection both times, they thought we did a great job. The owner mentions a hot water heater. We had budgeted in the contract $375 to move the Hot water heater but we were able to work around it, did not touch it, and we refunded her $375 from the total contract amount. She states that we deserve a D for punctuality. Sam showed up 15 minutes EARLY for the inspection. D for responsiveness. As for responsiveness, she called, we came out the same week, the crew showed up 2 days after her signing of the contract. The crew was scheduled to work Saturday, Sunday, call in the county inspector for Monday so we could finish the job by Tuesday latest. The crew showed up ON TIME, yet she was late on Saturday by 30 minutes. The crew showed up again at 08:30 on Sunday, she came at 12:30 to let us in, but by that time, they went home. She mentions we should have sent someone who speaks English. Sam, by the way, speaks English, Spanish and Hebrew and actually is a copywriter, editor, proof reader, etc – in English. The Project Manager was Keith, an American who speaks perfect English, the foreman was Steve, also born here in the US who also speaks English. In fact, the Latino workers all speak English and Spanish, including Steve and Keith. If it wasn’t for ‘Spanish’ speaking individuals, essentially no construction in the DC Metro are would take place – thank the lord for our Spanish speaking people. I wonder what other ethnicity she dislikes. Bottom line, some people understand the difficulty of the work we do, some do not. Some get frustrated by other issues and then complain on Angie’s List. If the job was not finished, she had no obligation to pay us until the job was finished, but she did pay us. She thought for a good price of $15,000, that we would not only put in a system in a very large basement, but we would completely paint the basement, put in flooring, tile and other work that was never contracted. In spite of the fact that she deserves F for punctuality, F for responsiveness – constantly never answering the phone, we figure it was a miscommunication and we’ll be nice and leave it at that. Check out our reviews – sometimes people complain without any valid reason – who knows what people are going through in their life when we’re doing work for them. We’re A rated because we ALWAYS do great work."
I was not home during most of the repair but the technicians did an excellent job and were very neat.
I would highly recommend Apex Waterproofing to anyone.
Thank you Lou Peyton!
I was noticing cracks in the floor of my basement and stair-stepping in the brick wall of the front of my home. I was concerned that there may be a problem with the foundation and wanted to get an assessment. Lou was very courteous, prompt and professional. He came and evaluated the situation and recommended that a waterproofing/sump pump system be put in. There were two options: exterior or interior installation and he recommended the latter. I received a proposal promptly, but was expecting more of an assessment rather than a estimate and felt like the money I spent on the Big Deal was completely frivolous. But maybe that is my fault for not recognizing that I was actually paying for an estimate I could have gotten for free. He seemed knowledgeable, but made me feel like the problem needed to be resolved sooner than later before it got cold.
I had another company come out to provide an assessment and they did the exact same assessment (but for free, since I learned my lesson). They said that an interior installation of a waterproofing/sump pump system would be useless since I was not seeing any water in my basement and recommended that I put two de-humidifiers in my basement to pull the water out of the air and walls. He recommended watching the stair stepping for about 6 months to see if the gaps continued to widen and then go from there. He didn't see anything that was in need of an immediate repair and made me feel much better about my situation.
After putting two the de-humidifiers in my basement, I am definitely noticing a difference and the gaps are closing. So I am glad that I didn't spend thousands of dollars on a waterproofing/sump pump system.
I am not sure that I was being taken advantage of for my lack of knowledge about basement waterproofing, but I definitely felt that Lou knew that the Big Deal was not something I should have purchased for my situation and I wish he had offered me a refund.
I am definitely glad that I got a second opinion.
"The inspection that we conducted and presented a method we feel is correct. The foundation wall showing signs of some slight cracks and putting in de-humidifiers would not solve the problem with the CMU wall. With regard to a possible refund, we never received any inspection fee for this inspection"
All went well on this project. However - we now notice a number of cracks in the outside brick on the house where they installed piping for the sump pump.
We have made several calls to Apex over the past month, leaving messages to have Lou Peyton call or come out to examine this area. We've had no response all. It now looks like we will need to hire a brick layer to come and fix this.
We were going to build a gym in the basement, but we had a leak the previous year in the room where the gym was going to be. So before starting, we wanted to find the source of the leak. The source of the leak was a crack in the foundation located in the gym room.
After receiving several quotes with varying prices and avenues of approach on how to fix my cracked foundation, we were overwhelmed and frustrated. He told us our options and there was no high pressure sales technique to complete the job. There was a 100% life warranty for his work and is transferable to the new owners if we were to sell our home.
The basement did leak again after a heavy rain, but without hesitation or reservation, they came out immediately to redo the work for for free.
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