ABT Foundation Solutions Inc

Basement stayed dry. Drainage worked as expected.

Had gutters installed. Also, had basement window wells redone and basement foundation mortar work. Both crews were easy to work with and did nice jobs.

Great, guys worked hard didn't make a big mess and cleaned up when they were done.

Happy go lucky

Happy go lucky

They gave us a fair quote, performed the work in a timely manner and we are very pleased with the design and function of our new drainage system.

We were having issues with our basement walls. In knowing this repair would probably be expensive, we knew we wanted our basement repaired right. We heard a lot of great things about ABT Foundation Solutions. We learned they're the ones who repair projects that others have failed. So, we felt comfortable working with them. To say we're happy is an understatement. They came out and got the job done right.

I was having water in my basement for years. I didn't realize the water was coming through my walls after a hard rain. ABT Foundation Solutions was referred to me by a friend. From what I was told, the owner of ABT trains basement repair companies across the country on how to fix basements right. So, we felt comfortable going with them right away. Glad we did! Everything was done according to plan. We have not had water since!

Firstly, I write this review completely expecting ABT to reply with either a canned apology and no offer at customer service or completely turn it around to make me look like the individual at fault; but here’s my story. I own rental properties and was alerted by one of my tenants that there was an issue with some deflection in their basement wall. I contacted ABT as well as other basement repair companies to give me estimates on the work needing to be done. I was incredibly impressed with the helpfulness, responsiveness, and professionalism of ABT’s estimator / sales rep. He put together a plan to have the property repaired with as little interruption to my tenants’ life as possible. He also told me that ABT prided itself on being a local, family owned business and that they understood struggles during the pandemic and that making payments on the project would be absolutely fine. I agreed to a two (maybe three) day project to have 10 anchors installed in the walls. The work was scheduled to begin at the end of January. I questioned if that would be a problem being winter and was assured it would not be and that they do it all the time. Fast forward to day 1 of the project. Their office called me and told me that the crew would arrive between 8am and 10am. I was plowing snow at the property when they arrived at exactly 10am. The crew unpacked and began working but I noticed by 11am that the crew and the truck were gone. Assuming they had gone to lunch, they returned around noon but I discovered they left again around 1 or 1:30 without explanation. I waited over and hour before contacting the office at ABT. The supervisor I spoke with seemed unaware of the crews whereabouts and told me she would look into it and contact me back. When she finally called me back, she told me the crew had broken some tool and would be done for the day. Day 1 of the project and maybe two hours of work had been done all day. This immediately gave me cause for concern and I left a message with their office manager to call me regarding the issue, she would never return that call. Day 2 of the project I was informed by ABT that the weather was too cold to send the crew out to work. I also tested positive for Covid so was not able to be as involved with the project had I liked to be. The same was said on day 3, despite having been reassured that they did this work in the winter all the time and there would not be any issues. On day 4 I was not contacted until 11am and was informed that one member of the crew had called in sick so no one would be coming out. I had also learned that the estimator / sales rep no longer worked at ABT. I also, despite follow up phone calls, had not received a call back from the office manager I had contacted. On Day 5, the crew arrived early and got to work, however when they left for the day, they left a giant trench / hole down the center of the driveway, trapping in the vehicles parked there. This was also a Friday so I was to understand that this would sit like this all weekend. Now surprisingly, the crew returned on Saturday to finish the job. Now this is great on one hand that the job was getting done, however myself or the tenant was never notified of this Saturday work. I learned my tenant informed the crew of her unhappiness with their level of communication and was quite upset that a whole week her home was in disarray over this project. The crew worked into the dark but finished the job. I have attached photos of the mess that was left behind and what was a “finished project”. A foot high berm was left down the driveway, continuing to trap the vehicle there, garbage was left along the house, the yard destroyed, and the window they removed so they could yell to each other was not put back in. I contacted ABT and told them the driveway at minimum needed to be addressed. I was told they would return in a few days (depending on work load and other projects) and level out the driveway. I assumed that they would return with a skid steer or some sort of equipment to either compress the berm down into the trench or at least spread out the debris evenly over the driveway. Two men with shovels and a pick up came and shoveled up the gravel off the driveway AND TOOK IT WITH THEM!! I now am left with a mud that I am sure will turn into a trench once the ground thaws and I will have to pay to have more gravel brought in. As I still had been unsuccessful in speaking with a member of the management team and only one of them is on their auto phone directory and she refused to call me back, I went to the website and got the name of the General Manager. I guessed at his email using the email of their sales rep and explained the chaos at my rental property. The general manager reached out and apologized and offered to come out twice and torque the bolts on the anchors free of charge, something he told me they normally would charge $150 a visit for. I originally agreed despite the fact I am plenty capable of turning a torque wrench, but at this point I do not want any ABT personnel on any property I own but I digress. I finally received a call back from the manager whom I originally contacted weeks later but not to address my concerns but to demand FULL PAYMENT for the project. I advised her that when I set up the project, I was assured that payments would be acceptable and as I write this review I have already paid 50% of the invoice. She and the General Manager informed me that the sales rep had made no notation of payments and demanded full payment before they would allow me to schedule the anchor torqueing or “further action would be taken.” Due to my schedule, I am most easily contacted via email but ABT continues to contact me via telephone, refuses to honor the payment agreement, or offer any type of solution other than full payment ABT has provided me with nothing but extremely poor customer service and half measures since signing their contract. If you have read all the way to this point I thank you and strongly urge you to choose another contractor.

I’m thankful I went with this company for my sump pump system! My sump pump alarm was going off last week, so I called ABT and April was able to help me over the phone and it didn’t cost me anything. Thanks ABT!! I’m thankful for companies like you who care about your customers.

After rescheduling my project several times ABT was able to settle on a date and time. The day before I get a friendly reminder of our appointment coming up the next day. The day and time arrives, but no ABT. 30 minutes passed our appointment time I call the ABT office, no answer. I call again, no answer, I leave a message. Finally get a call back stating they will not be able do the work as they do not have all the parts for the project. Wow, I've taken time off for this. General Manager could not have cared less and did not appear to understand why I would be upset over a "miscommunication". I cannot comment on workmanship, but these guys need to work on customer service, really bad . . . I cancelled the project.

During a service call to correct an original and very poorly done job, we requested a gap in our driveway to be sealed. The 1st job was done in July of 2019 and it took until April the following year to correct all of the work done on the 1st job. The driveway's cement seal, completed in April of 2020, broke apart and crumbled after several weeks. Rather than dealing with ABT again, we chose to remove it ourselves. The Service Team is extremely professional, timely, and easy to work with. The support staff is not as easy to work with, often curt, and never timely except in requesting payment.

The work was poorly done and it has been six months and is not corrected yet. The response is very poor and they often forget to follow up. On the positive side, the people are very pleasant and want to do the right things for their customers. Execution is the issue.

Everything went well. They explained exctly what they were going to do. My only issue is that they didn't complete the job until I called them and told them. They were supposed to put drainage in around a corner, I even told the contractor exactly how far it was supposed to go. When they were "finished" i saw they didn't go around the corner or take care of the exterior drainage. I called and told the sales rep and he was able to set up another time t have these issues fixed. Their solution for outdoor drainage was a piece of flex hose next to the house being held in place by one of our landscaping bricks. I think I'm going to have to install PVC to the drain pipe so there isn't flex hose laying in my driveway.

Very well. The technician was very professional and seemed to know exactly what needed to be done. He was very observant of what the problems were in our driveway, and he had solutions for the problems.

Everything went as planned and was on schedule. Work looks good, no issues.

unknown

Good......

Let me start this review by saying that I was a complete doubter when told what we needed to fix our basement problems. I thought there was no way that a 14 year old home could have clogged drain tiles.  We worried that we were being taken advantage of, and worried that our tiles really did not need replacing.  We have a basement below lake level (we live on the water), and had three sumps running continuously forever.  Dry basement for 10 years, slight water issues around the edge three years ago turned into one inch of standing water this summer. It was time for action.
After getting ideas and estimates from companies as far away as Madison, we opted to go with ABT and their remedy.  ABT was highly recommended by our plumber (O?Neill Enterprises), and we respect
this plumber immensely.  Their remedy entailed jack hammering the entire perimeter of our LARGE basement, followed by putting in a new drainage system and pumps and concreting the new edges.  Their estimate comparable to others, however, they offered a LONG, TRANSFERRABLE WARRANTY.  I also checked references, and was pleased at what I heard.  This project was extremely costly and time consuming (see below) ? but IT WORKED.
PREP: 
I would strongly recommend their suggestion to tarp/wrap everything in your basement.  That which could not be covered, we moved out.  We also had our HVAC come in and plastic off every intake and vent for our three furnaces.  All of this was time consuming, but VERY worthwhile.
DURING: 
The crew worked VERY hard and was meticulous about cleaning.  Every night, things were put away nicely in the basement.  As we have basement access through the garage, they did not need access to the house.   The project took six work days, and one bonus visit after completion to fix a battery back up.
AFTER: 
The basement is DRY!  All pumps have battery backups, and a rep did a wonderful walk through with us to show us what we could/could not do with the new system.  NOTE:  Listen to the walkthrough, as some things we would have done would have voided the warranty.  Nothing outrageous, but be sure to listen well.
Again, the crew did an AMAZING job in cleaning. Even a handprint that I noted on the basement door frame was gone when
they left.  All pumps are absolutely silent, they made our old 3 hp pumps seem very outdated.  The system they have engineered seems to work well, our basement is bone dry!!! 
BOTTOM LINE: 
There were a few small bumps in the road, but that can be expected with a major home repair.  Nothing that was insurmountable.   If the system remains working as it is, I will be a huge supporter of ABT!  They truly fixed our issue, and our home is back to normal.  
I STRONGLY recommend ABT for any basement issues.  5 stars!!!

 
 
 

unknown

unknown

From the initial consultation to the collection of the payment the ABT employees were courteous, prompt, and provided me with all the information I needed to be able to trust the repairs would be done correctly.      I would recommend the services of ABT  and would not hesitate to contact them again with any future needs.

unknown

Dave, an ABT representative, initially listened to our explanation of the problem, then viewed our basement, gathered needed information and submitted a proposed work contract in a timely manner.  He was polite, timely and professional throughout our dealings. Due to their understandable busy schedule plus the Christmas holidays, work was initiated two months after we returned the signed work proposal. A four man work team initially reported on Feb 18, 2014 which was the first day of scheduled work.  They were on the job for two full days staying until the job was done. They jackhammered and dug a 60' channel that exposed the existing interior drain tile along three walls of the basement, and removed the old interior drain tile and installed their engineered conduit which led to a new sump which they also dug.  They installed a new sump pump, and connected the existing water pipes to the current drain pipes. The team performed their work in a conscientious manner, removed the concrete out of the home using our egress window.  This process prevented tracking thru the home.  They were neat, polite and work oriented but still answered my questions during the project.
Now after subsequent weeks of melting snow and Spring rains, we find the ABT system is working well.  The pump goes on and off as the water level triggers the system.  We have seen no further leaks despite several heavy rains.  It appears our water leak has been resolved.
I like the ABT system because it now enables us to flush out their drainage using plugs connected to their drain pipe if this becomes necessary.

The crew was very professional and got right to work. They were mindful not to track mud into the house and covered the basement stairs with plastic. They worked hard all day and never complained. They even cleaned up when they were done.

The estimate we received was what we ended up paying at the completion of the job. We'd use ABT again and recommend them to others. We're very pleased with the outcome!