MT&R Basement Waterproofing & Foundations

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I chose a different company to do the job. <br />

Mike did a great job, under difficult circumstances.  His boss passed away the week he was supposed to work on the job, and in the midst of taking over the company business, he and his crew did a nice job with the drainage issues on our home.  He also took the time to explain things to me. <br />

We had a unique situation in that in a matter of a few weeks, we had the unfortunate situation of needing similar work in another part of our basement, so we got a chance to have a direct comparison between two separate companies. The first red flag was when the owner of MT&R came to our house during the initial bid estimate and proceeded to talk about how he didn't like Angie's List referrals because they could use the review as negotiating tool. Negotiation or not, the multiple negative reviews indicate that there is a pattern of poor work provided by MT&R and a lack of effort to resolve the issues.  That is unfortunately an accurate way to describe the work performed at our house. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Unfortunately, when I contracted MT&R I selected them based on the Angie List's ratings at the time and did not get any second bid offers.  I found out later when I contracted out similar work in another part of the house, that MT&R was twice as expensive as the next closest bid to theirs. Below is a list of the issues that I had (and in some cases still have) during this construction: <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 1) The initial bid was based on digging a trench 75'.  In actuality. the trench was only 56'. We have been trying for several months to be reimbursed for the work that was never done, but the owner either doesn't return my call or says he'll call and never does. <br /> <br /> 2) The amount of dust of debris created by MT&R and their inability to contain it to the room in which they were working was staggering. I compare this work to the work performed by A Better Choice (ABC), which had no trouble minimizing the dust with appropriate barriers and equipment. <br /> <br /> 3) MT&R used limestone in their trenching system, which absorbs moisture and somewhat defeats the purpose of the trench. Every other company we spoke to used river rock which doesn't absorb moisture. <br /> <br /> 4) The number of holes drilled into each cinder block by MT&R to release the water into trench was less than the number used by ABC. <br /> <br /> 5) The pipe from the sump pump goes up the basement wall (7 feet) and then another 8 feet to my roof as opposed to laying the pipe in a trench away from the house. The vertical climb limits the maximum capacity that can be pumped out. <br /> <br /> 6) WE NOW HAVE BLACK MOLD AGAIN IN THE SAME LOCATION WHERE THE WORK WAS DONE!! In only five months after the work was done. <br /> <br /> 7) The original bid included a speedy drain, but weather prevented the initial installation and the company never called to reschedule the work.

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The vendor called to discuss my complaint and the confusion regarding the balance was resolved. I was satisfied with the work , and I accepted his apology about the bill presented to me at the time of service.

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Scheduling was difficult. Once the guys came out they completed the work quickly and cleaned up behind them. Problem was they vented the drain pipe outside the house in both instances and left directly out in the driveway without tapping into the mains. When the cold whether set in a few months later all the water being vented out tuned to ice, making it dangerous for people to walk across the sheets of ice. I reached out to the owner in the Spring of this year explaining the issue with pictures and he promised he would have somebody out there to fix/resolve. He asked for a little time because it was early spring. It has been 5 months since then and the issue has still not been addressed. There was also no response to the most recent reminder via Angie’s List.

The owners responded to my first request for a price quote immediately.  They both came to the house, checked out the problem, and gave me a quote. They were congenial and prompt, and said the job would begin the next week.  After that communication with the two of them went downhill, which is the reason I gave the overall section a "B" grade and responsiveness a "C"!.  The job was scheduled to start the week after the owners gave me a quote. However, they postponed it until the following week.  I had to rearrange my own schedule to accommodate them. One or the other of them would tell me they would call the next day.  I would wait until the end of that work day and have to end up having to call them!  I was beginning to think they were giving me the run around. The following week they wanted to postpone the job until after Christmas, and  I said absolutely not!  On Wednesday of that week, Mike (who actually does the work along with Tyler) called and asked if they could start the next day.  They showed up on time,  introduced themselves, and described the procedure to me.  They were very thorough, neat, and professional. When the job was finished, they asked me to check it out and see if everything was to my satisfaction.  If I had dealt with them from the beginning, the experience would have been much more pleasant. They are the reason for the "A" grade in quality and professionalism!   My advice to the owners would be to follow through when you tell a customer you will call them. I felt that they were putting me off when I had to continually call them!  I fully expect the owners to "qualify" this statement as they have done with others who have had any complaints about them.  <br /> <br /> <br />

I intentionally waited for over a month to make sure the review was reflective of the work provided.    I was very pleased with the installation and felt the crew lead by Mike did an excellent job.   The crew was able to complete the job one day which was better than I expected.    The only surprise was in the scheduling.   Originally I was told about a 4-6 week backlog.   As things turned out, I received a call after a week because they had a cancellation and asked if they could do my house then.    That was a pleasant surprise for me!   Luckily I was able to take advantage of it. <br /> Overall, I thought it was a quality job at a fair price and would have no problem recommending them to to anyone in need of such services.   I had numerous questions for Jim when he came out to do the estimate and for Mike & crew when they were performing the work.   I received honest answers and a good education on the process. <br />

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He did the inspection and gave an estimate. He was professional, courteous and the estimate was great; I just decided not to move forward with the project at that time.

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Went very well. The Company rep was excellent. I just feel that at this time I don't need the service.

The job requires two visits (day 1 to set the footer, and day 2 to set the replacement post) as well as the use of an industrial jack that most of the contractors would consider too small to not worth of traveling if not bundling with another project together. <br /> It was James Stull, the owner who visited the house to get the ball rolling.  I think that the price for the job is reasonable for the job because like I stated I got bids from other contractors who either asked for more money or asked for more work bundling together to come out.  The replacement post used meets the commercial standard (schedule 40) that is much higher than what I need for this residential house, and I am happy with the quality of the work conducted by this contractor.  Thanks James! <br />

My experience with them was good. They did a very nice job. They did what they said they'd do. They were neat, clean and when they were finished, the basement was dry, they put in some pump and everything's working fine.

They did a great job in the inspection and I hired them to fix the problems they found. They were very professional and nice. They were also very thorough.

About me: I have two engineering degrees and work experience as a project engineer. <br /> Jim met me in my home and reviewed the job with me.  As an engineer my usual rule of job bidding is that if all bids seem equal, I toss the high and low bid and go with the one in the middle.  However, Jim was very insightful with explaining structural load calculations and the reason that the basement was wet despite having a pre-existing interior drain was always bone dry.  I went with his bid, which was the lowest; the high bid was $22,500. <br /> His team was busy, but I wasn't in a rush since Fall had arrived and the area had largely dried out, so we agreed to a date a few weeks later.  His team worked for one week and completed what appears to be a very good job - I won't know for certain until we have big storms in the Spring. <br /> <br />

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Waterproofing of basement, drainage, sump pump, etc.

1.  The drain and pump were not installed on the advice of Mike "the cement guy" because it wasn't necessary.||2.  Owner, Jim Stull, should have known this before the job was started.  I would not have hired them to just put cement in the room.  The walls and cement work were completed.||3.  Start date was 11/11/13 but Jim misread his schedule and continued to work on someone else's job.  Didn't start mine until 11/15.  I had rearranged my schedule for 11/11 and had to do it again to accommodate the 11/15 start.||4.  When the workers left on 11/19, the garage door opener, washing machine and dryer were all left unplugged.  I had to get out the ladder so I could plug them in.||5.  Light switch in fruit cellar no longer works.  Light bulb from above washer was taken and put into the fixture in the fruit cellar--what happened to the bulb already in that room?  Fixture was not reattached to wall properly.||6.  Jim said he'd send a worker with electrical experience to fix the switch, but he hasn't done it.   I've been waiting 2 weeks.||7. Twice Jim called to say he'd be late because he had to take people he knows to the courthouse for traffic violations.  Once Mike called to say he'd be late because he had to go to another job to do some work.  It was clear that my job was not high priority.||8.  I'm going to hire an electrician to check the system and fix the lighting problem in the fruit cellar.  ||9.  I'm uncomfortable reporting all this, but I was not pleased with the way this job was done.  The knee wall and cement work appear good, but the professionalism of the owner was not satisfactory.  I didn't get estimates for just the cement work (didn't know that was all that would be done), so I don't know if he gave me a good price.  I don't have confidence the water will not still come in.  I will not hire him again.

It went ok. I wasn't overly impressed with this company. They promise a lot they do not deliver. I was told I could have any type paint I wanted. They purchased a cheaper paint. When the basement floor was re-poured, they forgot to redo the drain. Overall the painting was ok but they did not do the window frames. You would think that would be included. <br />