FOUNDATION BUILDERS LLC
Serving Effingham, SC and surrounding areas
In business since 1998
Free estimates
Emergency services offered
"I hired Foundation Builders to install a basement egress window for a rental house because I had met with Mike from F.B. and he seemed like a decent and knowledgeable guy, and I liked the no mess concept. I had no idea that it would be a 9 month nightmare. My nightmare began with filing for a building permit with the City of Cincinnati, which is nearly impossible. Much of the needed information required construction knowledge that I didn't have - that's why I was hiring a professional for the job. At first, Mike angrily told me that he knew he should never have come down to Cincinnati for a job because he'd had problems there in the past (why did you then?). Later, Mike promised that I didn't need to do anything else, because they would get the permit. But when months went by with no communication from him, I continued on with the permit process myself. These are a few of things I had to teach myself how to do: submit digital drawings via the required computer program, write a legal covenant, submit it to the City Legal Department for approval, have it notarized and then filed with the county, and then write a RLS and submit it to the City. And I had to do all of this while working as a full-time RN during a global pandemic - fun. But after countless frustrating hours and no contact from F.B. , I got that dang building permit! But that was just the beginning. The first day the crew came late and they tracked dirt through the foyer, down the stairs and in the basement hallway. They didn't sweep up all of the construction debris and the entire room was covered in construction dust. When I sent pictures to Mike, he disputed that his crew had left a mess because he's never had a complaint in 30 years. He insinuated that I was lying and that it was our fault anyway. He said he would notify us when they'd be back so we could better prepare. But again, with no notice, the crew showed up a month later. I had no idea they were there until I received photos from my tenant showing sludge that had dripped down the walls onto the carpet and a camera backpack case. The crew did clean up and when I informed Mike, he said the system failed because the wall was too thick but that he'd replace the $100 backpack because "we need to get something right"! I later found out that he only paid the tenant $25. Two weeks later, I received a call from Mike telling me that the window was finished (again with no notification that the crew had been on site). Given all the missteps, I thought he might actually reduce the price but, incredibly, he tried to charge me $500 more because the wall was thicker than he had anticipated! I was disappointed with two parts of the finished job. Despite the contract stating that excavation dirt would be left in a pile, it was actually all smashed down on top of the lawn, not just around the window but in a much larger area. And the interior drywall and caulking job was sloppy at best. I sent pictures of everything to Mike. At first he replied that the dirt was done that way to drain water away from the wall and something about having to install a taller well than expected. OK, seems reasonable. But then the next AM, Mike texted that he woke up with a feeling that something wasn't right with our job so he looked closer at the pictures and saw how sloppy the drywall looked. He said he'd stop by to look at it and make arrangements to get it corrected. A week later he texted that he went to look and there was nothing wrong with it. Hopefully, my egress nightmare is over. I don't know why this job seemed cursed from the beginning or why I'm the "only customer to complain in 30 years". I'm sure Foundation Builder's has done many fine jobs but I can assure you, mine was not one of them. I'm sorry to say that for me, instead of "No Mess Egress", it was 9 months of "Stress and Big Mess Egress"."
Recommended by93%of homeowners
