
Serving Park Forest, IL and surrounding areas
Approved
In business since 2011
Free estimates
Warranties offered
"Before getting into details, I'd like summarize my experience by stating I am an extremely satisfied customer of The Real Seal. Do yourself a favor and at least schedule an appointment if you are in the market for any of the services they offer. In my research on the potential issue, I encountered The Real Seal on Yelp as well as YouTube. Their videos were some of the most informative I saw when research foundation issues and solutions. As a general rule of thumb, I decided to reached out to 3 different companies to have them evaluate my home. After reading their glowing reviews on Yelp and Angie's List, I knew they would be 1 of those 3 companies. US Waterproofing was the first company I had come out to take a look. Their staff was certain there was severe issue and had suggested that the engineer we hired prior to purchase was either grossly incompetent or a flat-out fraud. Despite this assertion, they were unwilling to commit to much. They were confident that a foundation pier system was needed but said I would need to hire a structural engineer to develop plans. A few days later Austin and his team from The Real Seal came by. Their level knowledge and enthusiasm was on another level. Austin was confident they could resolves my issues and was able to easily demonstrate the need for their services. Since part of my home's foundation had been sinking, an I-Beam was being pulled away from its footing. Austin was able to clearly demonstrate this with a picture and it was obvious the urgency expressed was not a sales tactic. It really was scary how little remaining contact the beam had with the footing; it couldn't have been more than a few 10th's of an inch. Austin assured me he could have his team come back within a few days to install a temporary support to ensure there was no catastrophic damage with we were waiting for a crew to be available to complete the project, if we decided to proceed. He was also able to provide a structural solution that would solve an issue with our floor flexing when lightly jumped on. US Waterproofing was clueless as to why it was happening, even after making them aware of the issue and having them inspect the area from above and below. It was clear that Austin was very experienced and knew what he was doing, but he still assured us one of their engineers would review his plan. In addition to the structural issues, I had more routine problems like a crack repaired by the previous homeowner that was starting to slowly leak and a window-well that would accumulate water after heavy rains. He was able to offer solutions. He also suggested installing buried gutter downspout extensions as preventative measure to avoid further damage to the home. Everything suggested made total sense and at no point did I feel like I was being up-sold or pressured to get a service I did not need. The 3rd company I was scheduled to meet with had to postpone our meeting. I was so wowed by Austin and his team that I felt confident that proceeding with The Real Seal was the right choice and ended up cancelling that appointment. Austin's pricing for the foundation pier system was exactly in line with what US Waterproofing had quoted, even though they weren't willing to commit to an actual decision and left that to an engineer that I would have to hire. But it was reassuring that they suggested the same number of piers for the same price. At least I wasn't getting conflicting information, and it was obvious that hiring a structural engineer to inspect, evaluate, and draw up plans would not be cheap either. Austin was true to his word and had a few guys out in just a few days to install the temporary support. When the project was completed at a later date, Austin and his team were nothing but responsive. I was a little worried that the location of a couple of the downspout exits might be problematic due to the grading of my yard. All I had to do was mention this and the exits were extended at no additional cost. We had planned on having my garage downspouts use the same exit as a few of the house downspouts. But while the project was underway, Austin felt it would be better to install their own exit on the other side of my property. He also had to call out an HVAC professional to redo ductwork that was in the way in the crawlspace. I was not charged extra for any of this. It is apparent that sticking to the original quote is extremely important and The Real Seal doesn't want their customers to be upset with any unexpected costs. All the work done was of the highest quality and every crew member was extremely courteous of my home. Overall this was a 10 out of 10 experience and I would highly recommend The Real Seal to anyone needing their services!"





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