The Basement Doctor

The team (Jesse and Zach) we’re friendly, professional, super trustworthy and thorough. I trusted their recommendations, the work was done quickly and every step was explained to me. My house was left very clean.
The entire time it felt like they were really trying to do things to help with my problem, not just up sell me.
Seriously cannot recommend The Basement Doctor more!

Great job, finished job quickly. I now feel secure that my home is structurally safe..

They were very helpful at solving our problems. We had several other companies to solve the wet moldy basement problems but they were the only one to fix a problem we inherited by buying a nice, older home in a nice area. They also fixed some other problems we had due to the work they had to do, with no extra charge. They do a great job and at a reasonable price.

Very helpful and friendly sales people. Seemed very honest and reasonably priced.

From the beginning estimate through the completion of the project all persons were attentive to our needs. In the estimate phase Robert got our input, answered our questions, and gave us several options to address the problems. This included them doing the drain system, waterproofing, stabilization with beams, sump and backup battery, and gutter drain. An estimate from another company said I had to hire a plumber to move the water heater and an electrician to run a line for the sump. Scott the crew foreman went over all the details in our pre-work visit. Carpets, floors, stairs, walls, and stored items were all covered and protected for the 3-day period. The work went smoothly as different workers coordinated to complete their parts of the project. Scott and his crew kept us informed as the work came to a successful conclusion. The basement looks like new and the drains and sump are working well. I would recommend The Basement Doctor for all of your basement needs. Their attention to details and their friendly and professional attitude are to be commended.

We had a damp corner in our basement and knew it was a problem that would only get worse with time. We put our trust and confidence in the team at The Basement Doctor, and glad we did. Professional and knowledgeable from the first phone call, all the way through the repair. Every team member was a pleasure to work with. Exceptional performance from an excellent company!
I like that they "repair, don't replace".

Great work. Created a living space for my mother that she enjoyed very much!

I have used The Basement Doctor in the past and have found their work to be both within reasonable costs, and exactly what was needed to solve the problem; this time was no exception. Zach and his crew did a fantastic job. I received a call each morning letting me know they were on their way to my house. When they arrived, they were polite, friendly and got to work right away. At the end of the work day, Zach would show me exactly what had been completed that day and what to expect for the next day. The completed project exceeded my expectations. I have a 100+ year old house. The basement walls were in bad shape, with crumbling and bowing evident. Now, I have a much improved space that I no longer dread going into. Everything looks great, and I couldn't be more pleased. I would not hesitate to recommend The Basement Doctor for any basement project; they're the best!

They did a great job and my husband and I are glad we chose them to fix cracks in basement walls.. Basement Doctor was professional, hard working with the anticipated excellent result.

They were great to work with, very professional and knowledgeable. They found the crack in our basement and repaired it very quickly! Santos is the man!

From the beginning to the end of this project the people of Basement Doctor were excellent. Ryan carefully checked and diagnosed our problem. He explained the needed repairs thoroughly. Each day the crew lead by Jamison called to let us know when they would arrive. They kept us informed of everything and answered our questions. They were very clean when they came to work on the inside. The result as an extremely high quality repair both inside and outside.

I recently had to have some foundation work done on my house. I called The Basement Doctor because I have used them in the past and was satisfied with their work. Every member of their team I dealt with was knowledgeable, professional and courteous. I would recommend them to family and friends.

Work was done efficiently and the cleanup was well done. Zach, Matt and Christian did a great job accommodating my busy schedule and still making sure everything was done on time.

Very thorough and courteous. Trust worthy and knowledgeable, dependable. Very good customer skills.

Had a sump pump and battery backup installed on a Friday. The installation wasn’t completed properly, so I called early the next morning. Since it was Saturday I wasn’t expecting a resolution until Monday, but my project manager addressed the problem immediately (in the middle of Basement Doctor’s company Christmas party no less!) by arranging for an emergency technician to come reinstall. All issues were addressed that morning and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the ultimate outcome (thanks again Charlie and Justin!). Fantastic customer service!

Our experience with The Basement Doctor (BD) has been far below expectations and has been well over one year in the making. What started out as a great relationship quickly turned south once contracts and payments were made.

As this is a very large investment ($30,000) we had plenty of questions before finalizing the contracts, securing financing, and making payment. We had several face to face meetings with our sales consultant, his manager, VPs, and foreman to ensure our current structure would take well to the proposed material to be used (***). We were assured the material would apply just fine to the foundation form (foam) that existed as part of our basement. The VP made a visit to check the material and assured us this would not be a problem and that he had done this type of job with this foam previously.

To prepare for our job our sales consultant (Mike) made a drawing of our basement and indicated existing outlets, for replacement, and other various structures. We were informed that our water heater would need to be moved away from the wall to allow enough space. We requested a quote on what it would take for BD to move it and we would check with our own contractor to see their price. We were told it would likely not cost anything but would be contacted if that was not correct. No further contact about this was made prior to day 1 of work.

After our initial deposit was made one-third ($10,000) we were quickly scheduled and work was to be completed in 5 days as promised.

As mentioned above no contact was made regarding moving the water tank until day 1 of work. On this initial day we were told the tank would need moved by the next day and would cost an additional fee of $350.00. We were quick to contact our contractor who was then booked and unable to come. After several calls to the VP, sales consultant, and speaking with our foreman we were informed they would ‘as a courtesy’ move the tank for free since no one confirmed the pricing with us ahead of time. Day 1 of work brought other issues as well, we were informed that many of our shrubs would need to be removed to make way for the sump pump and downspout drain that would be going to the back of our lot. This was yet another surprise piece of information that was NOT shared with us prior to this day. Again, after many calls, and conversations we were able to ‘work around’ the plants. While these situations were both resolved reasonably the amount of stress and irritation brought with them on day 1 of a large (budgetary) project does not put one at ease.

Days 2 and 3 brought a whole new host of concerns and changes that were not ideal. We were informed that in fact the *** system will NOT work with our current foam insulation (from the poured foundation walls) and that a White Cap system will need to be used instead. This was and continues to be completely frustrating. Instead of a nice semi-finished look we are stuck with heavy plastic rolled trash bag kind of look. With white tape throughout leaving bubbles, bulges, and seams over our entire basement. We were told this is the ONLY way they can waterproof the basement and there are no other options. When asked if there would be some kind of compensation back to us for this issue we were told no and that this system would actually cost more but they would not change the price since it was their issue in not knowing this would have been a problem. The next day the egress window was to be installed and heavy rains were in the forecast. I was told that if I chose to delay the job that I would still have to pay my balance and then the job would be finished once the ground was dry enough to hold the equipment. But that if the BD decided to move the job I would pay my balance once it was finished. I indicated that ideally the job was to be done in 5 days and if that could not happen I would want the BD input on what to do. I was told it would be better to reschedule but that again I would be the one to decide that. The BD would be able to do the job with rain or no rain but it was at my discretion. I indicated that they are the professionals and I have no experience with doing this type of work. If they thought it could be done with the rain in the forecast they could continue. But if they thought it was better to wait then I also approve that decision but either way I did not want the reschedule on my own choice. I was told they consulted with the concrete company (doing the foundation cut) and they would proceed as scheduled. This was a horrible mistake on their part. The rains were torrential and lasted almost all day. Equipment sank almost instantly in our yard and caused severe damage, which we still deal with today. I was told at the end of the day, and several times after this, that ‘we (basement doctor) should have waited’, ‘we (BD) should have rescheduled’, ‘this was bad’. All things that I feared but deferred to the PROFESSIONALS to determine.
At the end of day 5 I was approached and told this job should never have been scheduled for only 5 days. It should have been at least 6 and possibly 7. They would need to return the next week to finish the project. Reluctantly, but with no other choice, I agreed. I also asked about the damage to our yard and how/when that would be fixed. I was told I would need to wait until the ground dried out and then they could come back and regrade the yard and reseed. Another frustration that could have been easily avoided.

Upon my walkthrough (over that weekend) I noticed the electrical outlets were spaced rather close together and did not extend around the entire perimeter as they had previously. I spoke with the electrician (whose initial inspection prior to work was unscheduled, and not attended by the foreman or sales consultant) and he indicated the outlets were up to code and that the number of outlets matched our initial number of outlets. I asked what the code was, again not a professional here, and was told every 6 feet was the current code, and that our old outlets were out of code. After a very quick search I found that Ohio electrical code indicates that outlets must be between 6-12 feet. Meaning that 6 feet was the minimum and 12 feet was the maximum. After questioning several times I was told there was nothing to be done. I followed up with our sales consultant, who had the drawing from his initial outline of work which clearly indicated outlets should be replaced where they were already placed, and was assured they would ‘make it right’. As opposed to removing and respacing all thirteen outlets the electrician said he could add one at the end to give more. That was again unacceptable. There was an entire wall with no outlets, and another wall where the outlet was 15’ from another (out of code). Finally three additional outlets were installed (weeks after completion). And on the matter of timing, our project was ‘completed’ on March 17, 2019, on May 6, 2019 our foreman texted me to see if the electrician had come back to finish his work (for the third time). I said no and that this needs to be scheduled as I did not want someone just showing up at my house without an appointment (as he had done before for an inspection). It is completely unprofessional to arrive at someone’s home unplanned and expect that a. they are there and b. are willing to allow you in without prior knowledge. The day he arrived for his initial, again unscheduled, inspection our children were arriving home from school and didn’t know what to do because there was an unknown vehicle in our driveway.

Backing up a bit, on March 30, 2019 (two weeks after ‘completion’) our sump pump, installed by BD, started acting completely out of the norm and I sent multiple people a video showing what was happening. The next day we received a ‘let me make some calls’ note and had to follow up three more times before we were told it needed replaced. The day of replacement was another heavy rain day and the technician that came out said it was barely enough time between pumps to replace the unit. He was very knowledgeable and thankfully was able to replace the unit. He did ask however who installed the first unit. I said I wasn’t sure of the person but that it was the initial crew. He was shocked to find that the system was not secure and that all our wiring was not mounted, the seals weren’t in place properly and was dismayed at the sight of things. He fixed everything up nicely and it looks much better now.

At the end of our contracted work “6 days” instead of 5, I was given what is called a foreman’s punch list. It included all the items that would need ‘fixed’ once the ground was able to withstand the equipment. Our downspouts were placed on top of the ground to help keep water away until they could be reburied (as the equipment crushed them), terrible ruts were left in our yard, off our driveway and standing water was obviously being held there. The punch list clearly stated “regrade side of house; topsoil, seed, straw; fix ruts in yard (which I clarified did that mean by driveway and was told yes); downspouts”. All these items were unfinished at the end of the project and again no offer to hold compensation was made. I was told that day 6 everything would be done so I had a check cut from our bank ($5 fee involved). When I arrived home on day 6 this list was presented to me and I was told I could hold back part of the money if I so wished. Having already had the balance ($20,000) check cut and paid the fee I didn’t want to have to travel back to the bank (30 minutes) and pay again for a new check, then again pay for the final check. I was trustworthy and said I would pay the balance now trusting the work would be done in a timely manner.
Fast forward to June 2019, over 3 months after ‘completion’, and we have yet another email out to the VP and sales consultant to go over the issues we are still needing to be completed (the punch list and now a few other issues we had noticed). Several emails went unanswered for weeks until we decided it was time to escalate the issues and send emails to several VPs and the company president. Finally an answer came on July 17, noting the original foreman would be out to finish the job the following Saturday. For reference, the other issues included the egress window not being air tight (breeze felt on the side) and holes in the white cap (no tape was left to fix these on our own – but further there should never have been holes left by the crew). On July 19, we were told the foreman would arrive at 7AM the following morning (Saturday) as promised. That was fine and we said we just needed to head out around 8AM for some errands but then would be back before completion to discuss anything further. At 8AM the next day we reached out via email to the foreman to indicate we had to leave for appointments but would be back, he had not arrived at 7AM as expected. We indicated in the email the items that needed to be addressed so it was clear, since we weren’t able to talk in person as originally planned. Work was done to the yard, for burying the downspouts, ‘regrading’ was done (not actually regraded but some dirt was attempted to be smoothed out and some seed was dropped. The ruts in the driveway were still present (horrible from where their trucks went off the drive SEVERAL times and nearly caused the truck to flip over – the front end was in the air at one point), the seed was sparse, could see many sections that had no seed, the yard was not graded away from the house, so water comes toward the house now, huge piles still exist because nothing was leveled, many of our shrubs died due to the immense about of water the downspouts and sump pump were pumping directly into the yard for MONTHS until this work was done. Our garden was unable to be planted because of the excess water, the grass in half our yard couldn’t be cut (reached nearly 3’ tall), mosquitoes were rampant due to standing water in divots and water pooling in yard, the list goes on and on. We had no hope and was told several times the BD would find something they could to do help compensate us for all the issues. The VP, Ed, was to ‘think of something he thought would be suitable and get back to us’, this has yet to happen as of January 6, 2020.

After another several weeks of waiting to hear what might be offered, more problems arose. On August 22, 2019 I went to dump our dehumidifier down the sump pump and noticed the rubber cover where one of the pipes comes out was not sealed and was about to slip into the basin. When I tried to pull it back up to fix it the entire lid of the sump pump cover came off because it was not bolted on. This was concerning due to the fact that we have a radon issue and the airtight seal is important. The lid and rubber seals not being airtight negates all the work the mitigation system is attempting to do. I also noticed in the same week that the downspout on the front corner of our home was not draining into the underground lines and instead was exiting directly into the ground next to our porch. I tried to get them realigned but the downspout was too short to stay within the buried line. Another call to our sales rep was made, after an appointment was set to address these issues we noticed that the egress window cover was not properly aligned and was allowing water, and wildlife, to come into the window basin. The drain helped with the water but several frogs were found dead in the basin as they couldn’t get back out. We called the sales rep to let him know that needed addressed as well. He was able to come out on November 19, 2019, that day he fixed the sump pump cover, and extended the downspout pipe to better fit. He indicated that he too felt the draft from the egress window, he advised that we could get weather stripping to fix this issue, honestly that’s offensive. The issue was with installation and now we are left to fix the issue. The cover for the egress window, he indicated that he agreed it wasn’t properly lined up and that the cover was hitting the siding instead of the foundation (should have been slightly deeper dug on the window to avoid this, nothing can be done at this point). He didn’t have any new Velcro on him at the time but would mail some to us. While this is not ideal at least it would help fix the issue. At the end of the visit on November 19 the sales consultant sent us a letter showing what all he did and requested the VP to call my husband to again discuss the ‘compensation’ issue that was promised to us.

On December 2, 2019 our sales rep sent a follow up email to see if the VP had ever called and to let us know the Velcro strips were out of stock in their warehouse and that he would need to come back out to try supergluing the Velcro into a new location to realign them properly. My husband indicated that no one had called and that the other options for the window cover is fine. As of January 6, 2020 no one has contacted us regarding either of these items. Now over one month later I am submitting this to the Revdex.com to hopefully get to the final resolution and to warn others that this company does not live up to the standards they claim. I would not recommend them to my friends and family and regret the investment I made with them.

Great service and follow up !! Options were explained clearly upfront.

Good response to all questions and willingness to be called any time.

They are honest and give EXCELLENT service! I was pregnant, and about to deliver our second child when our basement required a complete overhaul. Basement Doctor sent out two crews and bent over backwards to complete the job prior to my newborns arrival! We have nothing but fabulous things to say about them!

Everyone from receptionist to project manager was courteous, helpful, and reliable. This company works as a well oiled machine. My project advanced and was expertly completed just as planned. The whole team showed respect to me and my house throughout the experience. I cN recommend The Basement Doctor without hesitation.