Waterproofing around complete house
Manny was hired based on a referral from a very good friend. Not having much experience with waterproofing we trusted the referral was reliable and Manny and Dago would be honest with his work. We hired Viper Home Services to waterproof the whole exterior of the house. We are under construction renovation our whole house. After numerous conversations with Manny, he kept assuring us the work was being completed properly and we had nothing to worry about. We had a GC that came by when we wanted a 2nd opinion. He would ask Manny why he was using pea stone instead of 3/4 crushed stone- Manny brushed him off stating it was the only stone he used all the time. Using the regular stone didn't filter dirt and water properly and he only used very little. We asked Manny to change the stone to the proper one when it was delivered and Manny kept telling us not to worry it was still fine. We had our 1st thaw from the winter and had a swimming pool in our basement not once but twice. My husband kept calling Manny to come out and see our swimming pool. He did in the beginning when we explained the existing foundation cynder blocks were still wet. He kept saying they will dry up not to worry... they never did. After numerous calls Manny didn't want to come back and blamed the winter freezing and stated it was our fault. Need I add his invoice stated fully guaranteed for 15 years!! We decided to investigate further and dug out the leaking side of the house ourselves to find a horrendous mess of weeping tile all bunched up and not extended properly, wavy up and down and away from the foundation. There was also a broken weeper. There was no patching of any cracks in the foundation walls, the seams at the exterior foundation extensions weren't sealed, and the windows weren't sealed as discussed in our agreement there would be. The footings were soaked wet. In the third picture the weeper was installed with slack and veered from the front of the house to the back. The area was soaked because of the slope going in the right direction. A flow test revealed that there was blockage in the back when water flowed back and not through. There was no mention of installing blue skin which our new contractor suggested that is the only way to go by using it on top of the tar application. Our contract included installing window well drains for 2 of our windows, and as you see in the pictures this is the installation of the drainage pipes.. The pipes were not even connected to the main weeping tiles leaving the water to sit and not drain at all. The drains weren't blocked and got filled with dirt and Styrofoam from the stucco installation. We continuously called Manny to come back and fix this mess he did with no response back other than to tell my husband he didn't know what he was talking about and he was not a contractor. After seeing this mess we had no choice but to dig out the rest of the foundation and redo the waterproofing again....Costing thousands of dollars and unwanted headache. - The window wells weren't done properly - The cracks and seams weren't sealed - The windows weren't sealed - There wasn't enough tar to coat the foundation.It was coated thin - The dimpleboard was wavy, there wasn't termination at the top of many areas. He told me I can get the termindation bars at Home depot. - The water main in the house was cracked. Manny said it cracked from the cold winter and it wasn't his fault. I urge you to look at my pictures before you decide to hire Manny to do your work in your home. If you still don't believe my review look carefully at the pictures... I went thru this trouble entering all these pictures to avoid this happening to you. Unless, you really want to spend money and redo your work again. At the beginning all looks good however in the long run this company has taken short cuts in their workmanship and they are the only ones reaping the benefits. The problem didn't end there... Manny went against the GC's instructions and Manny ran the water and drain line to the property line before the city did their lines. The city didn't match Manny's lines and Manny insisted it was the city's error. According to city's written recommendations, the city should always install their lines before our lines. Manny said it was just recommendations and Manny was right. I gave Manny the option of correcting his work and he said he is done with us.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $15,000.00
- Company Response
Tony and Caren, i understand your frustration but as I have told you many times before I can not be held responsible for all the mistakes you guys have committed at your renovation. the number one mistake you committed was not heating your house over the winter. we did the job for you back in November of you guys did not heat the house all winter so your foundation shifted and cracked all over the place after we had repaired the homes original cracks. as for the stone i have no idea what you are talking about we always use 3/4 inch stone and that is what we used at your house, no where in your house did we use pea stone. we we did the job for you in November we had the building inspector look at all our work and it all passed. I went to meet you at least 10 or 12 times after the spring thaw every time i you called i came and every time I told you that you had to get at least temporary power to the sump pump. and you never did. you had a stop work order at you house from the building inspector and I understand that you couldn't have the electrician working there but you didn't even follow my suggestion of running a temporary extension cord from your neighbour. I told you over a dozen times if the pump is not working the water has no were else to go but build up on the basement floor. as for the cracked valve on your water service you are lucky only the valve cracked and not the pipe underground. Again this was due to not heating the house. anyone knows that if you don't heat the house your pipes will crack. Your very good friend as stated by you still recommends me to all their clients because they know I do good work. Again I understand but it was your fault that you didn't provide heat to the house over the winter.
