Basement Leak Repair in San Francisco

During the crazy heavy rains of Spring 2018, my below grade fireplace facia was leaking water! After several misdiagnosis from "professionals" (including contractors and fireplace professionals and water proofing companies), Basement Masters was one of the few that identified the problem accurately and provided the solution that made sense to me, even though it was more expensive than the interior home trench option most offered. They listened to the problem. I did get some alternative quotes for an exterior dig and water proofing once I understood what the problem really was. Basement Masters had a competitive price. But what really sold me was the down to earth approach the owner took on this project. They were very fair with me when I needed some additional work during the job and didn't take advantage of price gouging. They are a small shop so communication sometimes took longer than you'd hope, but it was during the crazy rain season where everyone's basements were leaking. Lastly, I had to manage this project remotely and had them work with my tenant, and they were nothing but professional throughout the processshow more

I called many companies to assess our leaky basement and only found three who would come out to look at it. Universal responded promptly, gave us a quote and scheduled the work within a reasonable period of time. The work went smoothly and was very thorough. Workers were pleasant and efficient. Unfortunately, we still have a very minor leak that is unresolved. Universal responded quickly to this news and made another repair. The minor leak is still there and may require a bigger fix. We're assessing next steps nowshow more

We contacted AR Basement Crack Repair. The owner Ed, responded quickly and asked for some pictures so he could do an initial assessment of the problem. Within a week the estimate and repair were complete. They also walked around the exterior of the house and found a lawn sprinkler head that was depositing too much water in an outside area adjacent to the crack. Since the repair, there is no more leaking. Not only did they repair the crack, they discovered the likely source of the excess water. We are completely satisfied and wouldn't hesitate to recommend AR to anyone needing this type of repairshow more

Excellent. Hard working crew that did an excellent job. Crawl space clean, odor free, less moisture in home. By having this done we later discovered we had a plumbing and ac leak in the crawl space. With the recent rains in Dec/2014 we were so happy to have a sump pump to handle the heavy rains and know our crawl space was not floodedshow more

I picked up this company because I saw one of their staff members working on a house when I was walking by. I was very impressed by what he was doing. After I called the office, the manager Jeremy came to my house several times to assess what needed to be done. He is an excellent guy. He did a thorough assessment and explained to me what the plan would be and gave me some suggestions. He was very honest and openly discussed with me what options I had. Besides needing to install the drainage pipes and pump, he also suggested connecting the main drainage pipes to the tool shed trench, because the tool shed trench had no outlet. Before the project started, when I had questions, he always responded very quickly and he updated me frequently when they would start the project because their schedule was very tight. During the process, the workers are excellent and very efficient. They did an awesome job. When they started this project, I also wanted to add another project to add concrete to my side path. Jeremy came again and did another assessment and gave me a very reasonable price. I am very satisfied with what they did for me. In the middle of the process, when the first Lead Foreman had a medical problem, Jeremy tried very hard to arrange the second Lead Foreman to come help. I was very impressed. The whole process ran very smoothly. I highly recommended this company. No matter their field workers or the office workers, they are all very nice, professional, and efficient. They are willing to answer your questions and work with youshow more

The whole crew was fast, pleasant and professional. They actually finished a week early and were happy to help out whenever anything came up that needed attention. The french drain was dug by hand so there was no damage to landscaping or the house. They worked really hard and fast, cleaned up after themselves and were always friendly. We had leaking in the basement last winter (which was a dry one) and even with the huge rains here in Mill Valley this year the basement is totally dry and pleasant. I never felt I was being taken advantage of even when unexpected problems arose or changes to the scope of work were discussed. Paul is truly an expert at drainage and has a great crewshow more

Very professional. Made sure I understood exactly what the problem was and how he was going to end the problem. Job was done at the promised time and completed in a very timely manner. Cleanup was thorough and workers very responsible and pleasant. I highly recommend Paul Carty to get the job done right! A bit pricey, but you get what you pay for........show more

Our building inspector had suggested a short exterior concrete wall to redirect water away from the house (about 2-3K in his opinion). If this did not work over the winter rains, we might need to look at the more expensive option of excavation & a french drain (about $30K by his estimate) We called Mr. Carty for an estimate on the wall option. He was very professional and spent some time looking at the problem areas and reading the inspectors report. His primary recommendation was to excavate in the crawlspace and install a drainage system. This would involve cutting the roots of a large tree adjacent to the house. He felt that hydraulic pressure of rainwater running downhill was what was causing the leak into the crawlspace. When we insisted that we would rather explore the low wall option for starters, he recommended adding drains to either end of the wall (though there is an existing drain on one side). We felt a little pressured into choosing one of these options, which would be several thousands costlier than just a low wall and involved time-consuming construction work. We decided to postpone the project and get another opinion. In the interim, we had some interior work done to repair the bedroom wall, during which the handyman found a couple of cracks in the exterior wall. He sealed them with heavy-duty sealant which seems to have solved the leakage issue. No more water in the crawlspace over the last 5 months, despite some heavy stormsshow more

James and Diana are a train wreck waiting to happen in your home! My wife and I gave James and Diana a list of items we wanted done to the home we just purchaced: The 20 item list was looked over and we were told that it could be completed in two weeks, over a month later, 5 items on the list were not completed and damage was caused. Lets start in the master bath: James did a good job on removing the tub from the master shower. He was able to find/match the tile that needed to be replaced (where the tub was), but instead of keeping the offset/subway pattern of the tile, he decided to line up the bottom row of tile with the row above it making the shower look Totally Unbalanced. Glass Shower Door Install (1 Fixed piece of glass & 1 sliding glass door): James asked me if he could install the sliding glass door (against what the instructions said) on the outside of the fixed glass, to give us "a couple more inches inside the shower". He CLAIMS that he told me that the shower might leak as a result of this install, He Did Not Tell Me That! There is no way I would have approved knowing that my New Shower WILL Leak! It does leak, water goes right between the two pieces of glass. James had to think about how to fix this for Several days. Diana his business partner and manager of the business (the one that will not responde to me to this day), suggested that I just lay a towel on the floor to pick up the leak. REALLY!?! I let her know that would not be the best option. James finally got the idea to move the door to the inside of the fixed pane. After going to the store to get a replacement support rod, he found out the the shower must be put together the way he had already, and that there was a missing piece of trim the keeps the water in the shower. This tells me a few things: He did not look at the instructions before telling me that he wanted to install against the instructions, and that he did not know that there was supposed to be rubber trim to keep the water in the shower. The floor board trim that was right up against the tub was removed, and placed in the garage for me to find days after they were gone, not recut and reinstalled. Master Bedroom: James did install a ceiling fan and swap 2 prong outlets the grounded 3 prong outlets...Good Job The bummer was the ceiling fan was all the two of them did that day. Dianas Job: Aside from collecting the money every couple daysDiana painted some doors and an accent wall in several rooms... Good job (really does look good) Diand also installled a back splash around the stove in the kitchen, looks beautiful, except where the tiles had to be cut to fit...she used a tin snips, not a persicion tool as James (her partner) suggested to her. As long as you dont look to closely it looks good. 2nd Bath: James asked me to look for a vanity, I thought that is what I hired him to do. It took me some time but I found a one foot deep vanity that would work perfect. When it came time to install, James decided to make a vanity and not you the one he told me I had to find. James was nice enough to donate a granite top for the vanity but took al day to cut the holes for the faucet. 2nd Bedroom: James was supposed to hang a cieling fan, but there was never enough time. I am willing to send you pictures of their handy work before they do work at your home and you are stuck with sub-par worshow more

Our first visit from Black Creek was a contractor who was not a drainage specialist. He then returned a few days later with Travis, the owner, who clearly had lots of experience with drainage. What I liked most about the way Travis approached the project was that he was flexible and discussed all the options with me, and when new information popped up, he listened and we adjusted the project accordingly. Example: originally, we decided to put a drain on the inside of the crawlspace because we were not sure where the water was coming from, and we could deal with it as it entered. A few days later, it rained, and I poked around under the foundation and saw where the water was coming in. As a result of that, Travis changed his mind and we decided to do the drain on the outside - since we could see where the water was penetrating, we could address it before it got inside. Originally we had 4 issues that needed to be addressed. Travis recommended we solve the two that were more urgent, and then address the other two as needed. He reasoned it was better for us to split it into stages - it spreads the cost and it gives us time to evaluate whether the other issues need to be addressed right away. Travis also looked out for me in terms of cost - he asked his plumber which of two or three options would be cheapest for me during one of our discussions, and we went with that option. With this project, Travis gave me an estimate and a time and materials bid. I was a little nervous about that, but these guys worked hard and they sent me a super detailed invoice at the end of the project. Stan, the project foreman, Despite running into a surprise difficulty trying to dig dirt as hard as concrete (literally), the price came within 15% of their original bid--it was fair given the extra time they had to spend on the projectshow more