BaltimoreAnalog.com

Ok, that was absolutely absurd. I don’t know what it is about these concrete people but they all absolutely refuse to believe that the water is coming in from where it actually is – above grade. No matter how carefully I explain this to them, they all ignore it and state the foundation wall is cracked.

I just had another company come by to give me an estimate. I explained to them the whole situation. They had another solution. They would run a wire mesh around the whole house and then reparge it all. I have heard about this before. You lay the mesh so the concrete settles a new way and doesn’t crack in the same spots that it has before. I still like the idea of using the epoxy to fill in the cracks. I mentioned that to them and they really didn’t know what to say except we’ll bring the boss (our father) back to take a look at the job. Fine, let the guy with the real knowledge come by and let me know what’s up. But it didn’t end there. They went on to explain ,”we’re going to have to waterproof your basement.” But I have a finished basement so does that mean your going to tear the walls down? No, we are going to break the entire concrete foundation 15″ out and then install a french drain, you’ll also need a sump pump installed. Also, I think you should remove all the grading around the entire house and we’ll pour concrete where the lawn is, you don’t really need plants growing in the ground, you can put potted plants on the concrete. Also, get some bigger gutters and another downspout on the opposite side, we’ll set it all up to drain directly into the ground and out the street. Whew! I’ve read about or heard all of these as options before from various people, but never all from the same person as everything that needs to be done.

Now the interesting thing was there were 2 of them. Probably brothers. One of the was the one who was talking the most saying all that had to be done. Every time he finished and I basically said, “that’s a lot of work”, the other would realize that maybe all of that wasn’t needed and say, “but we try to exhaust all of our options first.” Meaning, just do what I say is wrong and see what happens.

When will this end?

How many more contractors do I have to call?

This was contractor number 6.
I just want somebody to come buy who listens to what I say and has a good solution to my problem. Not what they think my problem is or what they think future problems will be. These guys kept saying that even if they fix what I say is wrong eventually the foundation is going to crack below grade and once water finds it’s way in it can’t be stopped. Very optimistic and a great way to scare people into buying the whole package.

I know it’s been a while. None of the contractors called back with an estimate and I got frustrated and took a pause. It’s funny that the economy is in such bad shape, people are out of work and yet I can’t get anybody to do this job.
I’m starting to call around again (this concrete grind) so hopefully things will get sorted out.