Basement Waterproofing in NJ

[bjpack]

On Thursday Jan 5, 2006 we had a waterproofing system installed by Garden State Waterproofing ("GSW"). On Sunday, Jan 8, I went downstairs to find sewage covering much of my basement floor. I called GSW immediately and left a message to have a crew sent over to see what happened. On Monday, the owner of the company called me and spent about 1/2 hour ranting and raving about my angry messages and not offering to send his crew to see what happened. He assured me I was smelling wet cardboard, not sewage and he told me that anyone with "half a brain" would have emptied the basement anyway. When I reminded him that the salesman specifically told us that we only need to move things 5-7 feet from the wall and we did not have to raise our items (the only reason for moving items was to give clearance for the jackhammer, not avoid potential sewage problems) he continued to say we should have known. We have since had a plumbing company come in and fix the problem, which incidentally was sewage leaking into our basement.

This post is not meant to comment on the work that was done or to lay blame for the problem. It is to point out the kind of customer service that you may expect to receive if you request help from this company using the wrong tone. There is much more to this story that I'd be happy to share if you are interested. Feel free to email me at b j p a c k 1 at h o t m a i l . c o m.

[barry]

Not wanting to rub salt into a wound, but if you'd googled about, you'd never have taken that first step.

Second, if we don't live in NJ (not interested, thanks) why would we be interested?

Suggestions: cool down, document everything as best possible, and take it to your attorney and whatever agencies might regulate such crooks, if you haven't already. Hit them where it hurts. Then drop it, and let your pulse rate drop to normal. Life's too short.

HTH, J

[trader4]

"Suggestions: cool down, document everything as best possible, and take

it to your attorney and whatever agencies might regulate such crooks, if you haven't already. Hit them where it hurts. Then drop it, and let

your pulse rate drop to normal. Life's too short."

He's bitching about a sewer backup to a company that waterproofed his basement. Last time I checked, one has nothing to do with the other. Unless his house is floating in a septic tank.

[Joseph Meehan]

I hate to tell you this, but it that is sewage, I don't think the waterproofing failed, it is a plumbing problem. You may have called the wrong people.

[bjpack]

My homeowner's insurance is already involved and my lawyer is aware of the situation. I am obviously hopeful that the insurance company will take care of the situation and that will be the end of it for me. My point was about the customer service and this is the kind of thing that people typically like to know about. A piece of cement and a piece of galvanized steel piping somehow found there way into the sewer line and they caused the backup. There was no backup before the waterproofing system was installed. Therefore it is certainly possible that they were responsible for these items getting into the sewer line. The whole matter is currently under investigation and was irrelevant to my post. I was not seeking advice, although I do appreciate your taking the time to pass it along. Also, I'm not bitching. I'm simply sharing a story that people that are looking to waterproof their basement might be interested in.

Thanks for your input.

[sleepdog]

They jackhammered near the sewer lines? I try to do all my jackhammering away from the sewer lines. Did anyone at least try to find and mark them before they started digging? Oooops!

[barry]

To state the obvious- can't see it from here. Bitching won't help but to vent.

Uh, the various pipes are kinda close, and, uh, they could have busted one or more out of simple incompetence. But you can see that's not the case. Please pardon my lack of vision, or caring.

J

[Art]

When I had my previous house crawlspace waterproofed, they hit the well pipe by mistake and flooded the whole place. Fortunately it was a crawlspace. In any case after they finished the job it proved that it worked. Ground was dry in a few days.