Groundworks

Foundation Systems of Michigan called the day before to confirm their time of arrival.  They showed up on time, were very careful about tracking dirt into the house, cleaned up afterwards and were very polite and professional.  After they left I had a few questions and the person on the phone was very helpful and they sent someone out to help clarify things for me.  I was extremely happy with their service.

The contractor showed up on time with a crew of 3 and began with a pre-inspection of the basement by the team leader. Work began immediately, Make sure all furnishings in the basement are removed from the wall. They said at least a 3 foot clearance. They covered all stuff in the basement with plastic and then began the cutting/jack hammering. This was the extremely noisy part to include the drilling. Expect lots of dust, we were told to expect this. Once all the work was completed I had a post inspection by the team leader. Do make sure that the contract includes any work on the stairs if required. My contract indicated that the landing was to be removed and re-installed. I had a previous discussion with the salesman and the landing was to be replaced. A quick phone call and the landing issue was resolved. The landing was to be replaced. Had to wait approx. 10 days to get the landing replaced due to vacations and scheduling conflicts. Do's : Use this company, they promised a quality job and delivered to my satisfaction. I did interview several other companies. Clear the basement if possible. The dust gets into everything even when convered. Make sure the family has someplace to go - the noise is unbearable when jack hammering and drilling. Dont's: Dont use anybody else! Have had several heavy rain falls and no water on the floor anywhere. Dont forget the make sure the contract has everything covered. They weren't the cheapest nor were they the most expensive, I went with them because I believed they would provide the services the salesman said they would. They did.

Three years later, it's difficult to say whether the work was necessary or not, mainly because we neglected to measure the size of the cracks in the plaster at the time. We still have issues with the front door and windows not opening/shutting well, though the magnitude of this problem seems to come and go, potentially with the seasons or with how much the ground swells with absorbed water. We recently had an issue with water coming into the basement after heavy storms through cracks caused by the damage of the backhoe. After contacting FSM about it and showing them the photographs of the damage from three years ago to remind them, they sent someone out to re-repair the cracks. They also marked the house with a laser level and will be coming back in a few months to determine whether further movement was the cause of the original repair failing. Overall, they seem like an honest company and have stood behind their work so far. I can't really comment on the quality of the work, as it may be too early to say whether the solution they proposed and implemented has addressed our issue. As far as price goes, I don't know how they compare to anyone else, so it's hard to say if it was fair. They certainly put in a lot of work installing the piers... they had 4-5 guys working at a time and had to fight the clay, which tended to lose its structure and kept caving in in the wet early spring conditions they were working in.

Fantastic!!!!!!  They were prompt, professional, and did an amazing and clean job!!

Before the inspector arrived, we received a packet from the company noting who our inspector would be, and educational info on foundations problems.  Steve (inspector) was prompt, courteous and very professional.  He accommodated our evening appointment and sat down with us to review options.  We opted to install piers based on his recommendation and scheduled the appointment.  My only complaint could be that it took nearly 2 months to get the appointment.  Perhaps a good sign they were busy, but I certainly didn't want to wait that long given we were going into the winter season.  Never the less, we booked the date & the team arrived promptly, and did a great job.  In & out quickly and cleaned up well on my & my neighbor's yards.  It was hard to tell they even did any work!  They even put my Japanese maple back in the ground for me after the job.  We have a few drywall cracks to repair, but they did a good job setting our expectations that 1) they may be some cracks and 2) the ground may never be 100% level again (it's not) but it was lifted some & will stop any further issues. I certainly can't speak for how well it is holding up just yet, but so far, so good!

Overall everything went as expected.  Because of an unknown buried electric wire, there was an unexpected need for an electrician, which they promptly supplied at their expense.  The reconnection work was accomplished as promised.  The clean up was as well as what could be expected considering the time of year and weather conditions.  We are left with some additional work to finish in the Spring, such as putting our trellis/fence back up.  Tthey were very careful to work around what we left standing during the job. 

The inspector came and looked around the crawlspace took photos and afterward came up and sat and talked with me and went over the photos and possible solutions to them. he showed me comparable projects he had worked on so i could make the best choice for how to fix my crawl space. I decided that day to go forward with the encapsulation and scheduled my appointment day.  The company is very busy and the next available day was a month and a half. I was ok with this because they were up front and wasn't in a big hurry.   My only complaint is that i were told they would start on a monday from the initial representative however when the day came no one showed up. I called the company and was told that my job was scheduled for the next day (tuesday). i was upset because i had organized my work schedule to fit it in and was worried that with it being a 2 day job i would have to scramble to move things again. however the next day the workers arrived on time and got right to work they sealed off there walk way through the house to the crawl access and were able to finish the work in one day rather than the two day estimate. they even hauled away the garbabe for me, so i didn't have to deal with it.so ultimately they finished on the day that was originally set. after the work was completed the foreman walked me through what they had don and showed me around the new crawl space. and answered any and all of my questions. the final work is very satisfactory i could tell that day that the house was warmer and because of the new sumps with alarms i had installed i was able to find a leak from my tub that i was unaware of. ultimately i would recommend them for this type of work.

The job went well - took less than a day, as promised, and the area was left free of debris. The neighbor's fence and gate were replaced as promised.  Access to the site had been impeded by an obstruction, which was resolved when the crew chief spoke to the neighbor and received permission to remove the gate and part of the fence temporarily with the caveat that it be replaced and was as good as it was before the work. The neighbor gave written permission for the gate/fence removal and repair, and told us later  that the gate/fence seemed ok. Most of the old concrete was removed and the dirt replaced although some of the broken concrete was buried at repair site. The lawn will need some repair due to the fact that the machinery chewed up some of the lawn that wasn't covered by protective boards. We will have to monitor the dirt piled back at the foundation to see if it settles enough, too much, or not at all. The foundation settling was a longstanding problem resulting in foundation sagging and cracks, and we hope the solution is permanent as promised, but really won't know for years if it is permanent. 

We were very impressed with the efficiency and quality of work performed. From start to finish we have no complaints. The guys did a great job and left our home as clean as when they arrived.

It went well.