WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

For anyone who’s owned a house, the rule of thumb is that there’s going to be water somewhere where it’s not wanted. Whether it’s a leaking pipe or water in the basement, I don’t know any homeowner who hasn’t had a water problem. Our exterminator says that there are two kinds of homeowners—the ones who have termites and the ones who are going to get them. Water is pretty much the same.

Years ago, after having finished our basement, including having the walls coated with water repellent sealant, we found that water started to invade anyway. At that time, we found a seasoned expert waterproofer. His grandfather had come to this country from Italy to work as a stonemason, part of the construction crew at Princeton University. He created a waterproofing expert in his grandson. Tony was honest, super-competent, and proud of his business. He and his men dug a trench around the entire inside perimeter of the basement, put in a sump pump, and we were set. Until a few years ago. Walking downstairs in socks, a friend asked if we’d had the basement carpet cleaned. I smiled—wow, it looks better than I’d thought. Wrong! She was stepping on damp carpet. And so it began again. We called our trusty waterproofer, only to find that he’d retired. Well deserved, but disappointing. Although he referred us to another waterproofer, we found that this one had retired, too, and a younger, less experienced crew had taken over.

***GENERAL RULE OF THUMB—Sadly, unless an experienced professional has trained dedicated family and brought them into the business, it’s really difficult to locate skilled professionals with integrity like those we’ve used in the past. So, Angie’s List or not, finding competent experts to resolve home problems isn’t easy. So, how do you do it?

1) We went to the local Home Show and talked to waterproofing businesses. Of course, we were dealing with Sales people, so took that into consideration. But, we told the reps about our history and remedies, our current problems, and asked specific questions about additional remedies.

2) We looked at Angie’s list, Home Advisor, Yelp, Google, and other sites for reviews.

3) We called a few waterproofers and asked for specific client references. We called those references and asked specific questions about company professionalism, specific remedies, and other questions that would give us insight into company integrity and competence regarding our specific problem.

4) Howard hit the online directory and located a few contractors. He did his due diligence with specific technical questions. Howard’s more technologically savvy than I am, and can assess the details better than I can.

Much angst. We found that we needed a gutter diverted. That was easy and inexpensive. We used a great roofer whom we had dealt with before—lucky break. We also had to have window well drains put in by another company. The most important part—our glass block windows were leaking. How would we have known that when the house was built 35 years earlier? The builder had taken a shortcut, and used standard sized windows, adding wood to fill the extra space? The wood had started to deteriorate and caused the bigger part of the leak. I guess that 35 years isn’t bad, but, if it had been done right to begin with, it wouldn’t have been an issue. Good thing that the builder was dead, or I would have killed him. With all of his careful screening, Howard simply stumbled over the glass supplier to local builders, and Gene, the owner, obviously knew what he was talking about. Problem fixed.

But, early on, in our attempt to rectify the problem, we contacted the company that had installed our de-humidifier. The assessor walked into the house, barely listened to us, and told us that we needed a new trench to the tune of around $10,000. We already had a trench that was working. BQ Basements—really!!!!???

Having lost faith in BQ, we decided to forgo our annual de-humidifier inspection, not trusting that their 10-15 minute visit at $100+ would be worthwhile. Mental note to find another company to service our de-humidifier.

Opportunity knocked at a Home Show. We saw BQ. I went up to the rep and told him about the attempt at sleazy sales with the unnecessary trench. He seemed attentive—but then again, remember, he was there to sell. Surprisingly, I received a call a few days later, offering that year’s inspection without charge. So, they came, spent 10-15 minutes, and left, everything okay and no charge.

Having a contact person, and looking at annual inspection this year, we decided to have them inspect again. However, I called about charges. The normal charge is $125. I pointed out that for 10-15 minutes, $125 seemed high. He noted that the only equipment that they had installed was the de-humidifier, and offered to charge $50. That seemed reasonable. I did ask for an experienced technician, since we’d seen some of their motlier crew in the past. Since everything seemed simple and straightforward, we didn’t anticipate a problem. Little did we know.

The technician had only been with the company for a year. But, for something simple, on what seemed to be a problem-free unit, we shouldn’t have had an issue. Again, little did we know. Howard and I thought that the tech was spending too much time in the basement. Although we hadn’t had any problems, Motley Crew Guy told us that we needed a compressor. Howard went downstairs and showed him why we didn’t need a compressor. Motley Crew Guy was downstairs for a few more minutes, and said that we needed a sensor. Ok—skeptical, but what did we know? We should have known. He asked for full payment. NEVER DO THAT. We gave him half, but on a credit card, so that if there was a problem, we could put the charge in question. He also gave us a bunch of baloney about possibly taking 6 months for delivery. At that point, we didn’t care. The unit worked for now.

Two days later, we received an early morning call from BQ. The sensor was in and they were on their way over. When I had spoken with the company after the first visit, I expressed concern about tech’s apparent lack of experience. This time Motley Crew Guy came with another tech, who had been with the company for over 10 years. Sounded good. Wasn’t good. He was another sleaze. They put the sensor in, and the unit, which had been working, stopped working. I went crazy, got to the Operations Manager, who blithely said that after 5 years, we probably needed a new unit anyway. AHHA!!! SURPRISE! THE REAL AGENDA! I did get him to refund what we’d paid for the sensor, and told him we’d think about it.

In the meanwhile, we decided that we’d never deal with BQ again, and called the waterproofer who had installed the drain a year earlier. He barely looked at the issues, and simply tried to sell us a new unit. We went to our heating/cooling service, who, unfortunately, hadn’t been doing de-humidifiers when we put the original unit in. But they do them now. We had our regular trusty tech come out, and he had a few thoughts about possible fixes before we’d have to go to a new unit. So, we’re in process and feel more confident in the hands of a known and honest business.

WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT DO WHEN YOU’RE DEALING WITH COMPLICATED TECHNICAL ISSUES

1) Start by trying a trusted company you’ve used before. Even if they don’t handle your type of problem, they may have referrals to the type of companies that you do need.

2) Try Angie’s List and other review options, but when you decide to consider a company, ask for references and ask specific questions about reliability, problems, details, etc.

3) Don’t take anything at face value. Do your due diligence, and get on the internet to look up all details regarding your problem. Obtain as much information as you can, to see if the tech makes sense.

4) Remember——many contractors incentivize their staff by paying them more when they sell high ticket items. Be very wary when they seem to try to oversell.

5) Also, remember—when you’re stepping in these waters, you’re in uncharted territory.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE BEING SLEAZED?

1) Get to the highest contact in the company and tell your story. Assess whether they support the sleaze or whether they’re unaware. That information will give you insight into next steps. If they’re unaware, you can provide information to fix and avoid problems for future and for others. If they’re aware, that’s another story. Move on to other companies, and write reviews of negative experience on all appropriate sites. (And, when you’ve found a good company, don’t forget to write a positive review—-but not until after all work is complete.)

2) When possible, if you’re at a Home Show, go to the company booth and tell your story—preferably when there’s another potential customer close by. You can save someone else from the aggravation you’ve experienced. Not to mention the dismayed look on the Home Show rep’s face. I’ve done it in the past. It was amusing to watch the potential customer scurry off. Not to mention that it was amusing to watch my family pretend that they didn’t know me.

I guess that another option is to live in a tent or a cave. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t work for most people.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE,

AND ALL THE BOARDS DID SHRINK

WATER. WATER EVERYWHERE;

BQ YOU REALLY STINK!

(Apologies to Samuel Taylor Coleridge—The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)