BEWARE: Pictures speak. A thousand words.
While a tenant in a basement apartment my unit flooded. The landlord at the time hired Aqua Stop Waterproofing in May of 2022 to remedy the situation.
Over the winter 2022 I purchased the property. After a major rain storm in April of 2023 the same basement unit flooded far worse than prior to Aquastops Waterproofing, 25 year warranted waterproofing work being done. (See pics).
Once the snow cover melted the dirty secrets of Aquastop Waterproofings sub par work became very clear, very quickly.
1. Aquastop Waterproofing never came back to level off the soil as noted in the contract. As a result I have a three foot wide, 12-14 inch deep ditch that fills with water right next to my foundation. (See pics). They didnt come back to fill in the driveway with gravel and cold patch as noted in the quote. (See pics).The bubble membrane has now pulled away from the wall,sunk 6-8 inches down the wall, the nails are not attached to the wall or the bubble membrane anymore. (See pics).
2. Aquastop Waterproofing left the property in far worse condition than before they arrived, the basement leaks now worse than ever. (See pics)
Im having all the work redone properly and will video document what is found beneath the soil. If necessary I will post here and on YouTube to warn others.
My best advice is run in the other direction.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $6,000.00
- Company Response
Respectfully, there is a lot said here that just isn’t true.
You stated that you were the tenant in the basement but after speaking to you on the phone, you said it wasn’t you, that is what a colleague of yours. This was after I had stated that we met briefly, thinking the gentleman I saw there when we were working there was you.
This job was completed almost a year ago to date.
We too have pictures. A few things.
The area where the asphalt was removed prior to excavation was gravel topped upon job completion. Absolutely. In regards to the cold patch, we did in fact agree that we would come back and perform it as a service call, free of charge. We had spoken with the previous home owner about coming to patch it up at some point once settlement occurred completely but had never solidified a date or time to perform that service call. Had there been a date set, it would have been completed.
Waterproofing is a very invasive, extensive and messy scope of work. Machines. Deck removal. Asphalt removal. Digging. Soil piles 7 feet high. We try our best to clean up and make it look as least invasive as possible. Some things are out of our control. Soil settlement being one of them. Some houses we have worked at, a year later, look like we were never there. Some don’t end up looking as great as we hoped they would after settlement. It definitely didn’t look like that when we finished because we got paid in full and was asked to quote more work. Our track record with cleanliness is top tier. Some things, like natural settlement, we can’t control.
It clearly states in our contract, in writing, “A service call will be provided after natural settlement occurs to level off area as best as possible. Gravel top will be added on driveway cutout. Once settlement is complete, patch asphalt will be installed to bring asphalt back to completion. This service call is free of charge.” Verbatim. Level off the area as best as possible. There was nothing really to level out. It had settled below existing grade. We can’t control the amount, time or severity of earth that settles naturally. Initially you had stated to me on the phone that our contract says we were supposed to compact the soil. This is completely untrue. This would defeat the purpose of us allowing it to settle naturally. As well as causing vibrations beside freshly hydraulic cement parged areas of the foundation. Which would crack it and make the repair completely redundant.
The dimple board membrane that has sunk is not an odd occurrence with soil settlement. The weight of that settling soil sometimes pulls the membrane down. A very easy, strictly aesthetic fix. A fix that I told you I had no problem coming back to do. That does not hinder the integrity of the waterproofing. The soil settlement is why we tend do not use the aesthetic L mould strapping that some others use because it pulls them out too, leaving more holes.
We are not responsible for the deep ditch filling up with water along your foundation. We specifically do not remove soil like some other companies do, we leave it high above grade to settle. For this exact reason. To try to limit the homeowner having to then fill that area with soil, aggregate etc. That does not make us responsible for what happens after it then settles.
We actually even came back to try to lift and relevel the air conditioner units that had sunken with the soil. The previous home owner asked us to even quote pouring a cement pad there for the ac units. We sent our ac guy there afterwards to disconnect both units and move them farther away from the house to avoid anymore sinking. But we never came back?
This is trying to make us look as tho we just up and left after the job which is not true at all.
Let’s keep in mind, above everything, I said about 4 times, I have no problem coming and performing a water test free of charge. Also stating many times that if it is leaking from anywhere that we have serviced, we will fix it free of charge. That’s what the warranty is for. Human error. Product failure. Whatever the case may be. I never once said that we wouldn’t fix the problem. Never once said that we wouldn’t stand behind our warranty. I only suggested the water test because we only waterproofed one part of the house. The back wall. 80 percent of the house is not. That’s just doing our due diligence as a business. This job was completed almost a year ago. Definitely a chance water has come in from somewhere other than where we serviced. This will allow us to pin point a potential area or areas that water is coming through to then fix the problem. Whether it be in the warrantied area or not. You said no to us coming to do the water test and potential warranty work.
We have a great rapport throughout the entire GTA. We provide quality work, we treat our clients well and we stand behind our warranty if it ever comes that it’s needed. Which isn’t very often.
I tried to be amicable, respectful and understanding during our phone call and succeeded. It was you that was demeaning and hostile from the second you answered the phone and asked who was calling. So much to the point that after again telling you for the third time I have no problem coming to do a water test to figure it out, I asked you to stop being so combative and speaking down on me and the work completed. We completely understand that you just purchased the home over the winter, you have water in the basement, you have an invoice from us about the one section we waterproofed and took your frustration out on the first person you felt you had a viable reason to. Completely understandable. I said we had no problem coming to figure out the issue and if need be, resolve it. You said no.
Good luck. God bless.