If you have issues with water, mold or anything else wrong with your house, I highly recommend you…read morecall Restoration King! Specifically, I dealt with Jason Brandt, and if you can get him, you will be in very good hands on every level.
I live in a duplex with a sizable crawl space. There is one small space at the front of the crawl space where ground water seeps up. I had been told by the builder and two plumbers to "not worry about it" and "leave it alone" because it was "no big deal" but I was not satisfied by their answers. It might be a small amount of water but it was at the foundation and consistent and the builder was supposed to have put in a perimeter drain, so why wasn't the water draining?
When I needed a professional to address this water problem, I had already ruled out everything other than ground water that the builder had not addressed. It was a small amount of water but it needed to be handled. The builder did not bother to dig a sump pump pit (never mind install a sump pump) and no one could locate the perimeter drain outlet so it was an open question.
After getting a number of referrals to vendors who handle this kind of work, I made the round of calls. Many vendors were unable to respond due to heavy workloads and said they could not get to it for weeks or months. Some simply did not bother to respond at all. One made an appointment to come and then did not show up, refusing to even look at the work. Finally, I got a referral to Restoration King from my local neighborhood Facebook page.
From the start, Jason Brandt at Restoration King was simply wonderful. When I first called him, I was still investigating. Jason made an appointment and within just a few DAYS came over and looked at everything. I informed him that I might be taking legal action against the builder and told him everything I was doing and still needed to do. I enlisted his assistance to help me in any way he was able and he was willing to so do above and beyond the call the duty and he did!
Jason approached the problem meticulously and what I appreciated a lot, treated my house with respect (kept it clean). In the crawlspace, he verified the ground water problem just as the soils report indicated and he also could not locate a perimeter drain. Jason was the only one to point out that mold was beginning to form in caissons around the struts, still minimal but a problem that would grow. I asked him for mold testing and mold remediation and Jason made plans for both. He schooled me in contacting the building department for help in locating the perimeter drain, if there was one (there was). He helped me find a company to scope the drain when I was unable to find one on my own. When the scoping yielded only partial results (due to how the drain was installed), Jason undertook digging in the critical spot to see if there was any evidence of the drain where the water was actually pooling to ensure I had complete information. Turns out the drain was installed well ABOVE the water line (hello, builder?). Finally, Jason made a plan to install a French drain inside my crawlspace along with a sump pump to address the problem completely, once and for all.
Restoration King under Jason Brandt completed four jobs for me: mold testing, mold remediation, dig to locate the perimeter drain, and the very large job installing a French drain and sump pump in the crawl space. As I stated, Jason also helped oversee the drain scoping, helped with the building department, and answered countless questions and concerns. During the physical jobs, on every occasion, the work was done quickly, very professionally, and extremely cleanly. I am very squeamish about dirt and had nightmares going into this since my crawlspace entrance is in the walk-in closet, located in the master bathroom, located in the master bedroom (who came up with that idea?). Jason and his crew built a meticulous plastic barrier from the deck to the crawlspace for access and I was even able to secure that space at night. When the jobs were done, on each occasion, I could not even tell that the crew had been there, they cleaned up so thoroughly. My crawlspace now looks many times better than it did when the house was brand new. The drain and pump work beautifully, the crawlspace is dry and clean, and I feel safe and happy again in my home. The outside dig was filled in again so perfectly, you cannot see there had been any disturbance at all. The crew were friendly, wonderful guys. It was a pleasure to have them in my home.
When you need work done on your home, it is a stressful endeavor. In my case, by the time I found Jason Brandt and Restoration King, I had already been through the wringer and was wary. It was fantastic to find people who come in and handle the job from top to bottom with integrity and professionalism, treating both the home and homeowner with respect, and doing such a wonderful job on every occasion. I cannot praise them enough.
