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.

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

"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.

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.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit
"bjpack" wrote in message
oups.com...
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.

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.

(the only reason for moving items was to give clearance for the
jackhammer, not avoid potential sewage problems)

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!

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

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.