Cindy in Scarborough

I was looking to waterproof two exterior walls of my basement in August 2018 and got quotes from 4 different companies. I ended up choosing City Wide because Alex was very convincing and sold me on the 25 year transferable warranty. As I learned, a 25 year transferable warranty doesn’t mean much if they botch the job and don’t return any of your calls to fix the problem. A few weeks after hiring this company, I received a call from Alex who told me his crew (site supervisor Jacob and his guys) was ready to start (August 23, 2018). I advised him I was out of town for the week and he said that wouldn’t be an issue because his crew would take care of everything. This company will tell you that they always call for locates before they dig. Apparently they don’t. When I returned from out of town, they were still in the process of digging the trench. The crew, consisting of two men, came across what they thought was an old gas line and asked me if it would be ok to cut it. There was no supervisor on site. I told them I couldn’t give them permission and that I would call Enbridge. Enbridge sent an emergency crew out to take a look. It was then I learned the dig permits were never called in (confirmed by my call to OneCall). Enbridge also notified me that they couldn’t do anything to help because the site was not to code and was considered too dangerous to enter. This crew left trenches around my house without caution tape or fencing. When exiting my house, I had to jump over the trench until the project manager Alex visited and told the crew to fill that part in. I don’t have much experience with waterproofing, but even to an untrained eye, the site just didn’t seem right. The materials they used didn’t fit the house (the waterproofing materials fitted to the house were attached below grade). A contractor/neighbour of mine stopped by to share his concerns about all the corners that were being cut. They didn't even wrap the corner where water was coming in. Fast forward to the first rainfall of September 2018 (just after they finished) and I had water entering the basement. I called the company office and they advised me to call Alex. I called Alex and he had Jacob call me. I made an appointment with Jacob, but he never showed up. I made a second and third appointment with Jacob and he didn’t show up to those appointments either. I contacted Alex and voiced my frustration over the missed appointments. Alex then contacted Jacob and he finally showed up. He dug down in one area and said there wasn’t a problem with the material. He then filled in the hole and added caulking to the area, which he said would fix it. The next rainfall proved the problem could not be solved with simple caulking because I had even more water enter the basement in two different areas. I called City Wide’s office on Nov 26, 2018 and they told me to call Alex. Alex told me Jacob would come by the following week to fix the problem AGAIN. The appointment day came and went without anyone showing up. I followed up with him again, but didn’t hear back. I contacted Alex on December 11, 2018 and voiced my frustration. He told me he was going to send a new crew, so I wouldn’t have to deal with Jacob anymore. He said he would have the new crew there that Friday. Friday came and went, but no one showed up. I contacted Alex again. He said they would come the following Tuesday. No one showed up or called to say they weren’t coming. It is now mid April 2019 and I continue to get puddles in the basement from rainfalls and the Spring thaw. As soon as I paid this company in full (October 2018), they missed each and every appointment they made to come and fix the botched job. The crew also demolished my front and back steps without first discussing or factoring in their replacement cost, leaving me on the hook for an extra $3000 plus. The other 3 companies, who all provided LOWER quotes, INCLUDED the removal and reinstallation of my concrete steps in the contract. I made the mistake of assuming this company would do the same thing (they didn’t mention it in the contract). Instead, City Wide smashed all of my existing stairs. I was left to solve this problem on my own and it is a HUGE additional expense. I've been waiting 7 months for this company to contact me and actually do the job I paid them a lot of money to do. I've made numerous phone calls, sent emails and text messages. I am left to assume they are trying to wait for the 25 year warranty to expire! I'm more than a little stumped by all of the positive reviews this company has gotten on Homestars. The photos below depict water entering my basement after the completion of the job.