james in Toronto

I hired Splash waterproofing to replace a small basement slider window with a 24x24 'egress' window. Their tech removed the builder's window, and the concrete was knocked out below, by another foot or so, to make room for the new window. The new window, designed to be horizonal-opening like a door, would have hit the inside upper header pocket if installed correctly, so the tech simply installed the window in an awning style instead. This is not an approved installation method by the window vendor since 1) the window channel drain holes would be up the side versus in the bottom track, and 2) the egress window cannot hold itself up, and since it's inward-opening, would close on the shoulders of anyone trying to escape. After expressing my concern about this, Splash insisted this would meet code, so I left it alone. (Despite the code saying an egress window must hold itself open without any special knowledge or tools) Forward to just over a year later, and the window is leaking with all the recent rain. The basement carpet is soaked and stinky, and I had to pull 2 feet high of moldy drywall for 18 feet of wall. The window's lower track is filled with water, and the water is getting inside the basement (and has been for many months without me knowing). Splash (Dave) has ghosted me, won't return my voicemails for 3 weeks, and won't reply to my emails asking for a resolution. I emailed asking for them to work with me on a solution, and to give them the opportunity to make it right. No The window continued to leak as the rain continued, and the basement continued to be soaked, so I was forced to take it upon myself to resolve this issue caused by this amateur installation. Upon wall and window removal, I found the window had not been secured in the opening with either a wooden frame, or a single screw; it had been held in place with only expanding foam, and the outside of the foam parged with a thin layer of concrete parging mix; the entire window and frame could have been pushed into the house without tools. The exterior parging actually -encouraged- water to flow down the brick outside, and ONTO the window face: both from the top as well as the sides, as the concrete was ramped from the house, to the window frame itself. I had to resolve this personally at the expense of 2 concrete saws used to cut down and electric-chisel the opening an additional 9" so that the window could open inward and clear the inside upper header pocket. I was able to re-mount the same window in the correct orientation, inside a wooden frame, seal it up properly, and then had to hire a 3rd-party aluminum cap/trim outside to properly redirect water away from the window. All in, tool rental was around $250, window capping was over $300, plus all the drywall, mud, a whole new floor for the room, plus all my time, gas, and labour hours. All because I trusted these "pros" to do a good job. I let them install it, and I didn't think about it again until the leaking became apparent. This company should have told me what had to be done to make this a compliant, leak-proof, and professional installation, and either adjusted the scope of the job, or refused it. Instead, they: - went ahead and put a side-mount window into the wrong orientation - 'secured' it with only spray foam. - parged it in a way that encouraged water ingress. The fact that I had to remedy this personally, and the company has taken NO responsibility for this mess, is very disappointing. This 'waterproofing' company took a DRY installation, and CAUSED it to leak with this shoddy and amateur installation, and has FAILED to take any accountability whatsoever. Proceed with caution. Attached photos are of the actual work and damage caused by Splash.