Tip #1 – Avoid Subcontracting
Let’s face it. Basement waterproofing is not a common topic of discussion over the dinner table. And this is where many homeowners get themselves into trouble.
You see – knowledge is the key here. By not knowing what happens in the industry, you put yourself in a position to invite trouble into your basement.
So let’s start off with one of the biggest no-no’s in this industry – subcontracting.
Trust me – you want to avoid using any company that subcontracts the work out.
Here’s how it works.
ABC Waterproofing Company spends lots of money advertising its business all over the place. So you call them up and schedule an appt.
Then, you make a decision to use ABC company because hey really had a good presentation.
And that’s the first mistake. It’s not all about the presentation.
You see, some company’s are nothing more than “marketing and sales” organizations, and they happen to be in this industry. After
you sign the contact – they’re really out of the picture. XYZ Subcontractors is actually doing the work!
This is what the term “Subcontracting” represents. Another contractor is being substituted for doing the work.
So when someone else is doing the work, how can you trust all of the great things ABC Waterproofing said to you?
The answer is… you can’t.
Think about this for a second…
XYZ Subcontractors does “substitute” work – which means they work for multiple companies. It also means they work in multiple industries.
Do you really want a bunch of workers in your home that did a deck yesterday, and a roofing job the day before, to waterproof your basement? Obviously not.
There are far too many issues that can arise when installing a waterproofing system to have a “rookie” on the job. You want to deal with a company that has installers “in-house”. that does this work day in and day out. With this type of experience, you minimize the potential for problems, during the work and after.
Speaking of after the work, boy do you want to avoid sub-contractors if there is an issue here. This really gets messy.
Let’s look at it from the ABC Waterproofing’s standpoint.
You, the customer, have an issue with water coming back into your basement.
ABC knows that XYZ Subcontracting did the work – and will try to get XYZ back out to fix the problem…
…That is, if XYZ is still around… and if they want to come back to a job where they will not make any money.
Worse yet is if ABC has to use another subcontractor. Now, you have a new guy on the job that has no clue what originally was done, or how… and he’s trying to fix the problem. Good luck!
So remember this golden rule – avoid subcontracting.
