Perma-Seal Waterproofing

WARNING: Read the contract very carefully. The final clause in the contract is an Arbitration Clause that dictates any and all disputes must be handled through a mandatory arbitration. This means if and when they perform their shoddy work on your basement or crawlspace, YOU CANNOT SEEK LEGAL ACTION AGAINST THEM in a court of law. I tried and failed. The cost of this mandatory arbitration is currently $775 for any claim between $0 and $10,000, plus another $200 final fee for any case that proceeds to a hearing. How many consumers can afford to spend another $1000 when they've already spent several thousand? Especially when you can t expect to recoup all of your money, even if you were to resolve your dispute through arbitration. \r \r Do your homework on this company. Reading reviews such as this is a good step. I foolishly relied on their A+ Better Business Bureau rating, but have since learned that Roy Spencer, president of Perma-Seal, is also the chairman of the board of the BBB of Northern Illinois and Chicago. Feel free to draw your own conclusions on that. The overwhelming majority of reviews of Perma-Seal on sites such as this and Yelp, etc., are negative. It is a rarity to find a 4 or 5 star review. \r \r Briefly, our experience with this company was that their salesman lied to us about them leveling out the uneven dirt floor in our crawlspace. We were later told they don't do that. It also wasn't until after the work had been done that we were informed that the base of the concrete support pillars in our crawl being uneven with the ground wouldn't allow them to tighten the plastic they had laid and that we d be stuck with a floor that looks like an unmade bed. Perma-Seal performed service calls on two occasions to attempt to address our complaints and both times we were told that there was nothing more they could do. Instead, we were told that our crawlspace looked good ""for a dirt crawl"". Yet when we were sold on this system, there was never any qualifier that it would only look good for a dirt crawl. I paid $4500 for it to look good. Period. The dirt crawl displayed in their promotional materials looks good. It's not unreasonable that I expect mine to look comparable. \r \r If our crawlspace were in good shape to begin with, we would've had no need for a company such as Perma-Seal. We were never informed that our uneven floor would be an issue before signing on the dotted line. Silly me, I figured a company that specializes in sealing crawlspaces would have some sort of system for dealing with these situations. Something more palatable than draping the plastic between support pillars like a circus tent. \r \r We feel that we were mislead, if not lied to by these people. Don't make the same mistake we did. Look into any and all other options. In my opinion, when you deal with Perma-Seal you deal with nothing but aggravation.\r more

Very rude customer service. Our dehumidifier is leaking after being repaired once. The person I spoke with would like me to leave the standing water in the basement so she they can see it when they come out in 6 days. I was taught that electricity and water are not a good combination.\r Also we can another problem in our cistern room. This company can highly recommended but in the last 2 years of dealing with them I am certainly not impressed with the money we spent and their customer service. more

I would NOT recommend Permaseal because we had a Sales Rep come inspect our basement last summer. We were looking forward to not having any water in the basement and actually use it. We were told since we had cracks in the foundation, they recommended to install Interior Drainage Tiles with the Sump Pump and Battery Back Up since it was hydrostatic pressure. After getting it installed in October 2012 we were glad to get a good night sleep and not worry about the basement. Fast forward to April 18th, 2013, Illinois had a severe flood. We were ready to test the basement with the amount of rain predicted. Over the night it seemed to be fine, our alarm we had went off in the well and it over flowed because the 1/2 horse power pump ""That would keep up with any amount of rain"" failed so the water had no were else to go but up and over the wall liner coming in so fast that we had 2 feet of water the first time and had to purchase more sump pumps from Home Depot. After the water drained, it came in again coming up and over the liner for another 2 1/2 feet. We lost everything down there. We made an appointment for Permaseal to inspect the issue for June 1st. So while we waiting over a month for them to come out, we had to take off work everytime it rained because we would worry that we would get water. On May 21st, we had another down pour and again we had more water in the basement. I was looking forward to this inspection to get this fixed. Once June 1st came, all the guy kept saying is the issue is Sewage! IT'S NOT SEWAGE!!!! So they determined for us to PAY $260 to have a camera installed in the drains to make sure it's not Sewage. I am not PAYING for something after i spend $8000 for your product to work. I can NOT get a hold of your customer service ever and they are very rude to begin with. I DO NOT RECOMMEND PERMASEAL TO ANYONE!!!! I'm sure US Waterproofing would have done a better job on our basement more

We were able to come to an agreement with Perma Seal. more

After investing $5,000 dollars in trying to address water in my crawl space and basement, the first time I called them with a problem, they did not stand by their guarantee. Now we have to pay someone else thousands to do it all over again. Our contractors are in disbelief and won't be referring them anytime soon! They talk a good game, but then take your money and run! more

I just had my foundation repaired by them. They worked very quickly for the middle of winter and I was very impressed by the way they worked and surprised me by the outcome. more

I had a great experience with Perma Seal both times that I used them. They repaired a leak in the basement of my previous home 17 years ago, and they did work in my current home in the fall of 2009, and I have never had water in my basement after their repairs. The estimators are always very thorough and make sure that I understand the process and cost involved, and the crew always delivers. Highly recommended! more

They lied to me many times. It was a big mistake to use Permaseal - they fooled me and I got burned in the end. They wouldn't complete the work and they didn't care. I trusted the wrong company and now I have to pay for it in extra charges and many hassles. Read the other reviews, not the BS ones that Permaseal posts to hide the truth. And when you complain to the BBB , they bury the complaint because the owner of Permaseal is head of the local BBB. Let?s hope complaints to the Illinois Attorney General will slow down these cheats. more

One of our customers wrote in: ""My experience with PermaSeal was delightful! I needed their services during a time when the entire Chicago area needed them, so they were backed up 3 weeks, but what do you expect when the entire neighborhood is flooded? They were able to come out right away to inspect my basement, and I didn't have to wait as long as I thought before their crew came out and began work. They were finished within 2 days and I have not had a problem with a wet basement since!"" more