If you’re standing in the middle of a pile of papers, brochures and brochures, inspection sheets and business cards, you’re not alone. Many people are not only overwhelmed by the sheer number of people waterproofing basements across the United States, but also by the details that go into a job like this. People care about quality vs. Publications related to prices, marketing and the Internet.

The question boils down to: How do I choose a basement waterproofing company to fix my wet basement problem?

1.) Do you outsource your work?
In other words, is what they say they’re going to do something they’re actually going to do themselves or do they turn it over to someone else? Outsourcing is a great way for companies to cheaply hire other workers to work on a job-for-job basis. This allows them to get large amounts of work done quickly. Quickly is not always “best”.

This can lead to other problems in the future. Like holding the company responsible for any issues you have with installation, insurance, or payments.

If a business maintains its own teams, it’s much easier to cover workers, get paid directly, and deal quickly with any customer issues. Direct communication with support staff generally leads to a higher rate of customer satisfaction due to boss-employee relationships. A team you hire randomly doesn’t have to call you back or be responsible for anything. A team working for the company has their jobs and the company’s reputation at stake. The quality of service and installation are usually better.

2.) Price.

Price is a very important factor for many people.

If a company says right away that you can save a few thousand dollars for “X, Y, Z,” that’s a huge red flag. They wouldn’t have been able to take that amount of money off if it wasn’t for the “fluff” or markup.

The trick is to apply this to the overall scheme of things. If a company hits $2,000 for a 120-foot job, then that’s a red flag: What kind of material are they using? Are they using cheap subcontracted labor? Is what you’re giving me something I could find at Home Depot? For the other end of the spectrum, if the company costs $16,000 for that same 120 foot job: What do I get for this? Is it worth it? Can I modify, update the system and finish later? If you notice the company then removes that “fluff” factor, then that should also be a red flag: How much is the margin? Is the product really of good quality if they could drop the price so fast?

If there are no red flags, ask about second options to move in the same direction. First of all, any company that is not willing to work with you within your budget is not worth doing business with.