ComplaintsforVirginia Foundation Solutions

• Initial Complaint

  11/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My home “inspection” by Virginia Foundation Solutions (VFS) resulted in a contract signed electronically 12-5-22. The work began Jan 24 & completed Jan 27, 2023: marked paid 2-13-23. The contract stated there would be a supervisor present at final to inspect and collect final payment. No VFS Supervisory representation there other than the same hard-working crew. The VFS Representative who came at my insistence to collect the final payment denied there was/is a problem with an obvious gap between the exposed portions of the perimeter foundation brick wall and the concrete decking. He returned with bags of top soil/mulch and concrete grout. He applied the concrete grout along the back brick wall, which has since separated. Now there is also a + 2” gap along the front of the house as well between the soil and the perimeter foundation brick wall. The gaps can allow water accumulation in those areas. We noticed damage throughout our home, far more than simple cosmetic sequela from foundation settling. Sept 29 & Oct 6 VFS sent, at my request, customer service reps to examine what we were experiencing. They had access to the exterior, interior and the crawl space of my home. I provided a written list of what we had noticed to date & they took many pictures. We wanted VFS to send an agent able/in a position within the company to inspect the property damage and, in writing, offer us a way to reconstruct our broken home. The “answer” they provided, was how much more money VFS would charge to remediate their damages. Nothing in writing, still. The City of Newport News responded to my phone inquiry regarding the Building Permit and Inspection process. I understand that my home was re-inspected on/about Oct 10th and VFS was contacted about work the Inspection revealed as incomplete. On Oct 31, my home/their permit is listed as “Failed” Building Final Inspection. There has been no further contact from any of their agents to date.

  

  Business response

  11/13/2023

  Virginia Foundation Solutions is currently working with ***** ****r in an effort to resolve the customer complaint. An appointment has been scheduled for our Operations Manager to perform a site visit to meet with the customer, evaluate the situation and begin discussions on how to best resolve the situation that has occurred. The meeting is set for November 27, 2023 at 11 am, we will follow up with the BBB after our meeting with ***** ****r.
  
  

  Customer response

  01/08/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   The "supplemental beam" that was a concern for both myself, and apparently the City Inspector was fully functional ,albeit ugly, prior to the push piers being installed. Whatever subsequent damages have occurred are beyond the "minor cosmetic" and well into major structural that would not be reasonable for any property owner to expect as a normal ordinary outcome of what was sold to me to "fix" my home. 

  VFS did nicely repair the supplemental beam as they noted on Dec 18,2023. They also took out and replaced the concrete decking from one pier in order to make needed adjustments according to them. They also moved a "Benchmark" pin at another location 4 1/2 inches down. The benchmarks were initially explained to me as a way for them to determine the integrity /levels of the piers; I am left to wonder why this one was changed.

  I too, have pictures to share but no staff with the computer experience to create these documents. VFS has  three sets of photos of the interior and exterior of my home.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  Becky *****

  

  Business response

  01/18/2024

  The entire scope of work that Virginia Foundation Solutions (VFS) performed was on the exterior of the home and did not involve the crawlspace. The supplemental beam was installed by others without a permit or inspection and on dry stacked blocks with an improper footing. VFS only installed push piers on the exterior of the structure to stabilize the perimeter foundation and any issues occurring above the crawlspace has nothing to do with us or the work we performed.

• Initial Complaint

  11/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Virginia Foundation Solutions did a job for us from October 3-5, 2022. The job consisted of: encapsulating crawl space; cleaning crawl space; adding dehumidifier; replace subfloor in bathroom and part of hallway; remove toilet; remove vanity and sink. After the job was completed, we were not able to locate the isolation valves in order to turn on the water for the sink. When I called the company, I was informed that I needed to call a plumber as the company has to cap off the water lines to the sink. We received one estimate from AW plumbing for ********! Why should I pay to fix this plumbing issue, which was caused by Foundation Solutions? Please advise.

  

  Business response

  12/06/2022

  Virginia Foundation Solutions (VFS) was contracted to perform a crawlspace encapsulation and crawlspace structural work. The crawlspace structural work included installing a supplemental beam with 3 additional SmartJacks (support columns). VFS also rebuilt the flooring system in a bathroom that included replacing the subflooring and floor joists in that area. The scope of work included removing the toilet and bathroom vanity (sink & cabinet) in order to properly replace the subflooring and joisted underneath those items. In order to properly remove the vanity (sink & cabinet) requires that the water lines and drainage pipe be disconnected. The installation crew had to cap the water supply lines in order to remove the vanity and prevent water from leaking in the work area. When VFS removes a bathroom vanity we try our very best to only cap water supply lines when it is absolutely necessary to lessen the impact to our customer when we complete their project. Unfortunately, VFS is not a plumbing company and therefore does not reinstall bathroom vanities or toilets when it is necessary to perform work in a bathroom area. The contract states that "the customer is responsible for reinstalling all removed cabinets, vanities and shelving after job completion and that VFS is not responsible for any damage that occurs during the removal process". Plumbing work is most times involved in the reinstallation of the toilet and vanity and falls under the responsibility of the customer.

  Customer response

  12/08/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I would like the company to consider my estimates for repairs. I will submit both estimates as soon as I receive them.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *************

• Initial Complaint

  04/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They installed sump pumps under my home and now I have large amounts of free standing water where the bubblers/outlets were placed

  

  Business response

  07/21/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/04/19) */ Contact Name and Title: ** ******** Sales Manager Contact Phone: ************ Contact Email: *********@vfsworks.com Virginia Foundation Solutions was initially called by the customer to mitigate standing water that was present within the crawlspace of the structure. Upon inspection it was determined that groundwater was entering into the crawlspace and nearly five (5) inches of standing water was present in the crawlspace. Our Foundation Specialist and the homeowner built a plan together that would remove the standing water from the crawlspace and prevent water from accumulating in that area. The designed solution consisted of full perimeter crawlspace drainage and multiple sump pumps to remove any groundwater that enters the crawlspace. The sump pumps were plumbed to discharge away from the foundation of the home to limit re-entry into the crawlspace. Due to limited options available, the discharge lines for all sump pumps were buried and extended into the front yard nearly sixty feet away from the structure. The front of the home that work was performed on is situated approximately sixty-five feet from the ********* in Norfolk Virginia which contributes to a high-water table within the neighborhood. The homeowner stated that the river frequently floods the neighborhood during times of storms and king tides. Due to the frequent flooding the homeowner had a two-foot-tall retention wall constructed completely encompassing *** yard in her effort to keep flood water out. This retention wall was built on the property line on the right and left side of the house with occupied homes on each side. The front retention wall is built directly next to the city sidewalk which is considered to be *** of ******* property. As stated previously, the sump discharge lines were extended approximately sixty feet away from the structure with both terminating within two feet of the front retention wall. While the retention wall has performed as designed to hold back flood water, it creates very limited options when discharging water from the crawlspace sump pumps. The discharge lines could not be directed through, under or over the retention wall as it would be discharging water from the customers crawlspace directly into the neighbors yard on either side of the house. The retention wall located across the front yard is not suitable for the sump discharge lines to be directed through, under or over the wall as the water would be discharging directly onto a city owned and maintained sidewalk. Discharging water from the sump pumps onto the sidewalk is unethical and the 1 1/2" pvc discharge line would create an unsafe environment on the sidewalk and the street. The crawlspace drainage system that was designed and installed under the structure has worked to maintain a crawlspace that is now free of standing water. All work, including the sump discharge, was performed as listed in the scope of work on the contract that was signed by the homeowner/customer and VFS Foundation Specialist. VFS has responded to the concerns of this customer each time she has called the office regarding water in her yard from the discharge lines. Our production field supervisor and sales manager have made several site visits to meet with the homeowner/customer to listen to her concerns in person and provided suggestions on ways she could improve her yard so that it can tolerate the additional water that was pumped out of the crawlspace. Consumer Response /* (3000, 10, 2022/04/22) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I have since had the discharge connected to a pre existing water line that discharges at the street outside of the walled in area to a pop up It was right next to the water release line VFS installed. Cost *** to connect VFS line to street pop up line for gutters. Reimbursement is what I want and I showed the technician this option prior to installation of the sump pumps. Should have been considered as an option to begin with. I will go through the **** to file complaint and get reimbursement if necessary Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2022/04/25) */ ***Document Attached*** *** ****** yard is graded to the extent that it is approximately 8 inches higher at her house than what the elevation is at her front property wall where the sump pumps discharge the water from her crawlspace. This type of grading works great most times but grading does not help drain water away from her property because the full perimeter wall that she has constructed around her property traps and holds all the water in. Virginia Foundation Solutions extended (buried) the sump discharge lines as far as we possibly could, all the way to the front wall of her property. We cannot directly pump this water onto a neighbors property or onto the city owned sidewalk or city owned street. We could not breach or drill through her flood wall as that would defeat the purpose of the flood wall and create worse problems in the event of flooding later. The flood wall is constructed of stacked retention wall blocks, water slowly drains through the joints of the wall. Consumer Response /* (3000, 15, 2022/04/25) */ I have since had the discharge connected to a pre existing water line that discharges at the street outside of the walled in area to a pop up It was right next to the water release line VFS installed. Cost *** to connect VFS line to street pop up line for gutters. Reimbursement is what I want and I showed the technician this option prior to installation of the sump pumps. Should have been considered as an option to begin with. I will go through the **** to file complaint and get reimbursement if necessary Business Response /* (4000, 18, 2022/05/03) */ The location that the homeowner desired to have the crawlspace sump pumps discharge to is located between the city owned sidewalk and the city street and falls within the right-of-way according to the ******* **** ****** The signed contract between the homeowner and Virginia Foundation Solutions dated 2/2/2021 does not contain any verbiage that would indicate that the sump discharge lines would be extended to anywhere other than to the base of the wall where they were installed. The purpose of the agreed upon work was to remove the groundwater that was making entry into the crawlspace. At the time of inspection the crawlspace had five inches of standing water which was creating an unsafe environment and threatening the structure with mold and wood decay. Our company installed a full perimeter drainage system that has worked flawlessly and achieved the goals that were established by the homeowner and design specialist. We take great pride in providing ethical solutions for our customers while adhering to the policies of the various jurisdictions within our service area.

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