Tall Basements

Kevin and Tony started working on our house at the end of the summer of 2017. It was an old house and we wanted to gain a bit more ceiling height and to actually use the basement (it was both unfinished and essentially a storage room before).

Kevin and Tony were very helpful in explaining the process and making us feel at ease to go through with the underpinning. The only thing is that it took a lot longer than we expected to complete. We had hoped to finish off the underpinning by winter time and even lined up a contractor but we were not able to meet that timeline. We had planned for a 4 month underpinning process (not including a walk out that they were also doing) but it took double that amount of time to complete.
Also the communication was challenging, it took several months and many calls/voicemails and emails to get updates which was extremely frustrating.

I was very happy with helpful Kevin and Tony were during the whole process and making me feel at ease that they were doing the best work possible. If I were to work with them again in the future would definitely set up some more realistic timelines and have better communication. We are generally happy with the underpinning work (we are only about 2 months into living in the space)

We knew that we had foundation issues but we didn't know how bad until we removed the drywall on the front wall. The 100+ year old rubble foundation was disintegrating to the point that you could grab a fistful of sand and gravel in your hand. Initially we believed the issue only was with the front wall of the house. We met several companies at the National Home Show and brought them in to look at our project and provide an estimate. Kevin from Tall Basements was by far the most knowledgeable and the quote was reasonable and so we engaged their services. He invited us to see projects that they had underway that were similar in nature to ours. I was impressed with the workmanship on these projects and that put mind mind at ease that we had made the right decision. To save some money, I elected to undertake the demolition of the finished basement myself. In tackling the side wall of the house, you could imagine my shock when a large portion of the wall caved in. The only thing holding up the foundation was the studs and drywall. I called Kevin and he picked up right away. He advised not to do anything else and he arranged for the structural engineer to come over with our architect. The engineer relayed that he had never seen a foundation in such bad shape. It would need to be entirely replaced and structural supports would need to be added asap.

This finding obviously changed the scope of work. We looked again at various companies to quote on the project and provide their strategy for how to tackle the job. Again, it was a "no brainer" to go with Tall Basements. Kevin and his team, working closely with the Engineer devised a plan that would work, while allowing us to continue living in the house for the duration of the foundation project. I should mention at this point that we teamed up with our attached neighbours who also engaged Tall Basements to do identical work on their basement foundation at the same time.

As the project started we were introduced to the team who would be working on the foundation. Tony Bravo was our onsite lead and I just can't say enough great things about this guy. From beginning to end, great communication and attention to detail. Incredible workmanship, creative solutions all while ensuring a safe and organized work environment. Kevin and owner Tony were regularly present and updated us on the status. Owner Tony knows his stuff and lead the work on every concrete pour. When you are in a big project like this and living in the house while it's going on, the little things matter. Never were we without plumbing and water. When the weather turned cold, they showed up with half a dozen heaters which worked perfectly. Often Mr. Bravo would even come in on weekends to finish up forms, check on things and prepare for the next week of work. The work space was always kept organized and clean (or as clean as you can make it when doing a big dig!)

Ours was a very difficult project, one of the most challenging that Tall Basements has encountered according to Kevin. It required careful planning, some creative solutions, and a very high level of expertise. Each section of the foundation was formed, reinforced, insulated and poured, creating strong new foundation wall sections. The before and after is astounding and our neighbours and ourselves are so happy with the final result. The window well and the new walkout are stunning and we have a finished basement ceiling height of close to 9ft! We made the right decision to hire Tall Basements and I would recommend them in a heartbeat.

Kevin and Antonio from Tall Basements are a pleasure to work with.

We have a 120 year old semi-detached house in Toronto and gained two feet through the process.

The crew were respectful and always cleaned up after themselves snd the other contractors they recommended for other work (HVAC , finishing etc.,) were also top notch.
We had a few hiccups along the way, that had nothing to do with the work of the company, however Kevin and Antonio were with us through it all.

Underpinnig is an exspensive and long process and when you have small children it can be tough but these guys made it worth the stress.

I would recommend them in a heartbeat.

Nicole

As a general contractor I have overseen plenty of underpins. I have used Tall Basements twice and will use them again. If you have a straight forward underpin, or complicated one, use these guys. Especially use them if you don't know the difference.

Kevin and his team were great until the end of the project. During the dig they were awesome, good communication, the worksite was kept super clean considering it was a dig out, the guys on site were great too. We lived at home during the work. We had to replace the old clay drains from the city and Kevin was great about finding a plumbing and drains company for this quickly. He also recommended the HVAC company, who did our infloor heating before Tall Basements poured the slab. My only complains come at the end of the project, I expressed concern the drains for the bathroom the toilet flange and shower were very close, and was told they were standard, they are super close and now our shower has to be narrow. Tall Basements also knew we wanted to polish the concrete but the finished pour ended up pretty poor quality- there are rough sections and the edges and around the support columns and drains were not even finished. The guys even left the machine on the concrete floor leaving blade marks like helicopter blades stamped into the floor! Since the pour it’s been hard to get ahold of them with these concerns and chase them down for plumbing invoices for rebate programs. Good underpinners but a frustrating finish.

Tall Basements came highly recommended by a neighbour and after speaking with 3 other contractors, we were impressed by Tony. Unfortunately we have had problems in the area they waterproofed and an unprofessional response from the company. When we experienced basement flooding less than 2 years after the work was done, we called Kevin and Tony in January. It took repeated calls and emails before they finally came to look at the problem IN APRIL. Kevin recommended interior waterproofing ad a solution and said he would send a quote the following week. It's now August and we have received nothing despite our follow up phone calls. We have never had these issues with a contractor and are surprised as well as disappointed.

Tall Basements has been a pleasure to work with. From walking us through through everything, managing safety, keeping the place extremely clean and delivering on what they promised - when they promised, we are extremely pleased with how the construction phase went and the end result.
We also worked with other vendors recommended by Tall Basements - having that pre-existing relationship made each phase of this project run smoothly without me having to be a project manager.

When looking for someone to dig out our basement we wanted a company that specialized in this complex work. After meeting with multiple vendors, Tall Basements clearly demonstrated their expertise. We could not be happier!

I met with a lot of companies before signing on with Tall Basements to underpin and damp proof our house.

I chose them because they are innovators in the industry. The forms and methods they use maximize the space (the new foundation is flush with the old wall) so you get every inch of possible space. They included insulation and piping for in floor heating in their scope of work AND they guaranteed the work for the life of the house.

What we didn't know was how lucky we were to have them work on our house! We got a super respectful team and given how mucky the work is, an incredibly tidy crew. The site supervisor made sure our neighbours were happy, optimized bin pick up and removal so they could be working every day and kept the project on track. Kevin was on the ground for inspections and always available by text and phone.

Kevin had great recommendations on how to lay out the living space, where to put the laundry room, bathroom and furnace room, all of which were on point.

Any people Tall Basements recommended (HVAC) were excellent - and everyone stands by their work.

TB was on budget and absolutely fair about any change requests we made.

We LOVE the space we've gained by the space Tall Basements helped create for us and would not trust anyone else but this team to do this type of work! Would highly recommend them and if I do ever underpin again, would call them first.