The tradesman I originally had highly recommended to me for foundation work was booked solid for months (which is, incidentally, an indicator of a high quality outfit). Since I was unsure of the seriousness of the foundation issue with which I was dealing, I couldn't wait on my original recommendation so turned to Google and the Better Business Bureau website. I found a couple of contractors with A+ ratings on BBB and had them stop by for estimates. I was left unimpressed: one was a fearmonger who attempted to sell me repairs I obviously didn't need, while the other quoted me an outrageous price for a simple reparging when there were clearly other issues to be addressed (e.g. the source of a slightly waterlogged and crumbling foundation).
The positive from all of this was that my googling led me to the Home Stars website. I called Dave Marcotte Foundations based on this company's excellent reviews on Home Stars. It turned out that Dave was also extremely busy (I called in July and he was already booking for the spring) but, despite not being able to handle the work, volunteered to stop by and give me an assessment of my problem. I was impressed from the moment Dave arrived: he was straightforward in his appraisal and description of the problem without resorting to scare tactics. He walked the entire perimeter of the house, checked the basement, noted the soil conditions, etc. before providing a final diagnosis (I was impressed by the level of thoroughness). He gave two options, one less expensive, but that would require revisiting in the future and a costlier longterm solution, but there was no hard sell.
Dave reassured me that the problem wasn't overly serious and could wait until the spring to address, but he happened to have a job one street over starting a couple of weeks later, and gave me the option of having his crew split time between the two sites if I wanted to start sooner. When it came time to get to work, everything was done on time, to budget, and with no mess. As the job progressed, there were a couple of additional issues uncovered (packing a crack in the wall below ground level was one), but Dave solved them at no extra charge.
A special mention to Mirko for his excellent parging work and thanks for installing the new exhaust vents.
I was incredibly impressed from start to finish. Highly recommended!