Michael Penta Plumber

They were recommended to me by a septic company that had trouble locating my septic tank. They were able to locate the septic tank, but the way they went about it, I am kind of suspicious, especially for how much money I spent. Looking back, I feel they made it so complicated so they could charge more money, and that tactic is quite familiar to me but I feel they caught me at a bad time. They even went through the extent of digging a hole right inside of the house, and they told me they had to dig that hole so they could find where the obstruction was. They told me they would not be able to pinpoint the location of the septic tank without digging it, and they made me sign a document onto which they kept adding things that needed done. They know what they are doing, they are good at it, but some of their practices are questionable. The first quote they gave me was $500-600, but when they got here they raised that quote and told me they would have to dig a hole right in the family room. When they presented the price to me, they tried to tell me the price was so high because they would have to dig down ten feet, but they only ended up digging down two feet and then had access to the septic tank.

unknown

- We are in the middle of selling our home, which has a 60 year old septic tank. The buyer's lender required a 15 year certification of the septic tank as a condition of their loan. We hired Michael Penta to do the inspection, and he was unable to certify the tank for another fifteen years. The main problem was that some of the cement baffles were near collapse, and could not be replaced in the all-concrete structure. We paid $475 for the inspection. - Penta bid $8250 to replace our 1,000 gal tank with a new 1,250 tank, which was better than two other bids we got. - We had a two week window to install and certify the new tank, as the lender required certification within a specific time frame. Penta told us that it would take about four working days, and that they would do the bulk of the excavation and demolition of the old tank using a backhoe, and that it usually took a single day to install the new tank and close it up. Penta told us that we would be without sewer during the time his crew actually worked on the replacement, but that when they were not on site, the sewer would be hooked up to the drainfield, and we would be able to use the plumbing during these hours. - Penta commenced work promptly, and worked nearly every working day for the next two-and-one-half weeks before they finished the job and provided the certification paperwork required by the lender - the paperwork was two working days late. It is still uncertain whether this might delay our closing date. Every working day during this job, we could use our plumbing only during the evenings. - Why did it take so much longer than Penta told us? Because he did not bring out the backhoe to do the excavation and demolition. It took the better part of two weeks for his two employees to hand-dig out a nine foot deep tank, and slowly break up a 6 inch thick concrete tank using sledge hammers and an electric jackhammer. They had to break it into small enough pieces so that the concrete could be lifted by hand out of an ever-deepening hole. Every day his employees indicated that they expected a backhoe to be provided to them that day, but it never showed up for the entire process of excavation or demolition. Nor was the dumpster provided until the final day - so every chunk of concrete from the old tank was stacked in our yard on a tarp for two weeks. - Once the excavation and demolition were completed, Michael Penta showed up the next day with the dumpster, the tank and the backhoe. He and his team finished the installation and closing of new tank, and the loading of the cement and excess dirt into the dumpster in a little more than a day. He finished on the last day of the lender's deadline for certification. We let him know that he needed to get the certification paperwork done before the end of the day, and explained again why. He promised to take care of it before the end of the day. He did not provide it until two days later, two working days late. - Communication generally was sub-optimal. Once he did the initial inspection, Michael Penta was unavailable to talk. His gatekeeper never let us talk directly to him, and was less than skilled at playing the middleman between us and Michael Penta. When he showed up to do the final day's work, he made another promise that he promptly broke. - Michael Penta did not deliver the installed tank in the time frame he promised, when it was made explicitly clear that there was a deadline, to which he agreed to meet. He failed to do so for two reasons: He did not provide the promised equipment necessary to complete the job within the time window, and he did not finish the paperwork on time, even though he had the time, and face-to-face, acknowledged that he was late getting the job done, and that the paperwork was due that day. - The quality of the work was high, and his laborers worked very hard. The price was the best price we could find. If you are willing to be without your plumbing for half a month, and willing to risk delays in your sale of a home, I would recommend both the work quality and the price. If not, I would not recommend using Michael Penta to replace a septic tank.

unknown

Provider showed up early and both men were very professional and friendly. Both wore shoe coverings whenever they entered the house. They also did an excellent job of clean up. And yes, I would call this company for help again.