Mark Porretta Excavating Inc

Used camera to locate where the plugged area is in the underground drainpipe. He said the massive root clog was causing the problem and suggested I call a gutter company to install extensions on my gutter downspouts to direct the water to drain on the ground surface. He said he could chop the roots but said roots would only grow back. The other solution would be to dig to remove & replace drain pipes, which would be fairly costly.

I cannot say enough about Matt Porretta, who is an owner of Mark Porretta Excavating. I have used his services twice; first, for a house we decided not to purchase, in part because of his evaluation, and second, for the house we did indeed purchase, whose septic system passed with flying colors. This is a company with genuine good will, and who goes above and beyond to do the best for their customers. In a cold and driving rain, Matt cheerfully and thoroughly did the tough and dirty work of digging holes, inserting cameras, and leaving no stone unturned in finding any problems. He is an excellent communicator; always willing to phone and email and address any questions and concerns. He also makes himself available if anything comes up in the future. In addition, his prices are extremely fair. I highly recommend this company without hesitation, and will use his services again for any other excavation projects.

On time each day as needed. Provided price and never went over as well... Respective of land and didn't try to make a mess either (winter weather) was bad and left a ton of water where I lived. In and out with the job, so the next crew could start working!! Recommended for sure!

Within 2 days of moving into our house we had a sewage backup into our basement! I called a few plumbers but no one was able to get out to my house for several days. Mark, however, was able to come out the same day and gave us an estimate. He started work the next day and had the job done by the afternoon! He was professional, helpful, and nice to our dogs :-) Also, the total cost of the work he completed was much less expensive than what we were quoted by another plumber! Work completed included: -Snaking pipe to look for clogs (there turned out to be a root ball from a nearby tree and a trap in the drain that had filled with sediment and hardened from the water not being used for several months prior to purchasing the home). -Removing and replacing a portion of the foundation to access the sewer pipe -Excavating the ground outside the house to remove the old sewer pipe and filling back in with dirt when job completed -Replacing old sewer pipe with new pipe (old pipe had rusted through on the portion inside the basement, allowing sewage to leak into basement) -Ensuring water was flowing into septic tank and remaining at proper level -Replaced a few other older pipes that connected to main sewer pipe -Explained everything that needed done and answered all my questions along the way! We were so impressed with Mark and his son's work that we hired him to come back out to the house to remove our barely functioning old sump pump. He bought a new (energy saving!) sump pump, installed new pipes (the old ones were duct taped together) and verified it was working. This work cost about $400 ($200 for the pump, $200 for labor because it took some time to verify that the sump pump was draining to where it should). Hopefully we're done fixing plumbing issues for a while but if we need further work we will be calling Mark!

I called him several times before he came to look at the driveway to give me an estimate to grade, repair potholes, box out new areas of the gravel driveway, and lay down and roll a new layer of finish gravel. After that visit, I called several times and got one return call from a woman that asked if I was still interested in having Mark do the work. I said yes, that I am waiting for an actual estimate. I did get hold of Mark once and he said he was awfully busy and after he got caught up he would come by. Well he never did and we never heard from him again. I picked Mark because of all the positive reviews and was very hopeful. However, I would have appreciated if he simply called or e-mailed to say he wasn't interested in doing the job or simply could not fit it in. We were left hanging and the driveway still is not done. I am confused how he got such high ratings.

Everything went good except for 1 major hiccup: they cut into my Time Warner cable. I work from home, and that stopped any working...Therefore, that cost me about 4 hours of wage. 2 hours on the day that it happened, and 2 hours in the morning awaiting Time Warner to fix it. Although they apologized, they never offered to lessen the cost of service due to their error. Overall, though, they are very professional and very diligent on getting the work done.

Contacted this provider several times over 3 weeks to work on drainage problems causing dampness in basement. Needed drainage channels cleaned, weep holes drilled and possibly excavation in yard. He kept putting me off, didn't even return my last call, and nowmy basement has flooded and damaged personal property.

Responded promptly to my request for an estimate. Communicated when the job would be done and when delayed because of weather, kept me informed of the reschedule. Matt, dug around the drain, put a membrane down, filled all the holes caused by the erosion, and put grass seed down. He did all of this manually! Very pleased with the end result. The neighbor even commented that it's the best it's ever been. He charged me about $100 less than the original estimate.

I called 3 times over 4 weeks. Finally after the last one mark called me back. He seemed like a nice guy and was professional. He came by and gave me a quote. I talked to him about it and he suggested some exploratory digging to see if there was existing drainage. Again, promise to show up never came to fruition. I'm heeding the signs and not going with him for work.

I don't know what else to say, Mark was friendly, and fixed my problem in a timely fashion. I think he is great and I would recommend him to all my friends. I would also use him again.

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Mark was very professional the whole time, He gave me a quote that was reasonable and when we received the bill it was even less than quoted. He cleaned out our Septic system, brought in a small back hoe to examine the problems we had with our septic drainage. He found our transfer box (30 years old concrete) had deteriorated and crumbled. Took pictures and replaced the unit with some pipes that were buldged and blocked. completed the task with in a couple of hours. He and his office called to ensure everything was okay and to see if we had any questions. I will use his company again.

It went GREAT!!! Matt Porretta, Mark's son, came out at 8:00 AM Saturday morning. He scoped all of my downspouts to check for leakages and to map/mark the general drainage area. He checked the depression on my front lawn and found a large, empty hole under the lawn. This was not caused by water seepage but was probably from a tree trunk that was ground but not fully removed 30-40 years ago. As the stump decayed, it created a depression in the lawn. He also checked a drain in my stairwell that seemed to drain water very slowly. He couldn't find the cause of the slow drainage but did give me several good solutions for a future fix. I was totally impress with his professional attitude and would not hesitate to recommend this company to anyone.

The company owner (Mark) was very prompt in returning our initial call and visiting our home to provide an estimate. He then arrived per the agreed schedule to perform the work. While performing the work, Mark very quickly and successfully identified the underlying cause of a chronic window well drainage problem in our 44-year old home, and made very reasonable recommendations to address the problem at a reasonable cost. He performed all of the originally agreed services, and he and his crew were very neat, professional and competent in completing the required work for the initial project. We look forward to his return to our home soon to undertake the additional project that should completely resolve our drainage issue.

Called the office, asked for info regarding service. I was told Mark would call me back. After a week I called back and left a message. After hearing nothing again, I left yet another message. Never did hear from this Mark guy. Guess he's too busy.

They came out to quote me work to help with drainage problems to avoid wet basement walls. They came out, explained to me what they saw, what they would do and then sent the quote. The quote was more than I expected and thought perhaps more work was being suggested than needed. I told them that the amount was not in the budget at this time but perhaps there was something else we could do that was not so involved or so expensive. I have not heard back from them.

Excellent company to work with. Very professional and efficient.

This company is top notch, extremely professional, cost was very reasonable for the amount of work involved. We didn't even need to be here while the work was being done. we found this company on Angie's list and the excellent reviews swayed us towards them. From the first initial phone call all the way through paying them, everything was very professional. The work performed was excellent and fixed the problem we were having. This has greatly improved drainage in the yard.

I was having water come up from the ground around a fence post in the back yard. The fence was installed almost two years ago, but assumed the auger may have damaged a pipe. It was not septic, but due to the intermittent occurences, assumed it was from either my or neighbors sump pump. Contacted Mark via website, he called and I described the problem, and he gave me a verbal estimate. The price was reasonable, so I agreed to have him do the work. He came out two days later as scheduled. They dug and found where the pipe was damaged, and could have just repaired the broken pipe and left, as that was the original request. But he also noticed that it was connected to another pipe from the neighbors sump pump, and that the water was not flowing as it should, it was just backing up into the hole, meaning that there were additional issues further down. They snaked the line, and used camera equipment, and found that the pipe ran under a large plant bed (flowers, bushes and trees) in our backyard. Unfortunately, we were unaware that the pipe ran there when we planted everything. As such, the pipe was clogged with roots, and he had the equipment to clear the problem. With all the extra work and equipment used, the final cost was higher than the original estimate, but more than fair. He and his son are very knowledgable, professional, and friendly. I would definitely use them again, and highly recommend them.

He came, He dug, He left two big holes......happy customer.

Awesome!

They come out and did follow up and that was excellent.

Very professional in installation of stone and honest in repair of septic. Very neat and did not interupt business. Would definately recommend.