FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED. WESTCHESTER LICENSES FOR HOME IMPROVEMENT #WC-12054-H01 & SEPTIC #68; PUTNAM LICENSES FOR HOME IMPROVEMENT #PC-2791-A & SEPTIC #1022.
Business highlights
44 years of trusted experience
Services we offer
SEPTIC SYSTEM REPAIRS FOR EXISTING HOMES, NEW CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATIONS, PROPERTY DRAINAGE, CURTAIN DRAINS, GUTTER & LEADER DRAINS, DRY WELLS, EXCAVATION & SITE WORK.
Description of Work: I was referred to Precision Excavation by a neighbor. The job involved removing the septic tank in the yard of our weekend home, digging a trench and laying pipe to connect our home to the town sewer line. The original price quote was $5,200 for a job expected to take between 3 -5 days, $2,600 payable in advance and $2,600 on completion. The price seemed to be a little on the high side, but that did not turn out to be the real problem. | |Unfortunately, I was unable to be present when the owner, Phil Leonforte began the work. He called me the second afternoon on the job to say that he had hit rock near the sewer connection at the street line and would need to bring in a rock hammer to break through the rock ledge. Minimum charge: $3,200 plus $1,200 per day for work beyond 2 days. The price seemed outrageous, but the yard was all dug up and the house plumbing was disconnected. There was little I could do at that point.= and, under duress, I sent him a second check for $3,200. | |Two days later, Phil called again to say that he had not been able to make sufficient progress with the rock hammer he used and would need to bring in a larger rock hammer and rental machine. He offered a $400 credit on the first rock hammer, but his price for the larger rock hammer was even more outrageous: $2,400 for 1 day, $4,200 for 2 days, $6,100 for 3 days, and so on. I told him to hold off until I could meet him on the job site the next day to see what was going on. | |I met Phil at the site for the first time on Friday afternoon. I'm no expert but it certainly seemed like he was dragging out the work. Over 4 days of allegedly full time work on the job, all Phil had accomplished was to remove the septic tank, cut a shallow ditch through the soil (not rock) with his backhoe for a distance of @ 30-40 from the house (@ 1/4 of the distance to the main sewer connection at the street line), and cut another 10-15 feet through rock beginning at the street line. Phil walked me around the property to "show me" all the rock that lay at or just under the surface for quite a distance. He told me that he would have to dig through 60 more feet, taking a round-about route around the perimeter of the yard. | |In response, I asked him why he couldn't try digging the trench diagonally across the yard, a much shorter distance. Phil said that he had not checked that area for rock beneath the surface (!) and resisted trying to go the shorter route. After I insisted that he try, Phil got in the backhoe and, with me watching, excavated a clean trench diagonally across the yard for a distance at least as long the span he had previously dug. Despite all the solid rock he "showed me" would have to be removed, he did not hit solid rock until he reached a point barely @ 15 feet from the finishing point. And he accomplished this in less than 2 hours of work with his backhoe. | |Nevertheless, Phil demanded an additional $4,000 deposit for the big rock hammer to cut through what certainly seemed to be less than a day's worth of work. I declined to give him the additional $4,000 that day, saying saying that I would meet him at the site on Monday to discuss it further. Phil tried to dissuade me from even coming on Monday, saying that it would be too loud. Instead, he wanted me to come on Tuesday, the second day, when he expected he would finish. I replied that I would come on Monday. | |On Monday morning, just as I was preparing to drive to the site to meet with Phil, he called to tell me not to come because rain was forecast for Monday and Tuesday, and he and the equipment rental company had decided to postpone the work until Wednesday and Thursday. I said that, in that case, I would meet him on Wednesday. | |I did come to the site on Wednesday morning. Phil was not yet there but what I saw was that,despite telling me that he was delaying the work until Wednesday, the large rock hammer was already on the property. More important, he had obviously worked the day before and finished almost the entire trench, leaving over only a small unfinished area. I questioned Phil about this when he finally did arrive a little before 10 AM, but he had no answer as to why he had worked on Tuesday (when it did rain) after telling me not to come because the work would be delayed until Wednesday. Nor could he explain why, if he worked on Tuesday, he left over only a few feet of unbroken rock instead of finishing the work, or why a second day of work with the large rock hammer was necessary. | |At that point, the price Phil was demanding to be paid for the job - originally $5,200 -had risen to $12,200. Our house was still without water and would remain so until the sewer hookup was completed, and I felt that he had taken unfair advantage of the situation in two respects - by demanding what I believed to be an outrageous daily price and by what seemed to be a deliberate effort to drag out the job for more days than were needed. After some discussion, I agreed under duress to accept his offer of a $1,800 discount and a firm price. He did not begin work until about 11:30 AM and, no surprise, it took him only about 45 minutes to finish excavating the rock. | |The property has been left a mess - in addition to the large rocks that will need to be removed from the property, Phil left behind the rusted septic pipes and the tank that were dug up, stones remain strewn all over the site and there were places where he excavated that he did not completely fill in. | |Worse, I promptly received two further invoices from the company seeking additional payments totally $4,700 (in addition to the $7,800 already paid, for which I am being sued. |
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
3.0
value
2.0
professionalism
1.0
responsiveness
3.0
punctuality
4.0
$10,000
Susanna M.
07/2015
5.0
septic tank, wells
+ 0 more
unknown
Description of Work: Replaced Water Pump
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
4.0
responsiveness
4.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$4,200
Lynne B.
07/2015
3.0
septic tank
+ -1 more
unknown
Description of Work: We called Precision for an evaluation of 2 drainage problems and a proposal to correct. After rescheduling because of a snafu on their part, Phil came and looked at our issues. While he was at our house he mentioned that he also sells compost/top soil. He was friendly and easy to talk to and seemed knowledgeable about drainage and septic matters. We also got proposals from 2 other contractors. Phil's proposal was by far the most expensive and, it turns out, he didn't actually have the proper solution for one issue because he hadn't thoroughly analyzed the problem. Shortly after he sent his proposal his wife called to say he was making deliveries of compost/topsoil and offered to have him deliver 5 yards at the quoted price of $250. I accepted the offer and Phil left a load on my driveway. When I got a chance to look at it carefully I found that it was not ready for use in the garden as much of the manure was not fully decomposed and there was fresh, green grass as well as a lot of seed heads, apparently from hay from the horse bedding. I called Phil and told him I could not use the compost in this state. He refused to take it back and hung up on me.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
3.0
value
2.0
professionalism
2.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
$250
Philip G.
06/2015
2.0
septic tank
+ -1 more
We felt cheated and taken advantage of by Precision Excavating and that the owner, Phil Leonforte did not deal with us with reaonable professionalism or integrity. We were referred to Precision Excavation by a neighbor to remove our septic tank and excavate a trench and lay the pipe to connect our home to the town sewer line. The original price quoted was $5,200, $2,600 in advance and $2,600 on completion, for a job projected to take 3-5 days to excavate a distance of approx. 142 feet. The price seemed to be a little on the high side, but that did not turn out to be the real problem. Unfortunately I was unable to be present at the site during the first few days of the job, and had to rely on telephone communications from Phil. After his second day on the job, Phil called to say that he had hit rock near the sewer connection at the street and would need to bring in a separate piece of equipment - a rock hammer - to break through the rock ledge. He said that the minimum charge for this would be $3,200 plus $1,200 per day for work beyond 2 days. The price seemed outrageous, and it also turned out that Phil knew in advance of providing his estimate that the entire area, including our property, had substantial solid rock ledges at or just below the surface. But, at that point, the yard was all dug up and, worse, he had already disconnected the plumbing leaving us with no water in the house. Under duress, therefore, I sent him a second check for $3,200. After two more days, Phil called again to say that he had not been able to make sufficient progress with the rock hammer he used, and would need to bring in a larger.rock hammer and rental machine. He offered a $400 credit on the first rock hammer, but his price for the larger rock hammer was even more outrageous: $2,400 for 1 day, $4,200 for 2 days, $6,100 for 3 days, and so on - which would bring the total job cost to more than $12,000. I told him to hold off until I could meet him on the job site to see for myself what was going on. I met Phil at the site the next afternoon, which was a Friday. I'm no expert but it certainly seemed like he was dragging out the work. What I found was that over the course of 4 days on the job, the only work that had been accomplished was removal of the septic tank, excavation (though soil and loose rock) of a shallow trench (about 2 feet deep) running no more than 30-40 feet from the house connection (barely 1/4 of the full distance), placement of plastic sewer pipe at the bottom of the ditch, and excavation of approximately 10-15 feet of rock from the street line connection point. Walking perpendicular to the street along the property line, Phil sought to impress me with all the rock that lay under the surface for long distance. His wanted to dig the trench through about 60 feet of that rock, following a path around the edge of the yard. The indirect and much longer route he proposed seemed odd. I suggested instead that he try digging the trench diagonally across the yard, a much shorter distance which had little if any surface rock. Phil resisted that suggested path and further claimed that he had not even checked the ground under the diagonal route for rock beneath the surface!. It was only after I insisted that he try it, and told him that I was remaining to see what happened, that Phil got in his backhoe and was able to cut a clean trench, without hitting solid rock, diagonally across the property for almost the entire remaining distance. The point at which he reached solid rock left only @ 15-20 feet still to be excavated. The work took him less than two hours. At that point, Phil asked me for a $4,000 additional deposit for what he said would require two day's work with the big rock hammer to cut through the remaining 15-20 feet. Given that there seemed to be even less than one day's work, and given what I had just witnessed, I declined to give him any more money and told him that I would meet him on Monday and planned to be present while he worked. Phil tried to dissuade me from coming on Monday, saying that I would find it too loud, and told me to wait until Tuesday, the second day, when he expected he would finish. Early Monday morning I received a call from Phil who told me that I should not come, that rain was forecast for Monday and Tuesday, and he and the equipment rental company decided to delay the work until Wednesday and Thursday. I said that, in that case,I would meet him at the site on Wednesday. I arrived at the site on Wednesday morning but Phil was not yet there. However, contrary to what he had told me, the large rock hammer was already on the property and, except for a few feet he had left undone, Phil had already finished almost the entire trench. When Phil did arrive a little before 10 AM, he had no answer as to why he had worked on Tuesday (when it did, in fact rain) or why he did not inform me. Nor could he explain why, if he worked on Tuesday, he left over only a few feet of unbroken rock instead of finishing the work. Nevertheless, Phil was still demanding an additional $4,000 deposit to finish the job, meaning that the cost of a job originally quoted for $5,200 had risen to $12,000. Again, I felt that he was trying to take unfair advantage of the fact that our yard was dug up and, worse, that our house would continue to be without water until the sewer connection was completed. After some discussion, he agreed to a $1,800 discount and a firm price. Again, under duress, I gave Phil a check for the additional amount asked for - $2,000 - raising the total amount already paid for the job to $7,800. I remained to observe the work. Phil began to operate the rock hammer at about 11:30 AM. It took him about 45 minutes to finish excavating the 5 feet.or so of rock he had left over from the day before and complete the trench. But there was more. Soon afterwards I received invoices demanding an additional payment $4,700, including a new $300 extra charge (nowhere provided for in the contract), based that the actual length of the sewer line was 12 feet (i.e. 8.3%) longer than he projected. I declined to pay the amount demanded and the company has commenced a lawsuit for $4,700, which remains pending.
Description of Work: Excavate trench to connect home to sewer line
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
3.0
value
1.0
professionalism
1.0
responsiveness
4.0
punctuality
2.0
$12,000
STEPHEN M.
12/2012
5.0
septic tank
+ -1 more
Phil did a great job under difficult circumstances. He quoted me a price and stuck to it even though the job turned out to be more than he bargained for as the baffle was in a difficult location.
Description of Work: Install baffle in septic tank
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$300
Laurie R.
05/2010
1.0
septic tank, wells
+ 0 more
I met with Phil for problems with my septic system/ water problem in my backyard. He allegedly dug 4 trenches, and installed a dry well. Six months later I still had water in my yard. For another $1,000 he "fixed" it. Eventually, when I went to sell my house, I had to have the entire septic system replaced ($25,000). When they dug up Phil's work, they told me that not only did he dig three (not four) trenches, he never laid in the full amont of pipe he was supposed to. There was about six feet of pipe that he put in, and the rest was a little bit of rock/gravel. The system was designed to fail from the go. Not happy with the money I wasted with him Nice guy, terribly job.
Description of Work: Septic trench repair. Dry well installed.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
1.0
value
3.0
professionalism
2.0
responsiveness
3.0
punctuality
3.0
$9,000
Response from Precision Excavating Inc.
We did install 200' of traditional pipe and gravel fields along with an additional dry well. There was absolutely no skimping on the installation of the fields (to view how our fields are always installed please see our website: septicrepairny.com). The other contractor may have dug in different areas and perhaps found some work which predated our repair. We did advise the customer that the soil was clay (very poor for septic systems). The fact that the traditional repair did not work was a function of the poor soil conditions and not the quality of the system installed.
Leslie H.
07/2008
5.0
gutter repair, wells
+ 0 more
Phillip work tirelessly for days with attention to restoring yard and general clean up.
Description of Work: Attached entire drainage system to existing gutters. Connected sump pump to system and redirected washer drainage to dry well away from house.
All statements concerning insurance, licenses, and bonds are informational only, and are self-reported. Since insurance, licenses and bonds can expire and can be cancelled, homeowners should always check such information for themselves. To find more licensing information for your state, visit our State Contractor License Requirements page.
*Contact business to see additional licenses.
Service Categories
Septic Systems,
Wells and Pumps,
Gutters,
Excavating,
Drain Pipe Installation
FAQ
Precision Excavating Inc. is currently rated 3.6 overall out of 5.
Monday: 7:30 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday: 7:30 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday: 7:30 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday: 7:30 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday: 7:30 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday: 7:30 AM - 9:00 PM
Precision Excavating Inc. accepts the following forms of payment: Check,Discover,MasterCard,Visa
Yes, Precision Excavating Inc. offers free project estimates.
Yes, Precision Excavating Inc. offers eco-friendly accreditations.
No, Precision Excavating Inc. does not offer a senior discount.
No, Precision Excavating Inc. does not offer emergency services.
No, Precision Excavating Inc. does not offer warranties.
Precision Excavating Inc. offers the following services: SEPTIC SYSTEM REPAIRS FOR EXISTING HOMES, NEW CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATIONS, PROPERTY DRAINAGE, CURTAIN DRAINS, GUTTER & LEADER DRAINS, DRY WELLS, EXCAVATION & SITE WORK.