Underground Connections - Trenchless Sewer Repair

They gave me an estimated time of arrival of between 8:30 and 9:30 am for Thursday and Friday but arrived at 8am which was okay. Job took about 4 hours each day, first to clean out and run the camera through the existing clay pipe line and to dig the access hole. The second was to reinspect the line and run the pipe liner and fill the hole back in. I was really impressed with the service this company offered as others wanted to tear up 50 foot of my yard and take down an 80 plus year old tree. They worked quickly and efficiently and cleaned up when they were finished. I would highly recommend this company !!!

We live in a historic neighborhood with sewer lines that are more than 100 years old and not mapped. We began to have some symptoms of a sewer line issue, and after consultation with no fewer than three other plumbers as well as our insurance company and the city over a period of nearly 2 months (stressful!), no one could figure out where our sewer lines even went, let alone what the problem was. We had the line jetted several times by different companies, and each time the plumbing companies told us that they could not get past a certain spots in the pipe and that it was likely broken in those locations (i.e., $6500 for an exploratory dig in those spots). We were about to abandon our existing line and drop $12,000 on a new line to a nearby sewer when we called Underground Connections for one final bid. Underground Connections came out, dropped a camera down our line, and quickly figured out how our line flowed to the street and how it was downstream of another neighbors' line (which another company had wanted to dig up!). Amazingly, they determined that there was no major issue and that there was likely some toilet paper build up in the line, which had been resolved by the previous jetting. I can't begin to explain the relief that this company brought us, and we greatly appreciate their honesty and knowledge. Knock on wood, our issue is resolved, but we will certainly call Underground Connections FIRST for any future issues that may arise.

I'm in charge of maintenance at our church, and needed someone who could diagnose and correct an apparent blockage in our sewer discharge line. (It's generally not a great idea to have sewage backing up into your church parking lot.) Underground Connections had quite a few rave reviews in Angie's List, so I contacted them. Even though it's an hour and a half drive to our location from theirs, Tom was here bright and early the next morning. Using his snake-mounted camera, he identified the location of the blockage, and even marked the route of the sewer line on the parking lot - a valuable piece of information for us, because we have no reliable drawings of underground services on our property. He then proceeded to blow out the line with his pressure hose. The first blockage was cleared, but the discharge still wasn't flowing as it should, so he ran the pressure line all the way to the street (approximately 100 feet) until the line was completely clear and things were flowing as they should. All this took less than two hours, and all was as it should be when church members arrived for church on Sunday. That's a good thing! Tom was extremely knowledgeable, completely professional, and a most pleasant person to work with! Underground Connections has been entered into my list of preferred providers. Although (for obvious reasons) I hope I don't have to call him again, if the need arises, he'll be first on my list!

I do not know where to begin to express how high the level of integrity and sincere regard for the customer is that the owner, Tom Carlisle, and his business has for their customers. We have a long history of main drain backup, and have had the line snaked many times over 15+ years in an older home. The problem had become more frequent, and the last back up resulted in two consecutive snakes of the pipe, and still there were problems. We were advised by three other service providers (all on Angie's list) that the pipe was collapsed, disintegrated and/or "bellied", and that our home would have to be excavated to replace at least a portion of the pipe. We were devastated over this potential expense. Thankfully, my husband is always skeptical, and did some digging for alternative solutions. He discovered the trenchless and pipelining systems and thought that might be an option. This possibility led us in a different direction for a provider - sewer only experts. We called Underground Connections among several others along this line, but UC was the only one who responded quickly. And not only returned our call quickly, but worked us into the schedule for the owner to come to our home on a Sunday morning to evaluate our pipe...free of charge. The owner came personally and did a thorough camera inspection with a larger camera than the other providers had, and quickly began to debunk what we had been told by all the others: First; the direction we had been told that our pipe led from our house was completely wrong; Second; the amount of water laying in our pipe was completely normal; Third; our pipe was not collapsed, bottomed-out, or bellied. It did, however, have years and years of toilet paper build up on the sides of the pipe that was likely creating dams on occasion and causing the back-up. He recommended jet-cleaning of the pipe with a camera. The jet-clean was scheduled within the week and, as with the evaluation - while he worked, we were able to view the work on the screen. Once the job was completed, Tom advised that our pipe would probably last another 50 years. Bottom-line: We went from excavation & pipe replacement estimates of $3,500 - $6,000, to a $350 jet clean. Tom Carlisle and his business, Underground Connections, is the ultimate professional and service provider - everything you would ever want regarding honesty, integrity, knowledge, experience and professionalism - and he has built his business on these very standards. He could so very easily have concurred with the previous plumbing evaluations. How would we possibly know that we actually did NOT need an excavation - especially since the other plumbers had convinced us by their cameras and screens that we were seeing was total pipe failure? We wholeheartedly recommend Underground Connections for sewer pipe problems, and are eternally thankful that they were on Angie's List when we had this need.

We called Underground Connections to provide a second estimate for a possible repair of our sewer main (house to street) due to a line cleaning that another company (national brand) did 2 weeks prior. The first company found a bellied pipe and estimated a repair of $5400 (just for a small section not the whole line. Ron (the service technician) from UC was prompt and courteous. He ran a camera down the line and confirmed that it looked like a bellied pipe. After getting all the details of Ron's findings, Tom (owner), suggested that a repair wasn't necessary at this time and that yearly maintenance of the line should be sufficient. Additionally, Ron informed me that the first company did a less than excellent job cleaning out the roots so... I'll be using Underground Connections for my maintenance beginning next year. They gentlemen were honest and really explained the situation well to help allay my fears of a major repair. Plus... they drove all the way from Wooster to Elyria to give me this estimate and advice and charged me nothing. That was truly a blessing. I highly recommend this company for your (and my) plumbing needs.

We contacted Underground Connections after reading great reviews on Angie's list do to water backing up when our washer drains. They came and cleaned the drains from the house to the street but it did not solve the issue. The workers said they didn't have the equipment to look or clean drains inside the home. They came back out and tried to snake the drains but couldn't. They then sent the owner, Tom out to look at issue. Tom stated that he believed the issue was a clog in the vent pipe on the roof. He stated he would come out last weekend to take the camera down the roof to diagnose the problem. We have not heard from the since, he did not show up to our knowledge and I have left at least 8 messages on there phone pleading for them to return my call to see if they are going to complete what they said they would do, or if we need to start looking for another contractor. We cannot get them to return any of our calls and we are still unable to use our washer. I was OK with the initial work they completed, however I am VERY disappointed with their customer service and the fact that they have left us hanging! If they don't want to complete the job, that is our loss (since we already paid them) but they could at least have the decency to return the 8 or 9 messages I have left them!!

After clearing a root ball out my main sewer line I had the plumber ( highly rated Columbus company on Angie's) )run the camera through just to be sure the job was fully done. A few feet past the cleared spot we found that the pipe was broken. I asked for an estimate and about 10 days later, after several calls, got one. The estimate was $6400 with the caveat that complications could significantly increase the amount. I called several other plumbers on the list but most would not even tackle a job this big. When I contacted Underground Connections they said they'd be out the next day and they were - on time. Early in fact.The owner of the company, Tom, was the guy who showed up and ran the camera. He said they could do the job for under $3000. We sat around and talked for a while- we're both ex-army -and he seemed to know his business. A few days later they e-mailed a fully detailed estimate. For $2600. They were out the next week with three trucks and an excavator and finished job in about six hours. The bill was exactly what was estimated, no damage was done to the lawn, and they re-seeded the 4'x4' area of the dig. I'm very pleased that I found this company and collected business cards for all my friends.

We had a drainage problem in driveway that multiple contractors had looked at and could not solve; often bringing up scary scenarios of full driveway excavation and re-trenching the entire drainage system. Underground Connections brought in a camera and did a free inspection of the system, immediately found the problem, which was simply a broken junction. Their inspection also covered the rest of the system though, which was a much-appreciated piece of information. Fix was quick, took a day or so of crew labor. Only complain - very minor (reason for the "B" on professionalism) - was that they used permanent spray paint on driveway to mark certain areas. Took a good afternoon of scrubbing with a wire brush to remove.

I imagine a lot of you are skimming these reviews to see if you can trust this vendor. Based on my experience, they are certainly worthy of your trust and business. The owner, Tom Carlisle, is a credit to his profession. Plumbers have a reputation for upcharging clients and advising them that they need expensive and unnecessary services. I recently was the victim of exactly this type of behavior from another plumbing company, who told me that I need to have my entire concrete slab ripped open to repair a cast-iron pipe. I called Underground Connections and asked them to come in, thinking their trenchless plumbing technique would be a less costly but still pricey alternative. Upon arrival, I explained the situation as I understood it to Tom. If he wanted to, he easily could have told me that I needed the pipe replaced and make a few extra thousand dollars. He did not. Instead, Tom looked at the pipe, saw the real problem (which was minor), and fixed it. You should choose Underground Connections. They provide top-quality service and - more importantly - are trustworthy.

Tom and his lovely wife Janet came out to scope my rain gutter drain. I suspected that it was the source of water intrusion in my basement. Tom used the scope and I was able to see his findings from the attached monitor. My drain was open and unclogged. He then continued to help me identify the source of water intrusion and went way beyond to help me get my problem solved. My problem is with ground elevation and rain gutters which he doesn't do. He referred me to someone local that has an excellent reputation to resolve my water intrusion. Tom is truly an honest hard working man and was so helpful. His knowledge and job skills are impeccable! He is trustworthy and honest and really exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend him and his services. He is especially caring about the elderly! If you have a drain or sewer problem, call him! He's awesome!

The visit went well and they provided excellent advice and information.

Holy Cow. We can't say enough about Tom Carlisle and his business. After trying to get several plumbers to come out to our house to inspect our lines after heavy rains caused flooding in our basement on several different days, we finally got a very well known company to come out and tell us that it would cost 100 bucks just to look with their fancy schmancy camera and then the guy quoted us $350 for the first hour and $260 each hour after that. (He said it would "probably be about 700 bucks or so." He then said, after shining his flashlight into our drainpipe that he spotted mud and...well.."That's not a good sign.." He proceeded to tell us that our clay pipes were probably broken in spots and his company could give an estimate on replacing the entire line and they have financing. After painting a picture of doom and gloom, he said he would be out in two days to jet the roots out. On the day he was to come, he didn't show up and nobody called. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise. THANK GOODNESS for Angie's List --where after some more searching, we came across Underground Connections. After reading all the awesome reviews on this guy, we were sold. We called. He came. He calmed out worries and said "It's probably not as bad as you think" and then told us that jetting the lines would probably take care of the issue. On the first trip out, he took a look with the camera (NO CHARGE, I might add...) and said yes, looks like root balls and he could schedule for JULY 4th to come out and take care of it. A holiday! (NO EXTRA CHARGE, I might add...). Tom was EARLY, jetted out the roots in good time, and charged us exactly what he quoted us. He said there is nothing wrong with our clay pipes, but because of the trees, we may have to jet for roots again in three or four year intervals; otherwise, we shouldn't have a problem. No need to dig up the yard and replace the whole line. (And this is a guy who runs a company that replaces lines! ) He didn't try to sell us on a line replacement (although I read all about the trenchless line replacement on his site and if I had to replace my line, I would definitely go with him). Tom is HONEST and professional in every way. Very, very down to earth, tell-it-like-it-is dude. I'd like to go out and have a beer with the guy. Such a breath of fresh air. Absolutely loved him. I believe his wife takes the calls and operates the scheduling/receptionist end of things and my husband said she was awesome too--very pleasant and professional in every way. Since then, no more flooding issues in the basement--and we have had some more bouts of heavy rain since he left. This guy is the real deal. Stop reading other reviews and just hire Tom and Underground Connections!

Underground Connections came out to my house and gave an estimate for a storm sewer repair on 4/5/2015. He took a lot of time, was thorough, and seemed very knowledgeable. I was emailed an estimate by Scott. On 4/14, I spoke with Underground Connections, and asked to schedule the work. He said he needed to check the calendar and he would get back to me. That was the last I heard from them. It is puzzling to me, because I was very impressed in-person, but none of my phone calls since last contact have been answered or returned. Did they make the estimate in error? Even so, I thought I would get some response. I sent a follow-up email on 4/27 (that was not replied to), and called on 5/13, 5/18, 6/16. I practically begged them (on the answering machine) to call me back. I have determined that this is not a fluke, and I must find another provider. I am very disappointed with Underground Connection's lack of communication.

"True American" - those are the words that come to my mind when I think of Tom. We celebrate soldiers, presidents but with Tom we can celebrate a true kind of contractor that the construction industry really needs. Not much is thought about a sewer line & let alone its problems but the outstanding customer service Tom brings is something all of us should learn. Back in October, I had a older ranch on slab & Tom came over to do some power-jet cleaning. Older homes have a cast iron pipe under the house & usually corrodes over time due to rust. Tom attempted few clean-ups hoping to save me some money but it kept clogging up. Ultimately it was determined that the cast iron pipe needs replacement. Tom has an unique trenchless solutions (see his website for video's) that did not require jack hammering the concrete floors. The appointment date was set by his office admin who did a terrific job of coordinating schedules. The crew came before time with a very large truck of specialized equipment which prepares a rubber lining material which upon heat hardens like a pvc pipe. Specially trained folks from the manufacturer in Wisconsin were called in to support this work with Tom supervising. A small pit was dug outside the house where a sewer access point was installed. From this pit, access was created & the liner was blown into the existing cast iron pipe using a specialized drilling kind of equipment. Once inside the cast iron pipe, heat was applied & the inner most layer of liner is pulled back which allows the pipe blow up inside and harden like a pvc pipe. Once hardened, the new liner pipe it was connected to the sewer access point. Tom went beyond the scope & relined some extra footage beyond the access point without charging me anything extra just because he thought it was the right thing to do. I may not be describing technically all the right steps, but I could see a lot of experience, training & thought had gone into the process. Obviously, not everything goes smooth in construction & we did face some issues. In the process of relining we accidently covered up an existing bath sink drain which was directly connected to the sewer line, thus blocking it. Its hard to be so precise when doing trenchless work as what-you-see-is-what-you get but not having to dig up the whole house was a far worse alternative. However, Tom took full responsibility of correcting the situation & re-routed the sink drain to an open point of the sewer line using a professional plumber that I called in. After all the work was done, his crew, equally amazing at what they do, covered up the pit, put all the brick paving back & cleaned up the yard. His crew demonstrates the same level of integrity & commitment as Tom does. It was a long full day of work before they finished. It's been about 6 months now since this work was done & I have not seen any issues with the new sewer line. Like Tom's crew mentioned, usually they do all the work & never hear back from the customer again. I can attest to that. Tom's communication with all parties was outstanding & very helpful. His commitment to customer service was "A book of Pages of Happiness" as Angieslist would describe it. Highly recommend Tom & his company.

We called on the Saturday before Easter Sunday thinking we would have to wait until Monday, but Tom the owner came out at 8:00PM that night and ran his jet through the sewer draining all the standing water in my driveway then went the extra mile and jet washed my drive, With company coming over for Easter Sunday I could not ask for a better contractor. I would recommend Underground Connections & Jet Pro to anyone that needs and expert in sewer repair or replacement that dose the job right and leaves your property better then New. On top of doing an excellent job Tom never charged me any additional money for coming out that late. AAAA++++

When they finished the job everything seemed great, but then a couple months later the ground began to settle where they had done the job. I had to call and email several times to get them to come out and fix the spot that settled. They've been out twice now and it's still not fixed right. I can feel my sidewalk move when I walk on it and it's not level. I'm going to have to pay someone to fix my sidewalk right I guess.

This company is amazing. After receiving a $15,000 quote from a big-name company, I went in search of a independently-owned company who did great work and I found them in Underground Connections. Everyone that I worked with there was beyond nice and they spent an incredibly amount of time with me (and the prospective buyers) to diagnose the problem, determine how best to fix it, and write-up a quote. They confirmed the break in my sewer line, but offered a more cost-effective and efficient method to fix it. Instead of digging up my yard and my concrete, they would have been able to use their trenchless technology, which only required two small holes to be dug. And, their quote came in at $5,300 - so much less than the big-name company. I was thrilled with the price, but, even more so impressed with their customer service. They probably spent 5-6 hours with me, all told and that did not include doing the work - just helping me understand the problem, the proposed fixes, and working with my prospective buyers. In the end, the buyers and I did not agree to have me make the repairs so I did not need to hire this company. However, if I was responsible for the repair, I would have hired them in a heartbeat. And, if I ever encounter sewer problems again, they will be the first and only company I call. I could not recommend them more.

Originally the company gave us an estimate to replace the entire line to the sidewalk, but when the work was begun, it was found that the location of the sewer connection was not as the City of Akron portrayed (which was understandable since the house is 96 years old).. It actually ran underneath our neighbor's driveway and would have necessitated tearing out the bottom of our neighbor's concrete driveway. The plans changed and we selected the option of replacement of the pipe in our yard, and the installation of a clean out on the outside of the house with a 2 year warranty for the drainage pipes. This option was $2,000 cheaper. The company laid down plastic mats on the lawn, and removed shrubs and fencing that was in the way. When the job was completed they then replanted the shrubs, and cleaned up to the point that it was not readily apparent that anything that had been done. The dirt was tamped down so there would be a minimum of settling. Scott and Tom were personable, and respectful of our yard and house. They removed their shoes or wore paper booties when they walked through the kitchen to the basement. Our dog even liked them! The City of Akron inspector was very impressed with the fact that they restored the property afterwards, because they were not required to do that since we are not new construction.

Excellent service...saved me about $13,000.00 in unnecessary repair costs that another company said I needed.

These guys are THE best. I cannot express my appreciation for them enough. My mom has had years of problems with her sewer backing up. These guys have excellent technology that prevented us from having the yard dug up as recommended by another plumber. When it was finally time to dig, UC did it efficiently, cost-effectively, and were extremely thorough with cleanup. They solved the problem and we are so grateful.

Owner, Tom, was very punctual, professional and thorough. Have consistently had problems with sewer line and used several plumbers in the past who never diagnosed the problem and used a snake to clear clog. Tom first used a camera and found several places in the line that were blocked with tree roots. Used high pressure water to clear all locations and assured me that all looked good; pipes in good shape. Other plumbers had left a mess in the basement. Tom cleaned up after himself...I didn't have to clean a thing when he left! Would recommend to anyone!

He was very responsive and forthright about cost, what could be done and alternatives. Came to my home in Athens from Wooster area 2x and did not charge for trip. Did nice job of cleaning part of line that could be done, and was more than competitive as well as far better than local options. Balance of line under house needed to be replaced and he also quoted on that although for various reasons having to do with remodeling basement space along with replacing sewer line we went with an alternative option. I would highly recommend this provider.

Well, I am basically just here to verify all the other reviews that you read about this company. My wife and I recently bought our first home and almost immediately starting having issues with our main sewer line backing up. I initially called a "well known", "highly marketed" company in, simply because it was an emergency and It was the first name that came to mind. After a few trips and making and absolute mess of my new home, the guy from this company told me that I needed my entire sewer line replaced. He quoted it at approx. $4600. I turned to Angies List in hopes of finding a reputable company for a second opinion. From start to finish, everyone at Underground Connections was an absolute pleasure to work with. Tom was able to promptly come out to my home for an initial diagnosis. He came out and sent the camera through my line, and as it turns out, he said my line looks perfect! The issue was at the street where the county's fernco had dropped, leaving an imperfect connection. So, sure enough, the county promptly came out and did their own diagnosis and agreed that it was their responsibility and fixed it with no questions asked! Its been a little over two weeks now and everything works perfectly! A quick side note, Tom drove from approximately and hour away to diagnose the problem and refused to take any money the day of. I just want to repeat something that I read from an earlier review, and that is that not enough people do business like this gentleman anymore. Tom, we cant thank you enough for your great and honest service, you really saved us a ton of grief and really made our holiday season!

They were excellent. Everything about them stood out; their promptness and their professionalism. He was very nice. He had a small problem on his end. He called and let us know about it way ahead of time, so that we could take care of it. He was excellent when he got here.

Everything was great. They came out and cleared a clog for free and explained how to fix the problem.