TrenchFree

We had a persistent leak that was hard to find -- isolated between our meter and our house. Because of mature landscaping and a lot or hardscape including concrete walkways, concrete steps leading to our front walkway and the driveway, we decided to use trenchless technology to replace the old water line rather than dig up the yard to find the old pipe and look for the leak to repair it. Trenchfree was very professional, very prompt. They came out within a few days at exactly the day and time of our appt. to give me a quote. I accepted the quote and work was started a few days later. They had to call USA/811 services to get the underground utilities in front of our house marked. They used high pressure HDPE piping which is flexible for the new water line. They installed the new pipe from the meter parallel to the sidewalk in front of my house, then made a 90-degree curve to run the pipe parallel to my driveway to the hose bib. The trenchless technology is fast. Three small holes were dug. One next to my meter box, another at the corner of my sidewalk and driveway and another near my hose bib. A "mole" was used to drill the holes and pull the pipe through. Each hole was used as a receiving pit for each leg of the pipe. The whole project was installed within 4 hours. And I didn't have to tear up my front yard or replace any landscaping or worse, concrete hardscape.

This company was responsive to all my needs. They offered me the best price on the clean outs and sewer replacement. . I had the work permitted and they took care of everything for me and did not try to discourage me from getting a permit. Once the permit and necessary advance work of identifying where various lines were by PG&E was completed, they were able to do the work over two days. They let me know when the city inspector arrived so I could be there. The work passed and they were able to complete the project. They cleaned up everything very well and were courteous and helpful with all my questions. They also came back the following week , after they had installed the two way clean out, and got rid of the roots at no extra charge. This included camera work to locate the roots. I had paid another company $290. just to do camera work so I was aware I had roots in my sewer line. I was pleased with the whole process and felt fortunate to find them to do the work. All the other bids were much higher and some wouldn't even give me a bid without more expensive camera work even though I had it done once. I should note that Trench Free doesn't come inside the house to do camera work but did try to run a camera through the vent on the roof for me. I have an older house so the camera was not able to go through the vent; it actually got stuck in the vent. However they did try and did not charge me anything for that either, even though they spent over an hour at my house.

Estimator arrived on time, gave us a reasonable estimate. Workers showed up in two days and completed the job in 8 hours. They cleaned up everything including the cement work they did. After they left you could not tell they were even there.

The estimator was punctual and knowledgeable. I had all my questions answered. The installation crew came out a few days later and the replacement line was installed without digging up my front yard in less than 1/2 a day. The trenchless installation was painless - small entry and receiving pits are dug at each end of the line, and the pipe is pulled in between. I got to preserve my landscaping and my front walkway as well as my driveway. Traditional trenching and pipe laying would have destroyed my front yard, and would have cost thousands more in landscaping and new concrete walkways.

Arrived promptly for the estimate, did the video inspection and came up with a quote. They had to come back since they did not save the inspection video and Fremont requires a copy for the permit. Also had the wrong fitting for the pressure test when the building inspector showed up. Overall, they did good work, but they clearly weren't up to speed with all the permit/code requirements for Fremont, so they ended up making extra trips.

Work went smoothly. Had to dig two holes, 5 feet deep, and 10 feet deep. Inspection passed. My **** never flowed better.

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This was a tricky one because the sewer line went behind the house, down a steep hill, under a retaining wall, and had to be connected straight into a city sewer line. Four service holes had to be dug and the permit costs were higher than normal. Ernie came very promptly to evaluate the situation, hydro-jetted my line as a temporary measure, and then scheduled the work within 2-3 weeks in order to have time to get the permits in order. The project went smoothly from my perspective and all permits were signed off cleanly. Thank you for a great job!

We woke up Monday morning to the sound of running water ? 6:30, and determined that it was in the main line, between the meter and the house. Note: San Jose Water had replaced the meter on the Friday before!
I quickly referenced Angie?s List for plumbers.  First on that list was Done Right Plumbing.  I call them at 8am.  They were terrific, as they immediately told me to call Ernie, at Trenchfree.  Ernie was  already at another site, and referred me to the main office number.  Their earliest appointment for an estimate was 3pm.  As I mentioned that we had no water at our house, they said that they would try, and that they would call back later.    I didn?t receive a call back by 9:30am, so I called.  They said it would be about 11am ? again, for the estimate only.  At about 10:30am, Ernie came by (after the first emergency, on his way into the office).  I was amazed that the costs were below $2,000, as we had sewer work done about 20 years before, and that ran us $2,500.  Ernie was extremely friendly and understanding throughout, pushing to get us priorities, and provided a plan to at least provide us water by the end of the day.  Our scheduled replacement was at 1:30pm.  We filled our camping water containers, and waited.
I called the office at about 1:30pm, and was told that they were finishing up, and should be there soon.  I had to call again, about 2pm, and told that they were on their way ? They arrived about 2:30m.  I asked about their estimated completion time: about 3 hours.  
I did bother them every hour, or so, while providing them water ? ?everything was going okay?.
They finished after 6:30pm, as it was getting dark.  There were discussions regarding high pressure (?80 PSI? and how it could cause problems) and installing a pressure regulator, but they didn?t have one in their truck, nor did they have time.  I don?t think they measured the pressue (again, no time, as it was getting dark), as I didn?t see a pressure gauge, nor did they show me the pressure reading.  I measured it the next day, and it was below 80 PSI, so I didn?t follow up with a call to install a regulator ($300).
Overall, it was a very good experience, especially getting water back on that same day.  There were some minor issues throughout, but Trenchfree will be recommended by us ? with special acknowledgement to Ernie V. 

They were quick and efficient. They provided great service.

They were awesome. They got the permit on day 1, dug and replaced the sewer on day 2, had the city inspection day 3, and on day 4 had the final inspection. There was minimum disruption and they power washed the area where they had piled the dirt and now everything works perfectly. They are punctual to the minute almost to the minute and the one time Ernie (Field Manager) was running a couple of minutes late he called and let me know.

Ernie came by to give an estimate. These are the only folks who did not charge a fee to give an estimate. That's simply fantastic. We had a old 60 year old sewage pipe that had gone bad. Ernie fished in his camera and showed the extent of the damage and recommended the complete 35 feet of pipe to be changed. This price was not the lowest, but was much lower than some other bids that I got. The price was fair.
The next day his staff of 4 people came. They were extremely professional and simply a pleasure to deal with. They got all of this work done in a matter of 6 hours. They tirelessly worked continuously. They dug two trenches, one was almost 6 feet deep to reach the city sewer connection. Looking at their equipment, there was no doubt that these were professionals at work.
They cleaned up the job site well. After they left there was no trace that such a major repair had been done.Excellent work by the entire TrenchFree team. Will definitely use their services again.

I called Trenchfree on a Friday, and Ernie was able to come out on Monday for an estimate. The day of the estimate, Ernie called to say he was going to be a few minutes late, which I appreciated. He came and did an inspection with a camera to determine the location and length of the sewer line. He let me know which sections of the old clay line needed replacing due to tree roots and which sections seemed fine. I ended up replacing less than other companies had estimated.
The workers arrived as scheduled and most of the work was done in the morning and part of the afternoon. They dug 2 holes in the ground where the work started and stopped. I had to leave in the morning and wasn't able to see the pipe being put in, but when I got back in the afternoon, it was done. While my yard was in the process of renovation and I could have done a traditional replacement and dug out the old pipe, a trenchless replacement was quick and easy with minimal disruption. The next day, the inspector came to sign off on the permit and the workers finished backfilling the dirt.
Trenchfree ended up being the easiest as well as the most economical method.

Trench free came to replace about 1000 feet of pipe-- our main waterline was leaking and needed to be replaced. They worked fast and efficiently, finishing the job in one day. They did not need to make a huge hole in our lawn so we didn't have to pay extra to fix our sod.

We are planning a remodel of our Master Bath. Our home is on a slab and the infrastructure is 57 years old. We did not want to find out after the remodel that a section of the sewer needed replacing and the floor had to be jack-hammered.
When I read the add on Angie's about trench-less repairs I called TrenchFree for an appointment. Very complete customer experience on the phone.
If you look up the word professional in the dictionary, you will see a picture of Ernest Villalobos of TrenchFree. Arrived at our home at 9AM as scheduled. Friendly, communicative and prepared to ask questions about our needs. This is important because even though we had communicated our needs when making the appointment, Ernest confirmed what he had been told through questions insuring the need had not changed and removed the possibility of assumptions being wrong.
During the camera inspection Ernest showed me what was being shown on the monitor and explained when there was a change of color in the pipe and what causes it. He tracked the sewer all the way to the front sidewalk. There he found a T intersection not anticipated and used another tool to locate the T in the front yard to confirm the completeness of the line.
TrenchFree and Ernest now hold a place on speed dial for all our future plumbing needs. There pricing is more than competitive and more than reasonable. I have not included the cost to us for this service in this review. Having had experience with other plumbing companies in the Bay Area, TrenchFree is hands-down our number one choice.

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I called in the evening after my plumber had shut off the water at the street. (Water company had just informed me I was losing 180 gallons/hour). Freddy made an appointment to give me an estimate the next morning at 7:30 a.m. My water main would be very difficult to replace. There is a steep hill from the street to my house, about 200'. The water main passes under a driveway and also under a large area that I just had landscaped. Freddy gave me a quote on the spot for 1.5-inch polyethelyne: $14,400, which included a 10% Angie's List discount. This is considerably higher than what it would have cost to trench, but trenching would have required cutting through my driveway and a good portion of my landscaping. It also would have taken much longer, and I was a little nervous about having workers work on such a steep hill.
Trenchless would have to wait to begin for two business days, the lead time Underground Service Alert needs to mark all my gas lines and electrical. So later that day Trenchless installed a temporary water main, above ground. I could do laundry, dishwasher, etc.
They arrived promptly on the appointed day, with a team of about 6 polite and professional workers. They completed the work the same day.
Although I was shocked when I got the quote, the process and outcome were excellent. I believe I got good value.

Called for an estimate and they came out within 4 hours. Proposal was written out with a description of the work that would be performed at my home. After getting 5 more estimates, I decided to go with TrenchFree because their proposal was the best. They came out the next day at 8:05 am and started the process of replacing the water line. The crew explained to me in detail how they were going to replace the water line before started. They worked quickly and were done around 10:30 am. They cleaned up after completing the work. Very nice professional job. The only issue that happened was getting my and quot;senior discountand quot;. I called the company and the issue was resolved quickly. I was very happy with the job.

We were smelling sewer fumes near our sidewalk/property line and contacted the city a couple times who weren't very interested in helping us diagnose the problem. TrenchFree came out and ran a line down our lateral which was helpful to see what was going on. There were roots penetrating the lateral at different points, as well as one section that looked a bit worse off than the rest, but there was no major collapse or obstruction. TrenchFree convinced me that the fumes we were smelling were being caused by our lateral (6 feet under ground mind you) and the section emitting the fumes in was under the sidewalk. They suggested installing a cleanout beyond our property line which the makes any damaged part of the lateral beyond that point the city's responsibility. The city at this point wasn't being helpful, and TrenchFree said they would be the ones to work with the city. and quot;The moment they see this on camera, they'll fix. No doubt about it.and quot;. So, i gave them the go ahead to start the work. They dug up a portion of my front lawn, spray painted the street to indicate where it was going so PGE could come out and indicate where our utility line was, PGE spray painted more on our street and sidewalk. Trenchfree installed the cleanout, had the city inspector come out and give us a permit, etc, etc, etc. Once it was done I called the city to have them come out and see the and quot;problemand quot; for themselves. They did, but didn't see the situation the same way and refused to help me identify the cause further. I called trenchfree and told them what was going on and they said it was between me and the city now. What about their promise to work with the city? Nope. I had trgnchfree run the video camera through the lateral again and record it so i could take the footage to the city. They wanted to charge me for that by the way. I had them measure how far the camera traveled to get to the spot in the lateral that was and quot;damagedand quot;. This time it was located in the middle of the street, not near our sidewalk where the fumes were, which they claimed before. At this point he said and quot;Well, if you ever have a problem or obstruction from this day forward it's the city's responsibility.and quot;. That's not what I paid for and I still smell fumes. Be careful.

Everything was just professionally done in a perfect way. From their rapid response to our call up to the end of their job. They were honest, resourceful, highly skilled and capable!!! I Highly recommend them!

Ernie came out to give me a quote on a collapsed pipe in our slab after another plumber ran a rooter machine the day before. Told Ernie that the other technician ran his rooter about six feet and stopped an pulled a wad of black stuff and said and quot;collapsed pipeand quot;. Ernie said and quot;wait a minute, let's take a lookand quot;, he went out to his truck and brought back an older but very competent snake camera. He started down through the clean out and went about four feet and said and quot;you've got flowand quot; Ernie explained that with flow from the sink, washer could drain. Wow this pretty dirty, and quot;turn on the sink to clear this thingand quot; then and quot;Let's take this as far as we canand quot;. and quot;OK he says I'm out 35 feet let me go get my sniffer and find the cameraand quot;. The camera has a radio beacon that talks to the sniffer and he found the camera head in the bathroom between the toilet and bathtub.
He pulled the camera back and said the pipe was OK. Then he goes to his truck and gets his rooter machine and starts cleaning the pipe. Pulls the rooter back in and proceeds to put the camera back into the hole. and quot;fill the kitchen sinkand quot;, start the washer, and quot;wow look at the suds from the washer, pipes look OK!. Ernie then ran the camera back down to the tee and said turn the lavatory in the bathroom, just water from the washer. Turn the bathtub on. Yep got water from the other side of the tee! He slowly pulled the camera head back then said let the water in the sink go. Wow what a flushing the pipe got, plenty of momentum the flush debris down the pipe. On the way back he found the inlet for the washing machine just inches from the clean out in the kitchen. Needless to say what we paid paled in comparison to the other fix costing between $17,000 to $22,000 to cut up slab and re-route the drain pipe. My son and I helped Ernie move his equipment to his truck and paid him more than he asked for! Smiles!

They were excellent. They were very prompt, professional, and everything they told me, they did. The person that came out to do the estimate, put the snake through the line and took pictures, he showed me the problem with the camera and all that was free; they didn't charge me anything for hat. They came out the next day and fixed it; it was excellent. I wouldn't call anybody else but them in the future.

Job went very well. They know what they are doing and paid a lot of attention to quality. I suspect they may not have been the cheapest, but if you want peace of mind and don't mind spending a bit more for it, you will get what yo pay for here. Their work involved a necessary trench, trenchless, raising the pipe to achieve grade, breaking through my house foundation, installing a new cleanout, and recementing the driveway. Did it all on budget in the allocated time frame. Cleaned up afterward. Also, very nice people.

Good. They were able to come out right away the next morning after I called, they assessed the situation and provided a quote quickly. I had previously gotten a quote from a big plumbing co. (for a non-trenchless sewer line replacement) that had come in higher and would be more disruptive. JD plumbing was able to start work right away. They took care of the permits and inspections (though they and the inspector missed each other for the first inspection so there was one extra day before they could backfill the holes). I was not present while they were doing the work but from my perspective it all went smoothly and with minimal inconvenience. The yard was pretty messy for a couple days but that was to be expected. They replaced the grass and gravel that they had to remove to install the cleanouts. Luckily they did not have to pull up the sidewalk to connect to the city sewer (which would've increased the price from the original estimate - but they had explained all that in advance) so the price was as estimated and the billing process was smooth.