A SUTPHIN STATEWIDE SEPTIC SVC

They will be responsive up until they cash your check or run your card. After that don't expect them to resolve any issues. Statewide replaced my septic tank and they told me to expect the ground to settle but they would come out in a year to level off the ground. After the ground settled (drain field, old site, and new site) I contacted Statewide and voiced my concerns. The biggest issue I had was that when it rains the water accumulates where the tank sits. This allows water to drain into the tank which isn't good for the drain field and it covers the electrical box. Statewide came out and leveled off the two of the three areas but did not address the new tank where the water accumulates. I have tried for two years to get Statewide to come out but the President of the company just makes excuses. His solution was to put in a swell, he told me to dig up my fence and then he would come out there. Since I was not happy with the work that was already completed or the fact that I have to constantly send him e-mails I wanted a plan drawn up, I wanted to see exactly what he planned to due but he never responded. I wanted this mostly because he deals in septic tanks, not landscaping. My solution, raise the tanks using risers, raise the electrical box, and backfill with dirt. As mentioned before, it has been two years and the issue has not been resolved. Maybe he planned to ignore me until I stopped e-mailing him. I should've gone with Hatfield's or any other company and you should too.

I had two problems. A long standing one in which the distribution box — the concrete box from which waste water is channeled to the two 65-ft long drain fields—was being overwhelmed. The water would seep up through the ground because it couldn’t get to the drain fields fast enough. For the second problem, I need to describe our setup.

Our septic field is uphill from the house. Seems like a crazy plan, but that’s the only way they could fit a house on the lot, even though it sits on five acres. The liquid that comes out of the septic tank doesn't go straight to the drain field. It goes into a large concrete holding tank with three floats. When the water level gets high enough to tilt the middle, medium-length float, a pump engages and sends the water uphill to the distribution box. When the water level gets low enough, the first, longest float turns the pump off. The third float is the shortest. If the water gets that high a very loud alarm goes off in the house telling us that the pump is not working.

For my second problem, I thought my pump quit. The alarm hadn’t gone off, but the patch of ground just downhill from the distribution box wasn’t flooded, even though the shower was in use. I thought I had caught a pump problem before it got to alarm stage. I called Statewide and they got someone here in a day or two. They are great at getting someone out to help if your problem is immediate.

Eric and his assistant (sorry, I didn’t get his name) determined pretty quickly that my pump was fine. I had misread the floats and which one had which job. So I described my other problem.

Statewide had already solved a similar problem for me two or three years ago. An astounding number of roots had filled the d-box and five or six feet of the four-inch pipe leading to the drain fields. As they have every time they’ve come out for anything, they did a great job. (The reviews are on Angie’s List.) I dug up the box and cleared it of roots a couple of months ago, but that didn’t do the trick this time.

Eric determined that the fifteen-foot four-inch pipe leading to the lower drain field was compromised and should be dug up to be cleaned or replaced. He’d need their backhoe for that. He thought it would be scheduled in a matter of days.

Days turned into weeks. I called every few days, but never made it onto their schedule. I had a grace period without worry because Eric had me call to get a crew out to pump the septic tank. It’s a 2,000 gallon tank so it would take a while before it filled enough to send any water to the holding tank. The crew was there that afternoon. As I said, they’re fast when the problem is urgent.

After a month+ my grace period was over. The d-box was overflowing again. I just had to give up on them and find someone else.

Hence, the conflicting scorecard. A high rating for the work they did: Eric’s quick diagnosis of my problems, both real and imagined, and the pump crew’s friendly and efficient job. But a “No” to the question “Will I hire them again?” As good as they are, I just have to move on.

Great. I needed to fix a repair for an inspection report to sell the home. They were out to the house the next day and promptly fixed the issue. The inspector even noted what a great job they always do.

I had two problems. A long standing one in which the distribution box — the concrete box from which waste water is channeled to the two 65-ft long drain fields—was being overwhelmed. The water would seep up through the ground because it couldn’t get to the drain fields fast enough. For the second problem, I need to describe our setup.

Our septic field is uphill from the house. Seems like a crazy plan, but that’s the only way they could fit a house on the lot, even though it sits on five acres. The liquid that comes out of the septic tank doesn't go straight to the drain field. It goes into a large concrete holding tank with three floats. When the water level gets high enough to tilt the middle, medium-length float, a pump engages and sends the water uphill to the distribution box. When the water level gets low enough, the first, longest float turns the pump off. The third float is the shortest. If the water gets that high a very loud alarm goes off in the house telling us that the pump is not working.

For my second problem, I thought my pump quit. The alarm hadn’t gone off, but the patch of ground just downhill from the distribution box wasn’t flooded, even though the shower was in use. I thought I had caught a pump problem before it got to alarm stage. I called Statewide and they got someone here in a day or two. They are great at getting someone out to help if your problem is immediate.

Eric and his assistant (sorry, I didn’t get his name) determined pretty quickly that my pump was fine. I had misread the floats and which one had which job. So I described my other problem.

Statewide had already solved a similar problem for me two or three years ago. An astounding number of roots had filled the d-box and five or six feet of the four-inch pipe leading to the drain fields. As they have every time they’ve come out for anything, they did a great job. (The reviews are on Angie’s List.) I dug up the box and cleared it of roots a couple of months ago, but that didn’t do the trick this time.

Eric determined that the fifteen-foot four-inch pipe leading to the lower drain field was compromised and should be dug up to be cleaned or replaced. He’d need their backhoe for that. He thought it would be scheduled in a matter of days.

Days turned into weeks. I called every few days, but never made it onto their schedule. I had a grace period without worry because Eric had me call to get a crew out to pump the septic tank. It’s a 2,000 gallon tank so it would take a while before it filled enough to send any water to the holding tank. The crew was there that afternoon. As I said, they’re fast when the problem is urgent.

After a month+ my grace period was over. The d-box was overflowing again. I just had to give up on them and find someone else.

Hence, the conflicting scorecard. A high rating for the work they did: Eric’s quick diagnosis of my problems, both real and imagined, and the pump crew’s friendly and efficient job. But a “No” to the question “Will I hire them again?” As good as they are, I just have to move on.

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It went well.  They arrive early, get the job done, clear out, and that's it!

Great !

PAUL BRYANT and his team members were OUTSTANDING !

Prompt:
Onsite within (1) one hour after my emergency call.

Pleasant:
Paul kept me informed and educated in every phase of his process and procedures.

Professional:
Paul investigated and took the required technical steps to fully resolve our
emergency situation ! 
(STOPPED the raw sewage was flowing into my basement and repaired and replaced
defective and or damaged elements)

Overall, good experience. Dealt with Mr. Suthpin personally, and the job actually came in less than he originally estimated by close to $900. Crew did damage some pavers in my yard, and did not reassemble fence correctly, but they corrected the paver issue and it took me less than 15 minutes to fix the fence. A bit difficult getting a hold of Mr. Suthpin early on, but his office staff is very knowledgeable and supportive. No major issues, would use them again.

I called Statewide on a Tuesday because I was having trouble with my septic tank. I requested a and quot;first calland quot; appointment because of my work schedule. They were able to come out the very next day at 7:30. The job was complete by about 8 AM and I was on time for work. The staff pumped the tank and took the time to explain what kinds of issues might be contributing to the problem, what to look out for over the next few weeks, and what my options would be if this proved to be something more serious (e.g., anything from needing to remove roots from tank to needing to replace the drainfield, etc.). I really appreciated their timeliness, professionalism, kindness, and that they were willing to explain everything to me. This is my first time owning a home with a septic system, so the information is very important.
When I first moved into my home in July 2012, I also contacted Statewide because I had learned there were roots in the system. Similar to the service today, the staff was on time, worked efficiently, were professional, and made the extra effort to be sure I understood how maintain the system.
In addition to the excellent service, the staff who answer calls are friendly, professional and informative. I have never had any difficulty getting my calls answered or setting appointments. I highly recommend Statewide Septic.

Our house sits in a swale which, we believe, was originally supposed to be left undeveloped, to serve as a drainage for the subdivision. Apparently, the developer couldn’t resist the temptation, and built on our lot. Even though all the lots are five acres, the only way to fit everything in this one was to have the drain field for the septic system uphill from the house. This requires an additional storage tank and a pump to move the collected water up the hill.
Serious problems can arise if the pump fails, so a loud alarm goes off in the house if this happens. The alarm sounded in the middle of the night. We called Statewide in the morning and they had a crew out that day to pump the tanks. Even though they were busy, they said they always make time for emergencies. It was a very hot day in the middle of the summer, but they took their time to do a complete job. They were also very pleasant.
This pumping served two purposes. First, it was a stopgap that freed space in the septic tanks so we could use the house systems for a few days without the pump needing to engage. Also, the pumping chamber had to be empty for them to access and insect the pump, which they couldn’t schedule for a few days.
When they checked the pump, it was working fine. (They surmised that something had caught in small aperture that pulls the water into the pump.) They could have just sold us a new pump. In fact, they brought one in their truck, since we all thought this was what would happen.
However, ours was okay, so they didn’t even charge for the visit.
Even at this time, part of the drain field for our septic system was staying suspiciously damp days after it rained. Soon, it was damp all the time. We have two pipes in the drain field, running across the hill for sixty-four feet. But the wet part was six to ten feet wide, running up and down the hill. Prince George’s County Health Department sent us information and a map of our septic. They also sent a representative, Amend Kpadeh, who was very helpful. He looked at our field and concluded that he did not think the field was actually failing, though something was wrong.
I thought that perhaps the distribution box, a concrete box which collects the water and divides it between, in our case, two drainage paths, was clogged. Amend issued a work order, allowing us to dig up, inspect, and repair the so-called “d-box.” (I had not known this, but apparently any significant work done on a septic system requires a work permit from the health department, as well as having the health department representative on site as the work is done.)
Here is my only complaint about Statewide. Although they were very fast to help us in the summer, it took a long time to get them out for the drain field problem. I called them every week for six weeks, usually having to leave voice mail messages. Whatever the communication problem was, once I got through, they were quick. They scheduled me for the next day. I contacted Amend so he could be there as well.
Paul, Antonio, and (I believe) Nuncio did a great job. It was hard to find the d-box because there was no marker. Paul used the backhoe to scrape dirt away in the area the map said it should be. With little success doing this, he witched it. (There is no reason water-witching should work, except that it does.) He used two bent, metal marking flags. He traced out the two drain lines and found the d-box. It was actually just above the “tree line” of trees and saplings that runs along the the entire edge of the property. The map measurements put the d-box at the tree line. It seemed counterintuitive that it should be within the trees; in fact, it was only a few feet away from a large tree trunk, nearly parallel to the tree in relation to the drain field.

Paul used the back hoe to clear an area of saplings and found the box. It was packed with roots. Paul said it was the worst he had seen on over thirty years doing this work. Thicker roots had even lifted the concrete lid of the box, letting smaller roots in. Antonio and Nuncio cleared the roots using a shovel, saw and machete. They pulled a dense plug of roots from one of the four-inch pvc pipes leading to the drain field that was four to five feet long! They cleared it all out, put some root killer in the d-box, and covered it all back up. (Paul had a very deft hand with the back hoe, both in looking for the box and in backfilling the excavation.)
I’m very happy with the work they did. Antonio and Nuncio even swept the road of the bits of mud the bobcat had tracked when they loaded it back on the trailer.

At the time of service, Ivan noticed water draining into the tank (that wasn't supposed to!). He suggested we get a plumber to address the problem. I finally did and the plumber spent almost 3 hours trouble shooting the problem. The plumber commented that I ...and quot;must have a really good septic company because most wouldn't take the time to let me know there was a problem and eventually my septic pumps would wear out.and quot; Thank you!

Today Alvin Sulphin and his team saved my family from a $10K+ nightmarish scenario! We are purchasing a home that had presented a red flag with the septic system during our home inspection. The homeowner had another company out to give an estimate for the repair. The owner claims the estimated repair cost is about $1,200 and offered a $2,225 credit at our closing toward the septic system rather than fixing the problem before we settled.

On a lark (and less than 48 hours before we had to accept the sellers proposal) I pulled into StateWide Septic to see if I could talk to someone about the situation. I grew up in a house with a septic system and while I have a basic knowledge about how they work I am by no means 'knowledgeable' in this regard. My hope was just to outline the problem identified at inspection and the proposed solution in hopes to gain some assurance that the proposed credit would really cover the work.

Alvin, the owner of StateWide, had me (and my 20 month old daughter who was running around like crazy) into his office. He called the Health Department and had the records faxed to him instantly. He had my realtor fax the inspection report. He studied them and said, and quot;I'm worried you have a failing system.and quot; He explained very clearly why and offered to go to the house. We went. In the rain, the mud, and... well... it's a septic problem so you can imagine.

We went back to his office to talk... (at this point in the day I now have my realtor and three children running around his office!) Alvin described one scenario that would be a less expensive fix, but still worried that a larger system failure was at hand. The only way to really know was to dig up what's called the and quot;distribution box.and quot; He had a crew at the house at 7am. They dug until after noon... sure enough, the drain fields need to be replaced. Estimated cost $12,500.

Without Alvin's help, we would have just signed out life away on a problem with a looming $12,500 problem... and would have done so for a $2,250 credit!