Vortex Drainage Systems

The installation went very well. Kevin and I reviewed the work that I wanted done from the estimate that he had given me previously. After review we made some modifications to the plan and then the real work got started. The Vortex team went about their work in a very professional manner. They removed the old and very clogged up existing drain line, being careful to avoid an electrical wiring conduit and my water supply line. A 12" pvc drainage basin was installed along with enough 4" pvc pipe to reach into the natural area beyond the nearest edge of my yard. Some of the dug out rock was used to provide protection to the exposed end of the pipe. Two of the gutter downspouts from my porch were tied into the system to help move that water away from the house as well. After the trench was filled in, grass seed and hay were spread in the trenched areas. Finally, the drain was tested with a water hose to verify that water would indeed drain out. To install the new basin and drain pipe, they had to disturb a small flower bed. I did not expect them to fix this, but they did, including reshaping the border bricks to fit around the new larger drain basin. As far as I'm concerned, this was going above and beyond in the customer service department. I very much appreciated this added touch!

Kevin and his crew has done a fantastic job. After the job was completed, I found out there was a small part of the work not done, it was due to our miscommunication. I contacted Kevin about it, he responded immediately and had the work done in next few days. Absolutely the best out there.

The short version of this review is: Kevin and his team are fantastic and I would recommend them in an instant. We noticed water running from the soil in our unfinished basement (on several occasions we would get three or more feet of standing water). We had been trying to solve this problem for years, and several different waterproofing contractors had taken a crack at it. Kevin came over and spent a good long time considering solutions. He presented a thorough set of options, along with clear and thoughtful guidance. We decided to dig out a trench in the basement itself and move the water to a sump pump and then out of the house. His crew were excellent at their jobs. The excavation and reconstruction went quickly and there were no hitches or surprises along the way. It was the least stressful contract job I've ever had done. And the basement stayed dry. More recently, the sump pump stopped working. I discovered the basement flooded again. I called Kevin (digging up his number from years before). He had a crew there that afternoon to pump the water out and install a new sump pump. I couldn't be more pleased!

Kevin's crew, led by Leo, showed up on very short notice to repair the botched work of another contractor, specific to a crushed underground pipe (coming off of a downspout). They were fast and did an excellent job, left no debris and put seed down as well. Will hire them again if/when needed.

Very professional job.

I waited a few months after the job to post this review because I wanted to make sure everything worked. I am extremely satisfied. The work was completed in a week or two from the time of the estimate. It was professionally done and even the work crew made a last-minute suggestion which made the final result better. If your lot is having drainage problems, this is the company to use!

They did an excellent job hand digging a water drain line for all of the down spouts to the creek. The side of our house now stays dry; it has helped our neighbor too. Kevin and his team are very knowledgeable, professional and trustworthy, thank you for your time and hard work!

Inadvertently damaged irrigation system while installing drain. Company reimbursed for full cost of system repair. Trustworthy company that stands by their work. BTW the new drain works great.

Vortex did a very professional job. They were timely, worked well with me and the other professionals who had various portions of my foundation and construction work.

Excellent Job

GREAT! Good price. Great suggestions to meet needs. Exceeded expectations on timeliness, professionalism, quality. First contractor that I have ever hired that did not break something else or left a mess.

Kevin from Vortex Drainage Systems came to our house and assessed the problem. He offered us several possible solutions to the drainage problem and gave us his opinion on how to best solve the problem. We agreed on a way forward pending Kevin's cost estimate which he emailed to us a few days later. After reviewing the estimate, we agreed to go forward with the project. Two workers came to our house and satisfactorily completed the work in one day.

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The guys did a great job installing front drainage.  They were on time, reasonably priced, very honest and did quality work.  They had a chance to charge much more but found an economical solution after they started the job.

Kevin Harrington came out to give me an estimate of what the cost would be to get rid of the standing water in my backyard.  They were not the cheapest estimate but also not the most expensive.  His idea was to not kill an ant with an elephant and to work on this problem an an iterative manner.  His thought was that hooking up my two back downspouts, one of my upstream neighbor's downspouts and running a french drain along the west side of my back property would take care of 90% of the job.  That estimate was about $3800.  I indicated to him after receiving that estimate that I wanted to expand the french drain so that it also spanned the length of the side yard (it had always been wet from my neighbor's drainage into my yard as well as her AC condensation line that just dumped into my yard.  Essentially, with the French drain extending the length of my property on the west, I would be catching all of the water that was draining dow hill from my neighbor's property to the west.  Before agreeing to add new costs to the job, he scheduled a meeting with me and his work supervisor to evaluate the grade of the side yard and whether this was necessary.  I really appreciated that.  We ended up connecting the neighbor's front downspout as well as one of my front downspouts, and extending the french drain all the way up to my front porch.  This added about $2000 onto the cost of the job.
There were a few other companies I had come give me and estimate and none were as circumspect about finding the right balance between solving the problem but not over doing it (and thus, spending too much money).  I had other companies that wanted to put french drains on all 3 sides of my yard with 4 catch basins, which I understand now would have been like killing an ant with an elephant.  One of the reasons I chose this company was because I appreciated the iterative approach.  I also liked that they were a "drainage" company and not a landscape company.  I wanted to work with a company that knew what they were doing when it came to drainage.  I also liked that they said they were going to use 4" white heavy duty PVC pipe that would last the lifetime of the house.  The black corrugated piping was only going to last 5-10 years at which time I (or the new owner) would have to replace it.  I wanted to do this job once, and I wanted to do it the "right" way.  
Once I received approval from our HOA (which was quick), he had me on the schedule and started the work 4 days later.  They finished 98% of the work within 2 days, and it looked really nice.  We had a huge rain the day they finished and I had standing water in a variety of places which I took photos of and sent them along.  Kevin came out the next day and had his crew dig up a part of their job and made an adjustment at no charge.  For the french drain that spans the length of the property, they laid basic stones on top of the pipes, but then laid decorative river rock and flag stones that double as stepping stones.  It looks really nice.  There is still about a 10 foot area that still needs decorative stone and flagstone laid, but they said they would be back in the near future to finish that work.  I had not planned to spend almost $6000 on this work, but I'm very glad that we extended the $3500 job to also take care of the side yard moisture/ small ponding problem.  They made sure that the decorative stone and flagstone matched the color of the house and stone I had used to create a decorative S-pattern in the backyard.  There is a small upward slope near the back of the backyard and I couldn't understand how water would move upward through that pipe, so I called Kevin and he was very gracious about meeting me that day after work to explain the work they had done.  He explained that when they lay pipes, they measure to ensure they have at least a 1% downward grade.  So they had to dig deeper into the landscape as the land sloped upwards to ensure they still had at least a 1% downward grade.  I also asked him about the black material they wrap the french drain in because I was noticing some of that near the top of the decorative stones.  My concern was that the french drain was right there at the surface, and he explained that the french drain was at least a foot below the surface and what I was seeing was landscape fabric that could be trimmed.  I know I'm always leery about the quality of a company's work these days, but I have enjoyed working with Kevin and his crew.  They did everything they said they were going to do and they did it in a quality manner.  
I look forward to our next monsoon!

Got an estimate to finish drainage system. It was a good price so I hired them. They carried piping underground to finish the drainage system. They were very good and did their job as they were supposed to.

Kevin and his team are very professional and did an excellent job.  They mapped out the project and explained clearly what was to be done.  They had to dig a trench across the entire backyard. You can hardly notice where it was dug.  We have noticed a big improvement in the drainage of our yard.  We will use them again.

Great
Professional
Hard Working
Arrived on Time Finished on Time
If  you need drainage work these are the guys to use.

From the start, Kevin was very timely in responding to my inquiry and getting me a quote. The original idea was to do just the French drain and not worry about the tie-ins but Kevin looked at both my property and my neighbors and suggested we tie in two of their spouts into the system to alleviate the standing water issues we were both experiencing on our adjoining properties. Kevin was ready to start the project within a week but I was delayed by my HoA. Kevin was very understanding and kept in constant contact with me regarding status of the HoA approval. Once I received the go-ahead, Kevin's guys were on site the following week getting started.
Our cable line was cut twice, but his guys ensured that the cable company patched the line each time. They reviewed the project with me twice during the installation and were even considerate enough not to cut the sidewalk up until after Halloween. After the project was completed, Kevin personally did the walk-around with me and ensured any questions I had were answered. All-in-all, we were very happy with the project.

The installation was quick and professionally completed.  Owner Kevin Harrington was very pleasant to deal with and took time to explain the installation and process.  We were very pleased with the results.

I always had a lot water on my property after a good rain and no where for it to drain. The standing water seeped into the house and over the years damaged the flooring, which I replaced twice so far. I have to run a dehumidifier 24 hrs a day to prevent moisture damage. I have owned this property for over 25 years and had sought the help of many professionals. The city inspectors from the storm water drainage department in Raleigh came out to try to problem solve but because my home is lower than the street and the natural drainage path was on private property, they could not help. 
 The owner of Vortex came out and assessed the storm water flow from the roof, gutters and downspouts, computing the volume of water and the grade and designed a plan to handle the water and direct it off the property. All the downspouts were tied together with underground PVC type drain pipes on a grade leading down to the natural drain area. With the dirt left over they raked and graded the surface so that water would runoff into a drainage ditch where it would perk and they covered the ditch with peoples. They made a berm to prevent the back flow of water and keep it off my property once and for all. The installation started on time and progressed as planned and finished on time. We've been through a few downpours, the owner came out to check that everything was working well. I think this is the final solution. I'm very happy with the design and quality of the work. I would highly recommend this company for all your drainage solutions. 

Rain water was collecting and running by the sides and back of the house during heavy rains.  The water was coming from our roof downspouts, and from the uphill side of our front yard.  In addition we needed to collect and dispose of the water such that it spared the downhill neighbors behind us.
The owner Kevin Harrington reviewed our needs in person and made suggestions, then put together a more-than-competitive proposal.  His crew (Chris the foreman, Lee, Mitchell, and Jim the mason) arrived on time and did excellent work even with NC summer heat.  They hand dug trenches for the high grade PVC pipe to lead the water collected from the front and sides of the house to the swale at the back yard property line.  A French drain (covered with 3" rock) with a buried multi-armed PVC pipe collection system was installed.  A trench drain was dug and installed along the edge of the driveway, and connected to another PVC line leading to the swale in the back. A concrete walk onto which a downspout emptied was cut to install a buried PVC drainage pipe and connector to the downspout, and then mortared pavers were used to even out the walk.    A 4'x12' high section of concrete driveway was removed, the subsurface was lowered/leveled, and brick pavers were installed.  All buried utility lines were appropriately marked and avoided.
All crew members were cheerful, neat, cleaned the site every night, and were timely.  The work was completed on time.  The communication with the foreman and owner was ongoing and excellent.  When an unforeseen complication arose (the concrete in the driveway ended up being more than 12" deep rather than the usual 4"), we amicably and quickly came to an agreement about how to allocate the additional cost.  And when the first try at laying pavers didn't meet the foreman's specifications, he had it ripped out and reinstalled at no additional charge without even asking me.
We've had a heavy rain since installation was completed, and it works just as expected!

Prompt, courteous, polite, efficient, clean.

You will not be disappointed using the services of Vortex Drainage.
Kevin Harrington takes a good look at the property to determine where the drainage problems lie.
He is honest and forthright in his assessment.
Then he comes up with a solution that is reasonable but high quality.
He is very good at communicating with the customer both before and throughout the job.
I was able to leave the project to him without oversight.  Amazing!
I was extremely happy with the work he did.

Our inspector arrived on time, was very polite and educated me on the situation. He found nothing out of the ordinary and attributed the small amount of water to recently heavy rain. While the opportunity was there for a less scrupulous company to take advantage, he stated that we need take no action and charged us nothing for his time.