Chapman Drainage & Basement Repair

They are spectacular with their work. They did what they said they were going to do. They were on time. The work was just superior.

I highly recommend this company. We were in a time crunch and they accommodated us. The workers were fast, efficient and cleaned up after themselves. The quality of work was excellent. We would hire them again if ever needed!

Very responsive and work was performed on time and done right

Excellent! The crew were courteous, friendly and did a great job.

The work that the crew of six guys did was excellent. It was a lot of digging and laying of pipe and they got the work done in one day. They were very professional and easy to talk to. There was a flimsy sump pump pipe extending on the outside of the house and connecting to the underground pipe. They saw this and replaced it without being asked to do so. That was excellent. I had to contact Jeremy a couple of times to get the estimate preformed and to get the work scheduled, but the outcome was well worth any effort I had to make. My neighbors had similar work done across the street and the company they hired were off the charts expensive and they did not do the quality clean up that Chapman Drainage did. Jeremy is very knowledgable. His prices are very reasonable. Their work is top quality.

Overall the guys did a very good job. A good job of routing pipe to avoid major tree roots or most landscape areas. The guys were very polite and friendly. They were very surprised and thankful when I took Gatorade out to each of them. The primary reason that I did not give an excellent rating is due to needing to do a better job of backfilling where piping dropped into ground beneath the downspouts and also along the pipe paths to the street. I noticed that there was no backfilling between pipes and basement walls - about two foot deep of air space. Definitely would have caused seepage problems into basement. I went out and purchased several bags of dirt and spent an evening backfilling each of the drops as well as the smaller runs to the main lines. That should have been part of the job if done correctly. Similarly with properly handling the replacement of dirt along main lines to the street. It was just mounded up 4-6 inches over the trenched area, and not tamped down at all to fill openings. So I'm having to tamp it and then rake excess back into area to allow for any future settling. I wasn't home at the time this work was being done (were not able to complete in one day, so the last portion of the job needed to be completed the next morning and I had prior commitments), so wasnt aware of this situation until after the guys had left. Rocks all over as well, but that is because our soil is so bad here. So yes, I would potentially hire again, but definitely would make sure these types of findings were properly handled if doing again. The company was extremely busy this time of year so from the time of the quote until work was done was many weeks, but I wasnt in any big hurry. Jeremy, the owner, was very friendly and courteous as well. I met him when he came out to receive payment later.

These guys are TOP NOTCH. They worked so hard to get the job done in a timely manner; replaced all of the pavers and bricks that they had to pull up; were kind and courteous and just overall such a joy to have around. We would HIGHLY recommend them.

The work went extremely well. The owner and two workmen worked about six hours to dig a new trench and install all new drain pipes. The individuals worked efficiently and left the property in a neat and orderly manner. The new drain line system has eliminated the water and mold in the basement. Chapman had the best quote and I saved over $20,000 that another contractor wanted to place an internal drain within the basement. I was disappointed that they made no attempt to recommend a much less expensive alternative to a new outside drainage system. I would definitely recommend Chapman Drainage to correct basement foundation water problems.

The main work itself was great. Excellent customer service, great work, and great workers. But after the pipe was laid, I was told that a worker would be back the next few days to rake out the dirt and reseed it with grass seed the refilled trench from our house to the front of the street. However, this didn't happen. Many emails were sent, and many times Gary Chapman promised that he would send someone out. He often said it would be "either the next day or within the next week." I left emails, I even left voicemails - I'm guessing it was over 10 during a two week period. I never received a call back. Today I sent an email stating that it was 3 MONTHS since the work was performed. He didn't reply or call, but this afternoon there is a workman who is completing the job. It was so frustrating to get the runaround for such a small piece of the job, but I would never suggest them. There is no customer service once they have your money.

Jeremy visited the site, but did not follow through with an estimate. No reply to my emails and phone messages. I contacted other contractors who did camera inspections of Chapman's earlier work. They found collapsed pipe under my walkway and patio. The thin wall pipe Chapman used could not take the weight of the pavers above it. Heavy duty Schedule 40 PVC pipe is recommended for this use. Our best guess is that the thin-walled pipe collapsed immediately upon installation and contributed to my basement leaking. We saw standing water in Chapman's pipe indicated improper sloping. Professional contractors use laser sighting or levels to grade the trench and provide proper drainage to the street.

Fixed the problem. I would use them again.

We had other companies come out to look at our basement water issues (Basement Doctor; Rogers Waterproofing), and although they might be good at what they do, the work they were proposing was?in hindsight?completely unnecessary.  Rogers Waterproofing wanted to dig up my concrete basement floor for $4,000.  Basement Doctor wanted $5,000.
Jeremy came over, looked at the issue as I explained the symptoms to him (as I did with the other two) and he said more than likely, all I have to do is replace the underground PVC pipe that the gutters empty into (which then drain to street, out a hole in the curb) and I would be fine.
He was right.
Jeremy and his crew can do the same exact work that Rogers and Basement Doctor quoted me for, if needed.  However, I appreciate their honesty and integrity (and expertise) to diagnose the issue correctly, and choose a solution that was not only much less costly, but less time-consuming.  The last thing I wanted was a bunch of jackhamers in my basement when it was completely unnecessary.
I would equate that to replacing your car's entire engine, when all it needs is a hew spark plug and small tune up
If you have basement water issues, or anything drainage-related, call this company.

Good.  i called during a busy time of year and expected it would take a while for an estimate and repair.  Owner easy to communicate with through email.  I had already had camera work that showed the areas of broken pipes.
Company had the gas lines marked since they were close to the drain pipes.  Friendly, knowledgeable, cleaned up area and reseeded the area that was dug up

Went great. Got the estimate in early spring. Called in June to schedule the work. Set up for the 2nd week of July but ran a little behind due to all the rain we've had (totally understandable).

unknown

Installation went as promised. Workers took care to remove and replace sod so as to not be too noticeable.

They arrived on time and got the job done in a timely manner. When we thought we were having issues with the new pipes, he came out twice to make sure that something wasn't wrong.  We appreciated his time and willingness to come back out to check on the work.

Chapman Drainage responded promptly to the request for an estimate.  Jeremy provided the lowest price and the least disruptive method of installing the replacement pipe through planted areas, tree roots and utilities.  However, it took about a month to get the work date set up once we had accepted the estimate.  Once work began, it proceeded quickly and was done in the time promised - which was a pleasant surprise, based on how much hand digging needed to be done.  The trench was restored well and should re-seed easily in the spring.
The pipes have performed well in the past couple of months, including some torrential rains.
My only concern - Jeremy did say that that some areas would be shallow in order to get fall throughout the system - but the finished product is shallower than expected in some locations.  Hopefully, some extra soil in and around the planting beds will take care of that in the spring as well.
Even for a small company, scheduling seems a little unpredictable,but overall, the experience was positive and conducted very professionally.

UPDATE:  Chapman Drainage promptly responded to a request last fall to correct an issue due to the large tree roots and the system has worked well throughout this rainy season - grades for responsiveness and quality updated accordingly.  Thanks again.

Jeremy Chapman came out to quote and later performed the work. 
I first hired Chapman in late 2010 to install a 300' long drain tile with several surface grates.  Our septic mound acted as a giant dam which would create a 40'x20' pond that was about a foot deep after any moderate rainstorm.  Jeremy sited the area and indicated the best type of drainage solution.  He trenched the area in one day (including several feet of hand-digging and a curb-cut for the drainage to empty into), and installed the gravel and pipe the next day.  This completely resolved the water build-up in this portion of our yard.  Any time it rains you can see the incredible amount of water being moved by this drain pipe.
The second job (in 2012) resolved poor drainage in two other areas of the yard.  An identical solution was recommended and Jeremy installed about 40' in one area and almost 400' in the second area.  The 400' section also included 4 or 5 surface grates to allow runoff water to enter the pipe.  Both areas would stay wet for days after it rained and it would cause our riding mower to get stuck.  The 400' section empties into a drain in the yard (like a sewer grate) and he cut the pipe at an angle so it doesn't stick up.  It's well-hidden and won't get chopped by my mower.  Both areas are now much-improved, even immediately after it rains.
Chapman appears to have a very steady workload, so he's not as reponsive as you might want but his work and pricing is excellent.  Two other neighbors and a coworker have all hired him after I did, with similar results.

Everything went well.  They arrived on time, did the work as promised, and did a good job.

When I got home on a Friday evening, my sump pump had failed, the float on my battery back up had failed, and water was in the basement. Chapman returned my call that PM and Jeremy was there early Saturday AM to replace the pump and fix the problem.

It was a very positive experience.  They solved a problem that several others had failed to even diagnose correctly.

Jeremy came out and gave me a great price to put in two more French Drains, attached them all together with 50 or 60 feet of pipe. That solved the problem right away. I have been waiting through the summer storms just in case. Now I know that Jeremy put in a permanent solution. He was great to work with and I would use him again...except he did such a good job I won't need him again.

Jeremy came out and inspected my perpetually wet back yard.  He took measuremnets and gave me a ballpark idea of cost but then went home and emailed me a firm quote.  Is asked for some references and he provided them.  Based on his positive reviews on Angies's List, the feedback from his references and his price I gave him the work.  Due to the wet spring he was backed up on jobs so I waited a few week for everything to start.  Jeremy called me one morning and due to a change in his schedule said he could get started that day, I asked a few additional questions about the drain and long story short I added a wrinkle that would need another two weeks to order an additional part.  Jeremy was 100% OK with the change and we waited 2 more weeks.  Two weeks later Jeremy showed up Monday morning and was ready to go.  Unfortunatley it rained the night before making the yard a little too slick for his ditch digger.  And only one of the utilites in my yard had been marked.  Jeremy called the company again to mark the cable and electric this time.  On Tuesday the job started in earnest and and moved forward quickly.  The reason I bring up all these little issues is to let you know Jeremy was very professional throughout the whole process from start to finish.  None of these problems were caused by Jeremy but he dealt with all of them and moved on.   All in all it was a good experience and I would use jeremy again.

Installation of backup sump pump system....system recently had some problems, and jeremy very promptly responded and is helping me get the problem solves quickly, which is greatly appreciated.