Black Rock Underground LLC

It was excellent, they had the answer to any questions that I had. I was very impressed. They take an eye on safety. I could tell that everyone respected him as a ruler type of person.

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It went well. The workers were good. They were prompt. I would tell a friend that they were competent and did a good job.

A sewer inspection was required as part of the sale process of the home.  The buyers inspection indicated that there was blockage just outside of the house trap, although he could not get the camera through to verify.  Black Rock was able to pass his camera through to the main connection; some 70' in length. He gave me an accurate estimate and scheduled work that same week.
The job was a bit more involved than initially anticipated.  Corey handled the added complication very professionally. The
sewer line, which connected to the neighbor's line, before connecting to a right-of-way, passed under mature landscaping and hardscaping. Corey determined that the line had root intrusion in the neighbor's yard, just before the main connection. He was able to access the main connection by excavating with a small, and nimble backhoe, creating very little damage to the landscape in both yards.  He then pulled a new liner through the existing sewer line and creating new connections. He replaced old, rotten sections of fence and repaired all grass areas. Corey took great care to do as little damage as possible to all grass and landscape by showing respect to the entire property.  He is a very talented mechanic.

I happened to be standing in my garage during an intense downpour,
when I noticed a rain drain backing up and running down the driveway.
 Clearly I had a clog.  I attempted to snake it with my 25 ft, but
reached nothing.  I tried again with 50 ft., but couldn't get past 35 ft.
 I rented a 100ft snake from Home Depot, but couldn't get much farther.
 I tried from another drain and did an obstruction, but the clog didn't
clear.  

I called one of those Rooter places.  There was a hefty fee to scope the
problem, which would be applied to the cost of repair, should I go with them to
do it.  They came out, scoped it, told me my rain drains were going under
the house and were connected with a foundation drain system.  He saw
aggregate in the pipe and concluded that there was a crushed pipe that was
filling from above with drainage stone.  He claimed to have cleared it
once, but that it quickly refilled.  

We discussed possible remedies, and they later provided me a quotes for two
approaches.  For $3000 we abandon one drain so as to avoid cutting and
repairing concrete.  For $5000 we do it the right way.

I called Black Rock for another estimate.  Corry came out on a Saturday on
a fourth of July weekend to give us a quote.  First thing I noticed was
that Corry?s equipment was superior.  The picture was clearer.  He
recorded everything on a usb drive.  He also used a sounding device that
told him where the end of his camera was: how deep and the direction it was
pointing.  We went around to all the drains and had things mapped out
pretty quickly.  He too found the aggregate blockage.  

I told him about the diagnosis that I had from the other folks.  He looked
at me and said, he been working pipes underground since he was 18 and he had
never encountered a crushed pipe.  "I suppose it's possible, but
highly unlikely."  Also, his sounder said the camera wasn't
underneath the house,  He had a water jet auger he said that would get
through anything short of a tree root.  He tried it, but didn't get
through.  He scoped again and it was the exact same image.
 "Looks like you got concrete in there."  

He dug a hole about three ft down, just like the Rooter guy did, and hit
cement, just like the Rooter guy.  But the cement was clearly not part of
the foundation, but up against it.  With a hammer and chisel he busted it
out.. It was clear where the blockage had to be, so I told to cut the pipe.
 Let's see what we had.  

Sure enough there was a concrete plug.  I looked like a construction
worker dumped unused concrete in this corner of my home.  The down pipe
wasn't connected yet, but the circumference pipe must have been.  Concrete
sloped into the open 90.  You could see how someone must have attempted to
scoop it out with their hand, which resulted in a near complete blockage of the
pipe.  



Corry ran out to get a few part that he needed, replaced the pipe, cleaned up.
 His bill was only a couple hundred more than what I paid Rooter.
 This guy knows his underground pipe.  I would never call anyone
else.



He is very experienced, has an excellent work ethic, keeps his job site neat,
thinks systematically, get's it done and he's very honest.

On a sunny, dry Friday afternoon I noticed plants near my water meter floating in water. I had not yet activated my sprinkler system so this did not bode well.  To complicate matters further I was leaving town for three weeks the next morning.  I was rafting the Grand Canyon where there is no cell service.  I called the Portland Water Bureau who was quite responsive, but all they could do was turn off the water at the street.  I looked on Angie's List and contacted Black Rock with my desperate story.  They came out later that afternoon.  They explained the various scenarios and range of possible costs.  Although they already had a very packed schedule, they promised to come out no later than Tuesday to fix the problem.  Because of their excellent reviews on Angie's List and their responsiveness, I trusted them to do the right thing at a fair price since I was not going to be reachable.  They did just that.
I would hire Black Rock again in a nano second.

After thoroughly inspecting and diagnosing our situation Cory was able to instal a new drain and pipe, and eliminate our water problem.  His estimate was free.  His price was substantially lower than the one other estimate we received. 

It was great working with Cory and his crew.  They were timely and did a good job in repairing our sewer line at a very reasonable price.  In fact there were some unforeseen complications in that they discovered an old underground cesspool next to the sewer line on our property that needed to be filled in.  They did this additional work and did not over charge for it.  I highly recommend them.   

They did a wonderful job! I shopped this project with a few different contractors and decided to go with Black Rock Underground because they seemed to be the most knowledgeable and where reasonably price. Cory and his team showed up on time and ready to work! They removed part of my hillside installed a french drain behind my retaining wall and then stabilized the slope with a jut mat. I could tell they knew exactly what they where doing, they worked hard and got it done faster than I expected! I also really appreciated that even after they finished doing the work I hired them for they stayed and cleaned all the loose dirt up. Its looks cleaner now than before! I strongly recommend Black Rock Underground and will use them in the future for other projects!

They scoped the problem, explained it thoroughly, gave quotes on best and worst case scenarios and fixed only what needed to be fixed. The owner and the whole crew were the nicest bunch of guys I had ever worked with. I would hire them again in an instant. Their work is covered by a lifetime guarantee. I have complete confidence that my sewer issues are over at least for the next 50 years. They took pictures of my landscape before digging it up, so that they could fully restore my yard as if they were never there. Nicely done! Their method of fixing my sewer line through pipe bursting was the most cost effective and less damaging to my yard. I recommend this method and this company highly!! Thank you,Cory!

AMAZING!  AMAZING!  That is what we said all week long watching these guys work.  And polite!!! So kind and polite.  We were putting in a new sewer system, and running a whole new sewer and water line to a guest house in the back yard.  I believe Black Rock showed up the same day my sister's moving van showed up.  I had equipment everywhere, a Budget truck that we unloaded basically all over the yard, and for awhile had it parked in their work-space. No one ever complained or rolled their eyes (not to me anyway), in fact just the opposite, I think at one point or another, everyone of Cory's crew asked either my sister or I if they could help as we were carrying something.  
 
So the guys were amazing.  The process was amazing and totally fascinating.  Check out the pictures (if I can figure out how to add them), as they show an incredible process.  Drilling saved us trenching one incredibly long driveway, so disruptive to the land. Cory and team were knowledgeable, competitive pricing wise, incredibly easy to work with, and most important to me, just good, kind, honest people who obviously enjoy their work.  The estimate and final bill was dead on, and I'm pretty sure there were a couple of unexpected expenses.  So that is where they really scored in my book.  As a small mom & pop business, we stand behind our bids despite any extras, so I respect those who do the same.
Here is where I felt they went above and beyond that of which I believe was our agreement.  
1.  Drilling of new sewer -  I think this went pretty well, until the inspector came, who ridiculously required three additional 'dug outs' along the new sewer line.  
2.  Pipe burst and replacement - I was in my own little chaos, but I believe there was an issue where the connection tied into the house. Don't really remember the issue, which is my whole point with this crew, as any good contractor, Cory dealt with it so for me, it was a non-issue.
3.  Clear & create patio - This was a big one.  It rained making the grass and ground very slick. Then there was trouble getting the equipment through the fence.  So they removed the fence.  They laid sheets of plywood for their truck to get back there.  My sister and I are inside thinking they are crazy, it's not worth it.  But they persevered and the patio looks fantastic.  They put the fence back up like it was nothing, and everything was left looking better than before.  Also, all I expected was for them to clear the space and bring in some new gravel.  They surveyed it for proper slope, replaced damaged drainage pipe.  And they compacted the heck out of the new patio area.  We love it!  
4.  Donation to Concord Elementary - Another big extra all the way around.  First, just agreeing to do it as a donation.  Then, once they started, we discovered nothing but root mass from an old maple that was cut down before we bought the home.  so it wasn't a simple scraping of the grass from the soil, it was pulling up huge root masses.  But he did it.  Again, amazing.
Overall . . . we had a fun week watching Cory and crew buzz around the yard.  They work very, very hard, they are kind, respectful, generous and the price was dead on.  What more could one ask for?  

Our gutters have been terribly blocked up for ages and nobody could figure it out.  It was something definitely in the ground but we didn't know which way our pipes went or how they were connected.  It was a puzzle.  But not for Cory.  He came with an accomplice and together they solved the puzzle, located my drain fieldS (emphasis on plural).  They unclogged them (pine needles) and vacuumed them out.  Cory has an awesome camera that he used to see what was clogging up the system.  He had high powered equipment both to blow the pine needles (to unclog them) then to vacuum them out.  Then they reburied all the pipes around the house (they were unburied when they arrived so I consider this extra service) and reconnected my downspouts.  I have to give them credit--it's muddy work and they spent probably an hour hosing off the mud on my patio when the work was done.    AND THEN, as though I wasn't already so happy, Cory went home and drew me a map of my gutter system and drain field and sent it to me.  I would recommend Corey and his team any day.

My husband and I were selling our home. During the home inspection process, the sewer scope results came back with the need to replace our sewer line. Apparently there was severe root intrusion; they were shocked sewage wasn't coming back up into the house. The first estimate we received was astronomical; we were shocked and called the person who originally built our home. He recommended Cory and we gave him a call. He came out immediately (on a Friday night) and gave us an estimate of 1/3 our original quote. After that, we looked him up on Angie's List. Upon reading his positive feedback we asked him to do the job. Not only did he do the work sooner than expected, he provided a video that showed the successful replacement (I'm sure our buyer was pleased). He also thanked us repeatedly for the business. 
I recommend Cory wholeheartedly! Cory turned a very stressful situation into an easy one... What a relief to have the job done quickly and thoroughly.

Cory was one of 3 bidders for this job which was a bit puzzling at first - it is a rental property I have - 1920's style bungalow - the tenants had sewer back up while I was out of town and long story short (because they have clogged the drains before), I did n';t think it was anything more serious - until the plumbers indicated they could not see that we were connected to the mainline sewer.  This situation got worse and I had 3 bids while trying to sort this quickly as the tenants were pretty much without use of toilet, shower or kitchen leading up to Christmas.  Other bids were way too vague and much higher than Cory's - Cory and I met and reviewed the options in detail.  Basically it needed to start with excavation to see the truth as we had mixed information from plumbers and city records.  I had to go out of town again but Cory was diligent and able to take care of this not just while I was away, but the 2 days leading up to Christmas, including Christmas Eve.  He met me again on the 27th once I was back to walk me through the repair of what turned out to be a crushed sewer connection.  I had a good feeling about Cory upon meeting him.  I believe him to be honest and do what is necessary without going over the top.  He ended up being able to save me considerable money under the worse case scenario bid as it was not as severe as first feared once he did the excavation.  His integrity in this situation is admirable.  Thanks Cory

The job went well.  No surprises or problems beyond the sewer main deterioration.  Black Rock took it all in stride did a very good job.

Cory came and spoke with us prior to starting work. A time was scheduled a few days hence. He and his crew showed up on time, working steadily until finished. We want to give him the highest recommendation.