Hil Septic

It was wonderful, they did a good job completing the work in a timely manner. They were very good to work with.

They were good. They were very polite, showed up on time, and were reasonably priced. I highly recommend them.

I have worked with this company in the past with no problem. This time it took several attempts to contact them. They never answer the phone and rarely call back. Once scheduled the inspection went OK. BUT a month later they have not posted the inspection results with King County (I paid the filing fee for that to Hil/HSCC1). They do not answer the phone or reply to email. I sic'd my agent on them since I am selling the property. He also could not get any response. I am now going to pay a different company to redo the inspection.

Well...first they offered to do a 'fix' on it and just install it without permits because we were going to have to have a non-conforming system put in and they kept saying the city might end up making us pay far more than we had to because of that. Told them no--should have found someone else but we needed the work done and they had good reviews. We wanted everything permitted. We finally signed a contract, but they verbally told us they'd haul away the dirt and re-seed the lawn. That never happened. Communication became an issue. We kept calling to find out when they would be here, get no answer, then they would show up without warning. This was in late September 2013--early October 2013. The work finally was finished by a couple days before Thanksgiving, and the inspector came out mid-December. The system was approved. After that, they filled in the holes but we still had a massive amount of dirt that they had said they'd haul away. Suddenly it became "we can haul it away if you pay for the hauling" and the re-seeding of the lawn vanished. The system, while done, now needs a repair three simple years later, and quite frankly, the fact that every lid/tank is at a different level with some lower than lawn level and some above lawn level bothers the **** out of me. I'm not about to ask them to repair it--I have heard a lot of bad things about them since then. I'm not easy about this--this was supposed to pretty much outlive us, and now I'm wondering if there will be more costly repairs ahead.

It did not go well.   We have a home that was built in 1950.  We began having septic problems in August.  Since this is an older home we decided to replace the septic system with a new one. We spoke to many contractors and received a lot of information and some bids.  We decided to go with Hil Septic and signed the contract September 3, 2014.  Ivan is a very pleasant man who we felt would do a good job.  This company also had good reviews on Angie's list ~ what could go wrong, right?    However, this project turned into a nightmare.  There had been a lot of contact with us before we signed the check........after we signed the check the only time I spoke to them by phone was when I called them!   The communication from this company was less than unacceptable.  We never knew when they would arrive, what was going on to delay the job etc.  I understand that there are permits one must wait upon, and inspections etc.  But when the County Health Officer begins checking in with the property owner wondering why this project has not been completed one begins to realize something is wrong.  I kept calling the office or Ivan and telling him " we are willing to work with you just let us know what is going on! "  Perhaps I should explain that since this is an older home the landscape was established.  I fully realized that I was going to lose some plants and incur some damage to the landscape.  I kept asking Ivan to please give me the drawings for the drain field in time so I could save as many of the plants as I could.  Even though he kept assuring me that he would I never got them.  I came home one day to find that my "rose garden" was a pile of dirt, pieces of roses, plants, parts of trees and my driveway completely covered with a huge pile of dirt!   The upper portion of my yard was where the septic tank would be placed.  If a hole is dug to accommodate a 1500 gallon septic tank (approx. 5' high x approx. 14') there is going to be a lot of dirt, right?   I thought it was understood that this dirt would be hauled away ~ it wasn't!  We lived with these piles of dirt and all the mess all winter.  I was led to believe all would be finished by October.  In all fairness I do know that projects like this take time but this "project" took 4 months and 4 days.  I feel that this in anybody's book would be unacceptable.  After the tank was installed and the health department signed off on it we still waited weeks for the dirt to be hauled away and the yard leveled.  However, the dirt was never hauled away and the ground was never leveled.  Again I came home one day to discover half of my yard "missing"  it took me several hours to realize it had just been covered up with the dirt that came out of the hole the septic tank was put into!   When we asked them to return and clean up their mess I did not feel it was done willingly.  The driveway that had to be cut into was given a very poor patch job.  Even the shrubs that remained were so badly damaged by their equipment they had to be taken out.  It has so far cost me $12,000 to begin to get the landscape leveled, 2 trucks of excess dirt hauled away (the ground when Ivan was finished was 4" higher than the risers for the septic tank for instance) and the damage repaired.  I am sorry to have to give Hil Septic a failing grade ~ I do hope they did a better job on the installation of the septic system.  Time will tell on that.  I do know that we keep finding things that were not finished: lids on tank come with 8 screws (only one screw was used)  as the landscaper was leveling & hauling away dirt he found lids that should have been removed buried in the excess dirt for instance.  I realize that Hil's job was to put in new septic system and it is entirely possible that they did a good job on that which makes me feel badly to give them such a bad review.  However, the lack of communication, the mess they left seems to me to be part of the job?   It goes against my nature to give a company such a bad review.  But when I realize I rely on Angie's List when hiring companies I feel by trusting reviews it would not be fair to those who are looking for a contractor to either say nothing or to sugar coat my experience.  I have to say  I would not recommend this company as nice of people as they are ~ to anyone.   Perhaps if it was a new build without any landscaping this company will do a good job.   The price I've given was only for the tank and drain field installation.  It does not include the cost of the plumbers who had to reroute my water, the design of the system, the survey we were required to get and some other fees that were required.  And of course it does not include the cost of the repair to my landscape.  I wish I could give a better review ~ perhaps if this company had kept me apprised on what all the delays were I could have understood and felt I was treated more fairly.  As it was I would advise anyone that contracts with this company to get everything in writing and not assume or have verbal agreements.

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Had issue with the tank alarm going off. HIL had replaced the pump, alarm and switch last summer. The owner, Ivan, came out the same day and diagnosed and fixed the issue. The tank was pumped out and fully operating within 30 minutes of his arrival. He fit me in on the same day I reported the issue. Though I could tell it was not easy, he didn't complain and was very helpful.

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Overall not a very good experience. I was having trouble with my septic drainfield draining properly and initially thought I needed to replace the distribution box, so I called Hil Septic based on the excellent reference my septic pump guy gave me (and based on the reviews posted here on Angies list). When I made the appointment, the office said they would be here between 1 and 3. They showed up at 3:30. After various tests it was determined that my drainfield was not draining properly and most likely I would need a new one. Someone came out and gave me an estimate to replace--I agreed, and I made an appointment for one of their project managers to come out and go through the scope of work, sign the contract, and give them a check for 50% of the overall project cost . The appointment was at 9:00 a.m. for which I took the morning off work. At 9:20 I called to find out where he was. His answer was and quot;I lost track of timeand quot; and he hadn't left their shop (which is about 30-45 minutes away). You would think that if someone was about to hand them a check for 50% of the project there would be a greater sense of awareness, urgency and punctuality. This should have been my second clue.....It went downhill from there. Throughout the 2.5 month project, there appeared to be two project managers, and neither one of them was big on communication (and to be honest they both probably thought the other one was taking responsibility)--It seemed like I was always the one that initiated the communication and was never sure as to which one I should be contacting or which one was responsible. There was an apparent mix up between the two as to who was scheduling the site inspection which resulted in further delays. No one ever called me to ask how things were going or during the project to let me know the progress of what was happening--I was always the one asking. At the end of the project, no one came by to complete a walk thru or explain the pump and alarm and its functionality--no one left any operations manuals for the alarm or pump--until I asked them to. However, there was never a shortage of communication when they felt it was time for payment.
I do know that I work hard for my money, and the amount I paid is a significant chunk of my hard earned money during the holiday season. Its obvious they didn't feel the same way.
The one saving grace is that the guys that were on site doing the actual work were great--extremely polite, courteous, professional and always willing to talk to me and explain what they were doing when I inquired.
Oh yes, but they did give me an approximate1% discount for my inconvenience at the conclusion of the project......(you can do the math)
If there is one thing I would tell them.......there is no such thing as overcommunication with your customers on a project like this. Most of the time your customers will understand when there are hiccups.........otherwise we are left feeling like you just don't care

I was very impressed with Hil Septic's customer service. When I set up the installation I had been given the wrong information about the depth of our septic tank. They installed the riser height I had requested but unfortunately these ended up being at ground level due to the incorrect depth. This was something we definitely didn't want. When I called to explain the problem Hil immediately arranged to have their crew come back and cut down the height of the riser which was done a few days later at no charge. Since they had installed the size of riser I had originally requested they were not obligated to make the correction so I was extremely happy that they took care of the issue with no additional cost. Also, the person who came to pump out our tank said that a Hil had done a very good job with the installation.

Overall, Hil was good to work with and I felt they were fair with us. They were very quick to respond and schedule the work. They were also very helpful in helping us assess the situation, sharing different options with us and helping us to make an informed decision. My only complaint was that the yard was a real mess when they left and some of the damage to the landscaping seemed unnecessary.

My only issues was that of arriving at the appointment time. The first appointment was schedule for Friday afternoon. After not arriving within the hour of the appointment I called in, after a couple more calls they asked to reschedule as the current job had run long. I don't mind this in general, although I had to leave work early that day, but the fact that they were no proactive in contacting me is the bigger issue.

Appointment was rescheduled for the first appointment Monday morning. Again after not arriving within the given hour I had to call in. After a couple calls I found out they were on their way, but had stopped to drop off some equipment on there way. This location was way out of the way and hence they arrived 2+ hours after the promised time.

They did make up for this by replacing the septic alarm box for free, with a used box, but still functional.

The rest of the work went well. Diagnosis and repair.

I would recommend their services, but I hope Hill reads this review and starts to show more consideration to their customers time. Customers will mostly be understanding of situations that arise, but don't leave them in the dark and don't make them have to call and ask on the status. Be proactive in your communications with your customers, it makes a big difference.

Required 2 trips. First trip could not locate distribution box so had to come back a second time with more equipment. Findings report and filing were handled promptly.

They installed a new septic tank. They were professional. They talked me thru the process. I did my research and they were excellent.

Great experience! Prompt response the crew was very knowledgeable and more than willing to explain the process to me. Having septic tank problems is never a pleasant experience but Hil Septic made it much less painful. I will and have all ready recommended them.

We were within 24 hours of closing the sale of our rental property in Burien last fall, when the last-minute septic inspection was pronounced "does not pass" even though the system was not failing. (Tip to Sellers: do not let your realtor leave this inspection until the last minute, as our agent Prudential did. Had we known better, we'd have insisted on doing the septic inspection FIRST.) Once the decision was made to install a new septic system, we hired Ivan Little of HIL Septic. Ivan was really good about taking the time to explain the sequence of the work, and was more than patient as we ran through our written list of questions. He always appeared on time as scheduled. When the work was finished and we were not 100% happy with the appearance of the back yard, Ivan brought his crew back to modify the landscape to the point we were satisfied with it. He is obviously proud of his company and cares about the customer's experience. Ivan is also a military veteran -- HIRE THE VETS!

Ivan at HIL Septic has been extremely helpful and very professional. They were able to come out without much notice, estimated and then fixed our septic pump and distribution box. The work seemed extremely well done, organized and timely, so we were very pleased! What I really appreciated was them coming back out about 6 months later after I had a little smell. Free of charge they came out twice to help us diagnose the problem and clean our filters. I offered to pay them their service fee, but he was just happy to make sure we were in good condition. I will most definitely be calling them back with any future septic needs!

The only thing I would have changed a little is the end game. The clean up crew used my push broom and left it broken on the back porch. The ground was probably as even as a bobcat driver can leave Redmond's rocky soil, and of course, our irrigation system took a hit. That is to be expected. However, what we are left with in the end is likely a $4K landacaping bill just to even out the land, and hydrospray the lawn back in. It was HUGE savings over the other estimates we got, and the service was very professional. I would have just liked the end product to have been a little cleaner. (Irrigation pipes are still sticking up at strange angles out of the soil.) And the pine tree branches they cut to get their equipment in were left under the tree, now brown and needing to be hauled. In his defense, he DID tell us that our irrigation would be destroyed, it was part and parcel to the way septic field replacements have to go. So we expected it to be killed. We just didn't expect to still be picking up pieces of white tubing all over the lawn.

Ivan was referred to us by an A-rated Angie's septic pumping service, Jamie's Septic. Ivan arrived as promised, after calling me to let me know that he was delayed by traffic. Ivan pointed out the deficiencies of the earlier septic pump installation, and carefully measured the rise and distance of the line to select the correct new pump (the previous one was underpowered). He wasn't satisfied with regular outlet plug, so he installed a waterproof electrical junction box to hardwire in the new pump. He confirmed that the existing alarm was working properly after replacing the float switch. Overall, Ivan was thorough and efficient, and he explained everything he was doing when I asked. I would definitely recommend Ivan if you need septic tank or pump service.