Harry Clark Plumbing & Htg Inc

I had very much hoped to have a positive experience with Harry Clark, as my realtor recommended them when I bought a house and needed to have the sewer lateral replaced. Unfortunately, the initial experience having the lateral replaced was negative, and then months later it all turned terrible.



I do not recommend Harry Clark at all. It seems like they were good way back when, but they are not good any longer.



I got a bid from HC to replace the sewer lateral using the pipe bursting method which is the easiest, fastest and least expensive method. I thought, though I will admit that I may have heard incorrectly, that they said the job would take 2 days total. The HC crew came out and started work, dug up some dirt and cut a hole in the sidewalk. They piled the dirt up against the side of the house which is less than ideal. Then they disappeared. A few days passed and there appeared to be little to no progress and there was never any report to me by anyone on the crew or by a supervisor or the office as to any progress, next steps, or delays on the project - basically it was a mystery.



I emailed the office after a few days to inquire as to what was going on and was told that a supervisor would contact me which never happened. The next day the crew was out again and I believe they mostly completed the job. However, they also damaged my gate. I emailed the office with a picture and to their credit someone came out the next day and replaced and painted the damaged gate board. At this point the job was still not completed and there was a big metal plate in the street covering up the hole they dug there and some orange cones left around here and there. This was the situation for about another week. My neighbors were annoyed as was I, and we all were wondering when the heck HC would come out and patch the street, pick up their cones, and complete the job.



I contacted the office again and was told that it would be completed in the next few days which it was. Overall, it took way longer than I was told, there was no communication, and my fence was damaged. My new neighbors who had similar work done by another plumber had theirs completed in 2 days. Overall, not great or particularly professional, but I thought everything was completed and good.



Fast forward about 12 months and things get bad: My elderly neighbor had a suspected sewer leak between our two houses. I arranged for a different plumbing company to come out and do a FREE inspection (HC does not do this!) and they discovered that my neighbor's sewer and mine were joined together! When the houses where built in 1926 this was allowed, but it is NOT allowed any longer. Harry Clark had illegally, and against building code re-connected the two sewer lines together and somehow managed to get the city and EBMUD to sign off on the work. The city says they would never sign off on this, so clearly HC hid the illegal connection. This is a big no-no. So, to keep it short, many many months of emails and calls back and forth with the city of Oakland and HC and other plumbers for professional opinions and there is still no resolution. I offered to Brad Marshall, one of the owners of HC, that they could either refund my money for the illegal, not to code, unprofessional work they performed while trespassing on my neighbor's property, or they could come out and re-do the work properly. At this point they have gone silent and are not responding.



Based on my experiences with HC it is my my opinion that Brad Marshall and Harry Clark are dishonest, unprofessional, unreliable and do not stand behind their work, and I would never use Harry Clark again and recommend that you do not either.