Avoid Chicago Tank Removal! The Village of Winnetka certifies only two companies for removing old oil tanks that may have been buried in your yard back in the day. One of them is Chicago Tank Removal. We were selling our house of 22 years when the prospective buyer's inspector discovered a pipe in the bushes that he suspected lead to a buried tank. A tank about which we had no prior knowledge. So we immediately contacted both companies. Chicago Tank Removal (CTR) responded first so we had them come out right away. This tank removal had to happen fast so that the sale of our house could go forward. I am posting this saga because we were so bitterly disappointed by our experience with CTR. For starters, although the owner swears by it, their method for finding a tank seems incredibly unsophisticated and was -- at least in our case-- deeply flawed. The owner, David Streich, literally uses divining rods for this purpose. Applying this method he declared, with absolute conviction, that he had discovered the location of the tank we needed to have removed. He said the tank was buried in the ground on the left side of the front of our house. He stands by the veracity of divining rods so much so that he chose not to verify his "discovery" of a tank by pushing a long slender probe down into the ground until they hit metal. Guess what happened next? David and his crew arrived days later with a giant excavator and tore into our yard -- see horrifying photos. As that machine dug deeper and deeper it ripped out the walkway, landscaping, lighting and the sprinkler system there. As it turned out, there was no tank. His divining rod "mis-read" was chalked up to having detected a pipe for the landscape lighting or the sprinkler system. So, after employing his divining rods once again, Mr Streich declared, definitively, that the tank was actually on the other side of the front yard. And, then, without batting an eye, standing right in front of the deep pit that he had just dug, he tried to shake us down for more money. I insisted that he first prove the actual existence of a tank. So then, and only then, he employed the long probe. He and his guys pushed that probe in and out, deeper and deeper, time after time. Still no tank. I refused to pay any more money and insisted instead that he follow the pipe that our prospective buyer's inspector had discovered in the first place. The pipe that instigated this whole debacle. He and his crew did so and eventually we determined that there had never been a tank in the ground. It used to be in the basement. The capped end of the pipe is still sticking out of the wall there. In my opinion, now that I know so much about old oil tanks, they should have looked there first because that was a very common set up back in the day. But CTR gets paid for digging. We needed CTR's official certification that there was no tank. It was perfectly clear that we would not receive that until he was paid in full for NOT removing a tank that was never there in the first place. The strong implication was that he would slap us with a lien so the sale would be blocked by the title company. He had us right where he wanted us. I have spoken with Mr Streich since this review was originally posted on Google. He wants to blame my wife for this fiasco because she did not want to pay him $500 to come over and look for the tank. Except that when she balked at the fee he waived it and came over anyway. He and his divining rods. Yet somehow, at least in David's mind, it is our fault that he unnecessarily tore up our yard costing us well over $10,000, all in, after we paid him and for the all the repairs to restore the walkway, sprinkler system and landscaping. My advice: Take your business somewhere else. Avoid Chicago Tank Removal at all costs. read more

Chicago Tank Removal - General Contractors Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I spoke to David this morning, he was extremely knowledgeable and helpful, answered all my questions and helped me determine the next step while on a time crunch to close my home. I'm impressed with how helpful he was because even though there was a chance I was not going to need the services in the near future he still walked me through all scenarios and potential costs of tank removal if needed. super customer service, I will not hesitate to use their services if it turns out we do need to remove a tank read more

The best in the business in my opinion. Deep industry knowledge and experience across the board.

Dave had "Scanned" the ground and "detected" a tank, we approve the removal and once he started digging it turned out that there wasn't a tank anywhere near the "scanned" location. he showed us graphs of what looked like tank. bottom line was that he charged us full price for absolutely nothing. no tank was pulled out, left a hole in the ground and charged us 10k for using his machinery to dig a hole... read more

The service was outstanding David was understanding and true to his word !!! Thank you. Highly recommended !! Dominic Nick. read more

We are in a very bad situation with an oil spill in our basement. David and his team were incredibly responsive and came up with a plan immediately. They are quick and gave us reasonable quotes. We really appreciated the service, especially since there are so few licensed removal operations in the area. David also gave a lot of advice which was so appreciated. read more

CTR did a great job with what seemed like an impossible job! David was very responsive and communicative and his team was fast and easy to work with. read more

First of all, David is a scam, unprofessional all he wants is money. He never helps you in anything always keeps you in the dark. He never help me. I'm talking to a lawyer now. Please don't hire this guy his office is an old truck. He has no experience unprofessional in this business. read more

We found David to be reliable, responsible and responsive, very focused on getting the job done, and someone who follows through on what he says he'll do. We would work with him again. read more

If I could give 0 stars I would. This miserable piece of garbage just called IDPH and The Fire Marshall's on me because I didn't give him the job to remove tanks on my property. The reason I didn't give him the job is because I had a very bad feeling about him when he asked me to give him a 10,000 dollar deposit several days before coming to do the job. I told him that I typically do not give contractors money until they show up on site to do the job. He started pressuring me saying he had 800 references in his binder...I'd be surprised to see if hes even had 100 jobs in his entire career with his evil attitude and at one point he raised his voice at me. So I decided not to go forward with working with him. This is not how you treat customers and I'm so thankful I didn't use him. Save yourself the trouble he uses the city for revenge when people don't give him jobs. read more

Beware of the work done by David Streich at CTR. Sells you on experience but don't buy in. He removed a tank from our property and says he fills with up to 3 yard of new dirt in addition to what is removed. I asked multiple times about settling and sinking and he said he has never had a complaint. He did not put any new soil at all. He removed a 500 gallon tank and only replaced the existing dirt so now we have a ditch where the tank was....sinking after 2 rains. His response was "up to 3 yards means 0-3" so we got 0!! He had me send Zelle payment to his personal account saying it feeds into the business account which was suspicious to me and then got angry when the balance was sent to Zelle the same way as the deposit because he had to "pay his guys". Our hole just gets deeper too...Buyer beware you will not get what you pay for I don't know how there are positive reviews (must be friends) read more

Chicago tank removal came out to a home that I had purchased which had two oil tanks in the basement. They were very prompt at showing up for the job. They got right to work. Worked straight through Removed the old tanks and existing oil that was still in them. Completed the job in a matter of hours. The bill was exactly as quoted over the phone. If I am ever in need again I will gladly use their services and highly recommend them. Chris read more

These giys done great job, no hidden fees . They walk you thru the process, done well and are professionals.

I hired David to help remove a UST in a commercial location. He was very professional and assisted every step of the way. Happy with the speed of the work and the followup. read more

We hired David at Chicago Tank Removal. Don't use this company!! Seriously, because of David's neglect, he has cost my company over $20,000.00 in repairs. He refuses to be accountable for the damage he caused. He was hired to remove 2 tanks while keeping one tank in service. Six months later we are still repairing all the damage he caused! Don't use this company!!! read more

David met our needs by removing our partially filled, decommissioned oil tank from our basement. The team was efficient and polite and made sure we were aware of all aspects of removal from a preliminary site visit to completion. Their price was fair and they worked quickly. I recommend CTR. read more

I contacted David Streich to remove an oil tank I found in my crawl space. After I did further research on CTR, I am relieved that I did not hire the company to remove the tank. First off, after researching other tank removal companies, I noticed David Streich posted a negative review about a competitor on google reviews. I am not sure how he got away with doing this as there are laws regarding this behavior. After I emailed David saying this is the reason why I will not be hiring him to remove the tank, he removed his review from his personal gmail account. If the above paragraph isn't sheisty enough, after reading CTR's contract, a line states that if a client has an unpleasant experience with CTR they may not voice their opinion on any media outlet. In my opinion, all the positive ratings regarding CTR are invalid. Please look at other companies to remove your oil tanks and READ ALL CONTRACTS. I think you will find more ethical companies in the Chicagoland area. read more

Contacted Chicago Tank to remove an oil tank to that was in my crawl space. Showed up with an attitude and started going over the contract. Told me that they were not responsible for spilled oil, I should be prepared to vent my home for 48 hrs, and I had to agree not to sue. I asked why wasn't this discussed when I contacted you to explain the process. He got mad and stormed out. Good riddance!!! read more

This was a job well done! We "tank" David Streich, and his wonderful team at Chicago Tank Removal, for performing a seemingly difficult job, at a great cost. The church I represent (Sonido De Alabanza Church) had 3 abandoned UST that had leaked and needed to be removed. David executed the job of removing the tanks and cleaning the site with ease in the span of 2 days! We highly recommend David for all your tank removal and site clean up needs. read more

They showed up on time and removed our tank under very difficult weather conditions.

Did the tank removal at my home. Would highly recommend the workers were extremely polite. It was cleaned up to perfection. Satisfied customer read more

In the process of trying to sell my home, a home inspector discovered that I had an oil tank buried under my patio in the back yard. I contacted three companies for estimates. Chicago Tank Removal was the only one that provided a flat rate that included everything (disposal of tank, siphoning and disposing of fuel sludge) and promised to leave my yard as they found it. They arrived at 5:30 a.m. and completed the job by 10:30 a.m. They full filled their promises and barring a small crack in my concrete, they returned everything to its original state. I was pleased with the work and final results. read more

Let's face it: Nobody wants to remove an oil tank especially if it is not leaking and is in an out-of-the-way location in the basement. We were told by our boiler company that we had to remove our tank. It was blocking access to a high-pressure steam pipe that had corroded and needed to be replaced. That pipe supplied heat to our master bedroom. Our boiler company gave us a choice: either remove the tank so that they could get access to the corroded pipe and have heat. . .or, not have heat. We had no choice. The oil tank had to be removed. We interviewed several tank removal companies. We were impressed with the expertise and experience of the owner David of Chicago Tank Removal (CTR). We chose CTR for the job even though they were slightly higher in price than the other companies that we interviewed. How many days would you think that it would take to remove a 1,017 gallon tank that was custom-built on site years ago into a tight space in the basement with 3/8th inch steel and still contained some heating oil inside? Days? How about hours? It took four hours from the time that David and his crew arrived, removed the tank, cleaned up and drove away. This was a project that we knew was way beyond our capability to do on our own. We completely "vetted" CTR. They were licensed with local, state and federal authorities, bonded and insured. Their references were excellent. If you need to have a tank removed, hire CTR. You will be glad that you did. read more

Excellent work. Knowledgeable and professional. David and team were truly a pleasure with which to work.

Courteous and professional, I highly recommend Chicago Tank Removal. The team arrived on time and got right to work removing my 360 gallon oil tank from my crawlspace. They were able to drain about 300 gallons of oil, cut the tank into sections, clean up and complete the job within 1:45 mins.. Very impressive!! read more

Had an empty fuel oil tank in our crawl space, Called CTR - David on Tuesday, had a lump sum removal price given, over the phone, disposal team showed up on time (early as a matter of fact) on Thursday, they were done in less than 2 hours, no mess, great job! I would highly recommend read more

Very professional company. I would definitely recommend them. They definitely know the tank removal business in and out.

David, and CTR, did an excellent job throughout the whole process. They removed a heating oil tank. They explained all the steps and were in communication the whole way. read more

They removed an underground storage tank at my house. Easy to deal with and professional. I was out of town and still was able to get it done quickly. read more

Good Service! Workers were on-time ready to work. They did a very good job and kept the area clean and put everything back together like nothing was ever touched....I would refer this company to anyone! read more

Very professional and responsive. Prompt and thorough. Great service.

I had an oil tank in my crawl space. Called CTR and they give me a flat fee to remove it. There were on time, very knowledgable and professional. They removed everything withing 3 hrs with no damage to my floors or any spilling. Great positive and hassle free experience. Would defenetly recommend this company! read more

These guys were great- scheduled me within a week of my initial call, gave me a great price, and were done in a couple of hours. Also, the basement seems to be cleaner than when they started lol. read more

They made a difficult, messy job look easy. The team came and quickly and efficiently removed the tank from our crawl space and cleaned up the site without tracking anything through the house. The whole process was done in less than 2 hours! read more