Two thumbs up! We needed to repair a piece of our sewer line, which went through a neighbor's yard. Work was done on time, as agreed, and very neatly. John was not only knowledgeable of the work in general, but specifically of our property's set up. He'd set up the sewer line originally back in the day. He worked with the town to pull drawings and ensure he only excavated the minimum necessary. He also coordinated with our neighbor to ensure their irrigation system wasn't affected. Both neighbors commented on the neatness of the work and full professionalism. We'll definitely work with them in the future. read more

Horrible experience with them over the last 8 months. Met with John and explained that I was having two distinct problems. The gutters on the two corners of my home were somehow backing up to the extent that instead of going into the ground by way of the downspouts, they were literally creating fountains off the corners of the home onto the ground below and destroying my landscaping and hardscaping due to the force. As well, the same flooding of the hardscaped walkway was causing flooding of my front planting bed and washing down and away most of my front lawn all the way to my neighbors. I had a small pipe installed alongside the bed to try and accommodate the water coming off the roof but it was incapable of handling the sheer volume. That same company had found what appeared to be a pipe cap in the front lawn and in digging had said that there was white drainage pipe that appeared to come from not one, but all three downspouts from the house. John proposed a buried cistern in my front lawn with new pipes connecting to the existing one as well as a fourth downspout that went to the back yard. His thought was all that water was unable to seep into the ground where the pipe currently ended so a cistern was needed. We agreed to $3000 which was also to include loam and seed. When the project was done shortly after, he claimed he tested it and all worked well. As it was finished in late November, we did not have substantial rains for me to verify this. When I had my thaw in Spring, there was some walkway flooding but I attributed this to the walkway's pitch and less to the drainage system. However, two calls and one text to John reminding him to remove the hay he had left and to come loam and seed were unreturned. I eventually hired a landscaper to address it. When the thunderstorms started in May, the problem occurred again. As the storms got worse, the problems worsened. The fountains off the corners of the house washed away the landscaping again, washed away the joint compound of my walkway and flooded my side yard. As well, the same spot in the yard where the pipe had previously ended was again percolating water which was running down the side hill. I sent photos and texts. John finally responded after multiple messages that claimed he was busy on multiple jobs that he would send someone to excavate the pipe and see if it was blocked. I got a simple text that said they had done so and the pipe was clear. The problem has continued until this day and I demanded a meeting to discuss exactly what was done. Basically, DESPITE his website's claim to stand behind his work, he does not. When we met, his claim was his job was merely to install the cistern and the pipes which connected to the existing pipe, not actually see if it solved the problem or concern himself with the existing pipes. I asked how he could have tested the system if he wasn't concerned with the existing work and how could he say the problem was "fixed". His response was that what he installed was working but that he wasn't responsible for the rest and that I should have my gutters and downspouts cleaned!!!! I pointed out I had done this just prior to his work. I also asked him if his pipe was in fact connected to the existing drainage pipe AND the small black pipe installed by the landscaper to address the run-off, why was water still percolating out off the ground EXACTLY where he had made his connections. His comment was that the black perforated pipe installed by the landscaper "was shit" and was probably leaking. So I asked why he would attach his system to something that was "shit" instead of contacting me and asking about options such as leaving it alone and addressing it separately. Now that pipe will likely allow silt and leaves into the system that was just installed. Basically he tossed up his hands and refuses to address the issues. I had my handyman run three hoses up to the three gutters that run to this system and turn all of them on simultaneously. The same downspouts immediately backed up and started overflowing. Therefore I suspect when John says he "tested" the system, he didn't actually test the three gutters but rather just the pipe he installed. When another company was questioned, their response was that attaching these three downspouts (one of which is oversized so it's more like 4) to this one pipe connected to cistern is basically a bottleneck and cannot handle the water coming off the entire roof of an 8000 sq foot house. I now need to have the entire area re-excavated and evaluated. Go elsewhere. John does not stand behind his work and doesn't care if the problem is actually rectified, nor does he even complete the work as promised. He may have had that ethic when he began at "Phil's Excavating", but it clearly isn't that way now. I gave him an opportunity to re-excavate and make the situation correct and he refused, read more

I recently had a septic system installed by Phil's, and I am extremely pleased with the professionalism of John, his partner Brian, and the entire crew. Phil's estimate was very competitive, and he was highly recommended by my cousin. I wanted someone who was local. I appreciated that John listened to all my concerns and requests, and promptly returned every phone call. The work had to be done in a tight space. Their team was very careful, and even managed to preserve my Dogwood tree and hydrangeas, which were very close to the excavation boundaries. The tree is flowering beautifully now. The raised septic system has a beautiful rock retaining wall and looks very natural, like it had always been there. I am very pleased. Needless to say, I would highly recommend Phil's! read more

My husband and I had John Vadenais excavate a bunch of large stones and stumps from our backyard and grade the yard overall since it had a lot of bumps and dips. Johnand did a fantastic job. I even asked for a small White Pine to remain, if possible even though it was surrounded by rocks and stumps that needed to be removed. John saved the small tree and "worked his machinery like a surgeon" (husband quote). He even offered up some ideas for a pond we are thinking of installing next to a large boulder that we kept in the yard. I would recommend Phil's for your yard - you get what you pay for with a high level of professionalism. read more