Telesis Plumbing-Sewer Replacement & Repair

David C.

I have had Mark Wetzel, DBA Telesis Plumbing, two separate sewer jobs for me. In both cases I was happy about the results both in time spent and costs. Mark is a bit of a character e.g no talking to him when he is busy thinking about the project but I would recommend him to anyone wanting underground sewer repairs.

David Carrillo, Board Treasurer and resident manager, Walnut House Cooperative

Live, love, bark

kathy a.

Mark saved my ass back in 2008.

Here is my story of working with Mark Wetzel in 2008 for my house in Berkeley. I have removed one person's name and their compnay which was the company who did the bad work, for which Mark had to save my ass.

How do I remember so many details now, 8 years later? Because I wrote this all down at the time. Take my advice regardless of who is doing your sewer lateral work: Understand how water drains from your house. Then understand how those drains should connect to the street, and make sure your contractor connects all of these properly. If they miss it, and if the inspector misses it when checking their work (::COUGH!!::) then you'll probably have the giant hassle I had to go through.

This is my experience:

Approximately December of 2007, I experienced the first of the plumbing problems. When the washing machine drained, it backed up, flooding the laundry area. I called Roto-Rooter, they came and snaked the pipe. It cleared the blockage for the time-being.

In May of 2008, the same plumbing problem reoccured. This time I called Pacific Drain and Rooter Service. Nasir from Pacific Drain came to snake the pipe, but was not successful. He suggested I contact Chris from Chris's Quality Sewer and Drain Service. So I did.

Chris came out and tried to snake the pipe. His snake got caught on whatever was clogging the pipe, and he could not get it out. He had to cut part of my drain pipe underneath the house in order to salvage most of his snake. He was not happy... At that point under the house, we could not tell if the ""clog"" was inside the foundation, or just on the other side of it, outside the foundation. Chris recommended I call Mark Wetzel of Telesis Plumbing.

I called Mark and scheduled an appointment. Prior to his arrival, I dug out a large hole on the north side of my house to expose the area where the clog was. I had to negotiate with my neighbors to let me leave large piles of dirt on their driveway. I dug much of it out, but not enough to identify what was going on.

Mark arrived, dug it out a bit more, and discovered the problem: the drain pipe which originates from the kitchen/washer area on the south side of the house, which runs along underneath the house, to drain at the north side of the house was not connected to anything! It was draining into the ground, and a large root had grown up into the pipe, causing my water backups. I knew the sewer lateral had been replaced prior to me purchasing the house, so I called my real estate agent to get information from them as to who did the work to replace the sewer lateral. I found the information:

In March of 2007, three months before I purchased the house, the previous owners had the sewer lateral replaced, which is the north side of the house. This work was done by ZZZZZZ company. ZZZZZZ company failed to connect the kitchen/washer drain to the sewer lateral.

I called XXX YYYYY who runs ZZZZZZ company, and explained the situation to him. He said he would address the situation. A couple days later, one of his employees arrived to view the hole and the drain. He said he would have to have to discuss it with XXX to get the job scheduled. He also said they would have to bust out some of the concrete in the drive way to make the connection between the drain and the sewer lateral. In the meantime, my neighbors had to live with very large piles of dirt in their driveway for many days. After the employee of ZZZZZZ company left, I called XXX to discuss scheduling the job. XXX was very defensive with me, and we had a very unpleasant conversation. He became short-tempered and said he would rather have Mark of Telesis come do the work, and that he would pay Mark for the work. Fine, I decided I would rather deal with Mark, as my dealings with XXX were unpleasant.

Mark came out in the next day or so to do the work. Working with Mark was a joy. He's very good-natured and humorous. The work was done in a day, and he did not even have to bust out any concrete in the driveway! I recall Mark saying the job would cost about $900, and he would bill XXX at ZZZZZZ company.

A little later I spoke with XXX again from ZZZZZZ company to ask him if he would reimburse me for the prior plumbing charges I incurred when I had to get the pipes snaked. He said he would, so I sent him the receipts I could find. To my surprise, XXX sent me a check for those charges. I've happily never had to hear from him again.

Thanks again Mark!

Joseph G.

Mark replaced my waste water plumbing. His service was fast, reliable and affordable. He also was an excellent communicator and generally good person whom I highly recommend. I only wish people could see the artful way the pipes were put together under the house! I haven't had a single problem since Telesis plumbing replaced my sewer! Everything flows.

Stephanie A.

Mark Wetzel is a terrific plumber--a wizard at finding leaks that are just suspected, good at communicating, thorough, prompt. After he found and fixed a very slow leak in the main entry line under my house, my EBMUD bill went down 50%! His prices are very reasonable and his commitment to customers is way beyond the ordinary. I recommend him highly.

Dr. S. C. Antalocy

Judith B.

We had a terrible experience with Mark Wetzel, the proprietor. He gave us a quote and estimate, said he could do the job in under two weeks. Then he took six, in the middle of which, he had to leave for vacation. Before he left for vacation, he broke the valve on our bathroom sink and left us a note instead of calling and letting us know. He picks up casual laborers to do his grunt work, which is fine, but if they make mistakes, he takes no responsibility for their errors. Besides leaving us with no sink, he also left us with a scratched up tub.

It turns out, he's very familiar with going to court, has no hesitation and represents himself. He hung us up in court for months, putting a lein on our house for several times the price of the job. Avoid, avoid. Terrible contractor, unethical, dishonest. Awful experience!

maria B.

My house was built in 1927. There were downspouts that had never worked, sewer lines in the back that didn't work, It was both a puzzle to be solved and then problems to be remedied. Plus, some back breaking work. Mark was great! Problems solved, no longer lakes in the backyard when it rains, and no longer mysteries.

Friendly efficient service.