Mark installed a septic tank where there had never been one. His son did a 2nd septic line that he never buried and just tied it with string to tree roots or hammered some sticks in below the pipe. It was disconnected in 3 places. This was 2008. Someone else buried it. I recently asked him to come up and show me where the leach field is, and he kept saying it "wasn't his problem". Who else would you call other than the person who installed it? I have the handwritten invoice and photos of a septic pipe just above ground and as I said, tied to trees. ALL I asked is if he would come up and have a look. When I told the rest of the crew who I hired to do the septic, they all groaned and told me what a mistake I had made, but I have already give him $4000. He has no conscience. I do not want to attach photos, but I have kept them for 18 years. I'm shocked to see one good review. read more

I just represented new home buyers on their purchase of a home in Boulder Creek. Mark Kinder of Affordable Septic was supposed to install a new septic tank and repair the leach field on a tight timeline before the close of escrow. We had a series of torrential rain storms and snow, and I was concerned it wouldn't be finished on time. His team showed up, and when I arrived to see how things were going, I noticed that their truck had damaged the asphalt driveway. When I returned the next time to see the final job, I was very impressed to see that the driveway had been repaired after the tank was installed. They did a great job and left the site looking better than before they showed up. I will happily use them again and will recommend them to other clients. Great job, and I was very impressed with the fact that they got it done despite road closures and heavy rain. read more

See all

Despite paying for the service, Mark never did the paperwork for the permit for the leach field and the sceptic tank. He put the field on a non-permitable location and I had will have to have the work redone. He refuses to answer phone calls. read more

This guy did a septic tank replacement at our new house. He didn't compact the dirt at all, and the area around it sunk 8- 10 inches. I had to compact it with my own equipment. Then he was unresponsive for a couple days. Then he finally texted back and was rude. He was upset because I wanted gravel to make it level. Like don't be upset at me for knowing you have to compact dirt. So his guys showed up at a random time and day to bring the gravel after I wrote an email saying I wanted a guarantee that the lack of compaction wouldn't affect the corner of my house. He later would only text yes to my questions of what time will they be there. He thought that was cute I guess. So I got my gravel and compacted all that by myself because they were too stupid to bring a compactor to do it after all this. He must not own one. What a clown. read more

I have no complaints. Mark has a great system and knows exactly what he's doing with every step. He communicated who, what and when. I didn't have to call him even once wondering what was going on. Highly recommend! read more

Highly recommend. Mark replaced our septic tank in 2008 and replaced our leech field in 2014 and did an awesome job in each instance. Very professional, knows the business and the ways of county permits. Did great work for us! read more

Mark Kinder is an honest, ethical professional who is trustworthy and knowledgeable! I am so glad I called him! Never going to rely on anyone else for help with my septic! I highly recommend! read more

Mark was rude and yelled at me when I asked him to clean up debris left after his job was done to replace leachfield. He demanded for the last payment before he removed large branches and cement/stone made by his job...yelling again at me. His condescending attitude and demanding way made him difficult to talk to. Luckily, my real estate agent intervened and made it clear that he should honor his contract. Buyer beware...if you decide to work with this man, get EVERYTHING in writing and make sure he completes his work before you make your final payment. Better yet, find another contractor to do your work, you'll be glad you did. read more

If I could give a negative number I would. They should be called AVOIDABLE Septic. Never returned calls. Lied about the time it would take to get a permit. If you don't want to do the work - just say so. read more

I highly recommend Affordable Septic. I am a real estate agent and truly trust Mark Kinder his opinions and he gets the job done. He has a ton of experience with the County and knows what is expected and allowed. He has never let my clients down. He is honest and reasonable. I have never seen him use illegal laborers? I know his son works for him. I recommend him to my family members as well. read more

On time and under budget. Need I say more? Mark has the knowledge and experience to expertly deal with the incredibly anxiety-provoking issues a system can pose. Mark saved the day for me: He turned a situation around that caused me sleepless nights with quick intervention. He was in communication at all times via text and promptly responded to all my questions. I highly recommend this company. Local, honest and reliable. read more

I was really impressed with Mark and his ability to navigate the county. His guys were prompt and courteous! All of the other companies were not about to give us a solid bid, but Mark did two bids... best case and worst case. It was nice to know going into the project what the ceiling would be... BONUS! He came in well under the worst case bid! All in all I couldn't be happier... Another huge bonus was that he actually put all the fencing, stairs and play structure back together.... Every OTHER company declined to accept responsibility for any of that. If you need a new septic or a big hole of any sort Mark is the guy! read more

Mark is the ultimate good samaritan. He stopped and took an hour out of his busy day to help us guide our large 5th wheel out of an extremely tight spot thereby avoiding thousands of dollars of damage to our new trailer. We would use Mark in a heartbeat for any septic issues at our Boulder Creek property and highly recommend him to anyone we know. Such a pleasure to meet him. Thank you Mark. Chris & Heidi Holm read more

another update: Still no contact from Affordable Septic. Another contractor ..Stephen Johnson, came by to look for the tank. We finally found it.. no where near where Affordable had marked. As a result, we had to tear up a few thousand dollars worth of brick, flagstone and landscaping to get to it. (we had build our yard around where Affordable had said the septic covers were.) Stephen Johnson.. doing a great job for us so far.. Affordable.. worst home-owner experience I've had. (once I get them, I'll post pictures of the damage...) Affordable.. you should be ashamed of yourselves. read more

Hard to get a hold of.. Doesn't return phone calls. Had to constantly hound Mark over a 5 week period to try to discuss our project and obtain a quote. Never explains why he hasn't followed up, nor feels it necessary to apologize for the delay. Affordable Septic and Excavating needs to improve their customer service. A SIMPLE CALL to say, "I am sorry that I haven't got back to you, but I have been busy" would make the situation far better then not hearing from the company at all. At the end of this, I left one last message to check in with Mark and I am still waiting for a return phone call. Needless to say, I am not calling him back. Dealing with a Septic issue is uncomfortable and can be very expensive. I am looking for a company I can trust and feel comfortable with from the very beginning. Since Mark wasn't putting much effort in trying to establish any trust with a new client, I decided that it was better to part ways and find someone else. Affordable Septic isn't the only game in town. I would recommend looking at other options before considering Affordable Septic. read more

Wow.....and not in a good way. Mark had no problem taking our money, but had a problem finishing the work,calling us back(tried contacting them for over 10 months) Once my Mother did get him on the phone he was beyond rude and screamed at her! Unbelievable, until I read he's reviews here on yelp. I guess this is how he does business, and by other reviews its how he handles things when they don't go his way or he is held responsible for his work. Unfortunately, we did not check his reviews before giving him the job.....was referred to him by what we thought was a good source. I hope this review helps other people understand that a good job goes way beyond putting a tank in the ground. It's communicating through out the process and after. A costly lesson....do your homework and read their reviews! read more

** Wow, big change. I would now have to recommend people avoid Affordable Septic. The more I've been talking to professionals regarding the state of our new system the more it becomes apparent that we didn't get good service. Our tank is not anchored with a cement footing which makes it vulnerable to rising if it needs to be pumped during wet weather. The Loomis fiberglass tank we have is the 2nd choice behind the stronger plastic tanks that have much better fitted risers. Mark has never returned one of my calls (5 now) regarding installing risers. The placement of our leach field is in a high ground water area which causes it to fail in wet weather. Ouch. We'll probably have to drop the price of the installation all over again to get it done right. Beware. Original, glowing, ignorant review: Our leach field was failing and stinking up the neighborhood. The only place to fit the replacement field was in our back yard which is accessible only via a very sketchy slope through the property of two neighbors. Mark walked the slope once with me and committed to being able to do it. In fact he had the estimate ready within a day or so. When he handed me the estimate he assured me the price on the bottom line would be the price I'd pay for the work described. Mark came out and talked to the neighbors when they were worried and held up to his word of leaving their property looking like it did when he entered. His crew completed a full tank and field replacement in two days as promised and I paid exactly what he stated. Even the inspector who came had nothing but praise for him and his work. I have the highest recommendation for Affordable Septic and his crew. When your septic is at risk it's such a relief to have a trustworthy contractor who does good work. * had to drop a star as I am having a very difficult time getting called back (see the comment about his answering service in another review. It is hard to get in touch with him directly over the phone). Also our new leach field, infiltrator system, filled up with rain water in these last heavy rains and they clay soil makes draining it out horrible. read more

I had purchased a new home that had a failed septic system and I needed a whole new system (septic tank and leach field) in 2008. Mark and his crew were able to do it both under budget and even sooner than promised. I thought he was very professional and did a great job. Digging up the old failed system was both stinky and and messy and putting in the new system was noisy as they had to use heavy equipment to dig up the ground (both, I feel, go with the territory). Then, in 2011, I was having some work done in my backyard and needed to know where the access to the tank was. While his answering service is somewhat frustrating because you are not actually calling the company, when I finally did reach Mark (who called me back while on vacation), he had someone out within hours to find and dig up the access for me. I would definitely recommend these guys. read more

Faced with replacing our entire septic system, Mark and his crew were extremely professional, fast and worked within our budget. I would definitely recommend Affordable Septic to anyone in the area!!! While researching and getting estimates, not only was Mark the first one to provide us with a written estimate he was also the most affordable. read more

We bought a house out in Boulder Creek that turned out to need a new leach field. Mark was fantastic in helping us navigate the process from beginning to end. He even came out the day we had our inspection with another company to give us a second option. Thank goodness he did, because they wanted to replace the entire system with an engineered system! Mark was able to save us literally $25k with his expertise and ability to find solutions. His staff are great, they got the work done fast, and were extremely friendly, even stopping to wave at my toddler who had her nose pressed to the window the whole 4 days they were out there working. Bonus for us? He helped to find a way to add more length later so we can do a permitted addition to the property. Everyone else told us it wasn't possible. I'll never work with anyone else if I can help it! read more

I recommend Affordable Septic. They were able to fit me in for a new septic in a new location. Mark took care of the permitting process quickly and was able to complete the job quickly while taking care to keep the landscaping as neat as possible. Thanks Mark! read more

I will say the contractor knows the San Lorenzo Valley and how to install a system. BUT, the plans are poorly drawn which could mess a property owner up in the future. Also, the attitude and poor, poor customer service aren't worth it. There are SO many other helpful, friendly septic contractors out there, why would you want to pay someone that acts like they are doing you a favor (and they're pissed about it). Skip this business - there are others out there that are better and want the work. read more

Awful customer service. Does not return calls or emails and does not quickly respond to problems with work performed. Avoid!

I found the owner Mark to be very knowledgeable and very understanding. Excellent work by the entire crew. I would use him again with no doupts. read more

Mark Kinder and his crew were extremely nice and knowledgeable. Mark came out on a Saturday while my tank was being pumped, gave me an estimate on the spot. He told me exactly what to expect, when to expect it, everything that was entailed. He even had his team dig up the ivy next to the new leach field, while he had the tractor there, which saved me a lot of time digging it up by hand! He did a great job, is very easy to work with. He knows how to work with the county. There was a little miscommunication which involved his crew not knowing everything that had been promised, but that was taken care of (otherwise it would have been 5 stars). I would suggest reviewing everything with his crew at the beginning so everyone is "on the same page". But he did everything he promised me, and even came out on the weekends. I would definitely use him again, and highly recommend him. read more

We needed to replace the septic leach field at the White Raven Coffee Shop in Felton. Once we met Mark Kinder of Affordable Septic, we got a competitive quote and advice that could only have come from a lot of experience. Mark and his crew did a great job for us and took care of communicating with the County, obtaining our permit, coordinating with others involved and delivering a high quality job. All of the workers were courteous and we had no disruption to our business. We would recommend Affordable Septic to anyone in the community. We would give them 6 stars if we could. Thanks to them, our customers can once again recycle our coffee at will! read more

I have nothing but good things to say about Mark and his team. Mark showed up right away to provide an estimate, and his beat the competition. That was not the important thing, though. What mattered was that they showed when they said they would, they were considerate and hard working. They accommodated some "special requests" that I had regarding additional septic access, and they finished on time. Not only did they finish on time, they left things on my property clean and orderly. Mark has been easily accessible throughout the process; he always returned my calls the same day and would come by as much as needed to answer questions and concerns. I would recommend them for sure! kelly read more

6yrs ago installed by previous owner in Sale. There was a problem with pipe 2yrs ago, Mark came out promptly and fixed it - great! Last week, there is a crack in the Septic Tank seeping in and filling tank - toilets backing up - so got the septic pump guy to come out and pump out tank. I left numerous messages for Affordable Septic...text, website message, voicemail to have him check the tank and let me know what is needed to fix- its been 5 days now - No word from him. Very Very disappointed. Small town here. Word will get around. read more

Very rude, defensive and unhelpful! Will not take any responsibility for past mistakes made, or be helpful in any way.

customer service is really bad, Mark Kinder does not return calls or emails. He never responded to my problems. Beware before you spend thousands of dollars for a new septic read more

very pleased. the installation of a new tank and demolition of an old redwood one were done quickly and efficiently. the work was done within the time frame that Mark quoted and everything was completed within 2 days. We were happy with the cost after comparison shopping. the workers were courteous and polite and seemed knowledgeable and comfortable with the inspector. the permit part of the job was seamless. highly recommend. read more