Lombardo Environmental — Attraction in Elmwood Park

The people who bought our house hired this company for an underground tank sweep. They found a suspicious spot and we were required to dig it up to go forward with the sale. I spoke to a bunch of people (realtors, real estate lawyers, etc.) who said something like: oh yeah, that’s the company that always finds something. They included a quote to perform the (now required) dig in their sweep report. We hired another company for a little more money. In their report they, the new company, said they first did a sweep and found a signal consistent with a sewer line in the indicated spot (not a tank). Then they dug (because they were still required to do this) and found a sewer line. We were relieved but then a little annoyed. A little while later I was arranging inspections for the house we were buying. I called Lombardo just out of curiosity. They were the lowest quote, not surprisingly. Of course I didn’t hire them. I think what they do is give you the lowest quote, say $300 instead of $400, for a sweep but then always find “something suspicious.” Then they give you the lowest quote, say $300 instead of $400, for the dig. Their customers are so relieved when the dig doesn’t uncover a tank that they don’t realize they were just tricked into paying $600 instead of the $400 they would have paid if they had just hired the reputable company from the beginning. (Those prices are just estimates; I forget the exact numbers at this point). Not to mention the stress involved with thinking you may have a tank and the time and strain on an already delicate real estate transaction. I definitely do not recommend.

Response to company: this is not my field of expertise but - what’s the point in even doing a sweep if you can’t tell the difference between a sewer line and an underground oil tank? I mean, don’t all houses have sewer lines? If you’re always going to have to dig up the sewer line to confirm it’s a sewer line (and not be able to rely on the type of signal, location and your knowledge of sewer lines) then this is something you should tell customers from the beginning. “Yes, we can do your scan but we will have to eventually recommend that you dig up your yard - which you will be legally obligated to do, at extra cost - because all houses have sewer lines and because our company, unlike other tank sweep companies, cannot tell the difference between a sewer line and an underground oil tank.” I mean, it’s not as if you found a buried refrigerator. That I could understand- you wouldn’t be expecting that. But it was a sewer line. A company that charges money to determine if houses have underground oil tanks should be able to tell the difference between the tanks and other underground objects that are found at...

This firm was used by the buyer of my home. They performed an oil tank sweep on my property, even though my tank had been in my basement. The initial inspection came back with an "anomaly" indicating something was present. I tried to explain that in the location they suggested, it would be physically impossible. But of course, the bank insisted on a clean report. As a result of this, I incurred additional legal fees to cover a no-fault letter to protect my self against any damage they might cause. Lombardo insisted they needed to excavate to determine the root cause. They did not even have dig safe mark the lawn until I insisted in case they damaged a water, sewer, or natural gas line. The excavation caused two weeks of delay in the closing process. In addition, the buyer had to pay them additional fees for the excavation work. On the day of this second inspection, Lombardo workers finally acknowledged that the source of the reading was simply the mineral content of my soil in Ridgewood! The Lombardo workers actually had planned to celebrate afterwards in the expectation of finding a tank and landing a large removal contract so they were quite disappointed. I strongly suggest not using this company as a result of this experience which clearly shows their lack of expertise. Their incompetence caused both me and the seller unnecessary costs and delays in the closing. Its a case of the inspector simply attempting to get more work at the expense of...

Used Lombardo to remove oil tank from some tricky landscaping in front of house. Their excavator operator is world class. Not only did he smoothly manipulate a huge machine in a tight space (power lines, trees, shrubbery) he was able to save all the small trees landscaped in the area. The rest of the team was terrific and careful removing a decorative retaining wall and although not in the contract, helped me put it back together after the hole was refilled. Wonderful service.

This type of work is messy and your property is not going to be perfect afterwards. It’s construction after all, but a little sweeping and hosing away residual dirt did the trick. I thought the removal was going to be a disaster, but this team was a great bunch of workers. The office staff was also helpful helping me fit my deadlines the best they could. Keep in mind that they have to coordinate with your town for permitting and inspections so let them do their jobs which takes a few days. Helps is you stay involved and call your town building department once Lombardo submits the application - May speed things up.

Based on my experience, I would...