cibula11

I called Roto Rooter and they came out and pulled a couple of wads of roots out of my main line. The second time it happened we heard the water draining. I was impressed. Fast forward to today and I noticed that we had water pooling again. Is there any chance that in two weeks or so there is another blockage of the same kind....roots?? I used root killer immediately after Roto Rooter left, but apparenlty it didn't work. Suggestions?? (Im obviously calling them back to come out for free this time)

cibula11

Thanks for the info. I'll call Roto back today, just because they guarantee 30 days, but who should I look for to come back should this keep occuring? Do I call a plumber or someone who cleans drains? I guess I am looking for a title to look for in the yellow pages.

Nestor_Kelebay

Cibula:

Certainly if Roto-Rooter will come back to finish the job free of charge, they're the obvious ones to call. But,...

...my best advice is to keep your old yellow pages phone directory every time you get new phone books for a few years. Any NEW ads for drain clearing plumbers that show up in the new directory (that weren't in last year's directory) are new companies started by people who are confident they've seen it all and learned it all working for someone else that they've taken the leap of faith and gone to the Bank of Dad to borrow the necessary funds to buy their own drain clearing equipment, and are now starting their own drain clearing business.

And, those guys ain't dumb either. They know that their former company was charging you twice what they were getting paid for each job, so they're counting on the fact that they can charge less and still make more than they did as an employee. And, of course, they're hoping that charging less than their former employer will keep them busy and their business growing.

Until you get next year's phone books, just phone around to the companies in the yellow pages who can't afford a full page ad or to advertise on the radio. You'll get just as good results for a lower cost from any of them. But, talk to several to make sure they're not charging as much as the Rooter anyway.

But, I've found that you get the best results from the youngest companies because the work is most often done by the owner of the company, and he knows that the success of his business depends on his doing the best work he can for each customer he gets at a competative price, and so you both benefit. His business grows and gains a good reputation, and you get a good job done at a good price. If you hire a well established company and even if they send their best employee, he knows that he's gonna get paid the same whether he does his regular work or the best job he can. So, what do you think he's gonna do? He simply doesn't have any motivation to do it the best way he can. Only the owner of the business is in that position provided the customer understands the differnce and is willing to pay for any extra time it takes.

And, what I do (which I think helps), is if a new company does a good job for me, I send them a card that they can pin up in their office somewhere (in a blindingly obvious place) saying what a great job they did and to use me as a reference for any other potential customers who may ask for references. That is, you help some young guy out with his business, and he'll reciprocate the favour cuz he'll remember you and help you out as far as he can. For the $3.50 it costs for a nice card and the postage to mail it, it's very cheap way to have a knowledgeable tradesman available you can turn to that you trust will give you honest advice.

Redwood

I have a friend that I just spoke with who works for RR.
I have a question regarding your guarantee...
30 day guarantee is usually reserved for multi family homes, or, properties that are rented out.
The only other reason for a 30 day guarantee is if the only access for snaking the line is through a pulled toilet.

I'm just checking to see if a tech might be pulling a fast one and give you a non-standard guarantee. I understand they are cracking down on those so if none of those exemptions are into play a complaint is in order...

Do any of these exceptions apply to you?

Seattle Drain Service

Most big national companies only give you a warranty if you also pay them to camera the line as well, but if the camera shows something bad then you still get no warranty
Anyway back to the original problem the roots, yes he pulled some out and yes he poked a hole in the blockage to get you draining at first but it needed to be really snaked well and remove all of the roots. A camera would be my choice to see what is really going on for the future. Once you start to have root intrusion it only gets worse the problem as arrived. As the other poster said find a owner of a small drain cleaning company as he will usually do the best job.

workoutbuddy78

Dear Cibula11:
Hi,
Did you resolve your problem?
I am having similar problem, and have rented and ran 40' of rooter snake, but the problem seems to come back.
My problem has to do with volume of water. It seems as long as I use limited amount there are no problems. However once the blockage happens the water does not drain for several minutes.
I actually see stuff start coming back into the tub.
Please comment to see what you have been successful with?
Thank you

glennjanie

Welcome WorkoutBuddy:
You may need to clean the drain again and add a cup of Water Softener Pellets (salt) each week to keep the roots killed out. It works for me.
Glenn

Redwood

workoutbuddy78,
It sounds like you may not have used a big enough cutter blade or, a long enough snake. Rental equipment is seldom either of those...

I would suggest getting a pro....
How long do you want to play for marginal results?
I really believe that a pro spends about a year on the road before they get really good at cleaning drains...

royalfreebird

Hi, we are experiencing the same issues with the sinks not draining when the washing machine drains as well as when the kitchen sinks drain, but we don't have any trees on the property. Any suggestions?

nealtw

If you are hooked to the city sewer system and you find roots in the pipes you need to have the pipe replaced. If you are on septic system when was it serviced last.
It sounds like your only a few gallons away from raw sewer overflowing the downstairs toilet.
You need some expert to clean and scope the whole system and make reccemendations.