Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

They are a good company. I would definitely recommend them.

They were the most honest about what they wanted to do and they gave us a six-month warranty on their work. None of the other companies offered that. They were really good about that. They came on Christmas day and they didn't charge extra for holidays. They charge one flat rate. Most companies have to go down three or four times with a six-inch blade. We checked other companies for pricing. Being it was Christmas day, they were a little slow coming out, but I understood that. They were professional. I hope that I don't have to use them again, but I would if I needed to.

We started seeing occasional water coming from our lowest drain opening in basement. I called Roto-Rooters immediately, because I was using their service before and they are very quick to respond. I am not going to use their services again, because they are very-very expensive. Obviously, with drain backing up, I do need quick service. But $360 for rodding sewage line - that's rip off. Moreover, the problem was not diagnosed then. I had to spent more money (~$140) on camera person from the same company, who came the following day. Their excavation estimate was thousand dollars more than Reliance's and $1900 more than ExStink's.

We had slow drain in the building, and called Roto Router to investigate, and give us estimate what needs to be done. They said that we need to replace the pipeline because our pipes were infested with tree roots. The estimate was $16,000 for the line replacement and for tearing down and replacing a section of the sidewalk. $16K!! They also took a videotape of our sewer pipes, and for some reason we were unable to view the video. The guy was pushy, and said that if we don't replace the line our whole building can flood any time. Our condo board was very concerned, and we called several other contractors to investigate the issue. Another contractor took a video of our plumbing, and it turned out that we had several roots in our pipes, which they routed for $1,000. This was 5 years ago, and our sewer pipes are still going strong.

I was not pleased. They broke off one of their tips inside my sewer line and also they said I needed a whole new sewage system. After talking with other people, I found out that it wasn't necessary. At any rate, I would not use them again.

They did a good job but they were a bit overpriced.

They were pretty responsive. I think there rates were a little high but since they were a so responsive, I guess I can't complain. They did good work and I would hire them again.

My experience with them was very good. The man showed up and was very clean, he put plastic down to come into the house. He explained to me what was being done. He was very professional and I was very pleased.

They came out and did an excellent job. They are very expensive, however they do excellent work. I felt that I paid for the quality of the work. There have been three plumbers from Roto-Rooter out to my home. They have all been very polite, knowledgeable, and they always clean up after they are finished with a job. I feel that they have a very good scheduling system in the office. When I schedule the appointments they give me a two hour window and when they finish with the job just before mine they call and give me an estimate of when they will be out. I highly recommend Roto-Rooter.

Dispatcher was very helpful... talked to him for a few minutes to learn how their company works (they don't sub-contract; all their plumbers are Roto Rooter employed). Told me that they charge by the job so it doesn't matter whether they come in Friday night or Wednesday next week. He said the guy will come in and give an estimate but you are free to walk away if you don't want to use them. Of course, their strategy is that once he's in there, you're going to have him do the work. Not saying that's bad, just saying that's how it seems to work. Anyway, I made the appointment for 8p (it was 6p when I called in). At about 7:30 I got another call from another dispatcher to confirm that I was home. Plumber showed up at or around 8p. Put slippers on before entering my condo, listened as I explained the dilemma, then told me what he thought was the problem. He explained his solution and warned that there is no guarantee that this would work, but that 95 percent of the time the augering is all it takes. We gave him the green light and he got to work at once. Very fast but very throrough and friendly. Explained everything along the way and very polite the whole time. Tested the system when he was done and waited with us to make sure there were no leaks, back ups, etc. before he left. So, not the best way to spend $300 on a Friday night but definitely a good operation if you need someone on the quick. He spent about an 1.25 hours on the project and left us a half gallon of extra treatment for future use. So, $300 is a lot for someone to snake a drain, I suppose, but whatcha gonna do on a Friday night, you know?

Please note: The Merrillville number works (although I used the Hammond number), but the actual branch I worked with was in Thornton, Illinois reached via 708-333-2976. Not sure of the current status of the Northwest Indiana branches. There may have been some consolidation and restructuring, which may explain the long delay with the hydrojetting. Toilet overflowed on evening of June 23, 2009. Plunger didn't work. Called local plumber that night. Next morning, plumber examined toilet, rodded it, checked the basement, especially noticed the puddle near the basement cleanout, and declared this a sewer problem. I called Roto Rooter on a friend's recommendation. Prompt response. First worker determined a second worker was needed to haul the rodder down my precarious basement stairs. Initial contract pricing was worked out involving 2 people. Both workers were professional, although one tracked excrement on my rug before I directed him to use the back door. After rodding and removing roots, with no sewer flow restored, they called a supervisor with a camera. Supervisor's expertise and professionalism were excellent. He made sure I observed each step of the process. Camera reached a dead end in the sewer and supervisor explained this was probably caused by a line off set in addition to root/branch infestation. Using a detector outside, he identified where the camera stopped. He then explained each subsequent step that would happen the next day, wrote up a contract, included generous discounts based on some price negotiation on my part, and again, displayed a professional manner very helpful in an otherwise traumatic and frighteningly expensive situation. He also explained that my presence was not necessary the next day (I had no vacation time left), but house access was. Neighbors volunteered to spot check. Next day, June 25, after the city marked all the gas, water, and electric lines, the workers and backhoe arrived, and the line was repaired, re-rodded and re-cameraed as specified in the contract. I returned home to a dry basement, no leaks in the basement clean-out, a heap of dirt in the front yard (expected), a new outdoor cleanout, and full sewer access restored. Hydrojetting was scheduled the next day or Saturday (June 26-27). No hydrojetters arrived either day. From June 29-Aug. 7, I called the supervisor at his direct number once or twice a week. He relayed all my messages, but as the hydrojetters were not directly under him, his attempts to get the service scheduled failed each time. Every time I was promised a call-back, it never happened. It appears the local restructuring may have been partially responsible for the long delay and lack of response. I may have also been inadvertently logged in somewhere as "completed" when I actually wasn't. Finally on Aug. 11, during business hours, I called the South branch 708 number. They knew about my situation, apologised profusely, and said they would schedule me for that day if possible. A call came that afternoon scheduling a hydrojet. I was told someone needed to be present, which contradicted what the supervisor had been telling me each time I asked him during the previous month. I made an emergency call to the neighbors to send someone to my house. During this call, I received a new voice mail explaining that service had been rescheduled for the next morning. I called back, somewhat flustered, accidently (as I learned later) misread the name of the contact person, was rerouted to a department I still "know not where" and was told "there was no person here by that name." Now very flustered, I yelled "forget it!" and hung up. An hour later, calmed down, I listened to the voice mail again, got the contact name correct, called again, and finally confirmed that hydrojetting was scheduled next morning near 8:00am. Next morning, Aug. 12, 50 days after my initial call to Roto Rooter, the hydro jetter arrived and did the final clean out of the sewer. Hydrojetting was successful and no house access was necessary. My sewer was given a clean bill of health. Hydrojetter was apologetic for the long delay and was professional in his manner. So, overall, it was a mixed experience: 90% went well, with the last 10% turning into a long headache. Probably all that's best and worst about dealing with a national company.

They came right away, which I was really pleased with. I was very happy with the whole expereince. I would use them again.

This was the second time that I had used them and both times it turned out very well, they were very professional.

They were very efficient. I thought their pricing was fair. If needed, we would probably hire them again.

As you can see, I am thrilled with the service I received on an emergency basis.

They were very intersted in doing more work. The tried to frighten me into doing more work. They said the problem was worse than it was. He gave me an estimate for three thousand dollars worth of work. They kept calling and telling me it needed to be done. I had another guy come out and he said it wasn't that serious.

Our garbage disposal stopped working, so we called to have Roto-Rooter come out and take a look. We were told someone would be here within the hour and sure enough, within the hour a service technician was at our door. He told us what the cost would be if there was a clog and what it would cost to install a brand new garbage disposal. We decided to go ahead and have a new disposal installed. The technician was great. He replaced the disposal and gave us instructions on the new unit after he was finished. He was prompt, efficient, and courteous. He also wore booties over his shoes, which was nice. Overall, we had a great experience with Roto-Rooter.

Since this was an emergency the price was higher. They were responsive to my call and were here in an hour. They knew what to do and how take care of the problem.

Was told by another company that we would need to have all sewer lines in basement replaced to solve problem. Called Roto-Rooter for 2nd opinion and they had the clog cleared in about 20 minutes.

I have been trying to find someone to look at my hot water heater (I'm having trouble with the pilot light.) I called Roto Rooter at AM and they were able to schedule someone to come to my house at 5 -which was a good thing. However when they arrived, they proceeded to pull out a rate book and gave me some prices on a new water heater starter. When I asked if that was going to fix my problem, the guy said he wasn't sure and he'd have to check to see if the chimney was venting properly...but it was going to cost $189 for them to even look at the chimney. I called my husband to find out if he wanted them to start the work and while I was on the phone with them the guy said, "call us if you want to schedule the work" and proceeded to walk out the door. Apparently they didn't want my business.

The guy that came out did a good job. He was there fairly quickly and took care of the problem.

I had a backup, I called him on Thursday and they came out Friday. He couldn't get his machine running. He said he'd have to order new parts. I didn't understand why he couldn't get a new machine from the company because I needed service. I called the company and they said that the individual was responsible and couldn't help. It was the following Monday when they finally came. They did a great job once they came, they had to dig a lot. I didn't agree with the price, it seemed way too much for this kind of service. I didn't get any special help when their machine broke down and my house was backed up, or any sort of senior discount. They left plastic gloves all over the place and I had to clean up after them.

On a Saturday morning, the toilet on our main floor started to gurgle and even bubbled laundry soap. We called two other plumbers/sewer companies who came out and stated that they couldn't do anything for us because our sewer line didn't have an accessible clean out station - they thought things would be okay until we could get a company that could install a clean out station early in the week. That night we got a huge storm and the sewer backed up through that toilet. We called Roto Router on Sunday morning and Julian came out. Instead of giving up, he thought creatively about how to access the clogged sewer line and ended up rodding out the sewer line by removing the toilet and access the sewer pipe to temporarily provided us some security until a clean out station could be installed. He then set up the appointment for a week later and two other guys came out to install the clean out station. Julian then returned to perform the final rod out with a larger blade to clean up the last remaining tree roots that had caused our problem in the first place. While they aren't as clean and tidy as some other plumbers and didn't bring all their materials with them (for example they didn't bring their own buckets, paper towels and towels like some other plumbers do), I thought they did a great job.

He had to saw the faucet off and did so without damaging any part of my sink and left things neat enough for me to continue with putting in my new faucet (I did that on my own).

I call them and they come out pretty fast. Everyone that has come out has been very friendly and very good. I would recommend this company. I would also use this company again in the future.