Drain Medics

I had this company out in late September of 2015 to cable the drains after a minor sewer back-up.  I thought they did a good job, but obviously not, because 3 months later I had a major sewer back-up with 4" of water all over my basement.  I had to spend money on a) a company to pump out the water, 2) cabling by Drain Medics, 3) a new water heater, and 4) a pressure regulator on the water line, which was required by the county after the water heater was installed.  I threw out 35 bags of belongings that were ruined by the flood.I then hired another company to run a camera from the standpipe in the basement outside through the sewer lateral line.  He discovered a 3 foot blockage of roots; even though some water was getting through, the problem was not solved.  I got a referral from a co-worker for a different drain cable company.  They brought out a 'Spartan' machine, and it took them 75 minutes to cut through all of the roots.  Last week I called Drain Medics and spoke to the office manager; I asked that the owner call me but he never has done so.  The office manager told me that they have a 30 day warranty, which is worthless in my opinion, as the new company I hired gave me a one year warranty. I am filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and going to Small Claims Court to recoup the $2000 in expenses that I have incurred.  NOTE:  this company is NOT a member of the Better Business Bureau.

Back story:

We bought the house 8 years ago and despite having a huge gumball tree in the front yard never needed to snake the drains until now.  So imagine the build up for a second...........  We've always had somewhat show drains.  I figured that was just part of the territory of having a home from the 1950s and a huge tree.  Well this week the drain was slower than usual and there was some overflow at the drain that our washing machine uses to drain into in the basement. I thought it'd be a grand idea to go buy some chemical to put down it to clear it.  Well the jug said that it could be used straight in the drain unlike the wimpy Drano brand.  Great! says I that's the drain that's backing up.  I buy the junk from Wal-Mart and bring it home Sunday night.  Ignoring all the warning labels (yes, yes, I know, don't ingest it, don't use it as a lotion or cologne, etc) I went about pouring the 32 ounces into the drain semi-slowly (slowly is so boring).  Black bubbles began to come up along with a horrible smell and smoke.  Wonderful! It's working.  I empty the bottle in the drain and carelessly threw the empty bottle away, ignoring again the warning label to place some kind of guard over the top of the drain in case of "eruption", yes they used that word.  I walk into our downstairs bathroom to wash my hands, because, you know, I want to be safe, and there's water on the floor, it smells like the drain I was just at.  In the shower there's more water and some floating black particles.  I check our sewer access point in the basement floor at the front of the house and there was water around it and floating debris in the top (this point had a cover).  The chemical had caused all downstairs sewer access points to bubble and possibly erupt (I wasn't there, if an eruption occurs and no one's there to see it was it an eruption or just a leak?).  About 1/2 hour later the bubbly black slush has moved down a bit in the drain but still no great improvement.  Trying to pour water into the drain didn't help so I admitted defeat and upon seeing a $75 price tag on the Service I got the wife to call Drain Medics.

The wife called drain medics at 7:50am Monday as she'd be home part of the day and I wouldn't. They arranged to come out at 3pm same day (they actually would have come earlier around 10:30am but the wife needed to sleep as she works overnights at the hospital).  From her account the guy came out and worked on the sewer access point on our front lawn.  We have 3 access points (1 front lawn, 1 back lawn, 1 in basement towards front of the house) as well as the 2 drains in the basement that go straight there (laundry room and shower).  From what she says he pulled out a bunch of toilet paper (a given, it was blocked, toilet paper won't go through easily) as well as a tons of tree roots.  My chemical wouldn't have done that.  It was quick and painless.  Now we're just waiting for the lingering smell left by a combination of the chemicals and sewer water to go away.

One important note is that they charge $5 to run a credit card, the wife had checks so it worked out well.  The plumber recommended turning on all the faucets and flushing the toilets once a month to put some pressure on whatever may be growing inside the pipe and hopefully keep them clear.

All-in-all $75 well spent, and $10 on a chemical that caused a reaction that would make any horror movie proud.

The service call went very well. The young man was professional and courteous. He was also very detailed in his work (quick and efficient). I will definitely use them again especially since they were cheaper than the first company we used a few months ago and did the job correctly.

The only area for improvement I have is he tracked mud through the house. Providing shoe covers for those doing service work inside the house would be appreciated.