Hydro Physics Pipe Inspection

Chris performed camera inspection of my main line out to the city connection. He explained everything he was doing and showed me what he was looking at and looking for during the inspection. He sent me the camera footage later that evening as promised. Hopefully I'll not need to have this service performed again, but if I do, I would not hesitate to call Hydro Physics again.

Great! Made time for us to quickly have the test. Showed us the camera results immediately and emailed a copy.

Chris was very professional and helpful and also knowledgeable about what needed to be done next to fix our problem. They gave us an exact location of the problem, a video, and a report to pass on to our plumbing contractors.

Chris from Hydro Physics Pipe Inspection arrived on time, went right to work and showed me that indeed the bottom of my cast iron pipe had not dropped out as I'd been told, only flattened over time, but that the line did need a good cleaning to remove grease buildup and tree roots.

Knowledgeable staff, patient, take time to explain the process and follow up with detailed written report in a timely manner.

I did not hire HydroPhysics directly. They were sub-contracted out to me by InspectorNick.com. When I went out to the house for my standard home inspection, 15 minutes in advance, the sewer drain inspector, Chris Lang, was already there waiting for me. Once my realtor showed up to open the house Chris went straight to work inspecting the sewer drain while I went around the house with my standard home inspector. My realtor stayed to talk with Chris and he left without talking to me. He left my realtor a CD and his business card and that was it. I was disappointed that he did not come up to talk to me directly to explain the different conditions of the sewer.
When I got home I was able to watch the video and see all the obstructions/issues with the sewer drain but since he did not speak with me directly I really didn't know how to process it. Most of the information I had to get indirectly from talking with my realtor.
2 days later I received the sewer inspection report from InspectorNick.com with a description of the conditions although since it was prepared with InspectorNick.com stationary I'm not sure who actually filled out the information.
Overall I was given all of the useful information about the sewer drain condition through the video on the CD and the inspection report but I would have liked to talk to Chris directly to understand how the sewer drain works and to learn for myself what the difference between a major and minor issue might be.

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Went well. They did a good job.

Hydro Physics did our original sewer line inspection when we bought the house. Didn't deal with them much then, but they were quick and informative. I called them again recently as we found a drain under our basement stairs that we weren't aware of and had water coming out of it.
I figured that John would need to camera to see where it was going, but he knew right away the function of the drain and that it was simply clogged. He spent an hour unclogging two floor drains, replacing some parts, and the drains work great again. He even informed me of our existing clay drain tiles under our house that we had no idea about. They also provided a write-up that we could provide to a plumber for some work we may need to replace the drains, because I would completely forget the exact details of the setup.
Fantastic work, very prompt, honest, and knowledgeable. We have had 4 basement companies out recently for quotes, and John knew more than all of them combined.

John was punctual, professional and friendly. He answered all my questions.

I had a clogged main sewer line at a residential rental property that had already been cleared twice in less than 24 hours. The technician that opened the line recommended I have the line inspected with a camera because he was not able to get through to the main sewer, although the line would drain. The plumber I use for other repairs does not do sewer lines, so I called Rainbow Plumbing (based on Angie's List reviews) Dean of Rainbow (who also was very helpful even though I was a total stranger to him) recommended John Richmond, Hydro Physics, to do a camera inspection. John worked me in to his schedule and was able to do the inspection within a couple of hours from my initial call. John was prompt, professional and extremely helpful. He showed me what the problem was (dense roots about 3 feet from where my sewer line connects to the city sewer), made recommendations as to how to solve the problem, and provided me with a recording of his inspection. He also had me call Dean so he could personally explain his findings and his recommendation. He marked the location of the obstruction in the yard with a flag and paint. John does not do repair work, so he is totally impartial. We have had rental properties in Prairie Village for more than 30 years, so I have considerable knowledge of sewer line issues. John is now on my and quot;A Listand quot; of service providers and I recommend him without hesitation.

We hired Hydro physics to inspect our sewer line because our structural engineer (Bill Carter) believed that a broken sewer line under the house was causing the center of the house to heave upward.
John ran the camera through the main line and did not find a leak. He was not able to run the camera through a line from the kitchen as there was too much water in the line. He instructed us to have that line cleaned out and then he would come back to do that line. He did not charge us an additional amount to come back. On his second trip, he found the leak - so we were now able to get the problem fixed. He was very thorough and careful and answered all of our questions.

They did a good job.

A plumber recommended we hire a company to run a video camera through our basement drain to diagnose the location and type of problem. Hydro Physics was recommended so we called them. John Richmond from Hydro Physics met with our plumber on August 23 and the drain was inspected. By using the video, John Richmond was able to precisely locate the location of the problem. It turned out to be a cracked cast iron section of drain pipe that was also clogged by tree roots. The plumbers were then able to excavate the damaged pipe and replace it.
Using the video on the drain minimized the time the plumbers had to be here and therefore kept the price down. I would highly recommend the use of this technique.

I found Hydro Physics very easy to work with. We used them to inspect the exterior pipes of a house during a real estate transaction. Hydro Physics came out and ran a camera on a thin line through the pipes from the basement to sewer line at the rear end of the property. Everyone present could see how things were going by watching live feed from the camera as the inspection was occuring. The sewer line was more than 100 ft from the house, so the inspector had to go the opposite direction to view the last 20 ft of pipe, running the camera from the sewer line toward the house.
He found significant blockage due to root encroachment but no serious breaks or defects in the pipe itself. He recommended another provider to do the work to get the pipe cleaned up.
At the end of the process, I received a DVD of the inspection right there on site for my records. I was able to pay by credit card and a receipt and paid invoice were mailed to my home.
I would recommend Hydro Physics. I liked that they only do inspections so they have no motivation to recommend unnecessary services.

I asked John to come out and give me a second opinion on a sewer inspection. Another company told me that I need a very expensive fix on my 60 year old sewer line, but when I got a second opinion from John he found nothing alarming. I watched the camera live as he was going thru the sewer and he explained everything he saw along the way, which I found very helpful. With regular upkeep - I should be fine. I found John to very honest and will be using the vapor-rooter service that he offers regularly vs. the typical snaking process. From what I've read, it's safer on pipes and won't cause the roots to grow back stronger like snaking does. I highly recommend John to give you an honest opinion.

Mr. Richmond was on time, very professional, and willing to explain what he was seeing as the camera traversed the pipe. He also offered information on how to prevent roots entering the pipe in the future, without the traditional "roto rooter" scraping.

They repsond promptly to calls and show up when promised! I couldn't be more pleased.

Everything went great. John sent a camera down the basement drain to check for breaks in the line. He explained about the complications of my line (long, which I knew, and winding) and ways to correct the problems I was having (which the city may well do for me). He went out to the back yard to check how deep the pipe was buried and where it dropped lower (info I needed when I called the city). John supplied me with a tape of the drain afterwards. I was also concerned about why the sump pump wasn't working, and though that wasn't part of his work (or charge), he manipulated the pump and hooked up his hose to check it. It turned out to have a loose switch which he fixed. He also lent me his camera so I could take photos of some issues I was having with some other basement work, and he then sent the photos back for my use that night via email. I had been using another company to clean and check my drain, but I'll be switching to John -- I appreciate it when a technician who is there to assist you with problems you are having, not just do a job and leave.

They came out and basically saved me money and did more then he said and fixed everything and did a good evaluation on our drain. He knew what he was doing and I would recommend him.

John, who answered the phone and made the appointment, was very helpful, and willingly accommodated my work schedule for the appointment. Terry was extremely pleasant, polite and informative. He was generous with his time and knowledge.

He said it would be $250 and he only charged me $135. John was on time and just a sweetheart.

THE TECHNICIAN WAS VERY PROFESSIONAL AND LOCATED THE DRAINS EASILY. WE HAD THOUGHT THE LOCATION DIFFERENT AND WERE VERY GLAD TO KNOW WE HAD SOMEONE TELL US FOR SURE. WELL WORTH THE MONEY.

VERY HAPPY WITH THE SERVICE. ON TIME AND VERY PROFESSIONAL.