THE UNDERGROUND DETECTIVE

It went beyond well! We received a CD to view the drain images, and a yummy pack of microwave popcorn!!

unknown

unknown

I originally had an appointment scheduled, but some issues came up that I needed a quicker response. I called in the evening and spoke with Rob. He and Justin came out the very next morning.they were able to quickly correct the issue, and located exactly where some roots had broken into a drainpipe. I was a satisfied with my experience. I will definitely call them again in the future, and refer them to other people.

unknown

I called and left a message to schedule an appointment at 7am on a weekday. I was pleased that Amy returned my call by around 8am and they were able to dispatch someone (Carl) immediately. Amy told Carl what I'd explained to her that I needed and Carl knew exactly what to do. Carl spent about an hour and half on site and he was everything one could hope for with an on site technician. He was knowledgeable, a good communicator, he was quick and did all of the work I was hoping to get done.

I have to say - for my first experience with Underground Detectives, I could not have done much better! I have previously had experiences with an individual plumber, another plumbing chain and Roto Rooter doing camera and tracing work and these folks were definitely the cream of the crop. Don't waste your time anywhere else - call these guys!

unknown

unknown

unknown

I called on a Tuesday and we scheduled for Thursday morning.  I received a call later on Tuesday informing me of a scheduling conflict which was easily resolved.  I was given a 2-hour window and am pleased to report that the work was done at the front end of the time frame.  The process went very well.  Jason explained everything as he went, beginning with the basement drain line which he quickly discovered was extremely clogged/trapped.  He suggested having a sump well installed and tied into the main line, but checked it before finalizing his recommendations.  He had to remove (by force) the cap to the main line and replaced it when finished.  He was thorough and explained the type of pipe in my yard, how it was put together and the reasons why and how the roots are penetrating it.  He also made suggestions about how to remedy the issues he saw:
1.  add sump well and tie into main line/tie off existing basement drain line
2.  clean out main line / use some sort of root killer to slow down the recurrence
3.  have clean out tap added in yard - he marked the yard showing where a good location would be
4.  the pipes themselves are in good shape - no collapses or breaks - but if the roots become an excessive problem, I can consider having the pipes replaced or even a lining put inside to protect them from root invasion
I called this company in the first place as they had done work for me several years ago in a previous home I owned.  I noticed you have upgraded since that time - we now get popcorn to go with our movie!

It went smoothly.  found the hole(s) fairly quickly.  it is an interesting process.  Can be helpful if you need detective work for plumbing issues.

Overall expereince was great. Glad to fix the problem and with the camera work it was easy to do.

Showed up twice since owner of home was late getting to the site at arranged time. Were able to visualize pipes under house but could not get camera around sharp turns in drain leading to street sewer.  Provided me with video of job and best estimate of pipes condition based on what they could see.  Did not charge anything since they were unable to scope the whole pipe to the street sewer.  Very professional and extremely accommodating.  Definitely would use again if need arises.

Great, great experience.  I emailed a request on their website late one evening (around 11pm) and got an email response within minutes (he said he's a night owl!).  I got scheduled quickly for just a couple days later (they could have come a day earlier, but I had a conflict), they called en route to confirm their arrival time, and arrived on time.  Super professional at every step of the process.  He viewed the pipe, made a DVD of what the camera filmed, and gave my pipe a clean bill of health.
I am so thrilled I found Underground Detective on Angie's List.  I was leery of having the same plumber come inspect it who originally did the work a few years ago.  I'm probably needlessly paranoid, but I thought they would have an incentive to tell me it was fine even if it wasn't -- to avoid having to do any kind of warranty (free) work.  And I was afraid a second plumber might tell me there was a problem -- even if there wasn't --  in order to sell me their services.  With Underground Detective, I got an independent, arm's length review from an expert who doesn't provide plumbing/repair services -- so they had no ulterior motive other than to provide great service and build a good reputation that might lead to word-of-mouth referrals. 
I will definitely hire them in addition to a traditional home inspector if we ever buy another house in the area.  Because they are an independent third party, I am confident I would learn the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the condition of the pipes before buying the house.  Thanks, Underground Detective!

I would recommend them to a friend.

They were fantastic!  It was amazing how clear the video was and how precisely they could mark the spots that roots were entering the sewer line.  They could mark the distance out and the depth of the pipe.  If you have backups with no obvious causes, then having the Underground Detective is well worth the investment.  Now I know I have root impingement in my sewer lines and can have them regularly augered out and treated.  Not sure if its kosher to mention names, but thank you Rob!!

They came when they said and answered all our questions.  They marked everything very well.  We would use them again.

The technician arrived on time for the appointment. After previewing the drainage and heating duct jobs, the tech recommended to start with the heating duct because after the drain pipe job, the camera would be wet and could make more of a mess in the house. Our basement is finished so you can't see anything about the duct-work, so the tech inserted the camera at the register end and we could view the whole path on a TV monitor.  Getting the camera to advance through the ducts was a somewhat time-consuming process of pushing and pulling a cable, but eventually I got to see everything I needed.  The tech's experience with working the cable was valuable here.  I was pleased with being able to view inside the ducts, but I was not impressed with the dry caked-on crust that was on the camera cable that was knocked off into my ducts. More work for me to need to follow up with my shop vac.
The drainage pipe job involved an exterior underground pipe which collected sump pump and gutter downspout water and directed it away from the house.  It was clogged because the sump pump or heavy rain would cause the underground pipe to overflow and spill all of the water around the foundation of the house.  This pipe was a straightforward use for the camera, but we didn't get a really clear view of the obstruction.  Since the pipe was clogged, there was still water in it, and the camera obviously cannot give a good picture when submerged in murky water. However, before being submerged, we could see tree roots in the pipe, and by pushing the camera into the blockage and activating the locator, the tech was able to tell me give me a 2ft section of where to find the clog - under a medium sized tree.  With the dry hot summer I wasn't  in a hurry to start digging, but this task has now moved to the top of my list, and the tech was maybe off by a foot - this accuracy was really appreciated when digging by hand!
So overall I was happy with the service and gave an A rating.  I gave a B for professionalism because I think they should clean up their camera equipment before jobs like duct inspections. Also, I was annoyed that they advertise that you can get a recording of the camera images on tape or DVD, but this feature was broken when they arrived.  For price, I gave a B rating as well because I thought $200 was a high price for an hour service call - they didn't do any repairs, and they don't offer any services that required them to have any specialized training or skills.  The service is in the camera equipment, and these cameras can be rented at a rental center.

Very thorough and confirmed suspected blockage from broken pipe collar and tree root intrusion. They were able to identify exact location and depth of problem area, greatly minimizing repair costs.

They were unable to find a leak underground.  They didn't charge me anything for the service because they could not locate the leak.  I was pleased with the fact that they were honest and did not charge me even though they did the work.

We realized we had a water pipe leak outside of our house.  I called The Underground Detectives and they were able to schedule an appointment for the next day.  Phil and Corey arrived on time and got right to work locating the leak.  I watched as they worked, asked a lot of questions so I could understand what they were doing, and they were very helpful answering.  They located the leak in 40 minutes.  There was a minimum of 1 hour for billing purposes so I used the extra 20 minutes and had them mark pipe locations in the back of the house since I was considering landscaping later this year.  They were able to complete everything in 1 hour and did a great job.

The sewer backed up in our basement. The plumber could only open the pipe partially and recommended that we get someone to put a camera through to see what the problem was. Underground Detective came two days later and put the camera through as far as they could and made a CD of the pipe and blockage for us. They were very helpful.

great. they were efficient which I appreciated as cost was by the hour. answered all my questions. It would be cool if they could make the maps, or offer.

I made a call on friday afternoon, and they were here on Monday. crew came 5 minutes before the appointment, and did their job right a way. they found the problem area very quickly, but it is expensive. they charge $200/hour, and even thought the scan is done in less than 15-20 minutes, its minimum of one hour charge made it $200.