METROPOLITAN SEWER SERVICE LLC

highly recommend this company. Very professional and friendly, though not the cheapest of 3 estimates. One estimate was higher, one lower. I went with the middle one, Metropolitan.

unknown

I had a great experience working with Parnell Downey at Metropolitan Sewer Service.  I recently bought a 1920s house in the Madrona area.   As part of my initial home inspection I had a sewer scope performed. The scope revealed several problem areas in the line - on my property and at the main sewer hook up that is shared with two neighbors.  I had Metropolitan bid the job based on the scope for both my own line repair and for the common problem and a neighbor had another company bid it as well.   Metropolitan's bid was $16,000 and the bid that my neighbor got was over $4,000 more.  We agreed to proceed with Metropolitan as a group.   When Metropolitan Sewer Service was doing the repair on my own line we were able to scope the line again and this time we were much closer to the mainline hook up and were able to get a good look at the problem.   Parnell thought that it appeared that the problem, a sewer offset was not ours to fix but was the responsibility of Seattle Public Utilities.  We submitted on line our new and improved scope to the City and the City of Seattle Public Utilities agreed that the problem is on their side.  This result has saved us all a small fortune and we have Parnell to thank for that.  He and his crew at Metropolitan were great communicators, they were thorough they were punctual, clean and responsible.  I will most definitely employ them in the future to maintain my sewer line and service any future problems. They did a fantastic job for me!

We had a terrible time with them. It was an awkward situation for us. He dealt with the plumbing company. We didn't feel we had any paperwork or any signing. It was a $5000 bill on our part. He did help us, except, we thought that they did not even hook us up to the main line. They just ran the pipe out of the kitchen and stuck it in the ground. We had sinkholes. We called back several times. They said they did it right. They didn't dig up the body to find out until we finally had our company go in and do it and find out what was wrong. When our company dug it up, they saw that the relatively new pipe was just stuck into an old broken clay pipe that proceeded to make sinkholes for about a year and a half. We did keep calling Metropolitan back and they kept filling the sinkholes until we were fed up with that and had our people dig up the body and find that it was completely a bogus situation. We didn't feel we had claim to go to court because we had no signed document or business contract. So, they're off our list. It cost $5000 the first time, and then, we had to do it over again. The turf they put down was really bad. For the house that was being sold, and for ours, they said they would have the surface back to where it was before. Well, it wasn't great before, but the sod they put down on both our house and the other house, didn't hold up at all. The neighbor watered theirs consistently. They had a automatic watering system put in there. It still did not take. They had to have theirs all dug up too. The front yard is still almost mud. We've had other projects and just haven't gotten to our front yards yet. For someone that was going to use this provider in future, I would say not to trust them. I have done that verbally to at least one person who was looking for a plumber. They took forever to finish it.

If you could call a sewer repair amazing, this one was amazing. Parnell quoted the best price around and I checked with 4 other Angie's list providers. He was so nice. He called to tell me that they had to push the job back one day, but this wasn't a problem for me and I was glad he called to let me know. He completed the work in 1 day, got the city inspection completed and sent me a copy of the report for my records. It never even occured to me ask for a copy of the city inspection--he just sent it! It was great.
I am so happy I went with them and if I ever need to do sewer work again I will call them.

unknown

unknown

Have used Parnell many times for jobs on my house.  Best prices easy to schedule and does great work will use again when other jobs arise

My problem was water leeching through my foundation into my basement after heavy rains. I went through almost two years of short lived "solutions" that didn't stick before realizing my old side sewer pipes were deteriorating and needed to be completely replaced. The need was greatest adjacent to my house but I elected to install new pipe all the way to the city main.
THE GOOD:  I was surprised with the variety of costs and solutions I was offered.  Metropolitan seemed to visualize the reality of the problem most accurately ? always the best place to begin - and propose the most efficient solution.  They also had the best price, though not by a large margin over the closest competitor.  The exact job specs were not exactly the same among any of the 4 bids I received; each was different and to a degree that surprised.  It was Metropolitan's combination of problem assessment, efficient solution and price that caused me to hire them.
THE BAD:  Metropolitan Sewer does suffer from a bit of "Contractors Disease" which means to me: Get in, get paid and get out as fast as possible.  The last 5% of the job may never get done.
My sidewalk was necessarily excavated and closed to foot traffic and Metropolitan has yet to come back to ?reopen? it for use.  I moved their ?sidewalk closed? signs and orange cones, etc. onto my grass where they still sit. The concrete forms around their sidewalk work are still in place.  It has now been two weeks as I write.
10/8/13: The "sidewalk closed" materials disappeared the day after I posted this review.  It is approaching 3 weeks since they were paid and I have yet to hear from Metropolitan about repairing the landscape border damage and am now taking more active steps to get them back.
I took a bucket and filled it with rocks and concrete chunks to get them out of the lawn so I could mow the grass I could reach.  A section of granite "bricks" and rubber border between my lawn and landscaping was removed in the excavation process.  The granite "bricks" and rubber border they cut out were thrown away and not replaced.  Parnell told me over the phone he ?would take care of all that? but it has been two weeks and no word.  The grass itself looks like a broken up grass profile of the Hunchback of Notre Dame ? after he jumped from the bell tower.
Jason and Parnell are the two owners, I believe.  I met Jason briefly on site once, where he first  eyeballed the job.  He later explained to me how I could upload existing video to YouTube where he could examine it.  The bid came by email after he examined my video. 
I?ve spoken to both of them by phone several times but never saw Jason again and have never seen  Parnell.  I don?t know if either came to the site again.
 
I?m not sure how much of what is discussed on the phone with either of them makes it into the brains of the guys who are actually doing the work.
 
However, I would hire them again but be slower to pay, only after EVERYTHING was done to my satisfaction.

It wet great.  Mr. Rooter had come the day before and couldn't even do the job and charged me.  They cleared the line and it was hard to clear.  They were cheerful, worked hard and were professional.

They were friendly and helpful right from the start.  They came out the next day, at exactly the time they said they would.  They spent a longer time than expected but the price remained the same, which was lower than other quotes I'd had.  They didn't mind a lot of questions and also helped with a separate problem with no additional charge.  They left our house cleaner than when they came.  I'd definitely use them again.

Metropolitan Sewer Service came out immediately and gave a bid on the job. During their inspection of what needed to be done, however, they determined that the cause of the crack was probably due to Seattle City Light driving a support rod for a utility pole too close to the line. They said that they would do the job and once they were able to confirm visually that it was due to SCL, they would coordinate with the city to come and inspect so that they would take financial responsibility. They dug it up, confirmed that it was due to the utility pole support rod, called the city and coordinated the relocation of the support wire so that they could make the repair. They made the repair - on time, on budget and gave us instruction on how to get reimbursed from the city.

I am very satisfied with the work done.

The plumber described what the camera was seeing as it went down the sewer line, with the twists and turns. Determined the piping was in good condition considering it's age. Found one small root, and suggested I have it done again in a year or so to see if the root has changed any. Certainly gave me peace of mind knowing the condition was good.

We have owned our house for about a year.  In the spring, we found our drains backing up, and so I called a competitor, who I told that we had found tree roots during our previous video inspection.  They ran a new video inspection of the sewer line (unnecessary?) and then ran a regular snake through.  They said that they couldn't get a cutting blade in without installing a cleanout, and the jet cleaner would probably rupture the sewer line.  The competitor recommended that we replace the entire sewer line, for a cost of anywhere from $10K to $20K, and charged about $600 for the service they performed.
This fall, we had the root problem again, and I was referred to Metropolitan Sewer Service.  I called at 10:00 AM, they showed up at about 12:05 PM (right when they said they would).  They removed the same toilet, sent a snake with a cutting blade down, and were done with everything in about 45 minutes.  They charged about $300 for the same service (better, even) provided by the competitor I used in the spring.  I also asked for a verbal quote for installing a cleanout and moving a floor drain, and both quotes were half of what the competitor told me.
I was very happy with Metropolitan Sewer Service's work, and I'll likely call them again to install that cleanout and floor drain.

All of the employees were polite, professional and answered my multiple questions. they were punctual, adhering to their verbalized schedule; provided frequent status updates; and were clear about necessary modifications. Their cost estimate, which they honored, was within the range of similar companies. My only frustration was the office staff did not return phone calls. the owner always returned phone calls within an acceptable timeframe. I highly recommend this company and will use them for future plumbing needs.

We received proposals from several contractors to make the necessary repairs to our sewer line.  Metropolitan not only had the most reasonable price but also provided a straight forward repair solution.  Parnell was on site within hours of requesting a proposal and had it in our hands the same day.  He explained the condition of our 1926 era sewer and provided an honest assesment. His crew showed up on schedule and  did an excellent job.  They were working on an easement on our neighbors property and left the yard in excellent condition.  The job was permited with the city of Seattle and the inspector approved of their work as soon as he arrived. 

Metropolitan is highly recommended.

They also came in $2,000 cheaper than what Roto-Rooter had quoted. They were very professional, friendly, and I really felt like they were not trying to take advantage of me. They were very realistic too.

I have been pleased with their work. I was not quite as happy with their latest estimate. They should have done a video cam to see what the project would actually entail before giving me a price. However, the work they have done has been good. Their prices were very comparable?they were less than some, and worked with me on the prices. I would consider using them in the future.

They did a suberb job. They know what they are doing. The city signed off on it and they returned my neighbor's back yard in a better condition than when they started. In fact my neighbor thanked me for weeding her flower beds. I don't know how they can do it but you could hardly tell that they were there (you could just see the seems of the returned sod). All works well in the house. No more problems. My only complaint, and it is minor, is that they could have had a little bit better communication. No big deal. Nice people.

During the purchase process for our house, in June '09, we ordered a sewer inspection, which found two things: 1) our sewer line was lined with epoxy perma-liner for the first appr. 60' from the house, and 2) there was a serious root infiltration IMMEDIATELY after the end of the epoxy-lined section. Within a month of moving in, our sewer backed up! We called the company that had installed the epoxy liner to solve our problem. We were shocked and unsatisfied with the quote we received from this company to alleviate the back-up - it included replacing the entire remainder of the line with little rationale for doing so, so we called Metropolitan for a second opinion. Metropolitan was very responsive, coming out nearly immediately to examine our problem. They provided a much more reasonable solution, quoting us less than 1/6 of the first company's quote! Their work team was polite and very helpful, answering my barrage of questions about their proposed work, other alternatives for solving the problem, and pros and cons for each alternative. Their proposed solution involved a substantial trench in our front yard, but no work required in the sidewalk or street (which would have entailed a lot more expense in permits & street restoration). It solved the immediate root problem and gave us access through a clean-out to the rest of the sewer line (which is concrete, and in a fairly eroded state but not in need of immediate work). They dug a trench and replaced the length of pipe containing the root infiltration within a few hours. I was impressed with their speed. The work was inspected by the City and they filled the trench the next day. One of them came out two weeks later to scope the line as a final inspection. He showed me the eroded sections of the pipe's remainder through the scope, and gave recommendations for ongoing maintenance. While the work team was a pleasure to deal with, there was some miscommunication between them and the office regarding some of the particulars of the job. Nothing major, but a slight inconvenience for me to have to clarify the job at hand. Additionally, my primary contact at the office was often in quite a rush and was less helpful than the work team. Overall, I was very pleased with Metropolitan's willingness to work with me to find the best solution for my situation and budget, and I was pleased with the work performed.

We had a side sewer inspection done by a separate company before buying our house. The inspection showed a failure in the line in our front yard and a lot of debris from there out to the main. We had several estimates done for repairs, and Metropolitan was by far the least expensive. They also seemed to know what they were talking about (my experience with the previous inspection gave me some points of reference). Parnell did not try to upsell us as some others did. His team was able to start work right away, and while it took longer than expected, I was satisfied that the work was done well. They had to excavate a 10ft+ hole right on our property line and were very careful not to disturb the nearby bushes or our neighbor's sidewalk. They replaced 8 ft of pipe and jetted the rest of the line. They did a video inspection after so I could see the results. They handled the necessary permit and inspection. They did a great job of cleaning up afterwards. Overall they were very professional and reliable.

I got five estimates and Parnell gave me the lowest number. I told him I like low numbers, but was he forgetting something? I even told him what the other contractors were bidding. He stood by his number and we got the work done right away. His crew worked hard, fast, and clean. They did a great job and they dig like fiends. The city inspector liked their work and obviously thinks highly of Metropolitan Sewer, a real plus when you need to get things approved by Seattle.

They excavated 18 ft in our backyard for a sewer repair. Many contractors gave complicated plans for this sewer repair and Parnell's was the most direct and one of the least expensive bids. They did minimal damage to the yard for that size of a hole and found the break and fixed it promptly. They even installed an extra cleanout which required another locate and excavation of 4 ft. Months later when the ground had settled they came out twice to cover with topsoil and overseed.

Due to obstructions, they had to hand dig a 8 foot deep hole in order to access the sewer line. They did not damage the retaining wall and left the landscaping in good order when finished. They promptly responded to my request to change the sewer clean out from below grade to above grade at no extra charge.