Overall, I was completley satified with his work and how he took the time to explain the problem to me in terms that I could understand. I felt better informed and did not felt like I was taken advatage of. He was very professional and knowledgeable about the problems in the area and was able to give me great advice if my drain line becomes clogged again! He was an Ace!
Description of Work: Our first floor plumbing lines where backed up and we couldn't use the kitchen sink or bathroom. I went on Angies list to look up plumbers in my area and found Whittmaier Plumbing literally a few blocks from my house, so I gave them a call. I was greeted on the phone by a friendly and caring worker, who told me that there was a technician in the area who could be at my house in an hour. She explained to me how they charge by the job, meaning for backed up drains they charge $175.00. I thought that was pretty fair, as other Plumbing companies had charged me $239.00 in the past. The women on the phone then told me that the technician would call me when he was on his way, and as promised, he did in an hours time! He was very friendly and seemed to be very knowledgeable. He asked me what the problem was and proceeded to take the drain cleaner off of his truck and place down into the drain cleanout by the outside curb. A few minutes later he asked me to turn on some of the faucets in the house, so that he could see if the clogg had been removed, so I did and went back outside to whether the problem was fixed. He then explained to me what the problem was, but It was the fist time I had ever heard this explanation! In the past I had been told by several different plumbers that the sewer lines in my basement were corroded inside and out and that there were burres inside of those pipes and toilet paper over time was clogging the drains. They wanted to cut out the corroded section the "Y', where the second floor pipe meets the first floor pipe, replace it with PVC and it was going to cost about $1800.00..Instead of paying all that money I just decided that we were going to watch what we threw down the drains more carefuly and hope for the best, to buy more time. Anyway, the Whittmaier plumbing technician proceeded to tell me that about 45 feet into my line he could feel a divit in our clay sewer line in the front yard and as soon as he hit that divit he heard water behind the clogg unmasked itself and free the clog. He did however continue running the drain machine down to the end of the line approx. 175, just to debunk the corroded pipe- burre theory and didn't find anything caught up in the pipes in that area. He explained to me that sometimes clay pipes break, especially if the ground underneath settles and creates a gully in the pipe where waste can lay and because I don't have great water pressure to help wash away the debri, that this was going to be a continous problem. I asked him how much it was going to cost to fix the problem and he told me very matter of factly that there was another component to the problem, which wasn't my problem! He said that in the town of Collingswood the main sewer lines were never dug deep enough, therefore even if I replace the broken line, he would never be able to get the proper depth and pitch on the sewer line to meet the main line out in the street. That the city was aware of the problem, but they are not going to redo all of the main sewer lines because of the cost. Instead, they bought a high powered drain cleaning truck, and from time to time or when someone complains they go and clean the main line that is causing the problem. My plumber then suggested to me, that the next time that this happens, I should call the Bourough and have someone look at the main line in front of my house, just to make sure their not causing the back up. Its free and they'll tell me right away if it's their problem or if I need to call a plumber! Needless to say, not only did I learn something new and didn't have to replace all kinds of pipes and spend thousands of dollars, but I was able to print out a 10% off coupon for the service call! I would definitly use Whittmaier again and recommend them highly to my family and friends!