Challenge Rooter

Don Y.

This is a long overdue review. Really sorry about that.

Challenge Rooter was recommended to us by a realtor friend. We used Challenge at two different locations last Fall and in early October. One job called for a new sewer lateral in San Leandro and the other was a sewer pipe repair in Berkeley.

Challenge took care of everything on the sewer lateral. The crew was on time and the actual work was completed as scheduled. The City inspector, however, was not very timely and it took weeks to get our final sign-off. Challenge's work was done to our complete satisfaction.

The much smaller repair job was done within a few hours. Challenge helped us with a sewer pipe offset; no problems since they excavated and replaced a two foot section of piping.

Both experiences with Challenge were great. We will use them in the future and we highly recommend them to anyone requiring plumbing services.

Douglas S.

Polite, thorough, efficient. They came out, gave me the options, gave me a plan and wound up saving me quite a lot of money compared to other ""rushed"" solutions. Rosa and office was great with scheduling and some hiccups on our end.

Jodi H.

Rosa saved the day!!!!!!!!! I found out I had to get some server lateral certificate while I was IN escrow.
CR Gabe me two quick quotes and I ended up needing the lesser quote. They were fast, honest and tremendously helpful!
Rosa even negotiated with the city of Oakland for me so that she could learn the new rules as well as help me!
She took my stress level from 100 to zero!

Thank you Rosa and CR!

Silvia H.

I want to give a shout out to Chebo (in the field) and Rosa (in the office) at Challenge Rooter. They came out yesterday to replace a piece of our sewer line that was almost completely blocked by roots. I called last week and was incredibly happy with how responsive everyone was; they came out right away (without charging me $150 to bring out a camera to look down the sewer line, which is what many companies do now) to give me an estimate and I was able to book an appointment within a week. I had contacted another company who was going to charge me over twice the amount that Challenge Rooter charged me! They even came up with a wonderful idea -- to add a cleanout where they were doing the work, since it's already 50 feet away from the house, to make future work easier. Could not be happier with the services!!!!

Sara S.

I had a blocked pipe in my kitchen and I called Challenge Rooter. Right away, Rosa was very kind and calm and offered to call the guys to see if they could help. I found out later that they are short-staffed because of COVID-19. They couldn't come that afternoon, but came first thing the next morning.

They were able to diagnose the problem, extract the snake that got stuck in the pipe the day before and test the drains to make sure the water was flowing properly. They were helpful, smart, kind and efficient and very expert at their profession. I would highly recommend them to anyone with a plumbing problem.

tanya j.

This is my first review on Yelp. I felt compelled to write as Challenge Rooter and their plumber, Jose Ramos, impressed me with his expertise and honesty. Challenger Rooter is fair, reasonable and competent and resolved my issue for under $200.00 when the other ""Rooter"" company pushed a $1200 hyrdrojetting and my other plumber/Rooter company charged $1,119.00 and did not resolve the issue. Be wary of these other Rooter companies offering you sewer lateral service and hydrojetting. Long story short, after I was ripped off my long-used plumber (now former) and the other ""rooter"" company - Challenge Rooter saved the day. Jose fixed my issue in about 40 minutes and charged me a fraction of what the other two companies did. Jose ran his camera, cleaned my lateral and ran the camera again to show the pipe was clear.

The two prior plumbers did not resolve the issue and offered expensive fixes. I cannot thank Jose and Challenge Rooter enough as I was really in a pickle due to COVID. I knew nothing but now I am a bit more educated and encourage folks to be careful with regard to these rooter companies with fancy advertising. Based on my experience, Challenge Rooter can be trusted. Read below for details of debacle before Challenge Rooter stepped in and saved me a couple thousand dollars. It may or may not be of interest. I share it because Challenge and Jose were the exact opposite.

Background Before Jose Helped Me:

My kitchen sink was backed up with dirty water (at first soil/dirt) when my washing machine drained. I called my (former) long-used plumber in Oakland/Montclair who has been a plumber over 20 years. He first charged me $495 to snake my kitchen sink and then ""fix"" the pipe under the sink he poked through while snaking. It was old and needed to be replaced. Fair enough. The issue came back in less than 20 hours when I was in the shower as now it was smelly water (gross, I know!). Then I flushed the toilet and it filled my sink with foul water. I had to clear out of my place for the Memorial Day Weekend and he ghosted me until Tuesday. I get it - long weekend. He lives about 1.5 away but I did not ask him to ruin his weekend. After the failed snake, his next recommendation was too ""dig around"" and try to find the pipes. He did not consider the sewer lateral lateral pipe and suggested I replace pipe. I suggested a camera scope but he said the sink is too small. He thought it was a broken or cracked pipe because I had a root blockage or broken pipe. He never asked to see the sewer lateral cleanup until I researched it. He came back after the long weekend and snaked the sewer lateral cleanup once I showed it to him. He used a 1 1/4 inch bit on at 3-4"" sewer lateral. He did not suggest that I call a company that specialized in this and has the right equipment. After he spent a couple hours, he said he went as far as he could and I should replace pipe and get a camera inspection and find the pipe as the problem wasn't fixed. I could now use the bathroom finally for a bit. Snake #2 was $360.00. He recommended a Rooter company to come out and run a camera.

This other Rooter Company came out with their upfront ""pricing package on his iPad"". Ran a video camera and then showed me there were roots and that I needed to ""get a hydrojetting"". The videocamera work cost $264.00 (no offer of snake work). I told him upfront the whole point was to show it to my plumber. At this point, I am in $1,119 .00 (with a partial 1"" partial snake about 20- 30 feet of a 100 foot run).

The camera showed some roots. This Mr. did not offer to snake it as it was a ""temporary fix"" for roots. I asked if he could snake with a larger 3"" cutter blade and he said, he couldn't as he did have a 3"" inch cutter. Mind you, he had a full van of equipment. He only recommended a hydrojet cleaning for $1,192.00. As it was expensive (also temporary), I asked how much would it got for me to replace the section with roots, he seemed disinterested and recommended the hyrojetting - otherwise I would have to break through concrete (that is steel pipe and has no roots). He thought maybe it would be $3,000 to $5,000. He left without making me a copy of the video. I realize this right away and went to his van and asked him to email the video. He didn't record it. I told him I needed it, and he said he couldn't record as he didn't have a removable drive. I advised that I did. He was nice enough about running it through again but he ran the camera through really fast. I asked for a bid for the hydrojetting and to replace pipe. He only sent the bid for $1,192 hyrojetting.

Jose came after these two. Ran his camera and stated he felt he could clear everything out with a 3"" inch cutter. It took him about 30 minutes and he ran the camera again to show he how everything was cleared and I had time to consider a more permanent replacement. It was all under $200 dollars. Great bid on replacement too.

Harp B.

I enjoyed working with them to have my 115ft long PSL replaced.

Bradley M.

Challenge Rooter was great to work with. They were responsive, professional, got the job done in the morning with EBMUD approving it in the afternoon. I would work with them again. Rosa was very communicative.

Lawrence L.

I called Challenge Rooter based on recommendations on Yelp and Next Door. After they did the job, I belatedly discovered their ""standard charge"" is $250 per hour, PLUS $175 for removal and reinstalling a toilet in order to snake out the 10 ft. backup. I find this hourly rate excessive and strongly suggest Yelp and ND users find more competitive hourly rates and fees for ""extras"". Live and Learn. Always get 2-3 ""quotes"" before you allow them on your property, or certainly before they do ANY work.

Timothy F.

Great service by all. Especially Rosa in the office. Highly recommend by my neighbors. On time clean and efficient. Thanks for the great job