Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Melody P.

I've been using Roto Rooter since I've own my apartment building since 1995.
They are always responsive in a timely manner.
Robert and Alfonso came today and got the job done with a nice clean up.

Thanks guys!

Maddy O.

Garrett was amazing. professional to the max!wonderful service. and attention to detail!

Brandy A.

They came within a few hours of me calling them. Keep in mind this was on a Saturday morning.

The tech got here a little earlier then stated (which I was grateful for). Explained worst case scenario what my estimate would be. Not long after identified the issue. Before fixing it he did again tell me the estimate for the new issue he identified. Also offered video footage for an additional charge. Overall pleased with my visit.

Steve H.

This company is dishonest. I was away and my wife called them about a clog. They quoted us at a fixed fee to clear it with an auger. Then they said they couldn't do it with that and needed to bring in the hydro jet and it would cost another $300. The total came out to be just under $900 to clear a drain. I wasn't around and my wife wanted to get it fixed before the weekend. So they clearly saw that they could take advantage of her. A fixed rate doesn't mean you can jack up the price just because you bring in another tool. And if you can't do the job with one tool you you shouldn't charge that fixed price. Stand by your work, Roto-Rooter!

Alex K.

The service technicians that came to look at our home were very friendly and professional, but I would strongly recommend against hiring them if possible. Their quotes and prices for services are significantly higher than what you will get elsewhere, and they will push you very hard to sign contracts with them before you have a chance to look around.

We had to replace our sewer lateral for our home, which they quoted us at nearly $40,000 to complete. We went with a local company that provided a quote at nearly 25% of their price.

We were in a bit of a bind with some water damage so their water mitigation team came out and to their credit very quickly contained the damage - but again their prices were significantly high and they were very vague on what services they can offer/how payment would work - their onsite technician could not provide answers to our questions and referred us back to someone in the office, who was not much more helpful. On top of that when they took down their containment area their tape tore a bunch of paint off the damaged room, which they did not point out to me - I had to discover it myself (after signing a ""I'm satisfied w/the service"" document).

You are better off looking locally for a plumbing services.

T W.

Quiz time:
Did you know that insurance will not pay for flooding, unless you have ""flood insurance?"" Bonus round: did you know that most people in a drought stricken state do not have ""flood insurance?""

Did you know that insurance companies consider ""flood"" any water coming from outside, unless it's through a hole in the roof?

Did you know insurance will not cover ""leaks""?

Did you know that insurance will not pay for the actual repair of the source of a leak? They will pay for the damage caused by water (unless it's due to flooding-- see above).

Did you know that insurance will not pay for mold damage?

I learned all these from Rhonda at RotoRooter Livermore.

Needless to say, I was nervous right after I signed all sorts of docs to work with them, and started reading these reviews. She had me get on the phone with one of her clients, an elderly woman in Oakland who was raved about her. Not your typical Yelper perhaps. Cautiously, we proceeded.

One job was a broken water line underneath a post-tensioned slab, in the kitchen area of a 20 yr old house. Post-tensioned? Means getting imaging to figure out where not to cut (lest you snap one of those steel cables and possibly behead yourself), drilling into fix, then patching it back. In the meantime, they also deployed dehumidifiers, fans, and moisture detectors to measure residual moisture. Insurance will want all this. Rotorooter handled all this: excavation, repair, and water restoration/remediation.

Another job was a leaking toilet tank that damaged walls, floor and the ceiling and floor underneath.

A third was the full bottom floor flooded because of fridge water supply line. I was literally surfing on the engineered wood floor. This was after Atmospheric River #3. #4? Lost count. I was convinced at first it was water coming in from outside. In which case, the insurance adjuster told me, we would be SOL. Rhonda comes in: the water is clear, no staining on the drywall, no evidence of flooding on the outside patio. She figured out the real cause. Was even able to speak Spanish with our handyman who may have inadvertently caused it. (Pro Tip: if you need a house to stay unoccupied for a length of time, do yourself a favor and shut off the main).

A fourth was a leak from a tub. I described it to her on the phone and she had a hypothesis in seconds, which proved right- almost. Her leak detection team came out and in 5 min. found a 2nd, much slower source of the leak.

If you have any kind of water damage, call her FIRST. Let her talk to insurance. Keep her on speed dial.

Alyssa G.

This company is a life saver! Our toilet was not working at all at our business and on a Friday no less. We needed a really quick solution that would not bankrupt us and Steven from Roto Rooter came through! Within just a short amount of time after calling, Steven came down right away and fixed our issue in a matter of minutes. Very reasonable price and so quick and efficient! Very happy to have called these guys before our customers, employees or the business suffered.

Thanks so much Steven!

S W.

Previous review reflected reality at the time customer service had not been provided.
Professional, courteous service and assurance about the work they did is now part of my RotoRooter experience.

Kaitlin T.

Livermore, CA location.
Dealing with them has been the worst experience of my life.
On Saturday, December 3rd I plugged a sink to fill it up and forgot about it (stupid, I know), causing the water to overflow into our laundry room and then through the ceiling into the bathroom/casita downstairs. I called Roto Rooter and they had someone come out to assess the damage. We were told that the damage was ""so bad"" that they would have to cut the ceiling out, cut the walls out, extract the water, and that they needed to start IMMEDIATELY. Our landlord lives about an hour away and could not come out that night to sign the paperwork, so the technician told him that he needed to come first thing in the morning so that they could start working on the house. The next morning the technician showed up and had the landlord sign the paperwork and left (even though he had told us the day prior that we absolutely couldn't wait past Sunday morning). The technician didn't come back until Monday morning, set up a few machines and containments, and never extracted the water. Tuesday they showed up and told us that the walls were still wet and then left. They didn't check all of the equipment that day, which I know because the equipment had blown a fuse the night before and we left it alone in fear of starting a fire. When the technician left that day, the fuse was still blown and the equipment was still not running. Wednesday the technician never showed. Thursday the technician told us that everything was dry and that they would not be cutting the walls or ceilings. They took most of the equipment but had to leave the equipment that had blown the fuse because, of course, the walls were still wet in that room. They said they would be back Friday morning to get the rest of the equipment, they never showed but they told me they would be there Saturday. They did not show on Saturday. Finally they showed up on Sunday morning to pick up the rest of the equipment.

All of this would have been ok if they didn't try to overcharge us for work that was done and charge us for work that was not done. Overall they spent 7 hours in our house from Monday-Sunday. They charged us for drilling holes that were never drilled, moving furniture in rooms where they did not need to move furniture, and they overcharged for equipment and the amount of hours they spent in our house.

The landlord received the estimate on 12/14. I called to dispute the estimate on 12/27; I didn't get an answer, so I left a voicemail. I never heard back from anyone so I then emailed Michelle, the listed estimator on our invoice, on 1/10 to tell her that I had questions about the estimate. She responded and cc'd Claudia and Britton, saying that they were the ones to talk to. So I called Britton. Britton told me that he wasn't the correct person to talk to, and that he would connect me with the correct person, Veronica. I never heard back from him. So then finally on 1/25 I reached out to Veronica on my own. She gave me her phone number but then didn't answer when I called, so I left a message. She said she would call me the morning of 1/26 and then never did. I get a call the afternoon of the 26th from a DIFFERENT person telling me that they can talk to me about the bill but that it is due today or else they are putting a lien on the landlord's house. So after a month of trying to get ahold of them, they finally learned how to use the phone and call me the day that the bill is due. Convenient. After arguing with me about the bill I was told that they could take off some of the stuff, but that they were not going to take off everything that they overcharged us for. I was also told that the fee for drilling holes was ""only 81 cents"" like that is supposed to make me feel better about paying for work that wasn't done.

Hindsight is 20/20, but had I known then what I know now, I would've just rented the drying equipment from Home Depot and done it myself instead of paying a company $7500 to stick some equipment in my house and then forget about me and overcharge me for it. Fucking crooks.

Diane A.

Avoid doing business with Roto-Rooter Excavation - Brisa St, Livermore

Camera footage may be deceiving if you are not used to looking at sewer lines. The technician helps interpret what you are seeing and may make you think it is worse than it really is. They can claim that they did not mislead you since you were looking at the camera picture.

We scheduled a pipe burst for our long sewer line at $54,000. The Central San Inspector inspected the preliminary work. He looked at the camera and then knocked on my door to tell me there was nothing wrong with my pipe that would require a pipe burst. He diagnosed the fix to replace a pipe section in one area and add a clean-out. The cost of that job is ~$10,000, which was never suggested as an alternative to pipe-bursting by Roto-Rooter.

When the Central San Inspector told me this, he gathered all the other crew members around to agree that there was nothing wrong with our pipes. The Roto-Rooter crew stood around looking sheepish and I felt taken advantage of. They looked like a bunch of kids who got caught in a lie. The Roto-Rooter field supervisor took off before the Central San Inspector talked to us. Before he left, he told the Central San Inspector, ""They know that there is nothing wrong with their pipes"". Well, most people would not pay $54,000 to fix pipes that have nothing wrong with them.

I got a second estimate from Roto-Rooter for $25,000 for the new work to replace the $54,000 estimate. During that time, I got another estimate from a more reputable company for $8,000 to finish the work which is less than $25,000. We decided to go with the other company, so Roto-Rooter is now charging us $9, 593.92 for their presence while the Central San Inspector diagnosed our problem. But even paying the $9,593.92 and going with the other company, the cost is less than continuing with Roto-Rooter.