Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

J. A.

We had a lot of water building up in our front yard and under our house, so we called Roto Rooter to get it looked at. I'm giving them 2 stars b/c of the promptness of them scheduling a technician to come out. I called at 7:45 am and by 8:45 am they had a technician come out (Vernon). Vernon checked a few things, closed a few valves, looked at the water meter, etc. He determined that it was a pipe under the crawl space of the house. I asked him if he was sure it wasn't the main water line or the sprinkler system and he said he was sure.

I asked for a quote and he said he would have to have someone else come out and find the leak under the house and then fix it. The total would be $7500!!! That seemed like a lot...but he said it was b/c someone has to crawl and work in a small area under the house.

Before we decided to start work, we decided to call a sprinkler system repair guy to come out and confirm that it wasn't the sprinkler (which it wasn't). Our sprinkler guy came out and he was able to find the leak within 10 minutes, and it was in the main water line (not in a pipe under the house like Vernon thought). He was able to figure this out by checking the valves and water meter. How he figured out it was the main water line and Vernon couldn't is beyond me (even though they both looked at the same valves and meter). So then we called another plumber to give us a quote on fixing the actual leak. Overall it ended up costing less than $1000 total for everything (leak detection and fixing it all).

Frankly, I'm disappointed that Vernon, the plumber, wasn't able to figure out that it was a leak in the main water line, while my sprinkler guy, who is not a plumber, was able to easily by checking the valves and water meter. I can understand that it might cost more to work under the house, but I would have been extremely mad if I had to pay all that money for someone to look under the house only for the guy to eventually find the leak outside and in an easily accessible area.

Amanda B.

I was a little torn on who to call to fix my kitchen sink problem. I chose Roto-Rooter because there website was very informative, especially compared to other sites I had visited. The lady I spoke to on the phone was very nice and very helpful. This was already a good impression. She told me someone will arrive at my house in about an hour, even better. It was about 10 minutes when the plumber showed up, again very impressed. Clyde (#979) was a very nice and funny gentleman. He shared with me a few pointers about maintaining our drains and pipes clean. Our kitchen sink would not drain water and would back up into both sinks. Clyde took care of the situation and was very professional and clean. He talked to me as a person (not just a woman) and he didn't mind that I asked questions.
I like companies like this. I feel good spending the money to a company that deserves it. I will definitely call them for any other issues plus I will definitely recommend this company to anyone. If we could make requests for specific technicians to come I would choose Clyde in a heartbeat.

Tuan N.

Had a busted water pipe in the backyard and the only way to keep it off is by turning off the water for the whole house. So we capped it off and scheduled a service with Roto-Rooter for the next day. They called me the next day informing me that a technician was available to come by for an estimate. From the time I hung up till the time the technician came, the time it took was less than 10 minutes. I was very impressed. The price to fix the pipe was reasonable. It would have cost me way more time and money if I were to do it myself. I will surely call them next time if I have another problem.

Cindy P.

I haven't written a review in a long time because work became extremely demanding, but since I had to stay home today due to the incompetence of one Roto Rooter plumber I thought, eh, might as well.

Our outside faucet was leaking steadily so we called Roto Rooter who sent Brian out after rescheduling to the next day when the 1st appointment was mixed. He charged us 12 dollars for the parts...and 225 dollars for 15 minutes of work. Even with travel time it couldn't be that much! Since we failed to get a clear quote before accepting the service I was okay to pay anyways.

Until he turned the water back on and water came out of the bricks and my bedroom floor. He then proceeded to tell me that there will be another charge of 560 dollars just for him to break out drywall and find the leak, and if he has to break more drywall it will be more money...at this point all I'm hearing is "we can bleed you dry, because you now have no water and we are going to start destroying your house and you can't do anything about it because we won't be responsible for not being able to fix the leak..."

I mean obviously he did something that caused a dripping faucet to become a major leak but instead of being a professional and taking responsibility or being reasonable about the cost he wants me to give a blank check? I sent told him to take back his 12 dollar part and leave, refusing to pay.

I called around and got recommended Anh Hau, a contractor. Who came out promptly, took a look and confirmed that the pvc pipe, which is "crispy" to begin with, was broken clean through from twisted, probably too much force being applied when the faucet was being replaced. He's seen it happen before on pvc pipes.

He gave me a quote, including parts and labors plus drywall replacement and paint, of about 600 dollars give or take 100. Brain from Roto Rooter didn't want to give ANY pricing, no ballpark estimates, nothing. Every time I asked him, "So, worst case scenario, how much?", he would say, "I can't say m'am, it could be anything..." That is an unacceptable answer from an established company!

So the lesson is always find a handyman, plumber, or any kind of contractor through some trusted source that has personal experience. I've read about 50 reviews on various plumbing services and it seems to be a really hit and miss service depending on who gets sent out to you if they even send someone.

Ending note, I HATE ROTO ROOTER, yes, I do blame the whole company for just 1 incident because they should be more careful about who they employ. I don't care if they have 10 other excellent honest employees, I got sent one who broke something and then wanted to charge me an excessive amount to fix it. If you want to gamble with your property or money then I guess they are okay but I'll have to say "NO THANKS" from now to eternity.

Edward P.

If I could put 0 stars I would. Our drains were backing up into our tub anytime we turned the water on so our plumbing was pretty much out of order. I called roto rooter in the evening and they told me they would be out between 8-10 the next morning. Later I recieved an email saying they would be out between 10-2, whatever not a big deal. So two rolls around and still no plumber. I called the company and they told me the plumber would be out as soon as he finishes his current job. So again not a huge deal, I am patient and understand sometimes things run longer than expected. By five I called again and they patched me to dispatch and he said someone will be out as soon as they can. I asked for a time estimate and he said I can't give you one. Seriously, you are freakin dispatch thats your job. I told hime we can't use our plumbing at all and he said " thats rough". So now I am angrily wating for this guy to show up. Nine oclock comes and still no plumber. My wife calls and the dispatch( who by the way is very rude and incompetent) and says can we schedule you for tommorow. What the hell our pipes are backed up, we have 3 kids and we waited all day and now you want us to do it again. He apologized and offered us a discount on the free estimate that they were going to give us. Wow thanks buddy a discount on free. I can't comment on there plumbers but the customer service and dispatchers are complete morons. I will never call another roto rooter again.

Holly T.

I was extremely happy with the service we just received from Roto Rooter.

We had an issue where our bathtub was taking forever to drain which was causing our toilet to not flush and leak. We had another plumbing company come out and tell us they could not clear the line because there was a huge break in it. They said it would cost thousands to fix. They charged us a service fee and left without actually fixing anything.

Our landlords called Roto Rooter to get a second opinion. The plumber dispatched, Carl, was extremely helpful and professional. He cleared the line within 30 minutes and said there was no large break anywhere in the line. I truly appreciated his honesty and the time he took to actually fix the problem we were having. We will definitely be calling Roto Rooter with any additional plumbing issues we have.

Kate C.

We have a drain that has been clogged and needed to be snaked. Prior to calling Roto Rooter we tried Draino to no avail. I was elated to see that the company offered evening service slots so I would not have to take off from work. We made sure to get home well before the 5:00-7:00 window. I was told we would receive a call that gave us a more specific time when I got the email confirmation. No such call came. At 6:00, we received a call from a technician who informed us that he had finished his last job late and would be on the way soon. At 7:30 we called Roto Rooter. We were routed to the national office in Baltimore who told us that we "had not received the previous call" and that "someone would be there within 2-2.5 hours" AKA 9:30-10:00 at night. We asked to speak to a supervisor, and got put on the phone with a man named Earl, still in Baltimore. Earl told us the best he could do would be to reschedule us to the SAME window the next night with NO GUARANTEE they would come in the actual window. We canceled the service and had John Moore out that night.

The only positive I can say is we received a call from two local managers who were both very apologetic and nice. They would do better if they stopped having calls routed to the atrocious people in Baltimore.

Moral of the story: The "service window of time" was not honored and we'd have been waiting until 10:00 to have these people come snake a drain - No Thanks!

Theresa G.

Very pleased with the service we received from Roto-Rooter. We had an emergency situation at our Houston home on a Saturday morning. We contacted them and we were quickly scheduled. Our plumber arrived as scheduled and was able to identify the problem and the issue was resolved without incidence. Not only was our plumber quick and professional but he was a delight and truly entertaining. We would recommend their service!

Lori C.

I had a great experience with Roto Rooter in Spring. Eric and Henry went above and beyond. They explained everything and were polite and helpful. They made sure we were completely satisfied. Used an online coupon. Definitely will use them again!

Kim-Anh P.

Had an issue with one of our tubs not getting hot water. Called Roto-Rooter to get an estimate. One of the biggest pros for this company is that they work nights and weekends. We were able to schedule to have someone come over on a Sunday morning since our weekdays are usually so hectic.

By the time they turned off the water, took apart the tub to assess the situation, told us what it would cost and if they wanted us to complete the service or not, we went ahead and let them finish up the work because it was a reasonable cost and a lot ior work if we tried doing it ourselves!

Would definitely call them again for any other plumbing issues.

They have different crews all over town so no matter where you are in Houston, they will dispatch someone to come to your place.