Issue: After a tree removal, I started having issues with the plumbing. First the shower in the far bathroom overflowed (eventually drained) after the clothes washer drained its water. Then gurgling/blooping in a toilet between it and the bathroom and the same overflow in the shower. Then that toilet's water level started higher than usual and gradually sank to almost nothing after a flush. The water from it overflowed in the shower.
Estimates: I spent one hour on this because the tree guy claimed if it was a broken sewer line that he had patched it before and it was no trouble. Then he started backing out of it and gave me a plumber that couldn't even come out until four days later. I went to Google and searched for the top ten plumbers in CF. Then clicked on the Yelp result and wrote down a few of their names. I also had an ad from another outfit that I picked up some where and a few flyers I had stashed over the years. I Googled them. I started calling. A few were very helpful in discussing all the possibilities and plumbing in general. I knew nothing. Most wanted $450 to go in with a camera and then snake the drain. They said they had an attachment that could even bore through a root. I scheduled two for estimates because some thought they didn't have the staff (it might have been a whole re-routing issue at this point) or charged just to come out or were up first and I didn't like their cost at the time. I had a $176 ad at the time. I believed that to be a base line. This is the list and what they told me (the number before Yelp is how many reviews):
Drain Doctor: 352-272-7727. Umatilla. 17 Yelp 4.5*. Didn't have staff if big job. $250 camera. $220 clean line. If new main line = $2000-$4000. He spoke with me for a half hour. Nice guy. Tom.
Modern: 689-220-7356. Winter Springs. 95 Yelp 4.6*. Had to have tech come out to quote. He did. Around $450 to do camera and clean. Time limit. May drop price if no clean. Wouldn't guarantee success. Extra if problems (bend). Tried to take control of the relationship.
Teles: 689-285-5249. Orlando. 66 Yelp 4.8*. $250 camera and $220 clean line. Nice guy. Said he could patch a break. I was saving him if the others failed.
Emerald Plumbing: 407-898-3538. 1258 Google 4.8*. Everyone in my community uses them. I don't know why. Their quotes were dog shit. $180 just to come out and diagnose. $425 an hour to diagnose/camera.
Plumbing Today: 407-904-0949. A flyer. Any old discounts were not in effect. $89 to come out. No flat rate. Nothing done then. May break pipe.
Benjamin Franklin: 321-710-8247. 18 Google 4.9*. $176 drain cleaning special. Free service call/estimate.
I scheduled Modern and Benjamin Franklin. Both came. Texts for on the way and arrival. Modern was a bit too abrasive. See above. Franklin was a bit wishy washy. Immediately backed off the ad price. Went to the $425 neighborhood. Said the ad was just from the access hole to the street (ad states "includes camera inspection, drain clearing and locating the source of the problem". No limitations). I thought the problem was there, so, I didn't argue the point. He tried to upsell some $120 yearly package.
Service: I agreed to the Benjamin Franklin offer because he said he could do it right then and there (not just a quote call) and it was a roll of the dice and the down side was the same quote price I had been hearing. I could also call bullshit if the problem was inside the house and just lose $176. However, he didn't have the tool in the van to open the cap. It is an inny and most are outies. Said he would go to Home Depot. After a few hours, he called and asked if we could do it the next morning because they didn't have the tool. I agreed. He came the next day at 8am. Greased the cap. Had some issues with opening it. Told me I had to pay an extra $200 for a new cap (even before he had opened it). But, it would be the same price (lower) if he had to snake through the back of the house. I was expecting the bait and switch and concentrated on the possible drop from $425 to $380 because I still was unsure of the position of the clog/break. He eventually forced the cap to unscrew. No damage. The right side (from inside) of the pipe was full of water. This meant the clog was on the street side. He put a coil looking thing (attached to a machine) into the hole about seven feet in and water started flowing. He then put the camera in. At first he thought there was no pipe damage. Said he saw some green plastic. I'm still not sure if he meant that he saw it flow away or the piece that was lodged in the coil. Then he backed up the camera and found a break area. I showed him some green pipe the stump grinder pulled out. It was a match. He told me to flush the toilets and run the shower/bath a few times. I did that and checked the clothes washer too. No issues. Even the water level in the toilet returned to normal. He then pulled out a echo locator type tool to pin point the break. Said it usually cost extra. Called his boss to ok it. I think they were trying to justify the extra charge. I didn't really need it because I saw the length of coil that went in and could eye ball the area. I paid via cc on his tablet. They emailed an invoice. Said they would mail a paper one.
Conclusion: I learned so much. The morning before I tried to fix this, I called some friends and learned of these to access points I have outside my home. Different shapes and sizes it seems. Mine were a knob outside (main line side) on the wall and this circular cap on my front porch. My friends' were on the lawn. Learned the map of my plumbing. I did know where the shut offs are. Learned a bit more from the tech. If I have another clog, I'm fairly certain I can attend to it by sticking a hose or something down to the affected area. A patch may be a pain. Although I think there seemed to be enough left of the pipe and what is over it to make it a non-issue. I'll start digging around (literally) if it continues to clog. Good to know the tree grinding (that I didn't want to do but my HOA insisted on) was the cause and my internal piping is solid. It's amazing how little fluid goes through that big pipe. I don't know how dangly that shard of plastic could have been to cause a dam to clog it. Glad to know I didn't need a retro fit (or any guests had flushed things I didn't know about over the years). I have no crawl space. They would have had to re-route, I guess. I had some friends say you could rent a snake from Home Depot for $50 a day. Another said Amazon sells these cameras. Now I know where to put them if needed again. The internet said plumbers ask $45-$200 an hour. Even a drainage issue is around $400! God help you if it is something more.
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