I called 5 or 6 other rental companies and asked if they had a Sewer Jetter and they all said no. I decided to call Sunbelt Rentals in Orange in my last ditch effort to find a Sewer Jetter and I was super surprised and thrilled that yes in fact they had one. I found out why Sunbelt had the best possibility of having it. Unlike most of the other places I called, Sunbelt has a huge warehouse with thousands of pieces of equipment and a huge yard full of other equipment.
Of course everyone wanted to rent me a snake but in my experience, a snake (especially operated by a DIY homeowner) does nothing more than punch a hole in the clog offering a little and temporary relief without truly cleaning the entire clog out. And as a DIY homeowner I would never try to stick a snake with a blade of any kind down the clean outs because I've seen even experienced plumbers get those stuck in the drain pipes. So I wasn't willing to risk it. Do a search on YouTube for Sewer Jetting vs. Snake (or something like that) and you'll see.
In the end I went to Sunbelt to pick up the Jetter and all the guys were super cool and Jeremy the manager was almost going out of his way to make sure I had what I needed and was well taken care of.
I got it home and jetted my kitchen drain which was the main culprit and since I had the jetter went around the house and did every clean out for good measure and finished with the mainline.
For perspective, I've had plumbers that I really liked charge me $350 to come out and jet a single drain and others charge me $140-165 to snake a single drain. Extra drains were of course at an extra cost. The cost of the sewer jetter was less than either of those and I got the whole house squeaky clean in an afternoon.
BTW, I realize that there are those guys who come out and will clear any clog for $79 or something like that but EVERY SINGLE TIME I've had them out to clear a clog, they end up telling me some story about how a pipe is collapsed or some other major problem exists and it's going to cost between $2500 and $18,000 to fix. (Yes those were actual quotes). When I had a REAL Plumber check it out they showed me that it was just a lie. So don't fall for those guys BS.
I'm going to put this here in case someone finds this post looking for a Sewer Cleanout Jetter in Orange. There's a couple things you should know and it took me a little bit to figure out and if anything, Sunbelt should have a cheat sheet on this to give to homeowners when they rent the jetter. Pros probably already know this stuff.
1. If you rent the jetter, Electric Eel 1500 (the one I got), the pressure gauge should be reading at or below the 1,500 mark. Not realizing what it was for, I turned the pressure knob setting the pressure above 1,500psi and then it caused the machine not to work properly. You shouldn't need to change it. It's likely that the person before you had it set correctly so probably just leave it alone.
2. If you have to run an extension cord, be aware that the machine draws a lot of amps and if it's a cheap cord ( or multiple cords strung together) it will either cause the motor to run slow, stop altogether or pop a circuit. If you have to, try to run a single heavier gauge extension cord from an outlet that you know isn't powering any other devices while you're using it.
3. Hopefully this is obvious but if you don't deal with drain cleaning you might not think of it at first. WEAR GLOVES! Like it or not, there is nasty bacteria in your drains that can make you sick. Just wear gloves and as a courtesy to the next user, when reeling the hose back in, slide the hose through a wad of paper towels to remove a majority of any debris from the hose so it's not yucked up for the next person.
I couldn't be happier that I saved a ton on my plumbing issues and Sunbelt was there to the rescue. My new Go-To place for anything I rent. read more