If I could give Tim a 10 star rating, I would. Tim was referred to me from a friend of a contractor. That is the only way that he gets business, word of mouth. I told him my situation. We had a mainline back up for 4 days. We could not even flush one toilet the first 2 days. We had a total of 5 plumbing companies come out before Tim. Each one, the estimate was larger and larger. They claimed we had an offset clay pipe. Another one was a crack in our cast-iron, leaving the house and under solid concrete. They quoted us thousands to cut concrete and dig up the pipe to put an outside clean-out on the line. We only had an inside 4in clean-out under our pantry shelves.
Finally, I had a referral to Tim Guzman and his family. I was extremely skeptical when Tim said he could use my 4in clean-out in the house. Both of the other companies would not agree to go through the house access. Tim encouraged me and was very nice on the phone and in person. I asked him many questions before he even started the job. His wife came to the job with him. She was gentle and kind and made me feel trusting and at ease.
I was afraid of damage to my home. He just kept saying, "There should not be any problems". He even came after he completed a job at night at 5:30. He was at our home for about 3 hours, taking time and with great patience, clearing the line of nearly all the roots, debris, grease and build-up. I could have jumped for joy when he told me that he saw no evidence of pipe offset or cracks in the cast-iron pipe. We have a normal sewage line now. I still can't believe it. He suggested yearly snaking and hydro-jet every 5 years to maintain the root growth. He did suggest having an outside clean-out installed, for ease of access, but no pressure and his hydro-jetting was significantly less than any of the big companies. He will be our go-to plumber for our future needs. He has earned a lifelong customer.
The background of our problem was as follows:
We were in despair, after days of estimates and trying to fix the problem on our own with my husband snaking both with a rented snake and manual one, before camera use. We also tried main-line cleaners. Nothing we did worked.
Our highest estimate to install a 2-way clean-out and hydro-jet the line was $5,600.00 dollars. If we wanted to sleeve the pipe 25 feet, it would have been $3000.00 more. Our heads were spinning from estimates and different stories. We had all the big companies out. One put a camera down and said we had roots and would need to install an outside 2-way clean-out, before they could clear the line. They had all the equipment to locate where the camera stopped due to the roots. The next big rooter company, started to clean our drain with an electric auger/snake, but stopped about 4 feet further than the first one and notified us that they could go no further. They said their snake seized and was stuck. They retracted the snake and put it back through with no bit on the end to "poke a hole in the root ball". They did and got their camera further than the first company. They charged me $366.00 to clean my drain. They did not finish the job, but announced that we would need to install an outside clean-out to complete the cleaning and hydro-jet the roots. Their estimate was a full $1000.00 higher than the last company. Not only that, but they claimed we had an offset of about 50% (meaning the pipe had shifted) in the clay pipe. This was 6ft deep according to them. Since we liked the first company better, we asked them to come back and verify what was said and look again, now that the line was clearer. They did and told us that there was no significant offset in the clay (around 10%) not needing repair, but a portion of our cast-iron (underneath our concrete porch) would need to be replaced. They said they saw a crack in it. Their estimate was the same, for either location to put a clean-out in. The bottom line, get as many estimates as it takes. Don't just agree to repairs, replacements, coating, etc. Do your homework even if it takes days. If Tim is in your service area, call him first. read more
