This is a top secret tip for removing grease from your kitchen drain line. This technique only works if the line is currently draining. Heat up two LARGE sauce pots of water, very hot but not boiling and then pour them both down the kitchen drain one after the other. The large volume of hot water will melt the grease. It works very well. Do this every few months. The other thing is do not use your garbage disposal as a trash can. Throw everything away in the trash and wipe out the pots and pans with a paper towel and throw the paper towel away in the trash as well. Now you can wash your dishes.
Top Secret Kitchen Grease Removal
Mark
Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning
Showing posts with label grease. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grease. Show all posts
Monday, July 9, 2018
Monday, July 2, 2018
I got one of those calls I just love.
Property manager calls us out today, Sunday 10 am. Mainline sewer for a house. Not excited about working Sunday but you know what they say, "make hay while the sun shines." So 2 plumbers have been out there before us and they couldn't get it. Over 100 feet out from the front yard c/o and neither one of them could reach it.
Ok, so I have 600 feet of hose on the hydro jetter so I'm confident I'm going to reach. So when I get there, I get the rest of the story. It seems the line backed up a month ago and another plumber was able to get it open then but the manager didn't know how far out he was when he opened the line. But the mere fact that it was just cabled a month ago tells me it's roots and there back. Prior plumber probably did a mediocre job last time so it didn't take long for it to back up again. I know the problem is over 100 feet out. So I jet with the big hose and big trailer mounted jetter and I could feel it chew through a few spots but then I hit the "spot". I parked on it with the standard nozzle for a very long time, easlily 5 to 7 minutes without any results or movement at all, line burped a bit but it would not clear. Ran it at almost full pressure just under 4,000 psi.
Made the change to the warthog spinner nozzle, the ws for 1/2" hose. quickly ran back out to the stop point and parked on it just a couple inches back and let the nozzle do it's thing. About a minute goes by and I can see slight progress as the hose inches slowly in. 5 minutes later and we had chewed through about 6 feet of blockage and after that we immediately dropped into the city main in the street. You could clearly hear the line drain out and we could hear the echo of the nozzle as it went out into the city connection. We pulled back and jetted that spot about 4 times slowly going back through and into the city connection. Bad news was that the problem spot is in the street. He didn't want to run a camera just yet, trying to get a home warranty company to ok that first., but I told him, the blockage is in the street. not a good thing you need to diagnose it properly.
Just the same he was really happy. We cleared it when the other guys could not. We love that.
Mind you just the same it was definitely a difficult blockage. Even with our big machine, it was slow going. But it's nice to make the customer happy. He said, no messing around any more, give me your card and I'll call you first. Nice.
Mark Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning
Make sure to check out our 2 new youtube ads. I promise it's entertaining.
The Russian Grease Conspiracy
Attack of the Sewer Roots
Ok, so I have 600 feet of hose on the hydro jetter so I'm confident I'm going to reach. So when I get there, I get the rest of the story. It seems the line backed up a month ago and another plumber was able to get it open then but the manager didn't know how far out he was when he opened the line. But the mere fact that it was just cabled a month ago tells me it's roots and there back. Prior plumber probably did a mediocre job last time so it didn't take long for it to back up again. I know the problem is over 100 feet out. So I jet with the big hose and big trailer mounted jetter and I could feel it chew through a few spots but then I hit the "spot". I parked on it with the standard nozzle for a very long time, easlily 5 to 7 minutes without any results or movement at all, line burped a bit but it would not clear. Ran it at almost full pressure just under 4,000 psi.
Made the change to the warthog spinner nozzle, the ws for 1/2" hose. quickly ran back out to the stop point and parked on it just a couple inches back and let the nozzle do it's thing. About a minute goes by and I can see slight progress as the hose inches slowly in. 5 minutes later and we had chewed through about 6 feet of blockage and after that we immediately dropped into the city main in the street. You could clearly hear the line drain out and we could hear the echo of the nozzle as it went out into the city connection. We pulled back and jetted that spot about 4 times slowly going back through and into the city connection. Bad news was that the problem spot is in the street. He didn't want to run a camera just yet, trying to get a home warranty company to ok that first., but I told him, the blockage is in the street. not a good thing you need to diagnose it properly.
Just the same he was really happy. We cleared it when the other guys could not. We love that.
Mind you just the same it was definitely a difficult blockage. Even with our big machine, it was slow going. But it's nice to make the customer happy. He said, no messing around any more, give me your card and I'll call you first. Nice.
Mark Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning
Make sure to check out our 2 new youtube ads. I promise it's entertaining.
The Russian Grease Conspiracy
Attack of the Sewer Roots
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Sewer Gas Smoke Test Saves the Day for Restaurant
We were called out to a family pizza restaurant in Orange County Ca by the owner of the restaurant. They had been suffering from sewer gas issues for years and they were losing business and customers because of it. They had been working with the landlord who had been very helpful and supportive in the effort to solve the problem. The landlord had multiple plumbers over the years each take a crack at it. Some performing smoke tests, some just recommending certain repairs. Each one declaring the problem was fixed only to later find out that the problem persisted. The landlord even hired a "night watchman" to sit in the property overnight for a period of months to verify if indeed the smell was still present. He did indeed verify just that.
They even had someone come out from some official air quality management agency to take air samples. Which is funny because typically sewer gas issues are something that comes and goes. It's not going to be there all the time. There are many variables that will affect whether the smell is present at any one point in time. So the odds are against you of doing any sort of a one time test and verifying the presence of sewer gas.
I'll give you a for instance. We had an architect who's office complained of sewer gas only at certain times of the year. Without a doubt, it would go away for months at a time and then all of a sudden it was back with a vengence. Finally the city was threatening to red tag the building so we were called in and we performed a smoke test. We located a cast iron sewer stack behind a toilet hidden in a wall that was split wide open for about 4 feet or more. Well it was obvious that the hole in the pipe had been like that for years but still the smell would go away for months at a time. The access point for the sewer gas was always there yet the gas was not always present. That is quite common and has a lot to do with prevailing wind, doors and windows left open and so on.
Back to Orange County, multiple smoke tests had already been performed and some small leaks found and fixed. Now the consensus was that it was the adjacent nail salon that was responsible for the leak possibly because there was a shared attic and no solid demising wall. So we were in essence testing the nail salon looking for a source of sewer gas. We blew smoke in from the nail salon for an extended period of time without any sign of smoke showing in that business. Then after approximately a 15 to 20 minute period of time, the pizza restaurant quickly filled with smoke. Still no smoke showed in the Nail Salon.
As it turned out, there was a shared enclosed void that had an opening above the water heater in the pizza restaurant. The leak was far away to be sure at the other end of the void and it took time for the void to fill with smoke before it would exit the opening.
There was likely a cut off vent stack hiding at the far end of the void. It was up to the property owner to chase it down at this point.
After years and years of sewer gas issues with I don't know how many contractors and agencies involved, we solved the issue in just a couple of hours.
Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning, we're the ones that know what we are doing.
www.Superjetdrains.com
They even had someone come out from some official air quality management agency to take air samples. Which is funny because typically sewer gas issues are something that comes and goes. It's not going to be there all the time. There are many variables that will affect whether the smell is present at any one point in time. So the odds are against you of doing any sort of a one time test and verifying the presence of sewer gas.
I'll give you a for instance. We had an architect who's office complained of sewer gas only at certain times of the year. Without a doubt, it would go away for months at a time and then all of a sudden it was back with a vengence. Finally the city was threatening to red tag the building so we were called in and we performed a smoke test. We located a cast iron sewer stack behind a toilet hidden in a wall that was split wide open for about 4 feet or more. Well it was obvious that the hole in the pipe had been like that for years but still the smell would go away for months at a time. The access point for the sewer gas was always there yet the gas was not always present. That is quite common and has a lot to do with prevailing wind, doors and windows left open and so on.
Back to Orange County, multiple smoke tests had already been performed and some small leaks found and fixed. Now the consensus was that it was the adjacent nail salon that was responsible for the leak possibly because there was a shared attic and no solid demising wall. So we were in essence testing the nail salon looking for a source of sewer gas. We blew smoke in from the nail salon for an extended period of time without any sign of smoke showing in that business. Then after approximately a 15 to 20 minute period of time, the pizza restaurant quickly filled with smoke. Still no smoke showed in the Nail Salon.
As it turned out, there was a shared enclosed void that had an opening above the water heater in the pizza restaurant. The leak was far away to be sure at the other end of the void and it took time for the void to fill with smoke before it would exit the opening.
There was likely a cut off vent stack hiding at the far end of the void. It was up to the property owner to chase it down at this point.
After years and years of sewer gas issues with I don't know how many contractors and agencies involved, we solved the issue in just a couple of hours.
Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning, we're the ones that know what we are doing.
www.Superjetdrains.com
"I'm still shopping around." Searching for the cheapest price on hydro-jetting.
I can't tell you how many times as a vendor I hear, "I'm still shopping around, I'll call you back." It's frustrating as a quality vendor because I know that in the end their sole consideration is price. They are assuming that everything else is equal. They assume that Hydro jetting is the same from one vendor to the next and nothing could be further from the truth. I try and educate people as to the differences to look for but some people don't want to hear it, they just want the lowest price.
Ok, so when people tell me "this guy will hydro-jet for $250 or $200" I tell them, "use him, or better yet, go to craigslist and put a want ad for hydro-jetting and put a price of $150 or $100." Without a doubt you will find someone but it becomes obvious to them at that point that maybe going the cheapest rout isn't the best idea.
Let me give you a "for instance". When I was a young man I had a plumbing water leak in my newly purchased home. I had a home warranty with one of the national home warranty vendors so I let them take care of it instead of doing the work myself. Well if your not aware of how the home warranty business works, I'll tell you. They send out a contractor that they have struck a deal with and they pay that contractor a very small per visit fee, maybe only $50 dollars or so and the contractor picks up a small check from the homeowner as a co-pay as it were. So the combination of the two payments still adds up to a very small service call fee for the vendor supplying the work.
Well what happens is that you end up with a lower quality of service provider that is willing to work that cheaply.
In my case, when the "plumber" arrived, it was obvious that this man had spent more than a little time in jail. He was covered with jail house tattoos and he was not someone I wanted around my young wife and children. I would have gladly spent an extra $100 just to keep that man out of my house. So you see, everything isn't equal.
The best thing to do is research. The internet is an amazing tool, use it to your advantage. Just a little bit of time online will give you a pretty good idea of who is competent and who is not, of who can be trusted and who can not. Be wary of the one stop shop websites that say they will provide you with a great contractor. Again, use the internet for reviews of each specific service provider by name.
We have an amazing amount of information online at our website that tells you what to ask to allow you to compare one hydro jetting vendor to the next. www.superjetdrains.com
And by the way, we hold a DOD, ( department of defense ) background check and clearance for work on military installations.
Mark Gervase, President
Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning
Monday, April 30, 2012
Grand Theft Plumbing problems Sewer and Drain Style
Ok, another great story with a happy ending. A good customer called us to inspect a line that they were having repeat problems on. It was a commercial property with quite a few tennants including a mix of food and administrative businesses and my customer, a property management company, suspected that the restaurants were causing the problems with their contribution of grease to the line. We were going to video document who or what was causing the problem so that appropriate measures could be taken.
We had the inspection scheduled for later in the week and then we got a frantic phone call from the property manager that the line was backed up again, it had just been cleared by a rooter company a week or so earlier, and he was very concerened that the overflow in the parking lot might end up in a large fine with the city. From my experience, Cerritos, Ca commonly levies fines in the neighborhood of $10,000 for any sewage outflow that makes it into a storm drain.
I was concerned that I couldn't get to him fast enough, we were about an hour and a half out. With the threat of a $10,000 fine looming I told him to just have his rooter guy pop the line back open to stop the overflow. I'll hydro jet the line and inspect as soon as I can get there.
Well guess what, the rooter guy, a big franchise operation, "couldn't get the line open with a mainline cable." It happens now and then. "He insisted that they needed to hydro jet the line themselves in order to open the line." So the property manager agreed. Normally we do the hydro jetting and diagnosis for him for a reason. We are very good at what we do. Check out this link for stories from the same customer.Same customer another great story from Superjetdrains
Needless to say I wasn't too excited about the phone call telling me that the rooter guy got the hydro jetting work but it happens, and my primary concern was for my customer to avoid a monster fine. I lost the job but my customer was taken care of.
I'll say he was taken care of, they charged him $1,200.00 to hydro jet the line. That is three times what we charge. Alot of these companies pull that scam. They know they have you over a barrel at that point and they just throw out a number crazy as it is. It's pure profit for everybody, everyone is making their percentange.
Guess what happened next....your going to love this. So a week goes by and I talked to my client and told him that I can probably still do the video inspection on the line to determine who is contributing to the grease. I told him that chances are good that the rooter company probably did a quick jetting job and that there is still probably some grease in the line to show who is causing the problem. So he sends us out to document it on video.
We get there and there are only three clean/outs that could have been used to clear the line covering a distance of maybe 180 feet total. We started the video at the upper end c/o and we had a hell of a time just getting a picture. Every time we put the camera in the hole it was absolutely covered in grease and we had to pull it out, wipe it off and go again. We did this about 4 or 5 times before we were able to see anything. After we were actually able to see the pipe wall itself it was clearly evident that this stretch of pipe, about 80 feet, had'nt been touched by a hydro jetter. The pipe walls were coated with a very thick layer of white grease almost like cake frosting and it was absolutely plain that a hydro jetting nozzle had not passed through this pipe. It would have left large and unmistakeable score marks in the grease. Just like walking in the snow. If someone has passed by, your going to know it. What was also odd was that the entire pipe run for the complex could have been serviced, all the way to the mainline vault, from this one clean/out. There was no reason to use another c/o. If you hit this one, you would get the blockage and clean the entire line at the same time.
I gave them the benefit of the doubt and inspected the remaining two clean/outs. Both of the remaining clean/outs showed the pipe walls covered with thick grease and again absolutely no sign of having been serviced by a hydro jetter. Absolutely no doubt about it. Not only that but at the turn just before the third c/o there was a huge chunk of grease coming off the pipe wall and about to drop. I called my client and informed him that this was critical and needed to be serviced ASAP. It could back up at any moment. He contacted the rooter company to make good on what they were supposed to have done.
In the time that they took to get back to him, you guessed it, the line backed up again. This time Superjet hydro jetted the line completely and thoroughly and provided a wonderful before and after video. It was just like night and day.
Last I heard my client was raking the other guys over the coals. I hope so. It looks like grand theft to me. Grand Theft California penal code
Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning, were the ones that know what we're doing.
Superjet Hydro Jetting Sewer and Drain
We had the inspection scheduled for later in the week and then we got a frantic phone call from the property manager that the line was backed up again, it had just been cleared by a rooter company a week or so earlier, and he was very concerened that the overflow in the parking lot might end up in a large fine with the city. From my experience, Cerritos, Ca commonly levies fines in the neighborhood of $10,000 for any sewage outflow that makes it into a storm drain.
I was concerned that I couldn't get to him fast enough, we were about an hour and a half out. With the threat of a $10,000 fine looming I told him to just have his rooter guy pop the line back open to stop the overflow. I'll hydro jet the line and inspect as soon as I can get there.
Well guess what, the rooter guy, a big franchise operation, "couldn't get the line open with a mainline cable." It happens now and then. "He insisted that they needed to hydro jet the line themselves in order to open the line." So the property manager agreed. Normally we do the hydro jetting and diagnosis for him for a reason. We are very good at what we do. Check out this link for stories from the same customer.Same customer another great story from Superjetdrains
Needless to say I wasn't too excited about the phone call telling me that the rooter guy got the hydro jetting work but it happens, and my primary concern was for my customer to avoid a monster fine. I lost the job but my customer was taken care of.
I'll say he was taken care of, they charged him $1,200.00 to hydro jet the line. That is three times what we charge. Alot of these companies pull that scam. They know they have you over a barrel at that point and they just throw out a number crazy as it is. It's pure profit for everybody, everyone is making their percentange.
Guess what happened next....your going to love this. So a week goes by and I talked to my client and told him that I can probably still do the video inspection on the line to determine who is contributing to the grease. I told him that chances are good that the rooter company probably did a quick jetting job and that there is still probably some grease in the line to show who is causing the problem. So he sends us out to document it on video.
We get there and there are only three clean/outs that could have been used to clear the line covering a distance of maybe 180 feet total. We started the video at the upper end c/o and we had a hell of a time just getting a picture. Every time we put the camera in the hole it was absolutely covered in grease and we had to pull it out, wipe it off and go again. We did this about 4 or 5 times before we were able to see anything. After we were actually able to see the pipe wall itself it was clearly evident that this stretch of pipe, about 80 feet, had'nt been touched by a hydro jetter. The pipe walls were coated with a very thick layer of white grease almost like cake frosting and it was absolutely plain that a hydro jetting nozzle had not passed through this pipe. It would have left large and unmistakeable score marks in the grease. Just like walking in the snow. If someone has passed by, your going to know it. What was also odd was that the entire pipe run for the complex could have been serviced, all the way to the mainline vault, from this one clean/out. There was no reason to use another c/o. If you hit this one, you would get the blockage and clean the entire line at the same time.
I gave them the benefit of the doubt and inspected the remaining two clean/outs. Both of the remaining clean/outs showed the pipe walls covered with thick grease and again absolutely no sign of having been serviced by a hydro jetter. Absolutely no doubt about it. Not only that but at the turn just before the third c/o there was a huge chunk of grease coming off the pipe wall and about to drop. I called my client and informed him that this was critical and needed to be serviced ASAP. It could back up at any moment. He contacted the rooter company to make good on what they were supposed to have done.
In the time that they took to get back to him, you guessed it, the line backed up again. This time Superjet hydro jetted the line completely and thoroughly and provided a wonderful before and after video. It was just like night and day.
Last I heard my client was raking the other guys over the coals. I hope so. It looks like grand theft to me. Grand Theft California penal code
Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning, were the ones that know what we're doing.
Superjet Hydro Jetting Sewer and Drain
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Superjet sewer and drain cleaning Testimonial
Ok, long story but a good one. Big sewer line overflow at a shopping center in Cerritos. The overflow makes it into the storm drains and the city has levied a $ 10,000.00 fine against those responsible. My client, client B, a property management co. gets involved in this mess because they share a portion of that shopping center with other owners.
The overflow actually happens on client A's corner of the property but his plumber, a big operation with quite a few trucks, tells him that the whole complex is tied together and the sewer line runs all the way around in a big horseshoe shape and into the line that overflowed. So it would be a shared responsibility.
Another huge problem is that the plumber for client "A" states that the main outgoing line is cast iron and completely falling apart and needs to be fixed immediately because the entire complex drains through it. The run was about 150 feet and I think the estimate was $17,000 to $20,000 and of course it needed to happen immediately as fast as possible.
Prior to laying out all this cash for fines and repairs, we were called in to diagnose the situation and map out the property by our client "B"
A quick check of a few clean/outs on the upper portion of the property showed that they had not even been opened in years. If they had, it would have been obvious to anyone that the sewer line did not run all in the same direction. The upper portion ran a completely different direction to a different connection on a different street. The direction of the sweep in the clean/out made this obvious. We double checked other runs by running a camera, locating and marking the runs above ground. Clearly 1/2 of the complex had no connection with the other at all.
Additional inspection showed that in the middle portion of the complex there were actually 2 side by side but separate sewer runs. They ran parallel to a point just before they ran together and then into the county sewer line. The lines became common just 50 feet before the sewer main connection.
This meant that the overflow was documented to be on one specfic line tied to one specific client, client "A".
We also inspected client "A"s sewer line and discovered that it was so heavily impacted with grease that it was impossible to make a determination of the pipe condition. We were asked by our client to hydro jet the line. When we hydro-jetted and then camera inspected the line, we discovered that the line was made of clay not cast iron and it was in perfect condtion mechanically. There was absolutely no need whatsoever for any repair.
Client "A" who ended up paying the full fine by himself is now our client. We saved him $17,000 + in repairs and we regularly hydro jet his lines to keep them free and clear of grease.
Client "B" we saved the shared cost of the $10,000 fine. They were happy.
Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning, "We're the ones that know what we're doing."
The overflow actually happens on client A's corner of the property but his plumber, a big operation with quite a few trucks, tells him that the whole complex is tied together and the sewer line runs all the way around in a big horseshoe shape and into the line that overflowed. So it would be a shared responsibility.
Another huge problem is that the plumber for client "A" states that the main outgoing line is cast iron and completely falling apart and needs to be fixed immediately because the entire complex drains through it. The run was about 150 feet and I think the estimate was $17,000 to $20,000 and of course it needed to happen immediately as fast as possible.
Prior to laying out all this cash for fines and repairs, we were called in to diagnose the situation and map out the property by our client "B"
A quick check of a few clean/outs on the upper portion of the property showed that they had not even been opened in years. If they had, it would have been obvious to anyone that the sewer line did not run all in the same direction. The upper portion ran a completely different direction to a different connection on a different street. The direction of the sweep in the clean/out made this obvious. We double checked other runs by running a camera, locating and marking the runs above ground. Clearly 1/2 of the complex had no connection with the other at all.
Additional inspection showed that in the middle portion of the complex there were actually 2 side by side but separate sewer runs. They ran parallel to a point just before they ran together and then into the county sewer line. The lines became common just 50 feet before the sewer main connection.
This meant that the overflow was documented to be on one specfic line tied to one specific client, client "A".
We also inspected client "A"s sewer line and discovered that it was so heavily impacted with grease that it was impossible to make a determination of the pipe condition. We were asked by our client to hydro jet the line. When we hydro-jetted and then camera inspected the line, we discovered that the line was made of clay not cast iron and it was in perfect condtion mechanically. There was absolutely no need whatsoever for any repair.
Client "A" who ended up paying the full fine by himself is now our client. We saved him $17,000 + in repairs and we regularly hydro jet his lines to keep them free and clear of grease.
Client "B" we saved the shared cost of the $10,000 fine. They were happy.
Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning, "We're the ones that know what we're doing."
A Superjet hydro jetting restaurant sewer line testimonial
Ok, so we've been hydro-jetting this restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga for two or three years at least, every 4 to 6 months or so. They have had zero problems since our service started. Well, last service we got stuck in the line big time. We had to really work at it but we did managed to get our hose back out. Mind you the owner is sitting there watching this whole thing happen. We ran a camera and we could see a large hole in the pipe at a turn area. I showed the owner but maybe he didn't understand what he was looking at. I gave him all the specs and marked everything out on the ground where and how deep the problem was because he said his landlord would take care of the dig and the repair.
So 4 or 6 months later they call us back to schedule another service. I asked him about the repair. He said "There was no repair, the landlords plumber came out and ran a camera. That plumber told them that there is nothing wrong with the pipe."
Things got a little weird fast. I said I can't hydro-jet the line. I know you have broken pipe. He assured me, "no the landlords plumber says it's not broken." I offered to hydro-jet if they guaranteed us a deposit for the hose if we got stuck. I thought that was reasonable based on the fact that I knew what was coming. Well he got pretty upset with us at that and told us he wasn't comfortable using us anymore.
Ok, so what can I do, some idiot tells him there is no problem and I know that If I hydro-jet the line there is an almost certainty that we will get stuck and he will have an instant emergency dig on his hands causing the immediate shutdown of his restaurant. We were fired and we've lost business because of some idiot "plumber".
So this is the fun part, guess what happens.
6 months or so goes by and we get a phone call from the restaurant owner. He wants to schedule another hydro jetting. It seems that the landlords plumber took over the hydro jetting for the restaurant after we were let go and you guessed it, he got stuck in the exact spot we had marked for broken pipe causing an emergency dig to repair the problem. We must have looked like psychics. It was nice to get the account back but it was priceless to hear the story from the owner himself.
"Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning, were the ones who know what we're doing."
So 4 or 6 months later they call us back to schedule another service. I asked him about the repair. He said "There was no repair, the landlords plumber came out and ran a camera. That plumber told them that there is nothing wrong with the pipe."
Things got a little weird fast. I said I can't hydro-jet the line. I know you have broken pipe. He assured me, "no the landlords plumber says it's not broken." I offered to hydro-jet if they guaranteed us a deposit for the hose if we got stuck. I thought that was reasonable based on the fact that I knew what was coming. Well he got pretty upset with us at that and told us he wasn't comfortable using us anymore.
Ok, so what can I do, some idiot tells him there is no problem and I know that If I hydro-jet the line there is an almost certainty that we will get stuck and he will have an instant emergency dig on his hands causing the immediate shutdown of his restaurant. We were fired and we've lost business because of some idiot "plumber".
So this is the fun part, guess what happens.
6 months or so goes by and we get a phone call from the restaurant owner. He wants to schedule another hydro jetting. It seems that the landlords plumber took over the hydro jetting for the restaurant after we were let go and you guessed it, he got stuck in the exact spot we had marked for broken pipe causing an emergency dig to repair the problem. We must have looked like psychics. It was nice to get the account back but it was priceless to hear the story from the owner himself.
"Superjet Sewer and Drain Cleaning, were the ones who know what we're doing."
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Plumber tells this guy "your pipes are a mess"
Plumber tells this guy, "your pipes are a mess, all filled up with rust debris from the cast iron pipe. You need to dig up the washer / kitchen line. We can do it for $2,500."
So what do you think we (Superjet) find when we get there? You guessed it. ABS PLASTIC PIPE. It was a grease problem and nothing more. We had it perfectly clean and showed the homeowner the entire run on video from the rear clean/out to city main in less than an hour.
The homeowners email to us regarding our service follows:
Name: David Rogers
Email: davidrogers@xxxxcom
Phone: 619-549-xxxx
Services Required: Other
Comments: You guys did a great, honest job. I had a plumber come out and tell me that my cast iron pipe has rusted shut after he tried to snake it because when he pulled his rusty snake out of it, it had rust on it. He wanted $2500 bucks to dig up my yard to run a new line. You guys came out and said no, its a plastic pipe and jetted the grease out of it in about an hour. Thanks for honest work at 1/5 the price!!!
So what do you think we (Superjet) find when we get there? You guessed it. ABS PLASTIC PIPE. It was a grease problem and nothing more. We had it perfectly clean and showed the homeowner the entire run on video from the rear clean/out to city main in less than an hour.
The homeowners email to us regarding our service follows:
Name: David Rogers
Email: davidrogers@xxxxcom
Phone: 619-549-xxxx
Services Required: Other
Comments: You guys did a great, honest job. I had a plumber come out and tell me that my cast iron pipe has rusted shut after he tried to snake it because when he pulled his rusty snake out of it, it had rust on it. He wanted $2500 bucks to dig up my yard to run a new line. You guys came out and said no, its a plastic pipe and jetted the grease out of it in about an hour. Thanks for honest work at 1/5 the price!!!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Run that Sewer Camera If
Quite often I detect that hesitation in a customer when I recommend running a camera. I know that there are those companies out there that really push for that and use that as a way to generate more income at a higher cost to the customer but....It is an incredibly valueable tool that in the hands of a skilled operator can provide invaluable information.
We just finished jetting a job yesterday, an apartment complex where we hydro-jetted a short run of 75 feet that dumped into a mainline outgoing lateral and then ran another 185 feet to the city sewer connection.
The initial 75 was a restricted 3 inch wall c/o that dropped down into the run across to the next c/o. We jetted this with a medium hose and the appropriate sized nozzle. We hydro-jetted it thoroughly. Ran this probably 5 times slowly. The customer had mentioned from the start that they wanted to run a camera to document line condition so it wasn't an issue. When we ran the camera, whoa, surprise surprise, we found a very large belly in the line holding water right after the turn into the main outgoing. The pipe was almost completely full of water and there were a couple of very large grease deposits that truly looked like they hadn't been touched by a jetter even though we ran right past them 5 times. They were monsters and when they broke free, and they most assuredly would at some point, probably on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night, you were guaranteed a back up.
The pipe being full of water was too much water for the medium hose nozzle to displace. You have to get that water out of the way so you can impact the grease itself. Without running a camera, you could never have guessed that.
The camera allowed us to make changes opting for a bigger hose with a very small nozzle and allowed us to know exactly where to spend our time and to verify visually to the customer that the blockages were completely removed.
If your having recurring problems, ie. having to cable every 4,6 or 8 months, run a camera. If you haven't run a camera in the last 10 years and your having an issue with your main line, run a camera. Think of it like a cancer screening at the doctor. If you can catch a problem before it gets too bad, your way ahead of the game. Two or three hundred on a camera could save you thousands.
We just finished jetting a job yesterday, an apartment complex where we hydro-jetted a short run of 75 feet that dumped into a mainline outgoing lateral and then ran another 185 feet to the city sewer connection.
The initial 75 was a restricted 3 inch wall c/o that dropped down into the run across to the next c/o. We jetted this with a medium hose and the appropriate sized nozzle. We hydro-jetted it thoroughly. Ran this probably 5 times slowly. The customer had mentioned from the start that they wanted to run a camera to document line condition so it wasn't an issue. When we ran the camera, whoa, surprise surprise, we found a very large belly in the line holding water right after the turn into the main outgoing. The pipe was almost completely full of water and there were a couple of very large grease deposits that truly looked like they hadn't been touched by a jetter even though we ran right past them 5 times. They were monsters and when they broke free, and they most assuredly would at some point, probably on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night, you were guaranteed a back up.
The pipe being full of water was too much water for the medium hose nozzle to displace. You have to get that water out of the way so you can impact the grease itself. Without running a camera, you could never have guessed that.
The camera allowed us to make changes opting for a bigger hose with a very small nozzle and allowed us to know exactly where to spend our time and to verify visually to the customer that the blockages were completely removed.
If your having recurring problems, ie. having to cable every 4,6 or 8 months, run a camera. If you haven't run a camera in the last 10 years and your having an issue with your main line, run a camera. Think of it like a cancer screening at the doctor. If you can catch a problem before it gets too bad, your way ahead of the game. Two or three hundred on a camera could save you thousands.
Friday, February 26, 2010
When to Hydro Jet or How to not get swindled on your sewer repair
We just finished a call for a local pair of clients. Two houses shared a common lateral sewer pipe run to the city mainline sewer in the city of Escondido, Ca. We were called to provide a bid on a sewer pipe liner to repair a seriously deteriorated pipe. The whole problem started with a back up as you would expect. The previous plumber had shot and provided a DVD to the homeowners of the problem pipe run. He told them that the pipe was seriously deteriorated and that the bottom was rotted out. I took a look at his video hoping to be able to use it to provide an accurate bid and save me the trouble of running my own camera. Well I was a bit surprised. I looked at the video and it showed that the pipe was full of heavy debris and that the pipe walls were heavily encrusted with scale and grease build up. It was no wonder that they were having backup issues. It was really ugly. The pipe was probably 50% to 60% blocked up with sludgy debris and large grease and pipe scale deposits. All a cable machine could ever hope to do would be to poke a temporary hole in a blockage. Not only that but because of the large amount of debris in the pipe, it was impossible to make any kind of an accurate determination of the condition of the pipe wall itself. It was a joke, the previous plumber is describing rotted out pipe to the customer and there was nothing on the video that backed that up. I can see how a customer doesn't understand that because he isn't used to looking at a pipe video, especially one that has a tremendous amount of debris in the pipe. I'm hoping to post the before and after videos on our website in future. http://www.superjetdrains.com/
I had a long talk with the two customers in front of the computer monitor as we watched the video and told them that my concerns were that the cost of a liner wasn't justified yet. A CCIP liner for the distance involved would be in the neighborhood of $4,000. I recommended a hydro jetting of the line to clean all the debris out and possibly remove a great deal of the pipe scale and blistering. It was an easy sell because the first step in installing a liner would be to hydro jett the line in preparation for the lining. I told them that after a careful cleaning, we would have a much better idea of what is actually going on. Based on what I saw on the video, there was a good chance that we would correct their problem with the jetting alone. It was $700 for the hydro jetting vs. $4,000 minimum for a sewer liner install. Well we hydro jetted carefully and thoroughly. We would hydro jet then camera then hydro jet and then camera again. We did this about 4 times before we were done. It was absolutely amazing the difference in the pipe. We completely cleaned out all the debris and were able to make the pipe walls round again removing the bulk of the heavy buildup of grease and pipe scale. The pipe went from about 40% to 95+%. The final video also revealed that there weren't any holes in the cast iron pipe at all and that there was a low spot or belly in the line which was clearly a repair that had been done in the street most likely by the city. This was all clearly visible on the video since the line had been hydro jetted.
If your plumber isn't able to clearly show you the actual physical problem on the video screen, be careful. It never hurts to get a second opinion and always be leery of anyone that says "you have to do this now!"
I had a long talk with the two customers in front of the computer monitor as we watched the video and told them that my concerns were that the cost of a liner wasn't justified yet. A CCIP liner for the distance involved would be in the neighborhood of $4,000. I recommended a hydro jetting of the line to clean all the debris out and possibly remove a great deal of the pipe scale and blistering. It was an easy sell because the first step in installing a liner would be to hydro jett the line in preparation for the lining. I told them that after a careful cleaning, we would have a much better idea of what is actually going on. Based on what I saw on the video, there was a good chance that we would correct their problem with the jetting alone. It was $700 for the hydro jetting vs. $4,000 minimum for a sewer liner install. Well we hydro jetted carefully and thoroughly. We would hydro jet then camera then hydro jet and then camera again. We did this about 4 times before we were done. It was absolutely amazing the difference in the pipe. We completely cleaned out all the debris and were able to make the pipe walls round again removing the bulk of the heavy buildup of grease and pipe scale. The pipe went from about 40% to 95+%. The final video also revealed that there weren't any holes in the cast iron pipe at all and that there was a low spot or belly in the line which was clearly a repair that had been done in the street most likely by the city. This was all clearly visible on the video since the line had been hydro jetted.
If your plumber isn't able to clearly show you the actual physical problem on the video screen, be careful. It never hurts to get a second opinion and always be leery of anyone that says "you have to do this now!"
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