In front of my house are two pretty crepe myrtle trees - they bloom white in the spring, and provide wonderful morning shade to the home.
They’ve taken very little maintenance, are well-established, and I generally liked them.
Please note the past tense there, because one day, they will be gone and I will dance upon their wood chips. These trees have cost me a lot of money in the past year or so.
In September 2024, I flushed a toilet in our guest bathroom, and a nightmare vomited forth in the bathtub.
I will spare you the details - the human imagination is sufficient. The tub drained exceedingly slowly, and there were still… solids left. Reader, I dearly wish it weren’t 11:00 PM when this happened.
The next day, I went to Harbor Freight, got a 25 foot drain snake, and tried my hand at breaking loose whatever the clog was. After… probably thirty minutes of trying with no budge, I was forced to call a plumber. I’d heard good things, so I went with Roto-Rooter.
They arrived the very next day, and it was the first time that it occurred to me that my home… didn’t have a visible sewer cleanout. They had to lift the toilet to see what the issue was, and here is where the crepe myrtles enter the story.
The pipe elbow was positively blocked with roots.
Our home was built decades ago, and the foundation naturally shifted as the ground beneath it eroded, which led to the pipe cracking, “nutrients” leaking, which the roots naturally followed in and sucked up like a dry sponge.
Nothing for it but to pay up… 18,000 all said and done, because after they managed to excavate beneath the foundation and cut out the segment of pipe, they looked the rest of the way down the line and found where the sewer cleanout should be, as well as a segment on the way to the main that needed to be replaced, and a cracked pipe beneath the master bedroom.
Through some of my beautiful, brilliant spouse’s finagling, all told it came to around $14,000 that we split into two jobs. The work was done quickly, I had four big-ass holes dug in my property, and my plumbing was working wonderfully! I could harass the guest toilet to my heart’s content.
June 2025 rolls around, and I am getting ready to take a bath. It is 11:00 PM, and I just want to relax.
The tub begins to fill, and the toilet gurgles. Mo-ther-fucker. I’m desperately hoping it’s not roots again, so I begin to try and snake the drain again, to the exact same result as the first time.
I call Roto-Rooter out again, and at least they don’t have to lift the toilet. They check through my (new and accessible) sewer cleanout, and… it’s another root ball. They also find a belly in the pipes. I’m pretty unhappy. Less than a year, and the pipes have failed again? In the exact same way? I’m reassured that this can be fixed, and they’ll do their best for me. The field manager went and called his manager to work out a deal, and I was told I’d have the 6 feet that were repaired last year done for free, and the remaining 18 feet would be done for a 10% discount, leaving me with a quote for… $14,000. At least there would be a five year warranty. I say I’ll sleep on it, try and get a second opinion, which the guy kind of dismisses, saying that I probably wouldn’t find a better deal or better warranty.
I try and get written warranty terms - I want to know exactly what’s covered in case this happens again. I’m told there is no warranty text, it’s just “in the system”. Okay, sure. After trying to kill and break up the roots ourselves, we finally contact another plumbing company, and get a second quote. I provide the proposal to them, and hear back… a little over $14,000 for the total amount of work. It’s interesting to me to note that the discounts were not written anywhere, it was entirely verbal handshake, and this company provided a 10 year warranty with any sort of warranty text.
Company #2 provides an in-person inspection and determines that… only about $8600 of work really needs to be done. For that, I’ll pay up front.
Excavation begins - our guest bathroom has been unusable for about two weeks.
They get under the foundation, and as soon as they clear out around the segment of pipe that had been replaced, it fucking pops free on its own. Reader, I can look with my eyes and see where the pipe was just stuck on. They did not cut or twist it. It looks like there was maybe a little sealant applied, but it is completely un-primed for certain.
I am not a certified plumber. The closest I’ve come is repairing water mains, but I know how to prime and seal PVC. Roto-Rooter’s work wasn’t even anchored to the foundation!
This is good to know. I am happy that this plumbing company is looking for these things, especially since they seemed surprised that I would have issues again so soon.
This is painful to know. I am furious that the previous company was so shoddy.
I am perhaps unfair here - there are many people who work at Roto-Rooter who I am sure are fantastic at their jobs. But this is like… pretty basic. Stuff I would have done. How work like this could slip through the cracks (like roots seeking nutrients) is baffling.
I feel like I paid $6600 for a new problem later.
My issues, as of July 2nd, 2025, are unresolved.
A gaping hole yawns beneath my foundation where one pipe lays blocked by roots and another sealed from the outside only by the water in the U-bend of the toilet.
It is raining heavily - the plumbers were supposed to be here two and a half hours ago, but it would be unsafe, unwise, and generally unpleasant for them to work, and the hard work of others is something I deeply value.
But I had to rant about this. I’ve left a Google review, a rep has reached out, I’ve emailed, and have yet to hear back. I look forward to updating this page.
Edited 2025-07-03
Oooooohohohohohoooo boy. So, it’s even worse.
The plumbing itself is fixed - there is an issue elsewhere, but it’s unrelated and maybe we can take care of it later - we’ll know more after we get them to pinpoint where the issue is.
The first fix, however, was able to be pulled away by hand, not even using tools to cut them away. There was a small amount of sealant around the top, but certainly not enough to do anything practical.
On top of that, I’m currently waiting for a city inspector to come out and check the fix - which I do not remember happening the first time repairs occurred.
There’s a complaint in with the Better Business Bureau right now - here’s hoping I can get some kind of refund or reimbursement, because damn that is infuriating!
Edited 2025-07-15
The good news: I’ve been told by a Roto-Rooter rep that they’ll refund me. I have yet to hear any movement on that, but I do know that they’re actually in contact with the BBB, and I’m gonna call tomorrow to make sure they’re still on it, because I’ll believe it when the money is in my account.
The bad news: I have additional plumbing issues. Three that need to be cared for, specifically. Two involve roots, and the cheapest (and least important, according to the plumbers) is a measly 1000 more than that. And the grand finale, the one that I undeniably need the most, is… $13000.
This is fucked. The drain in the kitchen sink and the washing machine both meet at a 45 on a branch line which has breaks in two spots. Water is draining beneath my foundation and I can’t risk it causing serious problems later. It will be expensive, and a pain in the ass because they have to go under my back concrete patio, directly beneath the back door.
The middle issue is where this branch line connects beneath the sink in the master bathroom. The pipe is collapsed there - water still goes through, but it’s exposed.
The final issue is some roots beneath the master bedroom on the main line. These are small and minor, and I’ve been advised that I don’t really need to do anything about that but dump some root killer down there somewhat regularly.
I’m so mad, it’s difficult to be positive.
I have a home that I own. I’m getting a refund. This will all be under 10 year warranty when it’s tested and done. These plumbers work specifically with foundation companies and actually inspect their work.
We’ll get through this step, by step, by step, by step, by step, by step, by step, by step. The only way people get through anything.
Edited 2025-08-29
I have received the refund! It’s a huge relief, and because of that, the work has finally been scheduled to fix the first, largest, and most urgent problem. Which is great! And in fact, there is now no leaking beneath our kitchen.
The first excavation crew was supposed to be here on Monday, but rather worryingly didn’t show up. I can’t responsibly speculate as to why, but Tuesday and Wednesday, they arrived. They finished excavation on Thursday, and today the actual plumbers showed up and took a look at my pipes. Unfortunately, there was an issue - the pipe is set through the beams beneath the foundation, and the pipes are not a size that will pass inspection. Sooooooooo the plumbing company managed to get the excavators back out with the caveat that the plumbers might not be able to make it back out until the following Tuesday.
Fortunately, they were able to make it back out in just a few hours, basically immediately after the new excavation was done. Big props to them for working so quickly and diligently! That’s the reason I can confidently use my kitchen!
However, they’re unable to get the correct fall on the pipe so it drains perfectly. This wouldn’t cause any major issues down the line, aside from it having a small belly or two, but… we’d rather it be done right. Which means chipping through two or three more beams and another four feet of excavation, to the tune of about another $5000.
Fuck.