Have You Been in Your Home’s Crawl Space Lately?

This is a true story of a real homeowner and a real Roto Rooter service technician. One morning, a homeowner, who had been a long-time customer of one of our competitors, called our Roto Rooter office requesting help with a clogged kitchen sink. One of our Journeyman Plumber and Technicians went out to the customers home, quickly cleared the sink by snaking the line, clearing the obstruction and running the water to be sure that the problem was solved. When finished, the technician, at no charge to the customer, offered to look in the customer’s crawl space to be sure that there wasn’t another plumbing problem that would just cause the customer’s sink to back up again.

As the tech crawled underneath the house on hands and knees, he noticed wet spots underneath the home and unpleasant odors. Crawling further, using the “GI Joe” technique, he noted a big puddle of sewage 3 inches deep and nearly half the length of the crawl space. The tech noted that the problem had likely been caused by a leaky no-hub band on a copper sewer line which had been leaking over time, causing extensive and unsanitary damage. The homeowner was unaware of the faulty plumbing and the sewage spill. The Roto Rooter technician was able to correct and replace the faulty plumbing, stopping the leak, and assist the homeowner in locating a restoration company to help alleviate the problems; return the home to a safe and sanitary condition; and, end up with a happy customer!

The moral of the story: The technician could have easily left the home after solving the customer’s leaky sink problem. Instead, at Roto Rooter we go the extra mile to take care of our customer’s immediate needs and help prevent future plumbing problems. Our customers are important to us!