Root-Clogged Sewer Fix Surprisingly Easy

Chris had a root problem.??

Over the past two years, he had plumbers out to his home to clear roots out of his sewer line three times. If he didn’t have a plan offered by HomeServe, introduced to him through a partnership between HomeServe and the City of Royal Oak, Michigan, it would have cost him almost $1,000 during that time.??

“The city sent us information many years ago,” Chris said. “We live in an older neighborhood, so we figured we should do it (sign up) while we could.”??

When he saw the now-familiar signs of a sewer backup in September, he gave HomeServe another call. At-Less Plumbing was dispatched to determine what needed to be done to resolve the issue for Chris and get his drains flowing again.?

“At-Less sent a camera down (the sewer line) to see what was going on,” Chris said. “They really went to bat for us.”?

After examining the sewer line with the camera, the plumbers at At-Less had bad news for Chris: The root intrusion had progressed a great deal and approximately 20 feet of his clay sewer line needed to be replaced. There was some concern over whether the repair would need to extend under the street, which would have complicated the job.??

“(The trench) was a good six to seven feet deep,” Chris said. “I knew they would dig out as far as they needed, and if it (the repair) needed to go further, I was confident they would go to bat for me again.”??

As a contractor himself, Chris said he felt comfortable with At-Less and appreciated that the plumber showed up when they said they would and the work site condition met his expectations.??

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Chris said of the experience. “I was surprised it went through so easily with no extra questioning. We didn’t get the third degree. No one from HomeServe asked the contractor, ‘are you sure it’s needed?’ type-questions.”?

At-Less replaced the root-infested portion of the sewer line and Chris’ drains were flowing smoothly again – and he saved $3,200 on the repair.?

“I found the whole experience satisfactory,” he said.