# To Snake or Not to Snake



## 5onthefloor (Sep 13, 2017)

Get a call yesterday for a backed up main line. Had backed up last Thursday so I pull the main CO, full of water. I'm about to cable from there when I see wet spot near city CO. I pop that off and it's full of water. So I had a choice. Snake it since I already pulled out the machine, or tell HO to call the City. 
I decide what the hell, I'll see what's going on. At first I'm thinking it's a test ball, house is new but then I pull out a ton of rags. Keep running cable and keep getting hung up at same spot. Pull my cable and the blade and end are shiny like armor. U know what that means. Didn't have a camera but I'm guessing that line is broken. Gonna camera it later we might have to do the repair esp if it was damaged by another contractor and even though it's on city side.

Shoulda taken more pics sometimes I forget









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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

Interesting. Here, the HO is responsible for their sewer line up to and including the hub attaching to the city sewer. Road cut permit is anywhere from $500-1k and the HO is responsible for repairing both. Sidewalk hole must be filled with crushed concrete.


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## 5onthefloor (Sep 13, 2017)

OpenSights said:


> Interesting. Here, the HO is responsible for their sewer line up to and including the hub attaching to the city sewer. Road cut permit is anywhere from $500-1k and the HO is responsible for repairing both. Sidewalk hole must be filled with crushed concrete.


Not here. Their line stops at the city CO. It might be a weird deal since the line is so new. We still might end up fixing it but gotta find out what's going on first.

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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

5onthefloor said:


> Get a call yesterday for a backed up main line. Had backed up last Thursday so I pull the main CO, full of water. I'm about to cable from there when I see wet spot near city CO. I pop that off and it's full of water. So I had a choice. Snake it since I already pulled out the machine, or tell HO to call the City.
> I decide what the hell, I'll see what's going on. At first I'm thinking it's a test ball, house is new but then I pull out a ton of rags. Keep running cable and keep getting hung up at same spot. Pull my cable and the blade and end are shiny like armor. U know what that means. Didn't have a camera but I'm guessing that line is broken. Gonna camera it later we might have to do the repair esp if it was damaged by another contractor and even though it's on city side.
> 
> Shoulda taken more pics sometimes I forget
> ...


 













Looks like a K-60 cable and auger head. Am I correct?

Because I have that same auger head in my tool box with the serrated teeth on both sides; it cuts going and coming back.


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## Standard Drain (Feb 17, 2016)

Here the HO is responsible for the entire line including the city sewer connection (saddle). Certainly best to contact city if you try to clear; especially if you think the line may be broken. This way city can make sure to catch any debris at the nearest manhole. Then camera and figure out who is paying


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## Oorgnid (Apr 5, 2016)

Said this was a new home, does this place have a lot of tile? Lots of contractors here like to flush grout and drywall mud. We don?t clean drains so drain cleaning isn?t much of my experience. The only thing I usually do is try a blow up to clear the line or plunge/auger the house trap. 

My boss got rid of our machines two years ago because he said there is no money in it.


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

Oorgnid said:


> Said this was a new home, does this place have a lot of tile? Lots of contractors here like to flush grout and drywall mud. We don?t clean drains so drain cleaning isn?t much of my experience. The only thing I usually do is try a blow up to clear the line or plunge/auger the house trap.
> 
> My boss got rid of our machines two years ago because he said there is no money in it.


Thankfully my Master has slowed down, mostly because we fired a very slow paying customer, plus a guy that worked under me is in need of work. Now I can do my work during the day. 

I’ve already made $2k over the last two days and yesterday I only worked three hours including drive time, which was 90% of it. I was hoping to have today off, but no, have to snake a tub line and see what I can do about a finish that another company didn’t want to do. Odd because this company has a decent reputation. I’ve done work for this guy before and he does pay. Set a stool and trim out shower and lav. 

I don’t have a jetter yet, just cables and a camera. I’ve been trying to keep my business slow while I help my Master before he retires so I only do repeat and referral. Home Advisor has been hounding me, politely tell them to F off. 

Drain cleaning is recession proof. Plumbing is not. People will spend so they can take a dump, they will wait for a remodel.


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## 5onthefloor (Sep 13, 2017)

OpenSights said:


> Thankfully my Master has slowed down, mostly because we fired a very slow paying customer, plus a guy that worked under me is in need of work. Now I can do my work during the day.
> 
> I’ve already made $2k over the last two days and yesterday I only worked three hours including drive time, which was 90% of it. I was hoping to have today off, but no, have to snake a tub line and see what I can do about a finish that another company didn’t want to do. Odd because this company has a decent reputation. I’ve done work for this guy before and he does pay. Set a stool and trim out shower and lav.
> 
> ...


It's all about the market. Here we've had some bad droughts where roots have infiltrated lines and since water is scarce the roots love that nutrient rich water in the sewer line. 
Open is right, drain cleaning is recession proof. Drains WILL clog. People don't like to deal with their own ****e. Now what they are willing to pay is a different story, but if I had a choice I'd do main lines all day. Give me a camera and locator and I'd sell 1-3 spot repairs a week. Prob full line twice a month. There is money in it, it's your market that will dictate how well you do. And you gotta be able to sell yourself and your service. 

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## 5onthefloor (Sep 13, 2017)

Oorgnid said:


> Said this was a new home, does this place have a lot of tile? Lots of contractors here like to flush grout and drywall mud. We don?t clean drains so drain cleaning isn?t much of my experience. The only thing I usually do is try a blow up to clear the line or plunge/auger the house trap.
> 
> My boss got rid of our machines two years ago because he said there is no money in it.


It's possible most of my work is warranty service on new homes. Usually the tile guys dump their trash down the tub or shower drain. It's possible some of it made it to the main but I'm still leaning toward separation. I'll report in when we send a camera out there 

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## Adame (Dec 27, 2017)

5onthefloor said:


> It's possible most of my work is warranty service on new homes. Usually the tile guys dump their trash down the tub or shower drain. It's possible some of it made it to the main but I'm still leaning toward separation. I'll report in when we send a camera out there
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


The dumping of tile wastes on tubs and shower drain is a practice that is being followed by many of the tile guys. But being a professional no one must do that as it can spoil the drains and create a block in it.


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

Oorgnid said:


> Said this was a new home, does this place have a lot of tile? Lots of contractors here like to flush grout and drywall mud. We don?t clean drains so drain cleaning isn?t much of my experience. The only thing I usually do is try a blow up to clear the line or plunge/auger the house trap.
> 
> My boss got rid of our machines two years ago because he said there is no money in it.


Man for man I'll do 25x more revenue with a drain machine than your boss will plumbing a new house.


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## Oorgnid (Apr 5, 2016)

dhal22 said:


> Man for man I'll do 25x more revenue with a drain machine than your boss will plumbing a new house.


I don’t doubt it. I’ve been trying to talk him into it. He seems like he’s ready to break but I dunno. Same time, I feel like just saving up and doing it myself. He doesn’t know how to bill customers, that’s the problem. He thinks because you can’t open a drain, you can’t charge the customers For
Your time spent. 

I’m constantly charging people three different service call prices. Standard call is $75. Though he said about upping it to $80. So I’ve been charging $80, but then he’ll say $75. Then I’ll ask because he confuses me and if it’s a repeat customer or his friend, he’ll say $60. It’s very hard to just bill someone when your hourly rate jumps around. Oh well.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

dhal22 said:


> Man for man I'll do 25x more revenue with a drain machine than your boss will plumbing a new house.


 













I agree; with service plumbing repairs we can charge the most. Then with re-models, I can charge a nice price, but not anything close to what I can get per hour doing service {I am flat rate, but if you figure out the hourly rate, it is up there}, and last is new construction; I can get paid, but for all the hours involved, it is no where near what I can earn doing service work which of course includes drain cleaning. Plus with new construction, we have to deal with other subs, permits, inspectors, inspections, and of course the hated general contactor who ALWAYS thinks that the plumber is charging too much money for the simple, little, easy, job which doesn't take much time to do, because after all it's just installing a few pipes.



With drain cleaning, as a general rule, there is no material used off the truck. So no trips to the supply house to re-stock the truck.

Show up, clear the stoppage, collect and you are the hero who saved the day.

I love new construction plumbing, that is what I first did in this trade, but I prefer to deal directly with a homeowner, resolve the problem, leave them with a good taste about my company and move on to the next service call.


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