# What's your policy?



## plungerboy (Oct 17, 2013)

Do you have customers sign waivers before you jet or snake? 

If you do could you please share your shared lability waiver?

The reason I asked is we had a stuck cable and the customer did think they should pay for me to get my cable out of their sewer. We ended up pulling it out with a small machine. 

Here is what we found










If your snake got stuck on this would you put you cable back in. We didn't.


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## Drain Pro (Nov 3, 2013)

I've never got my cable stuck so badly in roots that I couldn't retrieve it. You got to pick at them a little at a time. So my answer is yes, I would put my cable back in that line.


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

What kind of machine and cable is this?


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## Plumbducky (Jun 12, 2010)

The machine, cable size and cutter used would be my first question.

I have one but my wife and I can agree on whether we should use it.


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

A pro drain cleaner would go after that again and probably get the line clean. A plumber would sell a replacement. 

*grabs shield and prepares for war*


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## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

I agree with Unclog ! I would try to clear that blockage after all that is why 
the home owner called you out but I would also get him to agree to pay by the hour for all your work,

I always had the attitude that I can clear any drain even if I had to dig it up and replace the drain ! :thumbsup:


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## 4Aces Plumbing (Aug 26, 2011)

I would clear it, camera it, and depending on condition of drain, I would offer option for replacement floor contract for drain cleaning every 6 months to year.


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## KoleckeINC (Oct 22, 2011)

Sectionals don't get stuck in roots like Spartans. Grabs shield and prepares for war. Get it stuck again and hook it to your tow hitch to pull it out.


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## SewerRatz (Apr 25, 2009)

KoleckeINC said:


> Sectionals don't get stuck in roots like Spartans. Grabs shield and prepares for war. Get it stuck again and hook it to your tow hitch to pull it out.


Then you have not rodded in WoodRidge. I have removed more stuck sectional cables from other plumbers than I have drum machine cables.

I am willing to bet that is magnum cable. 

Our policy is to go back in and take smaller bites at the blockage tear all the roots out. If you are really worried, and the line drained send a camera in the line, there is a possibility the line is broken at that root mass and your rod left the pipe and got hung up in the hole.

Only once I was caught in a tight root blockage, the line was open and in the city I was working on they like to witness the roddings and they televise the home owners lines afterwards. Well since the line was open the city guys ran their camera in the overhead sewer I was rodding from to see what I was hung up in. When they got to the joint we saw my blade tangled up in a massive root mass. I had them pull their camera, so I can go at it again. Now that I know I was not in a broken pipe I built up plenty of torque where the 5' of cable between the machine and the clean out started to look like a corkscrew (do not do this if your cable ends and cable are questionable) after the 10th revolution of the 1065 drum the cutter broke free, I pulled out the city televised once again. Then I went back with different cutters to clear the root mass.


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## KoleckeINC (Oct 22, 2011)

I don't use cables w/o inner cores. But I do rodders in Woodridge and Darien. Your right some of them of tough. Once had a lawyers office that hadn't been Rodded in 30 years. They only flushed twice a day so nobody noticed. Took 8 hours to finish and we found a root the size of a baseball bat no foolin. But we got it. Usually I ask how long has it been since it was Rodded? Never you say? Ok let me try the spearhead first.


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

If I'm in the lateral, then I'll be removing the roots. Personally I think the heavy roots require rodding first(I like the dreel for this). Then go in with the root ranger to remove them all. If the line is free flowing then the RR goes in first. But I haven't seen a root stoppage I haven't been able to get out either way. Just gotta have the right equipment and knowledge to do it. 

Here's the root ranger and k60 results.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Our customers always sign an agreement with price quoted and liability limitations before any work is done....

No Signature No Work.... Period!

That said and out of the way your customer should get someone that knows how to clean drains...

I use a K-7500 with 11/16" cable and routinely clean roots from lines, never used a sectional but some here claim they work... :whistling2:

I can't understand why anyone would want to use one when drum machines work so well but to each their own....


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