Roto-Rooter

Services

The Name Everyone Knows in Plumbing

Roto-Rooter has been around since 1935, when Samuel Oscar Blanc built the first electric sewer cleaning machine. Today they’re the largest plumbing and drain company in North America — 600+ locations covering roughly 90% of the US population. Their main selling point is 24/7 emergency availability with no overtime charges at most locations and an average emergency response time under two hours.

Services

The full residential range: faucet and fixture installation, water heater replacement (tank and tankless), toilet repair, pipe repair and replacement, garbage disposal installation, and water line work. Their trucks come stocked with parts for common repairs, so most jobs get finished in one visit.

Drain and sewer work is their original specialty. Mechanical snaking, hydro-jetting at up to 4,000 PSI, and video camera inspection for diagnosing blockages. For seriously damaged sewer lines, they offer both traditional excavation and trenchless pipe lining — the trenchless option rehabilitates pipes without tearing up your yard.

They’ve also expanded into water damage restoration: extraction, structural drying, mold remediation, and reconstruction. Makes sense since plumbing failures cause a lot of the water damage in homes, and having one company handle both the plumbing fix and the cleanup simplifies the insurance claim.

Pricing

Flat-rate on most services — you know the cost before work starts regardless of how long it takes. No overtime charges for nights and weekends at most locations. That said, Roto-Rooter is generally priced above independent plumbers. You’re paying for the 24/7 availability, the guaranteed work, and the consistency of a national brand.

For Homeowners Who Want Convenience Over Savings

Roto-Rooter isn’t the cheapest plumber you can call. But at 2 AM when your basement is flooding, the fact that they answer the phone, show up fast, quote a flat rate, and have the parts on the truck counts for a lot. If you have time to get three quotes on a non-emergency repair, you can probably find a better price locally. For emergencies, Roto-Rooter is hard to argue with.