Sewer Lateral Testing Service Plumbing

I'm not really sure where to even begin this one. I'll just jump right into it.

Tim is everything everyone in these 5-star reviews claims him to be. He was quick to respond to my message. Was just as fast to make an appointment (next day, and that was fine as it wasn't an emergency). Showed up right on time. Diagnosed and fixed the problem. And was happy to discuss possible causes (we had a sink that kept backing up). And he was shockingly affordable. Everything about my time with him gave me a sense of family-run businesses and customer service meant in what can best be described as a by-gone era. I know how that sounds. I also mean it.

This brings me to the part where I add a little bit about what I, personally, loved about this experience. In reading through reviews while searching for a plumber I was surprised to see that people kept talking about Tim like he'd become a surrogate family member. Needing a plumber is already a drag and searching for one isn't much more fun. And I think that plumbers, like dentists, typically get that. It's not like people book a plumber for their kid's sixth birthday party. They book a plumber to restore their crappy situations to normal and then put a large price tag on that normalcy. So as I'm sitting here reading about how Tim not only moved fast but also had a personality that made it seem like people would have him back for dinner I thought, yeah, you should call this person.

The reviews are true, folks. You want to get your plumbing back in working order while getting a history lesson on San Francisco from a guy that's lived here for 27 years, likes to snowboard, has been to Burning Man, and is a self-described unicorn? Call Tim. I guarantee you won't be upset. Unless you dislike lovely people and running water in which case you'll hate everything about this experience.

Let me start by saying that I didn't use the services as I left messages but no call back which is unfortunate considering they had good reviews but nothing recent, I noticed. So onward to the next!

Tim was great. He responded fast, and he was on time, despite having had only 45 minutes of sleep the night before fixing burst pipes (from freezing water) from two other clients. He snaked our lateral line, to the sewage main line, twice, to ensure that all the roots were removed. He gave a lot of good tips for how I might deal with these problems myself in the future, since we need to call out a plumber every 6-12 months. He was polite and worked quickly. His prices were reasonable. Overall I'd be glad to use him again.

(Below I mention he accepts credit cards... he accept PayPal, actually, which can be tied to a credit card.)

Many people have written five-star reviews for this company and for good reason.  Not only is the owner Tim Collie very knowledgeable and professional but he is such a good guy.  Very friendly and likable.  The price he charged me for the work he did was more than fair.  He explained my plumbing issue in detail and in an understandable way.    He also explained and gave suggestions for how to avoid having the same problem again.  And he came on a Sunday when I had an emergency!  How rare is that?  I felt like Tim really cared about my problem and about getting it fixed.  I will recommend his services to others and I will call him in the future if I ever have a plumbing problem again.  It is so uncommon to find a plumber like Tim!

Tim is an awesome plumber. Would definitely recommend.  Also, he really takes pride in his work as well as cleaning up after himself which is something that I have found to not be true for most trades-people.

Tim took on a grimy, terrible job and did it relentlessly and on the weekend with short notice.  Very thankful he lives in the neighborhood and would recommend him.

We had an issue over a holiday weekend. Called Tim on Saturday, he came next day and fixed the blockage. Fast, professional, and efficient. Our house is over 50 years old so when it needs help again, I will call Tim first.

Besides the fact that Tim (TC) is incredibly friendly he's clearly an absolute professional when it comes to fixing and maintaining plumbing. My roommate and I had a really bad clog that had been giving us some serious trouble. Tim was able to quickly diagnose, explain, fix the problem, and give us some really helpful tips for avoiding the issue in the future.

He quoted me on the phone before arriving and even though he had to return the next day (he had stayed late the night before) he didn't charge me a second time for coming on site.

If your having plumbing issues, I'd start here.

I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am for the work provided by this company. This is the third time that Tim has done work at one of my properties and unfortunately each issue has been more of a horrendous nightmare than the next. But Tim stuck with it and promised to do so until resolved. And he made good on that promise.

His work is neat and he has a very professional and calming manner. He is fair in his business dealings and we have been very pleased with each outcome. Hurry and book an appointment before his schedule is full because I've been passing his number out to everyone I know!

Thanks Tim!

In the past two years, I have:

- Graduated from college
- Gotten a salaried job
- Moved into my own apartment
- Gotten a Costco membership

But it wasn't until Friday that I actually felt like an adult. I had to call a plumber.

I opened the dishwasher to find that it hadn't actually drained, a disaster in an apartment where we like to...you know...eat. He said he was booked up on Saturday and had taken Sunday off to watch some game (I'm joking. I'm fully aware of the Niners game). I began to despair - no dishwasher until Monday?? - but then he offered to come over in fifteen minutes.

Oh. Yeah, okay.

He showed up at my door with his kit and started poking around, very patiently explaining everything he was doing and all the issues and what kind of preventative stuff we can do to keep from it happening again. Beyond that though, he had a great knowledge of the whole system and a lot of super-interesting information about San Francisco - he's an ultra-local - and I really enjoyed chatting with him. About twenty minutes later I had a fully functional dishwasher for an extremely reasonable price, a receipt to show my landlord, and a brand-new familiarity with the apartment's plumbing.

Tl;dr Give them a call and you won't regret it.

Tim could not have been more easy to work with!  He is courteous, profession, and fixed our sink promptly!  I'm a clean fanatic, and was so pleased to see that Tim was respectful of our apartment, kept the area he was working clean, and even asked to sit in our chair when he wrote out the receipt.    

Also, working from home, I always worry about the background noise or interruptions.  I took 2 meetings while Tim was here, and wasn't bothered a bit.  I would absolutely use him again!!  Thank you!

I believe it's finally fixed!  My plumbing issue has been ongoing for the last month and today Tim came out and gave me a thorough assessment, investigation and fix!  Each step of the way Tim explained what he was doing and his findings.  S&L Testing will be the plumber for my business for years to come!

I would give Tim 11 stars but they only let me give 5. He's super knowledgable, generous, attentive, flexible, easy to work with & quite frankly fun to talk to. Really appreciate your service Tim, can't wait to need you again.

Tim saved the day. He responded promptly, came over for an inspection that night, and fixed our problem the next morning. Even a complicated issue in a 5 bathroom house like ours was no match for Tim.

Calling a plumber is never associated with a good thing.
Your kitchen sink won't drain cause your kid jammed a knife down it.
You gave birth to a giant turd at the in-laws during a Thanksgiving day food feast and now the brown bowl water is rising faster than your heart rate.
Your bath tub won't drain cause your wife's hair has knotted and clogged the pipes leaving you standing in six inches of of your own grimy filth.

And so, as the water rose to above my ankles I knew a call in to Sewer Lateral Testing Service Plumbing was in store.

I left a message with SLTSP and five minutes later Tim called me back. He's the closest plumber I found and with 5-star reviews my decision was pretty much made for me. Tim said he had an appointment at 11:00 and would then be at my place at 1:00. Sure enough, at 12:50 my phone rang with Tim letting me know he's around the corner just looking to park and would be there soon.

With a big smile and firm handshake, Tim introduced himself and I knew immediately I'd called the right guy. I welcomed Tim in and he got right to work diagnosing the issue at hand, the backed up still water sitting in a dirty tub.

There are people you come across for brief moments in life that, if you're open to it, can affect you greatly. I tried to let Tim work and focus on his job, but as we got to talking and I got to hear more and more of TIm's story, I couldn't help but keep peppering him with questions. With his stories about the 89 earthquake to the current state of the city to where he sees it going, Tim could teach a History of San Francisco cultural studies course. Or to his time spent living above The Warfield and watching classic concerts through an open fan vent on the roof. Or most epicly his 15 year stint as a Burning Man ranger, during which he's seen everything, and by everything I mean literally delivering a baby, everything.

Tim's a great plumber. The clog was a bit more intense than originally thought, and he did all that was necessary to pull out a rat-sized clog of hair that needed to be sawed off the drill he used to clear it. It took him about an hour or so. But more importantly, Tim's a great guy. an interesting cat with a hellofa story. When he was finished he sat on the couch and for another hour we shot the shit and he told some amazing stories.

Take the time. And call Tim for an excellent plumber and even better person.

Tim is awesome! Prompt, professional, friendly and knows what he's doing. I would highly recommend him.

Tim and Lloyd replaced my water heater and did a wonderful job! They were punctual, knowledgeable, and professional. I am very happy with their service and would highly recommend them!

We don't normally do Yelp reviews, but we had such a great experience with Tim on November 2 that we needed to comment. Timothy was very professional; told us everything he was doing and explained how it would help. For the amount of time and energy he spent unclogging our pipes from the washing machine and dishwasher outlet and installing a new garbage disposal in our old San Francisco flat, it was an amazing value. We would highly recommend Tim for your future plumbing needs.  He was a warm and thoughtful professional and very fairly priced.

Tim is great! He cleared the clog in my kitchen sink when it seemed impossible! He is very responsive, knowledge and friendly! He even fixed a shower head while he was here. I would highly recommend him! I have found my go to Plumber in SF!

Tim at Sewer Lateral Testing Services and Plumbing was fantastic. I was very happy with the work he performed. He came the same day when several other plumbers said I had to wait. He worked until 9:00 p.m. and didn't charge me a rush or late fee. He just worked until the job was completed. He charged a fair price for his work which is pretty rare in San Francisco.

We had a clogged kitchen drain from the 3rd floor that backed up the second floor unit and started to leak through the ceiling of the first floor. He was able to unclog the issue from the basement and make several recommendations for the future. He even installed a new disposal for me. He was able to interface very politely with my tenants making a plumbing problem seem like it wasn't such a big deal. It was like he was putting on a clinic - plumbing do's and don'ts for everyone He guaranteed his work for 30 days.

I am very grateful to him and will recommend him to all my friends.

A happy customer.

These guys are great.  They showed up early, answered all my questions, and made me feel comfortable with this crazy new process homeowners in Oakland now have to go through.  Their testing process was quick and professional and I would recommend them to anyone.  Thank you

Tim was a recommendation via nextdoor.com through our neighbors. We had a leaky faucet that ended up needing a lot more work than intended, as our original home builder did not follow code.  Tim had to come back twice to get our faucet fixed.  He was very thoughtful in his recommendations on how to fix our faucet.  His prices were extremely reasonable and he walked us through what was needed to fix the issue....  And he was an absolute pleasure to deal with. Highly recommend him!

Tim was fantastic. Super friendly over the phone and very accommodating.  He really knew his stuff too. He gave great recommendations for how to manage any future issues.  Overall great service and really nice guy!

Plumbers are like car mechanics, when you find a good, honest mechanic you never want to go to anyone else. Great service, good people... I couldn't ask for anything more. Thanks guys!

TC and Lloyd are total rockstars. Tim came out on a Sunday and got my toilets working, and documented a misinstalled toilet perfectly so I could make the claim to my landlord. Totally reasonable in price and totally professional in solving my issues.

Tim to the rescue today! He responded to my call immediately and fit me in to his packed schedule at the last minute. He cleared a bad clog in my toilet as well as the shower and gave me helpful tips and education that will help prevent and problem solve in the future. He was extremely polite and gave me fair warning about the prices ahead of time, and it ended up being extremely reasonable. It was also extremely easy to pay - he takes PayPal. I am so thankful I found Tim and will be using him for all my plumbing needs in the future! Highly recommended, don't hesitate to use his services!

Tim did an excellent job.  He was thorough and VERY reasonably priced.  He answered all our questions, was very accommodating with his schedule.

Tim Collie is an excellent plumber! He is knowledgeable, patient, and completely dedicated to helping solve any plumbing mystery. He cleaned out our system and took the time to thoroughly investigate the problem, as it was not clear when he first arrived. When we had another toilet overflow after his first visit, he came back to investigate again and promised to continue helping us until the problem was fixed. He additionally helped with a lateral line repair. We live in an older house that has its own pipe mysteries, but we know we can count on Tim if another problem arrives. He gets 5 stars!

We had a major clog with our shower drain that effectively rendered the drain useless. I contacted Tim and he showed up within the hour and cleared the clog (which was a fairly bad clog) quickly and efficiently. He was very helpful in explaining exactly what he was doing and gave a nice history / background on the issues that the old San Francisco homes face in plumbing. I highly recommend Tim and he is a wonderful neighborhood plumber for anyone in the panhandle / Haight area and beyond.

Tim did a great job, and is a super guy!  Communication was easy, and he worked diligently to fix my sink blockage.