It's no accident that every one of the Yelp reviews for Dig It Sewer Repair gives them five stars, including this one. As one of the other reviewers said, I would give them 10 stars if I could.
When my drain problems first started after Thanksgiving, I called the local rep from a nation-wide drain-cleaning franchise. After three service calls by the same tech, then home visits from two different area supervisors looking things over, and a total of four kitchen floor floods in a week's time, these folks still weren't sure what was causing the problem, but they thought they knew what line it was in. They couldn't get their camera around a 90-degree angle in that line to see what they were actually up against, so they recommended jack-hammering up about 17 feet of my basement floor to expose the pipe underneath and then replace it. And just to be safe, they also advised me to have them pro-actively install a plastic liner inside the 44-foot clay pipe that goes from the house to the street level sewer, even though their camera scan of the clay pipe didn't reveal any actual issues. Emphasizing that my house had been built in 1977, they were unaware I bought in 2019 after paying for a full house inspection that included sewer line scoping. Their total estimate was just under twenty thousand dollars for everything. That's when I told them goodbye, did some research on Yelp, and found Dig It with great reviews. The best move ever!
I called Dig It the next day and left a message. When Malcolm (one of the two owners) called me back that afternoon, he listened patiently then asked several insightful questions and said he'd be out the next morning to do an inspection. He made an unhurried examination of all four bathrooms and the kitchen, looking closely at everything the other company had tried. He also ran his camera carefully all the way through my clay line to the sewer, showing me it was problem-free. Finally, he opened the clean-out to the suspect basement drain line and inserted a snake/probe to do a little exploring. He located the blockage and could tell it was flexible and not solid, but his camera was also too big to get through the 90-degree bend in the line to view the obstruction.
Refreshingly, rather than immediately going for a jackhammer, Malcolm thought about what else might be done and called in a drain technician he knew with a greater variety of specially-sized equipment to work in lines of different diameters. Using a smaller camera on a flexible cable they were able to get past the 90-degree angle and see the obstruction. Using a hook also attached to the cable, they succeeded in pulling the object out: a spool of lead solder that might have been in the line for years and gradually uncoiled enough to block the line. Removing this obstruction solved the immediate problem, and also demonstrated Malcolm's thoughtfully creative approach to problems themselves -- an ability I became increasingly grateful for as a few associated drainage problems became apparent over the next week. Malcolm made three additional trips to my house that week and trouble-shot issues that came up in the laundry room washer line, kitchen sink dishwasher/disposal connection, and an upper floor bathroom. My total cost for everything, including the help of the other technician he called in and all parts, was less than 5% of what the first company quoted me. It's been a little over a month since his last visit, everything is working perfectly, and I couldn't be happier. Both Malcolm and Dig It have my highest recommendation!
