Alki Sewer

This is honestly the first time I wish I could give more than 5 stars, these guys are THAT GOOD.

I just moved into a new house in West Seattle last week, just a few days before Christmas.  The first shower in the house caused some water to back up in the bathroom in the basement, which I knew was a problem, but being so close to Christmas and having boxes everywhere, I didn't have a chance to deal with it.  Of course, after a couple showers and a load of laundry over Christmas, things got really bad and I had sewage coming out of the toilet in that bathroom.  Come Monday morning I started calling around to some sewer service companies I found on Yelp and stumbled on Alki Sewer.

I spoke with the owner Phil and he was right in my area and came over within 30 minutes of my call.  He took care of the immediate problem, but then located the source of the issue in my sewer pipe and gave me an estimate for a repair which we scheduled for the next day.  About 30 minutes later he called me and asked if I'd rather have the work done right away since he had one of his guys free up early.  I said sure and less than an hour later I had someone working on the repair.  Everything was said and done by 3PM that same afternoon at a very reasonable price and with an awesome warranty.  They even located a potential problem with a pipe coming out of my oil tank near the sewer pipe and offered to come back and repair that if need be.

I can't say enough about how happy I am with their service.  Phil was SUPER nice and fun to chat with, he explained everything to me in detail and made me feel very confident that I had the right person on the job.  I would highly recommend Alki Sewer to anyone having sewer issues.

Phil is one of the most genuine and honest guys ever. Straight up the best and does excellent work. In the last 27 years I have called a few guys for sewer work but no one else do you need to call. He is impeccable in his word and work.

Alki Sewer was awesome from beginning to end. Phil came out and gave us a quote right away. The price was more than fair. His team got to work right away and the whole process was very smooth.

Phil was awesome. Answered his phone quickly without a phone tree and came out right away. Quickly diagnosed the problem, provided a quote, finished the work, quickly and cleanly.  Found the job required less work and charged less than his quote.  Highly recommended!

Absolutely horrible person and terrible service. The owner of this business is racist and bigoted. Openly hates lesbians and Indian people. He is currently charged with MANSLAUGHTER for being so negligent on a job site that he killed his own employee. That's right, Phillip is so terrible at his job he literally killed his employee, leaving behind a wife and children.

Do not use him. Never use him. Avoid him at all costs.

The work he did at my house was completely wrong and was not what I asked for. When I asked him to fix it he more or less told me no. He demanded to be paid in all cash. He used vulgar language and drank on the job site, in the morning nonetheless. He promised he would clean up the mess he made but never did. When I commented on it he got very angry.

Again, avoid this person. Look up his MANSLAUGHTER case. It is the first of the kind. Also look up his OSHA violations. This person is terrible both as a sewage worker and as a human.

This is my first Yelp review but Phil deserves this one. A story above and beyond!  I got a call from one of my tenants that there was a river of water flowing across the lawn of my building, down the street and into the street drain. After reading through many Yelp reviews and calling a number of drainage companies and getting the run around by a few I reached Phil at Alki Sewer and he agreed to come take a look.

He said it looked like a water line leak that was not strictly a drainage problem but he would try to help me anyway. No one else would or could for many weeks and I could NOT WAIT! At his advice, I started by calling a leak detector company. The leak detector came out TWICE and failed to find the correct leak location TWICE, though he did try very hard and helped find out where the leak was NOT!!!!

Phil came out, dug, explored, and finally was able to locate the approximate source of the leak, but it would require cutting through concrete to even verify!. He came out the next morning, cut a hatch in the concrete, and the leak was right where he thought it would be! He had a new,  aluminized PEX (replacing the old plastic water line that had failed) installed and functional within a few hours! He also came up with a brilliant solution to drain off thousands of gallons of water that had accumulated in the crawl space under the house because of the leak! Phil is an expert at what he does!  

Phil and Alki Sewer really saved my bacon on this one! The service he performed was above and the cost seemed very reasonable to me!

Beware! Phil recommended service that was not needed. We then called an independent sewer scoping service that scoped our sewer and showed us video, and other sewer repair companies, and our final conclusion was that the sewer was fine. Please call a sewer scoping service that will not profit from telling you your sewer needs to be repaired. Get an independent opinion from someone without a conflict of interest. Or at very least, call multiple sewer companies and see if their stories align...they probably won't.

Phil is an excellent and honest guy. His quote was very competitive, and he has a great attitude. His communication was very good. I can't recommend Alki Sewer enough.

We bought our first home in July, knowing that we were looking at a full replacement to the street.  We called Phil, who came out promptly for an estimate.  He was thorough and professional.  He explained in full detail the process and how everything would go.  He encouraged us to get other estimates, and we followed his advice; however, Phil's estimate was very competitive in cost and offered a much longer warranty than either of the other two bids.

The work went flawlessly, was quite high-tech, was complete in two and a half days, and we couldn't be any more satisfied!  Everything is working fine now and we shouldn't ever have to worry about the sewer again.

I highly recommend bringing in Phil for your sewer repair needs.  Prompt, professional, knowledgable, and extremely high quality work.  Call Phil, get your other bids, and then bring him in.  You won't be disappointed.  Sewer repair is no small job for which we were quite nervous.  Phil made it all right!

Contacted Phil at Alki Sewer and he was able to come out the same morning! He quickly diagnosed my plumbing problem and had it resolved in minimal amount of time. He is extremely knowledgeable and has a great attitude. A pleasure to work with and will definitely call him again. Thanks Phil

Phil has helped me out a couple of times with sewer issues.  I highly recommend him.

This is a long review, which I recommend that you read all the way through, but I will summarize in one word: Outstanding!!!!

Now read on.

I'm a little late in getting to this review, but I can't let service this good go without a comment.

OK Here is the story:

I walked out to my basement shop to find a massive amount of water on the floor and worse it was rapidly heading toward the recently carpeted and renovated Media Room.

Having no idea what to do or who to call I did some fast searches and came across Alki Sewers reviews on Yelp. The great reviews and positive comments helped me to make up my mind and I gave them a call.

Phil answered the phone after a couple of rings and after listening to my description of what was going on said he would be right over. Right over was right!, Phil and one of his guys arrived just 10 minutes after our conversation.

                    ------This is where it starts to get good------

Upon seeing the state of my basement, Phil and his guy lost no time in quickly building a barrier around the expanding water and with shop-vac and broom headed off the water before it could get get beyond my shop and in to the house. This all happened with such a sense of urgency that you would have thought it was his own house.

Once the immediate emergency had been dealt with, Phil walked around the basement, the shop and the outside of the house. He inspected my already existing sump basin and pump and asked me a lot of questions about prior issues with flooding and so forth. He also asked about how long I had been in the house and my plans for how long we would be there. I wasn't certain what all the questions had been for until Phil started to talk about what he suggested as a plan.

Phil explained to me in great detail what he saw as the cause of the flooding and further explained how it could be dealt with. He offered me a number of approaches and gave corresponding pricing to each approach. I was really impressed by Phil's obvious knowledge and experience. He was able to accurately size up the situation and quickly get to a solution.  I opted for the higher end solution, which offered the greater piece of mind. Phil started work on the spot.

A couple of things to keep in mind - This was during Thanksgiving week when we had record rainfall and every contractor in town was working at capacity. From what I had been told there was even a certain amount of price gouging going on. Well not from Alki Sewer.  The price I was quoted was not only fair, but outstanding given the circumstances.

So, work began. This was an extensive plan and involved opening up a large trench in my basement as well as a big hole in my side yard and another trench in my back yard.

Looking at all of the work that was going on gave me a sinking feeling. We had only been in the house for a couple of months and I was proud already of how great my yard and shop looked. As with everything else, I was impressed by how Phil and his crew paid close attention to leaving things not just as they found them but in a few cases, Better!! I could not believe how great everything looked when Phil and his crew finished the job. The shop was cleaned to a shine and the yard looked as if it has never been touched.

During the course of the job, Phil discovered that a couple of the pipes for my underground sprinkler system had been plumbed in incorrectly and that a drain in front of my garage had not been installed properly. Guess what. Phil fixed both of these issues for me without charge.

The moral of the story is that I have not had a drop of water in the basement since Phil completed the job. The work was done quickly and did not cost me a fortune.

I have always appreciated true professionals and I will always call out when someone goes above and beyond.

Phil and Alki Sewer do amazing work and act with honesty, integrity and true professionalism. I recommend Alki Sewer without hesitation and with the highest praise I know how to give.

I just want to say that Phil was a lifesaver! I bought my first house in 2017 and had a few sewer backups over several months. On Veterans Day I'm leaving for a 2 week vacation and my sewer backs up, big time. I don't want this issue waiting for me when i come back so I start calling plumbers. All plumbers are closed or busy. But Phil to the rescue was available and very friendly (on a national holiday). Came out himself to snake the line and find the blockage. He was able to quickly cut out a bad section of pipe that had years of build-up. He replaced it with new pipe and an external cleanout. I will definitely be using him again. Can't thank him enough!

Phil is definitely knowledgeable and passionate about sewer lines- if you let him, he'll talk your ear off about sewer lines! But the guy knows his stuff. His bid was much lower than another one I received from another large west seattle plumbing outfit, he completed the work even faster than he estimated, and everything has been great since.

I didn't believe him when he said he could dig several giant pits in our yard, replace all that pipe, and afterwards it would be like they'd never been there- but that's exactly what happened. Which is, I suppose, the best one can hope for in a sewer replacement.

I cannot recommend Phil highly enough. His work was exceptional, he always had a positive and customer service attitude and his pricing was excellent. He helped us diagnose our problem, showing us what he saw every step of the way, then gave us options with costs for each. Then you got the work done ASAP, and cleaned up beautifully. We are forever Phil fans!!

Called, set up appointment, then he says he knows the place, I don't need to come over. The problem is he never called again, never returned any calls and left us with a  bitter taste. Not reliable! Found someone more reliable and he got the job done.

Old house we bought needed a sewer line repair. Phil gave us a more than fair bid and did the job well and on time. And he helped out with a downspout drain solution while he was at it. He seems genuinely invested in giving you a repair or work that is cost effective. If I were to need sewer work again, I'd call Alki first.

Phil came out and took care of business.  Not only did he fix my sewer pipes but he also put a smile on my face each day I saw him.  He is a true professional and will go out of his way to get things done accordingly.  He finished the job sooner than anticipated and also worked on miscellaneous items inside my house.  I recommend Alki Sewer to anyone needing any sewer/plumbing repairs.  Thanks 5-star Phil!!!!:)

BEWARE!!!!  DO NOT use these guys. I wish I could give zero stars.

I scheduled an initial appointment for 9:00am on a thursday morning because it was the only time they could squeeze me in. I completely rearranged my day so I could be there, and by noon they had not showed up. No phone call, no email, no nothing. Obviously, they could care less. Later that day I sent them an email asking why they didn't show up and they completely ignored me again. After a few days, I sent another email and finally I got a response that they were just so busy. Say what? Too busy to call a customer waiting at home for them to show up?

Despite this experience, and based on the positive reviews on this site, I decided to give them a second chance so I sent another email asking if we could reschedule (I tried to call but their voicemail said that email would be more effective). Well, that was a couple of weeks ago and still no response. Unbelievable!

Phil may know sewers, but he could clearly use some help with customer relations. I don't think that someone who treats people this way deserves our business, no matter how good they are. Do yourself a favor and find someone who knows how to treat you right.

I setup an appointment with them to come to my house today at 9am. Along rolled 9:30 and I decided to contact them asking if they were on the way.

The response was I'm sorry something has occurred and we're not going to be open for some weeks.

I completely get that things happen, life gets in the way, but it flows both ways. My wife and I had to change our schedules around so I could be here at 9am for the appointment, my wife had to get out of the house early with our dog and 5 months old (not an easy task) as our dog is fearful of other people.

If something had come up, at a minimum I have expected a proactive, we can't make it, rather than a response to my email.

Had a great experience with Alki Sewer and Phil.  He was able to come over and inspect within 30 minutes of me calling, and gave the most competitive bid around.  The work was started the next day and completed within all stated expectations.
Most importantly, it doesn't look like they were even there when done.  All ground was put back the way it started!   I would highly recommend them next time you have a sewer emergency.

Short version: fast, friendly sewer repair

I live in an old house and, as with many old houses, the main sewer in the house was going -- clogging more and more frequently. It wasn't roots -- just clogs that I could blow out with a hose attachment. But before it turned into an emergency, I decided Action Must Be taken.

Finding a new plumber is hard. Finding a plumber that knows sewers is harder.

I got Phil's information from James at ZesBro plumbing with the introduction, His name is Phil a really good guy and sewer technician been using him for years and work well together. As if to prove James right, Phil came to the address James gave him my house even though he knew I wasn't there to assess what he could from the outside, left a card, pulled up the sewer schematics to understand the situation, then called me to let me know he was on the case. I called him late the same evening and he answered immediately, explaining what he would need to do in order to make an accurate estimate and how he would go about replacing the main line. As another reviewer commented, Phil is really enthusiastic about sewers. He estimated two days for the work and he was careful to explain when it was most likely that the house would be without a sewer line (about 4-6 total hours over two days).

When the time came, he showed up with his crew. Holes were dug. Concrete was sawn. Pipe was pulled. Cleanup was done. Two days and a bit later, he was done.

I can't say enough good things about Phil. If I had to do the sewer again, I'd call him without question.

Wow, I am incredibly disappointed.  Based on Yelp reviews I expected more.  I scheduled an appointment with Phil at Alki Sewer for noon today.   At 11:59 I received an email that Alki Sewer is not registered in Bellevue.  Really?  Couldn't I have been told that yesterday when I scheduled the appointment, or yesterday when I sent the email that included my address, or by phone today,  so that I didn't have to happen upon the email at 12:20?  I definitely could have spent my day off work much more productively.

Yes, I would say Alki Sewer is as good as it gets.  I called Phil at Alki to get a second estimate on a sewer repair/replacement job.  He came the next day and gave me a thorough description and estimate with a few options.

The pipe bursting method he recommended sounded much better than the liner our first estimator was suggesting.  Bursting is an odd name for the process but look it up.

The estimate was less than our first one.  Phil guaranteed it would not go up if he ran into problems.  They started the job a few days later, when we requested.

Phil works with a very capable crew.  My wife and I were impressed.  The job took longer than anticipated.  It was very complex and heavy rain made it rough.  But the job got done at the quoted price.  The cleanup was great too.

Midway through the job we decided to involve 2 of our neighbors because our 3 houses connect before going to the street.  We all negotiated with Phil and the neighbors agreed to replace their part of the line as well.

I highly recommend Alki Sewer.

Mark Hall

We purchased our 1909 Craftsman in January of this year.  We had the sewer scoped at the time and knew that we had a new sewer in our not too distant future.  In December, we finally decided to be proactive rather than waiting for it to fail.  After doing our due diligence and contact several service providers, we decided to go with Phil of Alki Sewer.  His rate was competitive, but above all, he was the most responsive and comprehensive in developing his estimate.  We got the feeling that he understood the scope of the issues and would provide a resolution that was permanent.  

Phil arrived promptly on the start of the job, and his crew persevered through temperatures in the 20's to get the job done.  There was minimal to no intrusion on our regular routine, and he kept us well updated throughout the job with regular e-mails and calls.  I stopped by the house several times during the few days that work was going on, and Phil was always on the job site making sure that everything went according to plan.

He has a good relationship with the city inspectors which made the completion of the job a breeze.  He's a down to earth friendly guy, and a family owned local business on top of that.

Bottom line, if I could give more than 5 stars I would, but since I'm limited, suffice it to say that Phil and Alki Sewer are your guys for any sewer repair/replacement job you could want.

The neighbor was so impressed by what she saw she scheduled Phil to replace her sewer line the following week!

Quick edit, forgot to add that, at the end of the job, everything was put back to normal.

We had a very complicated project that included multiple homes (7 plus) in our Greenlake neighborhood.  Phil and his crew were professional and great to work with.  We would highly recommend Alki Sewer to anyone having sewer issues.  
Patrick
Jaeger Hardwood Floors

This is what a contract home maintenance job should be! Done as promised for the price quoted, in a timely manner and when complete your place looks a little better than before it was started. Honestly, I have no idea how Phil and his folks left my yard looking untouched after digging a trench to clear and reconnect a downspout to the drainage and sewer line.

I had been putting off this nagging project for years anticipating and fearing the worst - major sewer job, yard torn up, thousands of dollars, etc. Finally I could ignore the soggy, soft spot in my yard by the corner of the house (by a downspout) no more. After reading Alki Sewer's other Yelp reviews I decided to give them a call. Boy am I glad I did.After leaving Phil a voice mail, he returned my call the same day, came out on the weekend as agreed upon, quoted me a fair price, did the work the work the following day while my wife and I were at work. We came home and, other than the clean new PVC where the old, corroded metal connector used to be I could barely tell they were here. Problem solved.

Thanks Phil!

Phil is AWESOME. Its so rare to find an honest plumber who is quick to get to your house. I really can't recommend Alki Sewer enough.

Although I wish we had never had a sewer problem and I'd have to be writing this review, we couldn't have asked to work with a better contractor for this no-fun-at-all issue.  Phil came out within a day of our shower downstairs backing up with sewage and he quickly found our sewer line was broken and cracked where it Y'd in our yard (and having a Y caused it to drain slowly too.)  The next day he came out, had his worker dig a big hole in our yard, and replaced the line with a brand new high-quality line that is now a 90-degree angle instead of the Y design.  Our line has been draining wonderfully and we are so happy we called Phil!  He really is the best in the business and very knowledgeable of this field.  He was reasonably priced, responsive, professional and thorough.  And fun to talk to to-boot!

Alki should DEFINITELY be one of the contractors you contact - of the three I reached out to about our side sewer, Phil was by far the most responsive, knowledgeable, and (as my wife said) most passionate about sewers. Most importantly, he truly wanted to help us solve our side sewer issue at least cost to us, even advising us on how to push back with the city when the responsibility for our particular issue was unclear (which was not in his financial interest ).

He rescoped our line even after the official video inspection to better understand the work himself, and gave us great advice with zero pressure.  His price was a little higher than the other contractor we considered for our particular issue, but if you value integrity, reliability, and diligence in your contractors, you will also find yourself writing a five star review.

Phil is phenomenal! He gave me free, good advice, saved me over 5k.

I had a backed up sewer line. A major pluming company came out and wanted 369 to snake it, did a bad job and told me I had a collapsed sewer line and wanted $6700 on the spot to dig it up and fix it. Yea yelp!!! I saw SWP had bad reviews and Alki Sewer had good reviews so I got a second opinion from Phil. He looked at it for free and recommended I have it power jetted because of some special situations (the line runs under a stream and it looked like dirt in the line) he recommended a company that would do it right for a fair price, he had them call him after they were done and he came back out to review and confirm everything worked. He never charged me a dime and saved me from needlessly having to replace the line.  Phil is honest, smart, knows plumbing and likes helping people.

Phil was outstanding!  We have a fairly new home in West Seattle, but could smell something near the lower level bathroom.  (Septic system)  We were ready to rip the carpet up and look thru the floor boards, but thank God my husband found Alki Sewer and Phil!  (First, he took his shoes off when he came in... that's a Hawaiian thing!) But most importantly, HE KNEW AND LIKED WHAT HE WAS DOING!  He immediately knew what the problem was, went to the shop to get the parts, and came back in record time TO FIX THE PROBLEM AND THE SMELL!!!  Yeah, Phil!  Thank you!

Fantastic work! Phil was experienced, friendly and professional. Bid process was quick. Got the bid on Friday, started work on Monday. We had to make some adjustments before work started. Phil was knowledgeable and quick to respond which was a big plus since we had a tight timeline. They finished on budget and ahead of schedule. Everything went as expected with no hiccups. I highly recommend Alki Sewers.

I hate to give someone a single Star but Phil has gone off radar in recent weeks.  I had a quote and a general time to start the work but has gone completely AWOL over the last month - emails, phone calls etc without response.  

I really hope Phil is okay and if someone close to him knows of any issues please let me know.  

Otherwise it feels like there's a complete lack of responsibility from this business and I would not recommend them.

Phil is as good as it gets. I needed a cleanout installed and called 3 different outfits to give me a quote. Neither of the others even went in my house. They looked around my yard and made a guess about where it would be installed. One quoted me at about $3,000 and the other was a little over $2,000. Phil came, took the time to scope my sewer and found that I needed not only a cleanout but a whole section of rotting piping replaced. He showed me the issue and educated me about what I was looking at. He replaced about 15 ft of rotted pipe and installed the cleanout for about $800. He was prompt and proffesional. It was clear that he was more concerned about solving my problem than the others and was much more affordable. Thanks Phil!

Based on the yelp reviews, I had to call Phil. I was on break during work on Monday, called, and he said he'd be to my house at 1:30pm to do a free scope and assessment. He was early in fact. I was surprised that he said he'd include a scope because we had Bob Oates come out and they looked without scoping and then gave us a bid: almost $4,000 for this one problem (random survey stake through the sewer pipe). Phil gave me a super competitive bid for basically the issue plus other things we need to take care of eventually, but stated the most immediate concern was the stake through the pipe. We accepted the repair for the most immediate issue - a fraction of the cost of the Bob Oates quote, and done literally 26 hours after I met him. I highly recommend Phil - he's not going to screw you around, and he's in your court so you don't have to be overbid by the big names in the sewer world in Seattle. Also guarantees work for 10 years and does not back down on his quotes for work. Super knowledgable and explained everything very carefully, AND knows excellent plumber jokes. Thank you Phil!

After draining the bathtub on a Sunday afternoon only to find water overflowing out of the toilet and shower, we called Phil with ALKI Sewer.  He left his company party and came right over.  We assumed our sewer line was clogged.  After spending quite some time - he ran a camera through our pipes and looked at the neighborhood sewer map - he finally was able to determine that the circuit breaker was off.  Despite the fact that he was at our house for almost an hour, he did not charge us and would not even take our money when we tried to pay him.

We will call Phil if we have any sewer issues in the future.  His professionalism was top notch and he was incredibly kind and friendly as well.

Highly recommended! After a great Memorial Day weekend we were greeted Monday night with a bathtub half-full of sewage and a rotten egg stench all over our main floor. Yuck! I called Alki Sewer on Tuesday morning and Phil answered right away. He was making several stops but offered to stop by my house in an hour. So speedy! Phil spent almost two hours at the house, ran a camera through out main sewer line and took off the toilet to do the same. He identified several issues but said that it was a smaller job and recommended a specific local plumber to take care of the problem (a great Yelp review for the plumber too). Despite doing all this work (he even gave welcomed suggestions for ramen recipe), Phil didn't charge me a penny. Amazing. He walks the talk when it comes to building long-term relationships with the community. Phil was professional, knowledgeable, friendly, and as honest as they come. We'll be sure to use Alki Sewer for a bigger project in the horizon. Great job, Phil.

We have lived in our house for 10 years.  It's a late 50's house.  We have ALWAYS had issues, not dramatic, but ranging from annoying to at least 2X a year calling to have the line roto-rootered.  After the latest  backup in the basement, we were finally done.  Looked Alki Sewer on Yelp & noticed the great reviews.  Called yesterday, he was out quickly.  Took a look w/the camera & told us we needed to replace the connection from our house to the line in the yard replaced.  Gave us a more-than-fair price & was out this morning with one of his guys.  Not once did I feel uncomfortable with the price, the suggested fix or any of the people involved.  They are actually at my house right now.  Felt comfortable enough to leave them alone in my house while I get to work.  It's never great to have to call someone out to work on your sewer line.  Make your life easier & just call these guys.

Phil helped us out last fall, when rain, roots and age conspired to remind us that our old sewer needed attention. He came, did an epic cleanout, explained absolutely everything we needed to know about the best way to fix our line, and gave us a terrific bid. We'd had other bids on the system that wanted to pipe burst all the way into the basement; Phil explained why leaving the cast iron stack rather than bursting through it was SO important. And then the holidays happened, and life happened...fast forward to spring, when the sewer started sending reminders again. We contacted Phil, heard back right away, and he came out to double check the job and re-site everything. Bid price went up by a couple hundred dollars only because a supplier price had increased. There was one issue with the sighting of the end of the cast iron stack, which is unfortunately an imprecise science, but Phil and crew took care of the issue (which meant filling in the first 8 foot hole they'd dug, cutting out decking, chipping out concrete, and digging a different 10 foot hole). Otherwise, the job was done incredibly well and on time. Hooray for new sewers!

I unexpectedly found myself with some sewer problems resulting in water and sewage backing up into my basement after a shower and brushing my teeth one morning.  I had a sewer snake performed by Raymark and subsequent video inspection showed that my 70 year old cement pipes were full of well-established tree roots and crumbling.  Based on the condition of my pipes, I decided to have them replaced.

I obtained quotes from five different sewer repair shops including Raymark and Metropolitan Sewer.  When I called Phil for a quote, I was looking for some general numbers based on previous quotes provided by competitors, but he was adamant about coming out to review the property in person and talking me through what the repairs would involve.  During his visit to my property Phil walked me through everything that needed to be done and even discovered some additional items that other competitors had missed - for example my gutters were running into a PVC pipe that dumped underground a few feet from my house.

Phil's quote came in several thousand dollars cheaper than the other sewer companies and he was the only person who guaranteed the quoted price would not increase.  My joint sewer line was unfortunately located under my neighbor's beautifully landscaped brick wall and to help diffuse the concern of having to take the wall apart, Phil guaranteed the wall would look exactly the same after as before, including a warranty for future problems with the section of the wall that was impacted.  Again, he was the only person to guarantee this.  I ended up selecting Alki Sewer to replace my sewer line with the pipe bursting method as well as stub a pipe underneath my foundation for a future bathroom in my basement.

Work lasted around a week and Phil and his guys were very communicative about the times that my sewer would be unavailable.  Typically the sewer was only off from 9AM-1PM each day which was convenient because it allowed me the use of it in the morning and after work.  When I had concerns or feedback for Phil, he immediately addressed the items with his team.  During the course of work, there were two key examples of the type of hard work and honestly that Alki Sewer brings that I'd like to highlight:

1. I had originally asked for a pipe to be stubbed underneath my basement slab for a future bathroom next to where the sewer pipe comes out of my house.  After digging the hole to fix the sewer line, Phil discovered that a future bathroom could connect to my original sewer line without the need to stub an extra pipe.  This ended up saving me a good chunk of money and the key take away is that Phil was honest about not trying to take my money for a service that I didn't need.  He could have put the pipe in and charged me for the work and I would never have known the difference.

2. During the pipe bursting, Phil discovered that my tree roots were so bad that it almost broke their equipment.  To successfully pull a new sewer line, the team had to dig an additional, unanticipated hole about 5 feet x 12 feet x 9 feet deep.  This surprise ended up adding an extra day of work to the job, but true to his word, the quoted price that I paid did not increase, despite Phil having to pay for extra day of work for his guys.  Once again, Phil demonstrated his integrity by keeping his word.

When the job was all done, the guys spent a day getting the yard back to normal, restoring the wall and cleaning up.  I had some friends over for dinner about a week after the work and they commented that you can't even tell that any work was done.  I consider this a high compliment for the work that Phil and his team have done.  Thanks again to Alki Sewer for the quality work they put in and I'd recommend them to anyone looking for sewer repair.

Alki Sewer was great!  Phil and Ian did a fantastic job fixing my toilet and home sewer system.  I called him at 7am and he showed up early to our appointment.  Phil diagnosed my problem, showed me everything he found and explained what needed doing.  Fast, efficient and priced competitively.  He did great work and I strongly recommend Alki Sewer.

1/24/2012
I called Alki Sewer and spoke with Phil.  We needed someone ASAP as we had a clogged sewer line and could not do anything that would require water usage in any way shape or form.  Phil was very busy, but was willing to come over and help. Within 1 1/2 hours after Phil arrived, he had everything in tip top shape. I had read the Yelp reviews to try to find a good sewer/drain company and liked what I read about Alki Sewer.  After having Phil here today and seeing how true each of those reviews were I definitely can see once again how reliable YELP is.  I highly, highly recommend Phil/Alki Sewer to anyone.  He was on time, fast, very nice, very reasonable and cleaned up perfectly.  I would absolutely use him again and suggest he be the first call anyone makes when needing someone in this catagory.

I would highly recommend ALKI SEWER , Phil was very professional and honest.
Phil is very well connected in the industry and made phone calls to help me out and had ciity workers  inspect my problem within a hour,Phil fixed my Sewer proplem
Very efficiently and clean.All questions were answered honestly and quickly,all phone calls were returned promptly.
          Phil came to my house twice once to assess the situation ,and to do the actual work.Both times he was early . And eager to help.His helper Ian did a great job
They both worked very hard ,and were fast and clean.I also enjoyed there company.
I would hire them again in a heartbeat,very hard to find honest people anywhere.

I honestly can't think of a single thing that Phil could have done to make things better.  I would recommend Alki Sewer to anyone in need of sewer help.

These guys were awesome.  We had about 4 bids for the work and their bid was very competative but not so low it worried me.  They replaced our entire sewer line.

The team worked so hard and got the job done quickly and...here is the strangest praise for a sewer job...neatly!  I can't believe how tidy these guys were as they dug up several spots in our paver patio & lawn.  They kept their work space so well organized and when the work was done it was like nothing had happened.  Truly.  I wish I could upload the before and after pictures.  It was like 10 am - giant hole, 2 pm better than new.  

Crew was also super nice.  My three year old son loved them and they were great to have around.  Phil told me that he hires good people and he pays them what they deserve.  That seems clear as everyone worked extremely hard and was in a good mood while doing it.

Have already recommended them to several people.

We've had a recurring issue with our sewer.  We've tried one of the local big companies and one of the local small companies.  One was crazy expensive, one did the job poorly.  Phil came out and immediately fixed the primary symptoms (sewer line backed up) and gave me a reasonable quote for a permanent fix--including the time necessary to get the proper inspections (something a few other plumbers overlooked).  

Absolutely will call him again.

I have a clogged downspout next to my 1912 house and wanted someone to take a look at it.  Phil came out the next morning and not only gave me a bit of history about my house, but advised that I just reroute the downspout instead of digging a 60 foot trench.. no charge and a free history lesson.  What a sweet guy.

Phil recently completed a camera line inspection on our sewer line. He was prompt, friendly and gave us a full inspection report including recorded video footage. He also was priced very competitively. We did our homework and got bids from over half a dozen local companies, including names like Roto Rooter (AVOID = overpriced and snobby). Overall Alki Sewer is a strong recommend.

When my 93-year-old sewer line began to crumble, Phil at Alki Sewer was expert, thorough, fast, considerate and very fairly priced. This was a repair I'd dreaded for years, but Phil brought great positive energy to the project and actually made it a pleasure. He and his assistant worked so impeccably that afterwards my property looked as if nothing had taken place - my neighbors kept asking if I'd had the repair done yet! And he offers a 20-year warranty on his work. There's a reason his nickname is Five Star Phil.

We have been totally impressed by Phil. He reminds me of my brother-in-law, totally trust worthy and able to back his word with professional work. Our sewer had backed up back in November (as part of a long-standing pattern) and we freaked and called that huge company that tells you to call them instead. They told us we'd need a full sewer replacement and we'd need it fast.... We didn't act fast, and we're glad we waited. After their quote on a sewer replacement (on top of the ridiculous rate they charged us for the snake to clear the back-up) we decided to look around on the web to find other reputable companies. After several weeks of calling around to different companies and not receiving terribly satisfactory responses, I found Alki Sewer on-line and called them, based upon their YELP reviews. I second all the high rated reviews!
Phil came out the same day we called him, and not only provided a free video scope of the sewer as part of the free estimate, but gave us different options and admitted to us that our sewer problem was not as urgent as we'd been led to believe and probably could wait. Regardless, we went with the plan to replace our sewer now, while we have the funds. Phil provided a guaranteed quote that was considerably more reasonable than the first company's. He and his team were meticulous and fast. They completed the job in a day and a half, without a huge mess and with all the paperwork and permits completed by the city.They included extras such as additional drains and a clean-out of the laundry line. He even guaranteed the work for life, with a stipulation that the guarantee transfers to the next owners of the house if/when we decide to move. We would recommend him to anyone and have already told a family friend about his work.

No one wants to have to do a sewer line repair. But if you do, you only hope you can find someone fast, experienced, and honest to help you out. That's Phil. I called him when our rental house sewer line backed up based on the reviews on Yelp. He answered his phone on Sunday, came out himself on Monday morning, and the job was done before noon. I also now have a full understanding of the longer term problem with our sewer line and an estimate and plan for dealing with it moving forward. He sets the bar. Highly recommended.

Phil from Alki Sewer came out to unclog my toilet after hours the night before Thanksgiving and was at my home in a matter of minutes. He was fast, friendly, and solved my problem in no time. I recommend him wholeheartedly.

If you want someone PASSIONATE about sewers, Phil is your guy!  We live in a 100 year old house and as our neighbors started replacing their sewers one by one, we knew we were living on borrowed time with our old clay sewer that from one DVD I saw had roots growing inside.  I got 4 bids from different companies, but after walking around with Phil, I knew he would be our sewer guy.  Quite a character, he was the most thorough in assessing the drainage system from the side sewers on, even removing an upstairs toilet just to make sure it was not tied into the gutter/sewer system.  Only until he was satisfied with understanding the way the whole sewer system worked (seemingly for his own edification), was he comfortable drawing up a proposed solution.  He explained to me what he found (I now know far more about sewers than I ever thought I would!).  He gave us a detailed outline of our options from the most expensive and complete fix, to the least expensive solution of what absolutely should be done to avoid a sewage backup, and what could get by with a maintenance program of regular clean outs.  

He told me that he because he spends so much time with the diagnosis aspect, he never goes over his proposed $amount.  I believe him!  The other companies spent less than half the time and the proposed cost even had vagueness worked into the proposal.  A bad sign!

We chose almost a complete fix.  This was a big job, but our sewer was repaired within the allotted time (5 days) with several people working during the day.  We were able to use the sewer every night.  We're a family of 6, so this was much appreciated!  A rival company even told on Phil, so a city inspector showed up during that time (the nerve!), but Alki Sewer came up shining!  Phil even threw in 2 Toto Drakes (plumbers toilets) for free to replace the leaky toilet he had checked out during the diagnostic phase (also, our master toilet was not great either).  They work great!

I would highly recommend Phil with Alki Sewer in a heartbeat.  He gave us a lifetime warranty on his sewer work for as long as we live in this house to boot!

Fantastic!  He just came by to inspect my sewer and gave me an honest opinion.  He was knowledgable about potential problems and educated me on the best way to fix them.  More importantly, he wasn't trying to sell me services to fix my sewer like another company did.  The other company wanted to charge me $17,000 for something he thought looked fine.  I appreciate his honesty and his no-nonsense approach.  I would definitely recommend Alki Sewer and I intend to use them if we decide to do any work.

Phil is fantastic. He was available right away and was prompt arriving to our house. His rates were very reasonable and he worked hard to fix our sewer issue as quickly as possible. Phil also was very pleasant to work with - he made a potentially stressful situation so much better!

If I could give Phil a 10 I would. This man is everything ethical in a business person that you could wish for. Honesty, integrity, excellent workmanship, on time. good price point, fair and no run around. He takes great pride in his work and his employees and it's a win win all around. I've used him twice on house inspections and his input was invaluable and accurate. Would not hesitate to recommend Alki sewer and will continue to use them!!

phil is great. he was very professional, very prompt, and helpful in explaining the major sewer repair we needed. the price was more than fair and he brought us doughnuts and coffee in the mornings when he started work. what's not to love? we would use him again in a heartbeat.