Pro Power Rooter

AVOID – Mark does not seem to know what he is doing and my hunch is he primarily does jobs after hours to be able to charge higher labor rates for people who are in desperate (emergency situations) who are unable to find a more capable plumber.

We had an issue with a septic lift station where our lift tank was nearly full and the pump was not pumping. The only plumber we could get out on short notice was Mark – he said he could be there after 8pm same day. Prior to his arrival, he sent over his pricing info, which was a little shady: credit cards would cost an additional 15% compared to cash/check, but if you pay cash/check you get no receipt.

From the get go, he had trouble getting the pipes and lid apart. He continually complained about the setup and said our setup was not up to code. He determined that the pump needed to be replaced. When he showed up I did not have any sewage in my basement, outside the septic system. Twice, Mark turned the pump on without having pipes connected and sprayed sewage in my basement, including all over himself, on my floor, on some nearby furniture, and the walls. He put things back together incorrectly, not once, not twice, but FIVE times.
Mark finally got the job complete around 1am. When it was put back together, the pipes were no longer straight and were at an awkward angle, but Mark told me it was totally fine. Throughout the process, Mark ruined about 8 towels of ours to clean up the messes he made, though he did not clean the furniture or walls. He told me I had to deal with the old pump and did not take it. He didn’t seal anything up, and told me I could do that. We ran some tests and 1 of 5 of those failed but he said it was ok. By this time I was so tired of Mark being there, and since the crisis was mostly abated, I was just anxious to get him out the door. He charged me $640 for the job (cash/check) – no receipt. I think he wanted to charge more, but realized it took him so long because of his own mistakes.

After Mark left, I wanted to have another plumber come and test out the system as I was not convinced Mark’s work was high quality. I tried calling some more plumbers, but again, had trouble getting anybody out quickly. Within a week we started having issues with the lift station. It would run and intermittently not shut off – the pump would stay running but not actually pump. I tried getting other plumbers to come out, but in most cases I would get no answer. Against my better judgment I called Mark back – part of me was reluctant to pay another plumber after spending over $600 on Mark – additionally he told me his work was covered by guarantee. Mark came back out again a few days later, again after 730p. He said the system was airlocking and he drilled a hole in the sewage pipe below the lid. We ran 5 tests and had no issues.

Within 3 days, we started having the same intermittent problem. At this point, I had no confidence in Mark and set out to find a new plumber. I crowd-sourced (Facebook) my issue and multiple people recommended Father & Sons. I called them and they were able to come over pretty quickly. Loren took a look at our system and noted how a couple of things were installed incorrectly. He also told me the pump that Mark installed was super cheap and had very poor reliability. He offered me the cheaper option to repair the system, but I insisted on replacing the pump again – my fear was that since the pump had been running quite a bit without anything flowing, it would be more susceptible to near term failure. Loren got the replacement parts and completed the job in less than 1 hour. He sealed everything up, did multiple tests, and everything looked well accomplished.

Overall, Mark was responsive, but I just don’t think he knows what he is doing at least in terms of septic lift stations. I feel I would have been as adequately prepared to do what he did if I had just watched a couple of YouTube videos. Additionally, I wasted $640 on his work that all ended up being completely redone due to his incompetence.

Great customer service. Called him at 8 pm and he came out in the middle of a winter storm to take care of our leak. He did not leave until the job was done. I highly recommend. Affordable prices, great customer service and great work ethic.

Mark is absolutely incredible! I didn’t have a fortune to spend on an expensive plumber to fix our mysterious clogged sink. He came out and worked on it a few hours and found the problem, roots, and our horribly old and oddly placed pipes. He came out a second time the same week and completely cleared everything out! On top of being very proficient and friendly, he was shaving off costs for us!
You can’t find someone better! I’ll be giving Pro Power Rooter a call for all my plumbing needs in the future!