That $90 leak detection service saved my basement from a sewer backup

I called a plumber after noticing a weird smell in my crawlspace last month. He charged me $90 to run a camera down the main drain line and found a massive root blockage that was days away from bursting. Cost me another $400 to get it cleared with a hydrojet, but that is nothing compared to ripping up a concrete floor. Has anyone else avoided a disaster by just paying for an inspection early?

3 comments

3 Comments

price.gavin1d ago

You already have sump pumps and backup batteries installed?

gavinb9722h ago

And then there's the whole timing thing too. You do all this prep work for a 100 year storm that hits once, but in the meantime you're spending weekends checking float switches and testing backup batteries. It's like buying a generator for that one power outage that lasts three days, then it sits in your garage for 8 years burning oil you forgot to stabilize. Meanwhile a guy down the street just throws a wet/dry vac in the corner and a case of beer and somehow his basement stays drier than yours after he spent half the money.

robinf511d ago

My neighbor spent $3,000 on a whole setup and then had one minor seepage last spring that a $20 shop vac handled just fine. I get being careful if you live in a floodplain or something, but for most of us it feels like overkill for a wet basement once every five years. Half the houses on my block don't have any of this stuff and they've been fine for decades.