Anyway, they sent out a tech who brought with him a sewer camera and a power snake. The guy snaked out the drain...said he ran it out 70' or so, but explained to my mother that she had a serious problem. He had found a large section of cast iron pipe that had rotted out on the bottom, leaving a hole through which sewage would leak, and with jagged edges that would eventually catch enough debris to cause another clog.
Johnny on the spot that he was, he assured my mother that his company could repair the problem. In fact, he recommended that most of the sub slab piping be replaced....while they were there. They would need to pull up the carpet in the finished basement, hammer up a lot of the concrete slab and patch it all up. They would also have to do a bunch of digging in the yard as well.
He left her a contract to sign...for $5,500....which she did. Thankfully, Maryland has a "Right of Rescission" law, which allows a contract to be cancelled within three days.
What mom did next was call her sons to ask what we thought.
Skeptics that we are, as well as experienced contractors, something didn't sound right. We've both worked on homes much older than our mother's (40 years) and most often find that the cast iron sewer lines last a loooong time. So we rented a sewer camera, took it over to mom's place with our long time plumber, and set out to see for ourselves.
Into the drain line the camera went, only to find....well, nothing, really. The pipes were in as good shape as you'd expect after 40 years in the ground. About 40' in (outside the walls of the house) there was an accumulation of petrified grease, which is not uncommon in older homes. The way that is dealt with, however is NOT by hammering up the better part of a basement and digging the hell out of the yard. It is dealt with by blasting the grease out with high temperature, high pressure water. It costs a few hundred dollars....not $5,500!
Did you know that? Mom didn't, and neither, I suspect, do a lot of nice people, young AND old. Why would they, after all? How many folks do you think get suckered this way every day? Plenty, I'm sure.
And so, my recommendation: Get a second opinion! There are times when there's an emergency, sure, and the thing, whatever it is, needs to be dealt with then and there. Sometimes, in those situations, you just have to go with the first one that answers the phone. For less immediate things though, take some time and think things through. Call another plumber, or electrician, roofer, or whatever. Call someone who is more knowledgeable than you. Hell, call ME, if you want to, but call someone.
I don't know if there are any second opinion companies out there (maybe I should start one!), but I would, at least, try to find someone independent, or who has no skin in the game. Maybe you could call a Virginia licensed contractor over and pay them for their time to give you advice in Maryland. Maybe you could call a home inspector. They provide information, but don't actually do the work.
I know it demands more time, but I think that the results are well worth it. If my mother didn't have two sons who knew enough to ask questions, she'd be out a lot of money right now...and so might you.
