Roto-Rooter Blogosphere

Welcome. If you are reading this then you have an interest in Roto-Rooter Plumbing and Drain Service. I am Paul Abrams, the public relations manager at Roto-Rooter Services Company. I'm based at the company's corporate headquarters in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.

Roto-Rooter is best known as a sewer cleaning company, our founder having invented the modern method for cleaning sewer pipes with the electric Roto-Rooter machine, also referred to as an "electric snake" or "cable snake."

Beginning in the early 1980s, Roto-Rooter expanded to become a full-service plumbing company that offers 24 hour plumbing, commercial plumbing and all manner of residential plumbing services and plumbing repair. It's amazing to those of us at Roto-Rooter that some people still don't realize we are a full-service plumbing company.

With this blog, I hope to inform the public about all of the services Roto-Rooter offers. We are a growing, dynamic plumbing company that has helped to bring some very high-tech approaches to plumbing repair and replacement to the masses. There are a lot of plumbing companies out there but none can match Roto-Rooter when it comes to the use and implementation of the latest tools. We do our best to stay on top of the latest advances then we apply them to our daily work in the field.

Roto-Rooter is also about good people. In case you are unaware, skilled plumbers are in short supply these days. Roto-Rooter tries to hire the best of the best and we continually educate our service technicians so they improve their skills and become better overall plumbers and plumbing technicians. We pay them competitive wages and provide an excellent benefits package so these skilled plumbers can earn a good living and support their families. A good standard of living encourages our service technicians to stay with us and help us grow our business. In addition, we operate two call centers in the United States that employ sharp, informed customer service representatives who are trained to assist our customers quickly and efficiently.

Again, welcome to the Roto-Rooter blogosphere.

Regards,
Paul Abrams
Public Relations Manager
Roto-Rooter Services Company

Roto-Rooter teamed up with TV's Ghost Hunters on a book recently. Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat features stories from Roto-Rooter plumbers across America. Believe me, these guys have seen it all. From clogged bathtub drains Baltimore to broken kitchen plumbing in Tacoma.

Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, real life Roto-Rooter service technicians in Providence, Rhode Island. They contributed to the book and were in Cincinnati on August 7the for a book signing. Fans asked them about the show but they also had plumbing questions about kitchen plumbing jobs and one guy told them about an adventure he had trying to do his own sewer repair.

In all, about a thousand Ghost Hunters fans showed up. Most of them got copies of the book, which Jason and Grant autographed. Maybe the book and the book signing will finally put to rest the rumors that the guys aren't real Roto-Rooter men.

We're Roto-Rootering our way through the social networks in the Web 2.0 world. You won't have to look far to get advice on kitchen plumbing jobs on our blogs, Tweets about where to find coupons on Twitter, information about the science of sewer cleaning on Facebook or a local page or two on MySpace.

The point is that we're trying to go where you are, not to be a spammer but a helpful friend that is easy to find when you need a friend most...like say when the commercial plumbing fails in a bottling plant on a Sunday afternoon or when someone is dealing with a leaky faucet in Baltimore. Social networks are just another way to stay within easy reach. After all, shouldn't a 24 hour plumbing company be highly accessible?

Follow us at Twitter under @RotoRooter and here's our main page on Facebook. You'll even find a Roto-RooterTV channel on YouTube where you can see pet rescues, old commercials and instructional videos for DIYers. Then check out our photos on Flickr. 
 

If you haven't heard yet, Roto-Rooter has compiled a fun bathroom reader book called Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat. It's a collection of strange and funny stories from our army of plumbers about the wild things they've witnessed on the job doing mostly residential plumbing but also some strange commercial plumbing adventures are included.  One story from the book involved a plumber in Chicago who used a fiber optic camera to retrieve a $5000 prosthetic eyeball that a man dropped down a sink drain. The eye went all the way to the main sewer before it was skillfully plucked out by Roto-Rooter. The man washed it off and stuck the eyeball right back in his socket!

This is a vignette-style bathroom reader, small enough to fit neatly on your toilet tank lid. Mostly the book is just flat out funny. You'll laugh out loud at some of the crazy things people do and there are even some photos that will shock you. Roto-Rooter teamed with its two most famous plumbing contractors, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of TV's Ghost Hunters, who provided commentary in the book.

The book is 100 pages of light, fun reading while on the john. It's only $12.95 and shipping is free. Order your copy here. And enter the Roto-Rooter Chilling Tales sweepstakes to win your chance to go on a real ghost hunt at Colorado's Stanley Hotel with Jason and Grant.

A news story in Orlando yesterday featured hidden camera home video that purported to show an employee dumping waste onto the ground from a Roto-Rooter septic tank pumping truck. This occurred on Roto-Rooter's property. We are fully investigating the employee involved in the incident to determine if this has happened previously and why it ever occurred at all. We want the public to know that this activity was not sanctioned or condoned by any supervisors, managers or anyone else at Roto-Rooter besides the employee involved.

We were unaware of the activity until a reporter from the local TV station contacted me. He asked me to watch the video and I looked into the matter and gave him a statement in response. Unfortunately, the station used very little of our official statement and therefore probably left most viewers with an incomplete picture of what is being done to address the situation.

After seeing the tape, we interviewed the employee and suspended him without pay until a fair investigation can be completed. We immediately reached out to the Orange County Environmental Health Department to report the incident and requested a site inspection. We were told by the department that this is considered a small spill and were given specific instructions for dealing with the waste. We followed all of their instructions to the letter. Unbeknownst to us, the reporter did not consult the county authorities, instead they went to the state environmental authority with the tape. The state agency then contacted us to request a meeting and an inspection of the site. Of course, we agreed and a meeting is scheduled for next week. We are cooperating fully with the agency.

I am posting our complete statement that was given to the TV station in Orlando. The public and our loyal customers deserve to know that the company they've trusted since 1935 would never conspire to illegally dump waste or sludge. We have contracts with local facilities and that is where the dumping is supposed to take place.

"Our employees are not authorized to dump waste material anywhere other than approved facilities. We have reviewed the tape and, regretfully, have determined that the employee in the footage disregarded our established waste dumping rules and procedures. He has been suspended, pending an investigation into the matter. The employee explained that he had just emptied most of the contents of the truck into an approved holding tank (on the property) before attempting to extract tree roots that he believed were clogging the truck's pump. Our initial inquiry leads us to believe it is a small spill of household waste only and it is confined to our property. We have reported the incident to the Orange County Environmental Health Department and have requested that they advise us on appropriate cleanup practices. We intend to comply fully with their recommendations." - end of statement-

 

Roto-Rooter is adding new bloggers this week. Watch for new blogs from Pat Swanson, our customer satisfaction manager, Jennifer Canavan, our commercial marketing manager, and Debbie Smith, our marketing communications manager.

Pat will share lots of feedback from customers across North America concerning their service experiences with sewer repair, kitchen plumbing jobs and much more.

Jennifer will share insights about Roto-Rooter's commercial plumbing and drain services and other topics. Debbie will blog about all sorts of things from residential plumbing problems to bathroom plumbing solutions.

For years we've noticed that the day after Thanksgiving is consistently our busiest day of the year. Common sense tells us that since most of those kitchen plumbing jobs are the result of a busy kitchen on Thanksgiving Day. But we weren't getting the calls for service until the next day. Why? Probably because most people looking for local plumbers were fearful of paying a higher holiday rate so they just lived with the problem until Friday.

Th fear of an up-charge is is no longer necessary because Roto-Rooter no longer charges you higher rates on nights, weekends or holidays. You'll pay the same fair price no matter what day of the year or time of day (or night) you choose to call. This is now the policy at all 115 company-owned Roto-Rooter locations.

So whether its drain cleaning Tacoma residents need or plumbing problems Baltimore citizens are dealing with, they no longer have to worry about paying too much simply because they had the bad luck to have to call a plumbing contractor over a holiday weekend. We're available when you need us, period.

I've been going over some stories submitted by the army of Roto-Rooter service technicians across the U.S. and Canada for a project we're working on. One was a DIY plumbing debacle that we were called in to remedy. Kitchen plumbing jobs are one of our specialties but this one was over the top.

Seems the customer had a kitchen sink clog he couldn't fix so he re-routed his sink drains through the floor. His modified drainpipe extended down below to the basement where its end was suspended about three feet above a toilet bowl. All the grease, water, food debris, etc. from the sink just slopped into the toilet below. That was his drain! This was a plumbing repair we'll be talking about for a long time. Disgusting! Truth really is stranger than fiction!

CAT SAVED BY ROTO-ROOTER AFTER
3-DAY ORDEAL

AND 12-HOUR RESCUE EFFORT

Local Contacts:

Ryan Rich, general manager, Roto-Rooter of Memphis

Cell) 901-508-5117, Office) 901-751-0216

Cheryl Albers, cat’s owner

625 N. Delta Drive

Marion, AR

H) 870-739-8575, Cell) 870-735-3491

Marion, Arkansas (May 14, 2009) - - It was Roto-Rooter to the rescue of a curious female cat named “Bubba” who disappeared Monday in between the floors of her owner’s home. Roto-Rooter spent 13 hours scanning voids between floor joists with fiber optic video cameras and sophisticated listening devices designed to detect water leaks before the exhausted and dehydrated cat was finally freed around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The cat’s owner, Cheryl Albers, realized the cat had apparently followed an air conditioner repair technician into the attic last Monday morning then fell into a void. The kitty’s occasional meows could not be pinpointed but it was obvious she was alive and trapped either behind a wall or between floors for three days.

Desperate for help, Albers called the fire department. Firefighters scanned the walls and ceilings with infrared heat signature detection equipment but even they could not find the cat. The family went so far as to cut holes in the ceiling and remove air conditioner vents in search of the wayward feline. Attempts to coax the cat out with calls and open cans of tuna were no help either.

Finally, a firefighter suggested Albers phone Roto-Rooter, which has used its sophisticated fiber optic sewer inspection video cameras to rescue pets and recover lost jewelry from pipes and other tight spots in the past.

Roto-Rooter’s Memphis Branch manager, Ryan Rich, spent much of the day at the home and rotated two experienced service technicians in and out in an effort to locate and rescue the cat. But it became one of the longest and most challenging pet rescues Roto-Rooter has ever attempted.

“The cat has a shy nature and its owner told us it tends to hunker down and get quiet whenever strangers are in the house,” said Rich. “Obviously, that hampered our efforts since the house is large and we needed to hear the cat in order to zero in on her location.” Finally, Bubba the cat meowed at just the right moment her rescuers were listening closely and her location was finally revealed. Roto-Rooter’s Fred Simmons cut a hole in a wall late last night and pulled her free.

Mr. and Mrs. Albers could not be more pleased with the outcome. They operate a local Italian restaurant and brought in pizzas to feed the Roto-Rooter rescue team. “I think they were afraid we were going to give up and leave and they felt we were their last hope,” said Rich who did not charge the cat’s owners for the rescue. “We’re pet owners too. It would’ve been cruel not to have helped.”

Contact:

Paul Abrams, public relations manager

Roto-Rooter Services Company

Cincinnati Corporate Headquarters

513-340-4742, cell) 513-702-5631

Paul.abrams@rrsc.com

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Opportunities? Yes! You can go green with your plumbing and save some green $$ in the process. Green bathroom plumbing solutions include swapping out your water guzzling shower head for a new low-flow model. They're much better than the early models lampooned on the Seinfeld TV show and will save you a lot of money on water bills.

Toilets are one of the biggest water wasters in your home. If you still have an old 3.5 gallon flush model, you owe it to yourself and the rest of us to convert to a 1.6 gallon per flush model or one of the new 1.28 gpf toilets. They're powerful and they sip water. This is a quick plumbing repair for a licensed plumbing specialist.

If you have faucets without aerators, pick up some at the hardware store. They'll save you lots of water and they're only a couple of bucks each. Got an old water heater more than ten years old? News flash: It's going to die within a year or two and it's costing you big money now. New models are more efficient, especially heavily insulated ones and the new tank-less ones. Do your part to conserve. It's easier than you think. Need help? Schedule a Roto-Rooter plumber to do an inspection and show you how to save water.

What a busy time it has been at Roto-Rooter. We're preparing some interesting and beneficial programs for 2009, which I'll discuss later as they are developed. Personally, I'm scheduled to travel a lot the the next few weeks to promote and discuss some of these programs with our franchises across the country.

On top of my busy schedule, rainy weather will continue to cause plumbing problems for many home owners and businesses. Sump pump replacements are common this time of year so keep an eye on yours to make sure it's functioning properly and keeping your basement dry.

Meanwhile, do your part to conserve water by checking for a leaky faucet Baltimore Branch replaced lots of them last year and any of our locations can repair or replace yours.

We worked with the Chicago Tribune on a story about sump pumps. It appeared in the Tribune yesterday (Sunday) edition and on line today:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/home/chi-0329-five-sumpmar29,0,6063971.story 
This is helpful information to anyone who depends on a sump pump to keep their basement dry, especially as the winter snow melts away and spring rains arrive. Sump pump failure strikes fear in homeowners and is one of the primary reasons we get after hours calls, as a 24 hour plumbing company.

Residential plumbing can be tricky and sump pumps in particular seem unfamiliar and mysterious to laymen. The steps laid out in the Tribune article are helpful for the do-it-yourselfer. If you don't feel confident doing this sort of maintenance yourself, that's why there are are professionals to do it for you.  

One thing that wasn't mentioned in the article is that Roto-Rooter replaces more sump pumps in Chicago than in any other city in North America. The high water table and great number of basements is the reason.

As consumers, we're hunkered down, not spending money on anything that can't wait for greener pastures. Well, you can green up your plumbing and those greener pastures will be here before you know it allowing you to recover your initial investment.

one of the greener bathroom plumbing solutions is to replace inefficient old toilets with a water-sipping 1.28 gallon per flush model, or even a 1.6 gpf model. If you aren't willing to spend $200-$300 on a more efficient toilet, consider other aspects of your bathroom plumbing Tacoma Roto-Rooter or any other location can replace your toilet fill valve with a more efficient model that will save up to three quarts per flush! That's instant savings that will add up to money in your pocket in short order.

Today's low-flow shower heads are much better than they used to be. You really can't feel the difference anymore. Add one of these and watch your savings grow. Whether dealing with residential plumbing or commercial plumbing, Roto-Rooter or most local plumbing companies can save you greenbacks as you become a little greener. There are kitchen plumbing jobs that can save water too.