4" blow bag for main line soft blockages

[Trent2]

Originally Posted by Ace Sewer

Why use a homeowner solution when you can jet it?

Sometimes I don't feel like taking a machine off the truck or I may feel like the customer can't afford the extra charge. Sometimes I do it just for good will. It depends on my mood and the situation.

[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

Originally Posted by Trent2

Sometimes I don't feel like taking a machine off the truck or I may feel like the customer can't afford the extra charge. Sometimes I do it just for good will. It depends on my mood and the situation.

You sound like me...just because I've done that so many times I cannot count at this point.


It's not the weight of the machine because I wheel it everywhere. It's the setup, the pipe removal, dumping the backed up waste that's usually chemically ladened.

It's the process that's wearing me down. Nothing else. Good money in drain cleaning but not enough easy calls against the harder ones.

The cleanup is quite easy as a drum machine keeps it that way...but if you've been in enough homes and done a ton of scenarios...it starts to wear at you.

[Trent2]

Originally Posted by DUNBAR

You sound like me...just because I've done that so many times I cannot count at this point.


It's not the weight of the machine because I wheel it everywhere. It's the setup, the pipe removal, dumping the backed up waste that's usually chemically ladened.

It's the process that's wearing me down. Nothing else. Good money in drain cleaning but not enough easy calls against the harder ones.

The cleanup is quite easy as a drum machine keeps it that way...but if you've been in enough homes and done a ton of scenarios...it starts to wear at you.

Usually when I get to that point I've already pumped the septic tank and may have uncovered it. Sometimes the thought of taking something else off the truck just seems like a PITA. If I can get it with a bag, great. If that doesn't work I'll cable it. The customer has seen that I tried everything before I spent anymore of his money. More good will.

[Twicepipes]

Originally Posted by DUNBAR

The cleanup is quite easy as a drum machine keeps it that way...but if you've been in enough homes and done a ton of scenarios...it starts to wear at you.

Back in the day, we'd sometimes do 10 -15 jobs a day, not single drain jobs either. 2 or 3 or more on one job. Then throw in a couple dig ups or re-pipes during the week and you were whooped, I mean aching. We worked long and hard. 12 day schedule with every 3rd night on call 24 hr. Pretty horrendous actually. Thankfully I was younger and could take it but barely. Boy did I feel sorry for some the guys that came from new construction. They often had no clue about the service business. Some of em couldn't even make it 6 months. Bottom line was there's no way a guy could do that for kind of schedule for 20-30 years without completely wrecking his body IMO.

[Trent2]

When I first got started in business for myself, I had bought my parents septic pumping business and started the portable toilet side of things, I was working 7 days a week up to 18 hours a day. A short day would be 5.5 to 6 hours. After a few months of that my body said no more. As I was laying in the drive way for a half hour I thought 'I'd better hire some help'.

It wears on you fast. I sure couldn't do that now!

[MoJourneyman]

I'm on call 24 hours all week every week. I get every other weekend off though <.<

I'm hoping we start getting more consistent really busy days so I can add another service truck full time. And by hoping I mean talking to realtors/property managers and trying to make things even busier. I'm tired but my boss thinks it's great.

Originally Posted by Twicepipes

Back in the day, we'd sometimes do 10 -15 jobs a day, not single drain jobs either. 2 or 3 or more on one job. Then throw in a couple dig ups or re-pipes during the week and you were whooped, I mean aching. We worked long and hard. 12 day schedule with every 3rd night on call 24 hr. Pretty horrendous actually. Thankfully I was younger and could take it but barely. Boy did I feel sorry for some the guys that came from new construction. They often had no clue about the service business. Some of em couldn't even make it 6 months. Bottom line was there's no way a guy could do that for kind of schedule for 20-30 years without completely wrecking his body IMO.

[Ace Sewer]

but it's always more work to have to come back...

I shove a warthog through a line, if it backs up again anytime soon there is either something wrong with it or something got flushed that shouldn't have been.

I get a line open with a blow bag and get a call-back, I'm never going to be sure it wasn't from something I missed on the first trip.