Anthony’s Plumbing & Drain Cleaning

I live in a 104 year-​old home and was getting ready to build a new garage. I knew from previous inspections, the sewer line would need to eventually be replaced due to cracking near the city connection in the alley. I received several estimates and Anthony’s price and level of expertise was spot on. In Denver, it takes special approval to do a trenchless repair and I was concerned my deck and a portion of my neighbor’s patio would be damaged. Anthony’s got approval, which saved my deck. Where they had to trench, they were very meticulous in their cleanup efforts to minimize damage to landscaping and my neighbor’s property. The crew performing the work were very friendly and trustworthy.

Excellent customer service. Reasonable prices, fast work, on time appointments. Nice guys to work with! Very professional. I would use them again!

First things first, don’t even think about it. Go to another plumber. These guys are just trying to get your money.
The main sewer line backed up and the basement flooded. We couldn’t run any water in the house and we were having guests over for dinner. Not an ideal situation. It was probably 6:30 pm and I couldn’t find a plumber who would come out, even though they all had literally just closed. So, I found Anthony’s which advertises 24 hour plumbing services – yeah, right.
I called in and told them what the problem was and dispatch said he would call their on-​call plumber to give me a call. The guy calls back forty minutes later and says he won’t be able to make it out that night but could have someone come out the next morning around 9:30 am (he sounded like he was high). I asked him if there was any possibility that someone else could come out that night and he said no. So we awkwardly had to ask our dinner guests not flush the toilet or use running water. Moral of this little part of the story is don’t call these guys if you’re having an emergency plumbing issue and your basement is flooded and you can’t run water.
The next morning, the plumber shows up 40 minutes early. He was friendly and polite, but he advised us that it would be about $ 200 for him to snake the pipe (overpriced compared to what we’ve paid in the past for this kind of service). He grabbed his equipment and headed to the basement. About an hour later, he came back up and told us that the drain snake is not unclogging whatever it is that is blocking it.
He asked if we wanted him to use a camera to see what the blockage was, advising that it would be an extra $ 100. We said yes to see if a pipe was collapsed or something to that effect. He got the camera and went to the basement. A few minutes later he called us down so we can watch the video feed. He didn’t show us anything, really – no proof that the pipe was collapsed or that there was a major blockage. He also did not burn us a disc, which is unusual. He told us he’d be upstairs to talk with us in a few minutes. He brought his equipment up and set it on the carpet (which left a nice black mark I had to clean off later).
Here’s the good part. he told us that we’ll either have to get his company to send out a couple of guys to pressure blast the pipe clean, which will run somewhere around $ 800; or, we have to dig up the front yard and replace the pipe because it’s probably collapsed, which will cost $ 3,500 (it is now not surprising that the first picture they have on Unilocal is of them digging up someone’s front yard). We were a bit taken aback by this. He told us to call him and schedule when we’d like this done. The entire process took two and a half hours.
Based on how sketchy this guys behavior was and what behavior we’ve seen in the past with plumbers, we called the plumber who came out to snake the drain when we bought the house. A few hours later, the plumber showed up, went downstairs and snaked the pipe. He said he got it to drain smoothly. He even ran the camera down the drain and burnt a disc to show us that he had blocked it free. All of this took an hour. The kicker is that the other guy told us he had been a plumber for 18 years. Yet, he couldn’t fix this issue that another plumber easily fixed.
The problem is that the evergreen bush outside has roots growing down to the sewer line. The roots are trying to get water and a few have come through the pipe. The roots are snagging sewage as it goes down and causing the blockage. He advised that we do, eventually, dig up the front yard and have it fixed, but until we decide to do that, having it snaked every 6 months or so will work fine. For everything, he charged us $ 200. He also advised that when he does come out to dig up the front yard and fix the pipe, he can do it for significantly less than $ 3500.
So, take aways from my experience with Anthony’s:
–Overpriced
–They don’t fix the issue to get you to pay for more services from them
–Inconsiderate of someone’s house (black marks on carpet)