Alki Sewer

This is honestly the first time I wish I could give more than 5 stars, these guys are THAT GOOD.
I just moved into a «new» house in West Seattle last week, just a few days before Christmas. The first shower in the house caused some water to back up in the bathroom in the basement, which I knew was a problem, but being so close to Christmas and having boxes everywhere, I didn’t have a chance to deal with it. Of course, after a couple showers and a load of laundry over Christmas, things got really bad and I had sewage coming out of the toilet in that bathroom. Come Monday morning I started calling around to some sewer service companies I found on Unilocal and stumbled on Alki Sewer.
I spoke with the owner Phil and he was right in my area and came over within 30 minutes of my call. He took care of the immediate problem, but then located the source of the issue in my sewer pipe and gave me an estimate for a repair which we scheduled for the next day. About 30 minutes later he called me and asked if I’d rather have the work done right away since he had one of his guys free up early. I said sure and less than an hour later I had someone working on the repair. Everything was said and done by 3PM that same afternoon at a very reasonable price and with an awesome warranty. They even located a potential problem with a pipe coming out of my oil tank near the sewer pipe and offered to come back and repair that if need be.
I can’t say enough about how happy I am with their service. Phil was SUPER nice and fun to chat with, he explained everything to me in detail and made me feel very confident that I had the right person on the job. I would highly recommend Alki Sewer to anyone having sewer issues.

We had a very complicated project that included multiple homes (7 plus) in our Greenlake neighborhood. Phil and his crew were professional and great to work with. We would highly recommend Alki Sewer to anyone having sewer issues.
Patrick
Jaeger Hardwood Floors

Based on the Unilocal reviews, I had to call Phil. I was on break during work on Monday, called, and he said he’d be to my house at 1:30pm to do a free scope and assessment. He was early in fact. I was surprised that he said he’d include a scope because we had Bob Oates come out and they looked without scoping and then gave us a bid: almost $ 4,000 for this one problem (random survey stake through the sewer pipe). Phil gave me a super competitive bid for basically the issue plus other things we need to take care of eventually, but stated the most immediate concern was the stake through the pipe. We accepted the repair for the most immediate issue — a fraction of the cost of the Bob Oates quote, and done literally 26 hours after I met him. I highly recommend Phil — he’s not going to screw you around, and he’s in your court so you don’t have to be overbid by the big names in the sewer world in Seattle. Also guarantees work for 10 years and does not back down on his quotes for work. Super knowledgable and explained everything very carefully, AND knows excellent plumber jokes. Thank you Phil!

We had a challenging project: replace the sewer pipe from our Mt Baker house to the middle of the street, with the pipe going under our deck and retaining wall. I checked out a couple other contractors first, but didn’t move forward because their proposed approach and $$ quote didn’t pass the common sense test. I found Alki through their Unilocal reviews.
Phil assessed the project and developed a plan of action. His crew finished the work with no sweat and handled a couple unexpected items without any further charge from the original quote. I appreciated that Phil took the time to explain what needed to be done and why.
It’s no fun having to replace sewer pipes. But at least we got it done right and for a reasonable price, with confidence that it’s going to last. One of the best experiences with a contractor that we’ve had.

Wow, I am incredibly disappointed. Based on Unilocal reviews I expected more. I scheduled an appointment with Phil at Alki Sewer for noon today. At 11:59 I received an email that Alki Sewer is not registered in Bellevue. Really? Couldn’t I have been told that yesterday when I scheduled the appointment, or yesterday when I sent the email that included my address, or by phone today, so that I didn’t have to happen upon the email at 12:20? I definitely could have spent my day off work much more productively.

Phil installed a new sewer line back in March of 2014 for me. I wanted to wait a year to see if I had any issues before giving him this review. I’ve had no problems and he got the job done. We did have some issues but in the end he did his best. I got a solid price also. He still owes me a DVD copy of the sewer inspection, so hopefully if he gets this he will remember. Play him some surfer music and feed him tacos and you’ll get better results. I recommend him. –Brandon Wright in Renton

Phil is definitely knowledgeable and passionate about sewer lines– if you let him, he’ll talk your ear off about sewer lines! But the guy knows his stuff. His bid was much lower than another one I received from another large west seattle plumbing outfit, he completed the work even faster than he estimated, and everything has been great since.
I didn’t believe him when he said he could dig several giant pits in our yard, replace all that pipe, and afterwards it would be like they’d never been there– but that’s exactly what happened. Which is, I suppose, the best one can hope for in a sewer replacement.

Alki should DEFINITELY be one of the contractors you contact — of the three I reached out to about our side sewer, Phil was by far the most responsive, knowledgeable, and (as my wife said) «most passionate about sewers.» Most importantly, he truly wanted to help us solve our side sewer issue at least cost to us, even advising us on how to push back with the city when the responsibility for our particular issue was unclear (which was not in his financial interest).
He rescoped our line even after the official video inspection to better understand the work himself, and gave us great advice with zero pressure. His price was a little higher than the other contractor we considered for our particular issue, but if you value integrity, reliability, and diligence in your contractors, you will also find yourself writing a five star review.

I honestly can’t think of a single thing that Phil could have done to make things better. I would recommend Alki Sewer to anyone in need of sewer help.

I have a clogged downspout next to my 1912 house and wanted someone to take a look at it. Phil came out the next morning and not only gave me a bit of history about my house, but advised that I just reroute the downspout instead of digging a 60 foot trench. no charge and a free history lesson. What a sweet guy.

Phil at Alki Sewer is amazing! We had a major backup in our only bathroom right before we were expecting out of town visitors. After calling several places with no one returning our calls, Phil personally came out on a Sunday to clear the blockage. Turned out the sewer line was in danger of collapsing! Phil was extremely informative of the problem and very considerate negotiating the costs considering the emergency we were facing. Phil and his crew came out promptly the next day, did a ton of work and finished it all before 2pm. I am very grateful Phil answered my call and I will definitely use Alki Sewer for any future needs. These guys get my highest recommendations.

Although I wish we had never had a sewer problem and I’d have to be writing this review, we couldn’t have asked to work with a better contractor for this no-​fun-​at-​all issue. Phil came out within a day of our shower downstairs backing up with sewage and he quickly found our sewer line was broken and cracked where it Y’d in our yard (and having a Y caused it to drain slowly too.) The next day he came out, had his worker dig a big hole in our yard, and replaced the line with a brand new high-​quality line that is now a 90-​degree angle instead of the Y design. Our line has been draining wonderfully and we are so happy we called Phil! He really is the best in the business and very knowledgeable of this field. He was reasonably priced, responsive, professional and thorough. And fun to talk to to-​boot!

Phil is as good as it gets. I needed a cleanout installed and called 3 different outfits to give me a quote. Neither of the others even went in my house. They looked around my yard and made a guess about where it would be installed. One quoted me at about $ 3,000 and the other was a little over $ 2,000. Phil came, took the time to scope my sewer and found that I needed not only a cleanout but a whole section of rotting piping replaced. He showed me the issue and educated me about what I was looking at. He replaced about 15 ft of rotted pipe and installed the cleanout for about $ 800. He was prompt and proffesional. It was clear that he was more concerned about solving my problem than the others and was much more affordable. Thanks Phil!

Had a great experience with Alki Sewer and Phil. He was able to come over and inspect within 30 minutes of me calling, and gave the most competitive bid around. The work was started the next day and completed within all stated expectations.
Most importantly, it doesn’t look like they were even there when done. All ground was put back the way it started! I would highly recommend them next time you have a sewer emergency.

We purchased our 1909 Craftsman in January of this year. We had the sewer scoped at the time and knew that we had a new sewer in our not too distant future. In December, we finally decided to be proactive rather than waiting for it to fail. After doing our due diligence and contact several service providers, we decided to go with Phil of Alki Sewer. His rate was competitive, but above all, he was the most responsive and comprehensive in developing his estimate. We got the feeling that he understood the scope of the issues and would provide a resolution that was permanent.
Phil arrived promptly on the start of the job, and his crew persevered through temperatures in the 20’s to get the job done. There was minimal to no intrusion on our regular routine, and he kept us well updated throughout the job with regular e-​mails and calls. I stopped by the house several times during the few days that work was going on, and Phil was always on the job site making sure that everything went according to plan.
He has a good relationship with the city inspectors which made the completion of the job a breeze. He’s a down to earth friendly guy, and a family owned local business on top of that.
Bottom line, if I could give more than 5 stars I would, but since I’m limited, suffice it to say that Phil and Alki Sewer are your guys for any sewer repair/​replacement job you could want.
The neighbor was so impressed by what she saw she scheduled Phil to replace her sewer line the following week!
Quick edit, forgot to add that, at the end of the job, everything was put back to normal.

We bought our first home in July, knowing that we were looking at a full replacement to the street. We called Phil, who came out promptly for an estimate. He was thorough and professional. He explained in full detail the process and how everything would go. He encouraged us to get other estimates, and we followed his advice; however, Phil’s estimate was very competitive in cost and offered a much longer warranty than either of the other two bids.
The work went flawlessly, was quite high-​tech, was complete in two and a half days, and we couldn’t be any more satisfied! Everything is working fine now and we shouldn’t ever have to worry about the sewer again.
I highly recommend bringing in Phil for your sewer repair needs. Prompt, professional, knowledgable, and extremely high quality work. Call Phil, get your other bids, and then bring him in. You won’t be disappointed. Sewer repair is no small job for which we were quite nervous. Phil made it all right!

This is what a contract home maintenance job should be! Done as promised for the price quoted, in a timely manner and when complete your place looks a little better than before it was started. Honestly, I have no idea how Phil and his folks left my yard looking untouched after digging a trench to clear and reconnect a downspout to the drainage and sewer line.
I had been putting off this nagging project for years anticipating and fearing the worst — major sewer job, yard torn up, thousands of dollars, etc. Finally I could ignore the soggy, «soft» spot in my yard by the corner of the house (by a downspout) no more. After reading Alki Sewer’s other Unilocal reviews I decided to give them a call. Boy am I glad I did. After leaving Phil a voice mail, he returned my call the same day, came out on the weekend as agreed upon, quoted me a fair price, did the work the work the following day while my wife and I were at work. We came home and, other than the clean new PVC where the old, corroded metal «connector» used to be I could barely tell they were here. Problem solved.
Thanks Phil!

This is a long review, which I recommend that you read all the way through, but I will summarize in one word: Outstanding!!!
Now read on.
I’m a little late in getting to this review, but I can’t let service this good go without a comment.
OK Here is the story:
I walked out to my basement shop to find a massive amount of water on the floor and worse it was rapidly heading toward the recently carpeted and renovated Media Room.
Having no idea what to do or who to call I did some fast searches and came across Alki Sewers reviews on Unilocal.The great reviews and positive comments helped me to make up my mind and I gave them a call.
Phil answered the phone after a couple of rings and after listening to my description of what was going on said he would be right over. Right over was right!, Phil and one of his guys arrived just 10 minutes after our conversation.
— — This is where it starts to get good — —
Upon seeing the state of my basement, Phil and his guy lost no time in quickly building a barrier around the expanding water and with shop-​vac and broom headed off the water before it could get get beyond my shop and in to the house. This all happened with such a sense of urgency that you would have thought it was his own house.
Once the immediate emergency had been dealt with, Phil walked around the basement, the shop and the outside of the house. He inspected my already existing sump basin and pump and asked me a lot of questions about prior issues with flooding and so forth. He also asked about how long I had been in the house and my plans for how long we would be there. I wasn’t certain what all the questions had been for until Phil started to talk about what he suggested as a plan.
Phil explained to me in great detail what he saw as the cause of the flooding and further explained how it could be dealt with. He offered me a number of approaches and gave corresponding pricing to each approach. I was really impressed by Phil’s obvious knowledge and experience. He was able to accurately size up the situation and quickly get to a solution. I opted for the higher end solution, which offered the greater piece of mind. Phil started work on the spot.
A couple of things to keep in mind — This was during Thanksgiving week when we had record rainfall and every contractor in town was working at capacity. From what I had been told there was even a certain amount of price gouging going on. Well not from Alki Sewer. The price I was quoted was not only fair, but outstanding given the circumstances.
So, work began. This was an extensive plan and involved opening up a large trench in my basement as well as a big hole in my side yard and another trench in my back yard.
Looking at all of the work that was going on gave me a sinking feeling. We had only been in the house for a couple of months and I was proud already of how great my yard and shop looked. As with everything else, I was impressed by how Phil and his crew paid close attention to leaving things not just as they found them but in a few cases, Better! I could not believe how great everything looked when Phil and his crew finished the job. The shop was cleaned to a shine and the yard looked as if it has never been touched.
During the course of the job, Phil discovered that a couple of the pipes for my underground sprinkler system had been plumbed in incorrectly and that a drain in front of my garage had not been installed properly. Guess what. Phil fixed both of these issues for me without charge.
The moral of the story is that I have not had a drop of water in the basement since Phil completed the job. The work was done quickly and did not cost me a fortune.
I have always appreciated true professionals and I will always call out when someone goes above and beyond.
Phil and Alki Sewer do amazing work and act with honesty, integrity and true professionalism. I recommend Alki Sewer without hesitation and with the highest praise I know how to give.

Yes, I would say Alki Sewer is as good as it gets. I called Phil at Alki to get a second estimate on a sewer repair/​replacement job. He came the next day and gave me a thorough description and estimate with a few options.
The pipe «bursting» method he recommended sounded much better than the liner our first estimator was suggesting. Bursting is an odd name for the process but look it up.
The estimate was less than our first one. Phil guaranteed it would not go up if he ran into problems. They started the job a few days later, when we requested.
Phil works with a very capable crew. My wife and I were impressed. The job took longer than anticipated. It was very complex and heavy rain made it rough. But the job got done at the quoted price. The cleanup was great too.
Midway through the job we decided to involve 2 of our neighbors because our 3 houses connect before going to the street. We all negotiated with Phil and the neighbors agreed to replace their part of the line as well.
I highly recommend Alki Sewer.
Mark Hall

Short version: fast, friendly sewer repair
I live in an old house and, as with many old houses, the main sewer in the house was going — clogging more and more frequently. It wasn’t roots — just clogs that I could blow out with a hose attachment. But before it turned into an emergency, I decided Action Must Be taken.
Finding a new plumber is hard. Finding a plumber that knows sewers is harder.
I got Phil’s information from James at ZesBro plumbing with the introduction, «His name is Phil a really good guy and sewer technician been using him for years and work well together.» As if to prove James right, Phil came to the address James gave him my house even though he knew I wasn’t there to assess what he could from the outside, left a card, pulled up the sewer schematics to understand the situation, then called me to let me know he was on the case. I called him late the same evening and he answered immediately, explaining what he would need to do in order to make an accurate estimate and how he would go about replacing the main line. As another reviewer commented, Phil is really enthusiastic about sewers. He estimated two days for the work and he was careful to explain when it was most likely that the house would be without a sewer line (about 4 – 6 total hours over two days).
When the time came, he showed up with his crew. Holes were dug. Concrete was sawn. Pipe was pulled. Cleanup was done. Two days and a bit later, he was done.
I can’t say enough good things about Phil. If I had to do the sewer again, I’d call him without question.