Drain Solvers

DENVER, CO – All experts agree that 2010 is absolutely the nest time to buy a house in years, as the housing bubble and recession have lowered prices, sometimes drastically, and mortgage rates are at an all-time low.

However, just because the deal might be incredible, home buyers are advised to rein in their exuberance and guarantee the deal is as good as advertised.

One of the biggest mistakes home buyers make in their due diligence is to accept a cursory home inspection of the usual things – roof, furnace, general plumbing and fixtures – without digging a little deeper into the things that can end up costing thousands once the deal is closed.

The biggest potential problem, particularly in an older home, is the sewer system. Buried underground and susceptible to intrusions like tree roots and excess waste products and paper, not to mention the ravages of age, a residential sewer is critical in the proper operation of the whole home’s plumbing system. A sewer that looks to be in fine shape could break at any time, causing a stinky mess inside the home, a disruption of lifestyle, and potentially many thousands of dollars in repair costs.

There is really only one economical way to insure that the home under consideration for purchase has a sewer system capable of years of worry-free operation: a sewer scope.

A sewer scope, a relatively inexpensive procedure performed by an experienced plumber, involves inserting a cable into the sewer line from the main in the home all the way to the connection with the municipal sewer or a septic tank. On the end of the cable is a tiny television camera that “scopes” the passage and detects blockage, breaks and potential clogs in the line. These images are recorded on tape or digitally and may be reviewed by the homeowner and prospective buyer to verify the condition of the sewer line.

A sewer scope can detect any size problem and form the basis of any necessary fix or repair. For instance, it might just be a minor blockage that could be remedied by a rooter service, where the inside of the line is simply reamed clean. For more extensive problems, especially age-related, some plumbers offer a trenchless sewer line replacement service where a new, modern sewer line is inserted within the old one, allowing for a new line without digging. At the extreme end, a completely broken sewer line may need to be replaced, a procedure requiring digging up the old line and replacing it with modern piping.

A broken or blocked sewer line can lead to an unnecessary expense and disruption for a new home owner, a situation that can be avoided with minimal cost with a pre-purchase sewer scope performed by an experienced professional plumber. If there is a problem, a potential buyer can ask the seller to address the issue, use the information gleaned to re-negotiate the selling price, or simply walk away.

Or, the sewer scope will confirm that everything about the sewer line is just fine and the purchaser can move on to closing worry-free.

Drain Solvers is an experienced plumber serving the Denver Metro area and Colorado’s Northern Front Range with a wide variety of services, including sewer scopes, trenchless sewer line repair and complete sewer line replacement and excavation.

DENVER, CO – When the sewer backs up into a home, not only is it a major lifestyle adjustment and a potential health hazard, it can also lead to one of the most expensive home repair issues any home owner ever faces: sewer line replacement. Denver plumber Bob Ansel, owner of Drain Solvers, advises home owners to watch for the warning signs of potential sewer line problems and notes there are several less-invasive steps than full replacement that can save thousands of dollars and keep a home’s plumbing system in top shape for years to come.

“If toilets need extra flushes or if drains are slowing down, then there is probably a blockage in the sewer line that needs to be addressed,” says Ansel. “Occasionally, particularly in older homes, a full sewer line replacement, including digging and trenching the lines to the municipal sewer, will be necessary. Often, however, there are other, less expensive measures that can keep sewer lines operating efficiently for years to come.”

Once a potential problem, like slow drains, has been identified, the first step is a sewer scope, where trained plumbers insert a small television camera into the sewer lines to detect blockage points. Drain Solvers’ Ansel also recommends a sewer scope be performed by potential homeowners before purchasing a property and acquiring an expensive situation. Also, he adds, people planning remodeling or an addition, like a new garage, can use a sewer scope to help in avoiding sewer line damage during construction.

Generally, says Ansel, sewer line blockages are caused by two key issues: first and foremost are tree roots that grow into and can break and clog sewer lines; and second, age, as many older homes have ceramic pipes that could have been installed decades ago when the home was built and are subject to deterioration over time.  Sometimes blockages can also occur when homeowners flush inappropriate materials down a toilet, things like diapers, sanitary napkins and even facial tissue.

Most often these problems are minor and can be addressed by reaming out the sewer pipes with specialty designed tools at the plumber’s disposal. If tree roots are the issue, Drain Solvers is a ROOTX plumbing professional, highly trained in using this registered system of root removal that can add years of life to a home’s sewer system. ROOTX is a herbicide that is introduced into the sewer lines, foaming up to reach even the highest areas of the pipe walls, killing to roots and preventing regrowth for up to three years.

Should the blockage be more profound or the pipes to old, Drain Solvers also offers a Trenchless Sewer Line Replacement Service that eliminates the need for digging in most situations. Trenchless Sewer Line Replacement can be compared to the heart surgery procedure angioplasty, where small access points along the damaged pipe are created so the plumbers can insert a flexible yet super strong polyethylene replacement line into the pipe. These polyethylene sewer lines are rated to last 50 years, Ansel notes.

Finally, if all else fails or if the line is too damaged to benefit from Trenchless Sewer Line Replacement, Drains Solvers has its own excavation equipment and can quickly handle the necessary trenching and sewer line replacement to get a home’s plumbing system back up to par.

“Many people are unaware that there are a variety of methods plumbers can use to save homeowners money, time and lifestyle disruptions,” says Ansel. “We hate to dig if we don’t have to, and in most cases even serious sewer line problems with minimal expense and plumbing downtime.”

Drain Solvers serves drain cleaning and plumbing needs for homeowners and commercial property owners throughout the northern Front Range area of Colorado, from Castle Rock on the south, through the Denver metro area, and also the Boulder, Loveland and Fort Collins areas. For more information on sewer line troubleshooting, repair and replacement call 303-423-1000 in the Denver/Boulder area and 979-812-0504 in Northern Colorado. Also for the complete array of drain cleaning and plumbing solutions, including emergency service, performed by Drain Solvers visit http://www.drainsolvers.com/.

1. Grease
2. Celery
3. Peanut shells
4. Chicken and meat bones
5. Asparagus

Drain Solvers is often called to clean out drains disposals that have been misused. Avoid unnecessary plumbing expense by putting these items into the trash rather than the disposal, urges Bob Ansel, owner of Drain Solvers.

Grease from fried foods is the top offender in residential kitchens, says Ansel. Commercial kitchens and restaurants are required to have grease traps—actually a tank that captures the oil and grease from the flow of wastewater by slowing down the flow of hot greasy water through the trap. As it cools, the grease and oil separate out of the water and float to the top of the trap. The cooler water continues to flow down the drain pipe to the sewer while baffles prevent the accumulated grease and oil from flowing out of the grease trap.

According to the Colorado Department of Health, restaurants and food service businesses generate tons of cooking oil, grease and food waste. If not managed properly it can cause major environmental problems, not to mention plumbing issues. Liquid waste containing oil and grease dumped directly into the sewer can block the system and cause wastewater to back up into the restaurant, disrupting business and creating a health hazard.

Some sanitation districts and municipalities require grease traps and periodic maintenance and inspections. That’s because untrapped oil and grease in the wastewater decreases pipe capacity over time and eventually causes the pipe to clog.

Running extremely hot water down the line simply moves the problem downstream, and in some cases can make it work, says Drain Solver’s Ansel. If a clog reaches a public sewer line and can be traced back to a restaurant, the restaurant can be made responsible for the resulting repairs. Landlords too can require that a restaurant tenant bear the expense of fixing a clog in the building sewer line.

Grease and oil can do the same to a home sewer line, and in that instance it’s the property owner who is responsible to pay for the repair.

To prevent the problem, think before you pour grease down your drain, adds Drain Solver’s Ansel. And when you find that you have a drain problem, call Drain Solvers who can quickly diagnose the reason for any clog in your drain pipes using camera scopes. Every repair van that Drain Solvers puts on the street comes equipped with a camera scope to allow immediate sewer line diagnosis and on-the-spot repair.

For more about Drain Solvers professional drain cleaning service, click here.

Reach Drain Solvers at 303-423-1000.

DENVER, CO—When it comes to replacing broken sewer lines, it’s what’s above ground that matters as much as underground when it comes to a customer’s budget. It’s the reason Drain Solvers’ President and Founder Bob Ansel promotes trenchless sewer line repair as an alternative to excavating a deep trench through the yard to the sewer main as a less costly, more effective way to make the repair.

“Why dig if you can go trenchless? Why would you rather rip out your driveway, landscaping, porch, sidewalks, electrical and gas lines?” Ansel asks. “Using our trenchless repair, those improvements remain intact and the repair to the sewer line takes place underground.”

The savings using trenchless repair can be thousands and thousands of dollars.

Drain Solver’s trenchless drain lining system is a cost effective alternative to the traditional digging, sometimes to a depth of 16 feet below the ground’s surface.

According to Ansel, trenchless repair offers the same structural integrity of whole new pipe installation. This patented process allows Drain Solver’s expert pros to replace the underground pipe without disturbing anything on the ground surface above including:

• Landscaping
• Driveways
• Porches
• Sidewalks
• Floors
• Electrical & gas lines
• Water lines (no locates)
• Roadways
• Parking Lots

More often than not a sewer line break is an unexpected event. The sewer line begins to back up in the basement at about the same time the property owner discovers the problem. The odor, the inconvenience and the expense are disruptions to home life or business operations.

When sewer or tap breaks are detected by wastewater department surveys (conducted on average every two years), property owners can find themselves in receipt of an order to pay for the repair with less than 30-day’s notice to foot the bill. The cost of repair can soar into the tens of thousands.

Aging water, sewer and storm drain lines are usually out of sight, out of mind. But there always comes a day that the problem shows up, says Ansel.

Using trenchless sewer line repair, Drain Solvers inserts a camera scope into the line to determine the precise point of the damage or break. Using a proprietary pipe bursting system, a cut is made in the pipe and similar to a human heart angioplasty, Drain Solvers inserts a cable into the existing pipe and simultaneously pulls a sheath of flexible and yet super strong polyethylene replacement line over the damaged pipe.

The longevity of the new polyetheylene sewer lines are rated to last 50 years, a lifetime in home or building ownership terms.

For details on what trenchless sewer line replacement can save you, contact Bob Ansel at 303-423-1000 or learn more about trenchless sewer line repair here.

Each year, Drain Solvers is called to homes and commercial buildings to ream out roots that have spread through the sewer line catching material passing through the line, restricting the flow or even causing a complete blockage.

Root intrusion may be the single most destructive element facing a home’s or commercial property’s wastewater collection system, according to Bob Ansel, founder and owner of Drain Solvers, headquartered in Loveland and serving the entire Front Range of Colorado and metro Denver.

Drain Solvers is a ROOTX plumbing professional. This patented system of root removal can prevent costly sewer line repairs for years to come. It works in single family residences, multi-unit buildings and commercial properties.

Annual ROOTX treatments keep your system root-free. The ROOTX formula foams on contact with water to reach the top of the pipe where 90% of the roots are. Degreasing agents strip away grime so the ROOTX herbicide can penetrate the roots, killing them on contact. ROOTX sticks to the pipe walls, preventing re-growth for up to three years, and the dead roots decay over time, restoring pipes to their full capacity.

Contact Drain Solvers for a complete camera scope inspection of your sewer system and discover how innovative ROOTX treatments can prevent costly sewer line repairs. ROOTX is guaranteed to work for up to three years.

To learn more about our professional RootX services, click here.

Reach Drain Solvers at 303-423-1000.

“Okay, so I learned a lesson: never flush paper towel down the toilet. I got lazy and flushed a paper towel after cleaning up the bathroom and I regret it. I called Drain Solvers and while the plumber was at my home he shared with me that even Kleenex should not be flushed down the toilet. Just TP. I’m surprised I didn’t know that simple fact until now. And I won’t forget it, I assure you.” – Dena of Loveland

Don’t just open the drain, clear it, cautions Bob Ansel, owner of Drain Solvers.

What dangers are lying in wait to strike in your plumbing system?

Find out before your drain backs up. Let Drain Solvers camera scope  your sewer before the problems happen.

Fortunately at Drain Solvers all of our vans are equipped with sewer scope cameras. We can inspect your sewer lines 24/7. Stop the problem before it stops your drain system. Don’t just hire an inspector to look at your house. Get the guys that can look into you sewer system. That’s right…look right into the lines were the real problems may be lurking.

Proactive sewer scoping can save you from having to replace flooring, carpet, drywall and furniture in the basement level of your home once damaged by a sewer backup.

For a few hundred dollars you can save thousands of dollars in repair and loss of precious items stored in your basement.

Call Drain Solvers today at 303-423-1000.

Your sewer doesn’t have to be backed up to be broken. Drain Solver’s Bob Ansel explains that damaged taps and main-line fractures of Denver’s 10 million feet of sewer line are likely the cause of increased bacteria levels found in Denver’s South Platte River.

When the city separated its sanitary and storm water lines in the late 1960s as part of the federal Clean Water Act, storm water lines were often buried beneath the sanitary lines. If a leak or break develops in the sanitary line, seepage could contaminate the storm water lines that dump directly into the South Platte. Denver water serves communities across the Front Range including Denver, Englewood, Littleton, Wheat Ridge, Westminster, Cherry Hills, Greenwood Village, Northglenn, Thornton, Aurora and other towns and cities in the district.

Other things that can contaminate the Platte include citizen use of too much fertilizer on lawns, gardens and crops. Other contaminates come from pet waste left on the ground that is not picked up and pouring soapy water (from washing cars or power-washing) in the gutter vs. down a drain.

Ansel and his crews perform trenchless sewer line repairs that eliminate the need to dig up the yard or carve up the driveway or patio. When it’s necessary to excavate vs. trenchless line repair, Drain Solvers owns its own excavation equipment and can respond same-day to emergency repairs, saving the homeowner money and time.

To schedule a sewer camera scope on your property, contact www.DrainSolvers.com or call 303-423-1000.

As much as the police force and firemen are on the clock to protect Denver’s citizens, so is the Wastewater Division. City inspectors scope the city sewer line ongoing, revisiting each property on average every two years. Denver has 10 million feet of sewer line—1.16 million feet of that is 100-year-old vitrified clay and 1 million feet of that has not been rehabbed since its original installation.

Denver inspectors use video cameras in the sewer lines to detect damaged taps and main-line fractures. When the city crews find broken or damaged lines, they notify homeowners that the tap or line needs replacement and the homeowners are given only 25 days to fix their line to their home. It can cost over $10,000 or about $1650 for every 5 feet of line.

When a homeowner gets this kind of notice to repair, Bob Ansel of Drain Solvers steps in with a solution. Trenchless sewer line repair can keep the homeowner’s yard, driveway or patio from having to be destroyed in the process of changing out the sewer line. Ansel’s proprietary trenchless repair process is as high-tech as it gets.

Ansel has been repairing sewer lines in metro Denver and the Front Range of Colorado for decades. Only recently, trenchless repair became a possibility. Drain Solvers is one of the very few plumbing companies offering this sophisticated solution to replace broken clay pipes with Polyetheylene sewer lines rated to last 50 years!

Drain Solvers first scopes the line with a video camera and then creates small access points to the damaged pipe. Then the plumbing team inserts a cable, pulling it through the existing line. Simultaneously, the plumber pulls flexible and super strong polyethylene replacement line into place where the damaged pipe used to be. precisely the right position.

Even if excavation is unavoidable when making a sewer line repair, Drain Solvers can save you money on that fix too. That’s because Drain Solvers owns its own excavation equipment. So if digging is necessary, the top-ranked plumbing company can get the equipment onsite immediately, making quick repairs rather than making customers wait.

If you receive a notice from Wastewater Management that your sewer line needs repair, call Drain Solvers at 303-423-1000. Or visit Drain Solvers on the web at www.DrainSolvers.com.

Denver plumber Bob Ansel, founder of Drain Solvers, says home inspections are not always required, but he recommends a full plumbing inspection before closing on that dream home to insure it doesn’t turn into a nightmare

DENVER, CO—Bob Ansel, founder of Drain Solvers, a Colorado Front Range plumber and sewer repair company, has heard the story many, many times over: homebuyer opts out of a pre-purchase inspection, closes on the property, and shortly thereafter the basement floods.

While the new owners might have dreams of designer furnishings filling the rooms of this new home, what they discover the hard way is that they instead have to use their funds to pay for nightmare plumbing repairs. Potential plumbing problems aren’t evident to the naked eye, or to the untrained, says Ansel, and they can be a huge blow to the budget as well as an emotional downer when home buyers face major plumbing issues in a new home.

Ansel sees it happen regularly.

“To think they could have avoided buying a compromised property if they’d only spent the $360 for a thorough plumbing inspection,” he says.

Pre-purchase home inspections are not a requirement of all mortgage lenders, with one exception being FHA loans where it is a must. But Ansel recommends a full plumbing inspection as a regular part of all home-purchase processes, except for newly-built homes where the systems are brand new and most likely carry a home warranty.

“For older properties, however, a home inspection including a full plumbing inspection will save a home buyer a lot of headaches down the road,” he says. “We see some older homes where the plumbing systems, particularly the sewer lines, haven’t been updated since they were first installed in the 1910s, ‘20s or ‘30s. They are not up to current code standards and are real candidates for major failure.

“When we inspect a home, we know exactly what to look for to diagnose existing plumbing issues,” says Ansel. “When we catch the issues during the inspection, the potential buyer has money-saving options.”

Ansel says homebuyers faced with plumbing problems found in an inspection have three important choices:

•             The potential buyer can insist that the plumbing repairs be made before closing.

•             The potential buyer can request that the price of the home be reduced as a consideration for the plumbing repairs that are necessary.

•             Or the potential buyer can walk away from the purchase and hopefully find another property that doesn’t have plumbing issues.

“Our inspections give buyers an edge,” concludes Ansel.

Ansel’s Drain Solvers handles a full slate of plumbing services, including emergencies and repairs. The firm services the entire metro Denver area, including Jefferson, Arapahoe, Douglas, Boulder, and Adams counties, as well as the northern Colorado cities of Loveland and Ft. Collins. Drain Solvers owns its own camera scopes and high-tech trenchless sewer replacement equipment. The cameras are used both in pre-home-buying inspections to evaluate the condition of the wastewater lines running from the city tap to the home, and to diagnose breaks when they happen at any time in the ownership cycle.

“Drain Solvers owns the equipment that can make quick work of emergency plumbing repairs—particularly sewer lines, otherwise known as wastewater lines,” says Ansel. The fact that Ansel and his crew of service technicians have the equipment immediately available can expedite repairs, saving the homeowner money and time.

“Drain Solvers also owns excavating equipment and does not have to subcontract to another company to dig up bad sewer lines when a break happens,” Ansel adds. “And sometimes, when trenchless repair is viable, our trenchless repair equipment can spare a new owner from having to excavate the yard or dig up a patio or driveway—big costs to replace.”

Less dramatic, but sometimes as costly are other plumbing repairs that again aren’t detected unless a thorough plumbing inspection is conducted. Not only does Ansel flush every toilet, run every faucet and shower, plus run dishwashers and washing machines through a cycle, he and his crew of certified service technicians inspect hot water heaters, water mains, and in summer months run the automatic sprinkler systems and test all exterior plumbing features.

For more information on the complete Home Inspection plumbing services from Drain Solvers, visit the web at http://www.drainsolvers.com/home-inspections.php. For all plumbing needs from Drain Solvers visit http://www.drainsolvers.com, or call 24/7/365 at 303-423-1000.

Denver, Colorado’s sewer system doesn’t make a lot of headlines. But if age matters, it should. In 1892, Denver’s city fathers voted that $30,000 be spent to complete the proposed storm sewers. A system had been started in the late 1850s when the Queen City was just a collection of wagons and tents abutting the South Platte River at the confluence of Cherry Creek.
One hundred and 20 years later, Denver lays claim to 10 million feet of sewer line. And 150,000 wastewater customers.
Denver’s office of waste management was officially formed in 1966 shortly after the 100-year flood of the South Platte River that devastated millions of dollars of property up and down the Front Range. The Design Section of the Wastewater Management Division is responsible for the design of all sanitary sewer improvements and storm drainage facilities within the public right-of-way of the City and County of Denver.

While most of the original clay sewer pipe has been replaced over the last many decades, there’s still an estimated 1 million feet of the original pipe in operation, albeit in need of repair. City inspectors equipped with video cameras are scoping out Denver’s sewer lines to detect breaks and leaks before they become a hazard to the homes and businesses being served.

Drain Solvers, headed up by Bob Ansel, is among the premier sewer line repair plumbing companies in Denver and Aurora and the entire Front Range of Colorado. Drain Solver’s radio ads have been heard on KOA’s Troubleshooter Tom Martino Show for years.

Roto-rooter work, trenchless drain repair, excavation and plumbing repairs are Drain Solver’s forte. For information call Drain Solvers at 303-423-1000 or visit online at www.DrainSolvers.com.