Tips for Finding the Right Calgary Drain Cleaning Company

Finding the right drain cleaning company

Do you live in Calgary, Alberta?

Need help from a drain cleaning service provider?

Well, this might be your final stop for learning how to find the best Calgary drain cleaning company for you.

Keep reading to discover important tips in finding the right drain service company for your needs.

1. Certification & Licensing

The first thing you should consider when hiring any sort of professional service, especially that which has to do with functional parts of your home - should be licensing and certification.

In each province of Canada, the local law has license requirements for drain cleaning service providers. The license is acquired after the completion of an exam and in some cases apprenticeship by the company.

By hiring a licensed company, you set yourself up with a Calgary drain cleaning company that is capable, and confident in handling any and all of the possible maintenance issues that might come up throughout your residence.

In addition to verifying their abilities via license, it is best to determine if the company has their insurance in good order. If the repair goes wrong, and the company is not licensed - you will not be able to make any claims or receive reimbursement for the problem.

As with anything relating to your home, your family's health and safety are a priority. And it can only be guaranteed with a team of professionals who are qualified and licensed.

2. Track Record

Having a license is a great place to start, and shows capability - but it a certification can only take you so far. You have to find a company that also has the experience to back up all of the service options.

Experience is acquired over time. It takes a lot of effort and hard work to become a professional in any area of expertise, and drain cleaning is no exception.

Anyone can tackle the basic tasks, but an experienced drain cleaner knows how to tackle any problem without much thought, as they have seen these problems time and time again.

Not to mention, a Calgary drain cleaning company with a poor track record cannot stay in business if all they do is fail in their own service provisions.

Look for experience always. Experience equals trust, capacity, and expectations. Lack of experience equals non-credibility, lack of confidence, and situational awareness.

3. Reference

The prior point of track record is often a great place to determine experience, but it is usually just an indicator of how long a business has been afloat. Therefore the track record really starts with the references, and not with the time.

The existence of a Calgary drain cleaning company is always negated by the absence of references to prove their claim of quality work.

If you know somebody who's used their services, ask them. If you don't, call the company and ask them to provide you with references.

If they fail to do so, that's a bad sign. However, this doesn't instantly disqualify them. Move on to the next step to accommodate for the absence of references.

However, if you can get both references and reviews & testimonials, then you're practically got the golden ticket.

4. Reviews & Testimonials

Even if you were able to get references, this step should not be looked over. Take your time to go over all media sources to uncover any dirt or hidden gems about the company.

You never know what you might find. In most cases, reviews on a company website are not a pure representation of what they truly really are.

So dig deeper, and look on trusted review platforms, such as Yelp, Google Reviews, etc.

TIP: If you want to get to know how they treat their employees, which is a good indicator of how they will treat their customers - check out their company on Glassdoor.

5. Service Offerings

One of the features of any household issue is they follow suit and combine.

For example, a blocked drain, usually means that some part of your plumbing system is at fault, and you have to get other drain cleaning services beyond the simple cleaning. These can include water filtration, sewer repair, replacement, etc.

In any case, you should always go for a Calgary drain cleaning company that provides a variety of services, instead of specializing in one single thing.

By doing so, you know that you can delegate all of the work to one company, and there will also persist an element of transparency with pricing.

To further prove this point, let's take a look at some of the drain clog problems, and how they would be resolved.

Grease Clog

A very common type of drain clog is the grease clog. It's often called the self-healing stoppage. Why? Well, because when the cable goes through the clog, it closes upon itself again.

In order to clean a grease clog properly, you will need a water jet. That is something you most likely don't have, but a licensed company should.

The high pressure of the water depletes the grease formations on the walls of the pipe and flushes it all away into the sewer system. Because of the vibratory function of the water, friction is overcome in the hose and the grease can slide through the tight bends.

While the nozzle pulls the hose through all of the soft blockages. And as it is pulled back, the pressure once again cleanses off the walls.

You can't get this done by yourself.

Tree Root Clog

Believe it or not - a tree rot clog is quite common. In this case, a heavy-duty cable with lots of torque will be used to cut through the roots. These machines are specifically designed for the job, and you most likely don't have one.

So that's another reason to receive professional Calgary drain cleaning. The company will start with a small cutter, like a spearhead - then switch to a heavy-duty saw blade or root ripper.

This job is tedious and requires time, so don't rush them.

Ice Clog

Another interesting clog is an ice clog. If the ice is stuck in the metal water supply line, a specialist will use a pipe thawing machine, which applies a low voltage with a high current into the metal pipe and melts the stoppage.

But if the stoppage is in the wast feline, it is practically impossible to cut it out with a snake. But a water jet comes to save the day again.

The nozzle has rear jets which can pull the hose to the clog, and a couple of forwarding jets to melt the ice and break it all up.

As you can see - even the most common drain clogs are difficult to solve on your own, so the help of a professional Calgary drain cleaning company is paramount to your satisfaction.

6. Cost

For the purpose of cost, there will be a little contradiction.

In most cases, higher cost does not equal better service. However, it also doesn't mean that you have to go for the cheapest service provider in your area either.

As cheap prices often come with cheap services.

So, in reality, the secret is quite evident - you must find the balance between cost/quality.

Find a Calgary drain cleaning company that is within budget, but also caters to your drain issues with a quality approach.

7. Background Checks

This is an optional tip, but an important one nonetheless. It might seem a little out there, but the safety of your family is critical to the service of the company.

You don't want a random person coming to your home, who you know nothing about. A background check can help you assure yourself in the fact that your family, belonging, and business are not in harm's way.

To make sure you get a quality service, you need a quality provider. And a quality provider should always perform a background check for their employees. A check that you should be able to verify upon request.

8. Average Cost

Once again returning to cost but in a more detailed manner. This is important so that you can know the average market price for these services.

The average cost to hire a professional drain cleaner is usually between $175 and $450. As most of the jobs are billed at an hourly rate of $45 to $200 per hour.

This might sound like a lot, but if you find yourself needing the services of a plumber, then these are the prices to get rid of untraditional clogs. Hence why you need the Calgary drain cleaning services in the first place.

Once again, this is a limited overview of the prices, so it is best to contact the company you're interested in hiring and ask them directly.

10. More Things To Keep in Mind

Here are a few more things to keep in mind to ensure you are getting service from the best!

  1. Pay attention to any of the questions a service person will ask you. They should not ask you any personal questions. And some companies are known to prey on those who are widowed or elderly.
  2. Don't let the service people out of sight, especially if there are two professionals for the job. There are many stories of a company sending two people - one to talk to about the problem, the other to make it look like you have one.
  3. Find a Calgary drain cleaning company that offers camera inspection. Make sure the video is live, and not a recording. False video inspections are a real thing, so be cautious.
  4. Research the terminology and structure of liners, drain lines, sewer systems, etc - before the inspection. Of course, you won't be an expert - it is best to know what they are talking about.
  5. Is the company a member of the Better Business Bureau? This is a transparent medium for researching the company and getting a taste of its work.

Calgary Drain Cleaning Services Done Right

Now that we've covered the 10 tips for finding the best Calgary drain cleaning service provider - you are well on your way to securing a capable, confident, and affordable company to help you out.

As long as you keep all of the information above in mind, you should be good to go. Remember that safety, quality, and price can all go in hand, so there is no reason to settle for less.

If you're interested in learning about us (Mr. Rooter), a drain cleaning service provider all over Canada - then get in touch with us now.

You won't be disappointed, we uphold all of the above and we can verify any of your concerns.

Good luck!