All American Drain Cleaning

I live in Country Club Hills in FFX City and from what I understand they have done a lot of work in the neighborhood. I had the sewer and water line replaced. Though my driveway is not pristine I did appreciate them being able to go under it and not having to repave on top of the cost of the sewer. All American did a great job. I would have given them 5 stars except the didn’t put back a few plants and my scalped edging.

The field staff at All American is first-​rate. The seven individuals that we met while they fixed our septic system issue were great. Professional, knowledgeable, friendly, respectful, etc… They were able to diagnose our problem, rather than simply address a symptom. Yes, it cost us $ 6,700 to resolve the issue, but they were the first company we had to our property that didn’t just merely just snaked our main line, collect their $ 500 and left, without notifying us that there was a greater issue. They used video to show us that something greater was wrong and quickly diagnosed the problem and proposed a solution. They worked diligently the next few days, even with wet weather, to get our septic system back up and running. They also proposed a solution that should prevent our issues from occurring any time in the near future — more than any other company we had out here every two-​three years over the past 20 years. I highly recommend the professionalism of Don, Jr., Don, Sr. and David Bellovich — they are first-​rate. The communication to the main office and between the main office and field staff needs to be improved — there were miscommunications that should not have occurred. But if you bear with these little missteps, the field work is very good.

Hard to give 5 star when it cost so much to repair a sewage line. We’ve known for some time that we needed to repair our main line and it would be costly. These guy came recommended from two sources. Out of 5 companies to look at our project, they were the cheapest by about $ 3K. They had to dig 12′-15′ to our sewage line, but the gas line laid right above it. So they had to use caution. We also had a lot of vegetation above where the pipe was and were fearful that we would love most of it.
The job took 3 days, the ground was harder than they expected, and had to wait for the county to approve the work. The crew was professional, and polite, not only to us, but our neighbors as well. (we live in a townhouse). They answered all of our questions, as they went along. When they were finished, our yard looked almost back to normal. We lost a few plans, but that was expected.
Hopefully we never need this type of service again, but glad we went with this company over the 4 previous companies that looked into it. They also provided a free estimate and none of that usual BS of. «It will cost $ 400 to look at it, but if you go with our service, we’ll refund that money.»

WARNING: DO NOT USE ALL AMERICAN WITHOUT GETTING A SECOND QUOTE
I foolishly agreed to a contract from slick talking Ricky Salina to replace 10 feet of corroded cast iron pipe with PVC pipe that leads to our septic tank. For this they charged $ 6,950 before applying an Angies list discount, a senior discount and a sewer cleaning discount to bring the net cost down to $ 4,997.
To do the job, they had two workmen on the site for one day from 10 AM to 6 PM (less 1 –2 hours for lunch). No heavy equipment was required beyond the use of a septic tank cleaning service (cost about $ 3 – 400).
If you read Angies List for similar jobs done by All American, you will see that the price should have been about half what I was charged. Shame on me for authorizing the work to be done without getting another quote.
Did I really get a «discount» for being an Angies List subscriber, senior citizen or having used them for prior service or did they start with $ 4,997 and work back upstream to the higher figure? Whatever way they calculated, the cost of two workmen for a day and a septic service does not come anywhere near what I was charged.
I feel that I was taken advantage of in a way that no reputable service provider would have done.
Lessons learned:
1. Find out how many men and what equipment will be required to do it and how long it will take. If the work goes faster than plan or problems are uncovered, how will this be addressed?
2. Get a second or third bid, even if it means inconveniencing yourself for a couple of days. It could save you a lot of money.
3. Find someone other than All American to do the job.

I had a massive drain stoppage. I contacted a big box plumber cause they said they would be right out. I really appreciated that as I felt my problem was important. I had sewage all over my basement and needed help. The sent a letter to plumber who quoted me a Price to snake my main line and that price was over $ 900.00. Do not get taken by the big box places. I sent them away.
I then did my research and found All American. I cannot express enough the relief I got when they got to my home. They offered me a «jet job» to clear my drain line. It included a free camera and the statement that if there were problems that would cause additional problems in my pipe that they can fix them. For $ 700.00 they jetted my drain. That machine is impressive and it took 2 hours. They got my sewer to drain. Thank God. Then they videoed my sewer. It was broken and full of roots. Much to my dismay.
They sent their sewer expert in and he did a re-​video to determine what solutions could be done. I had two sections of roots in my drain and my house is 60 years old. The technician offered a pipeburst to replace my sewer approximately 45 feet long. I listened and received the cost. $ 9558.00. Which I thought was crazy. I thanked them and sent them on their way. They could not have been more professional.
I then called four other companies. Two of them were your super advertisers and two were normal plumbers. The big guys wanted 15k+. The other guys were close but were not nearly as professional.
I knew then that I had made the correct choice. I called All American back and scheduled the work. They did exactly what they said they would do. They even set expectations that I had not thought of. They sent me videos via email of the technology and the work plan. The job went flawlessly.
These guys are great. Don’t panic in a sewer emergency. I recommend All American. They will treat you as you expect.

Ok, to start with you really need to figure out if you have a plumbing issue or a drainage issue. Unfortunately I didn’t really know the difference and ended up paying for it. In the end, I got quite an education in drainage vs plumbing issues.
Plumbing — water and waste pipes inside your house
Drainage — the main drain where all your house pipes dump that leads to your city’s sewage system
I had gross water backing up into the shower in my basement, which is an indicator your problem is a main drain. I called O’Neill’s Plumbing and told them I needed my drain snaked. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that snaking a drain today is like using a rock as a hammer… it is outdated and not very effective.
O’Neill came out and did everything they said they would, which is why I gave them 2 stars. He charged me $ 750 for the snake visit and an additional $ 250 because he had to remove my toilet (my house doesn’t have a clean out). So be it (I was given a $ 50 discount because of military service, which was appreciated.). Unfortunately, O’Neill didn’t have enough snake length to clean out all the way to the sewage dump out. Instead of just saying that he couldn’t make it all the way to the end, he told me that I had roots and a break in my drainage pipe. He then went on to provide me with a quote for $ 10,000 to dig up my cast iron drain pipe.
I started calling some family members to ask questions about drain issues and my brother in law told me about hydrojetting. After discussion with my wife, we decided to pay an additional $ 699 to have All American Drain Service come out and hydrojet my main drain rather than paying $ 10,000 to get my yard dug up.
For starters, with the hydrojet, there was no need to remove the toilet even though I didn’t have a clean out. They were able to insert it into the main drain pipe through the roof vent. Secondly, the camera that All American used was 10x better than O’Neill’s camera. You couldn’t make anything out with O’Neill’s camera, whereas you could see every detail of the pipe with All American’s camera. I was told it is because O’Neill’s camera was cheap and the hydrojet one cost around $ 10,000. The hydrojet people were able to punch through the clog in literally 5 minutes. Then they did a very thorough cleaning of the drain and used the top notch camera to thoroughly inspect the entire pipeline… NO BREAKS, NO ROOTS.
All American was awesome. I felt like Ricky really went the extra mile to make sure my drain was clean. He also had all kinds of good pointers and advice. I will use this company again!
So my lesson learned… inside the house clogs, snaking may be the way to go but for drainage issues, don’t mess around with the snake, go straight to the hydrojet.

Great (fast) service. Unplugged all our drains in our 60+ year old house. They even re-​snaked one drain to make sure all was clear. All at a reasonable price.