We were told that we needed someone who could do rooting work, that is, plumbing under the surface. We called and were given an appointment time. Howard was running late, but called to let us know that. He showed up pretty much when he said he would. He comes off as serious and knowledgeable. He quickly diagnosed the problem, gave us an estimate and completed the work. Yay! He was also good at helping us figure out our ancient plumbing system and gave us some pointers for the future. He seems to really enjoy his job and knows a lot. He also comes across as fair. What else can a homeowner ask for? I hope we don't have to call him again, but if we need plumbing or rooting work, he is our man! I would suggest him to my friends, too.

Before I called Vincent Urgent Plumbing, I researched plumbers on yelp and called Fast Response in West portal because they are close to me and got good reviews, I also just have an affinity to west portal businesses. I left them 3 voicemails on 3 different days, all at different times of the day. I never got a call back from them so I went back to Yelp and called Urgent Plumbing. Vincent answered the phone right away and chopped it up with me on the phone. He said he could come over at 2 pm and asked if if like him to call me if he became available sooner, which was nice. He showed up at the scheduled time and offered to take his shoes off upon entering my apartment, also very nice.
Vincent quoted me $125 and that's what he charged. He assessed the problem, went and got his tools and got to work. As others have mentioned, I think he even cleaned my tub afterwards. I had cleaned it before he came so it's hard to tell but he had cleaning products in there with him.
I'll never have to look any further for a great plumber. Vincent at Urgent Rooter is highly recommended.

So a few months passed and the drains got clogged again, poop backing up, etc. This time I had Howard come out and grind everthing out from the rear drain all the way to the street, and if possible down to the sewage treatment plant (Joke!). But seriously, he came and spent several hours grinding away all the crap and junk in the main drain. Everything flushed out and haven't had a problem since.

A few months after that, the water heater blows up (not literally) and just quits working. No hot water, not a good sign, and nobody is happy. Called Urgent again, $1050 was the quote for a Hoyt water heater, installed and haul the old one away. Do you think I could do this cheaper by going out, buying a water heater and having someone install it? Probably but who has the three days to wait around? Another person came out that day and installed a new water heater. ZAP! All done. Hot water returns and so does a happy family!

I called Urgent Rooter because I exhausted my self plunging the kitchen sink 200-300 times trying to dislodge the clog that was the aftermath of running a whole bunch of broccoli through the garbage disposal at one time. all I got from my effort was an open blister on my hand and sore triceps the next two days. I finally gave up on plunging after continuously being doused with a propulsion of dirty yucky water from the stagnant pool at the bottom of the sink. with every determined effort.
I got on the internet and Yelped plumbers in the area. I found Urgent Rooter to have wonderful ratings and having faith in Yelper-nation, I contacted them. I spoke with a woman on the phone who took down my information and what my problem seemed to be and she assured me someone will get back to me soon. Within a few minutes I had an appointment for a plumber to come by within the hour-hour and a half. The plumber was very courteous and efficient. However, after trying twice to snake the drain, the clog did not clear up. In fact, he found roots at the end of the snake coil...which meant bad things. Also, he had found evidence of a leak in the kitchen pipes behind the sink walls. Uh oh. I was put in touch with his manager whom he conferred with and who told me that I may need more extensive snaking and possibly digging up main lines and replacing the old leaky pipe behind the wall. Needless to say, I was bummed out. I envisioned going into major debt to fix the plumbing in this old 80 year old house.

Three days later, (I had to go out of town, so the work could not be done immediately). the plumbers came back as scheduled and within 8.5
hours, I had an unclogged kitchen sink,new kitchen pipes, new 10 ft long drain pipe behind the kitchen sink wall going down to the garage, a new 4 inch cast iron clean out installed out in the yard by the main line and the main line snaked to clear out roots and root killer applied. All in all, it cost me big bucks...I have no comparison, but I was happy with the results and the work done and the speed in which it all occurred. And I did not go into debt.
They were even nice enough to re-caulk my tile shower stall that seemed to be seeping water out just because I mentioned it. Urgent Rooter did the job!! Urgent Rooter was there when I needed help, without agonizing over the wait and inconvenience of having to do without a functioning sink. Albert Lee, the manager, was very gracious and knowledgeable and friendly. The workers were excellent and cleaned up superbly...as if they were never there. Kudos!

Water started backing up into the garage drain a week after a highly rated rooter business from another review site unclogged he drain. Granted they did it free of charge but that was because they truly want me to either replace the entire pipe from the garage to the street for 4K or for them to come back at another time to jet the lines for $500!!!
So I came back to Yelp for help and was so glad when Urgent Rooter was on top of the list! I called them at 8 am in the morning. The lady who answered my call was courteous and patient as I was deciding on the best time that would work with my schedule with the available times she had provided. She was upfront on the minimum cost.
Mr Howard Lee arrived promptly (on time , maybe even a bit earlier than expected which was great). opened the curb drain and immediately told me the possibilities -- the last of which is replacement of the sewer pipe.
Mr. Lee explained the steps he would take to unclog the drain and the cost increase. The simplest and easiest is the electric auger -- he went 40 feet even though the line was at most 20 feet. Since that procedure did not drain the water in the garage, his next step was to jet the lines. As he was jetting, he showed me the sludge that was being cleaned out of the pipes and after 10 minutes of jetting, the water from the garage drained immediately. He continued the jetting again going more than 20 feet.
He continued with hosing down the garage really well (I mean really really well, as if he had no other job waiting and as if it was his own place!!) as I watched the water flow well inside the curb sewer line. The total time it took was 70 minutes and $350 at this time for this job (there was no access or other issues that needed to be done).
Mr. Lee also pointed out stuff that should not be flushed down the drain. He also provided a 45 day warranty as long as we did not flush down these items --- he definitely would know if we did !!
Definitely would use again and recommend this company's service.

Mr. Lee also pointed out that if upon jetting, we started to see mud, that would mean that the pipes burst or broke and that would be the only time he would recommend replacing the pipe from the curb to the garage.

I wish I met this company a year ago ... I could have saved 5K ! Another lesson learned for me..... paying for reviews doesn't necessarily mean you'll get better companies !!