Pipe Spy

The team is professional, communicates clearly and often about what is happening. They clean up any mess each day, leaving the house clean and accessible. They delt with our city required sewer lateral on our 130 year old house and were aware of all possible issues. They did a terrific job even completing designs in the new cement to match our stamped cement. Amazing!

I've used Pipe Spy for 30+ years as a real estate professional They know what they're doing, always do a great job, Friendly and easy to worth with. In my opinion, the best in the business!

We recently bought a home in Oakland that required a PSL test. Since the property is part of a private development with no HOA, things quickly became complicated. The testing involved not only our section of the line but also a shared pipeline used by seven other homeowners in the community. Coordinating this required collaboration between the City of Oakland and EBMUD. To make matters more challenging, the PSL contractor hired by the seller’s agent backed out after two weeks for reasons beyond our control. That’s when I reached out to Alex at PipeSpy. He listened patiently and immediately took action. The very next day, James visited the property to conduct an initial assessment. They clearly explained the entire process—outlining both the best- and worst-case scenarios—so we knew exactly what to expect. They also provided the necessary documentation to collect our neighbors’ signatures for testing the shared pipeline and guided us through the timeline and escrow options. Their communication and professionalism gave us the confidence to move forward with closing the property. PipeSpy completed the work exactly within the estimated timeline, and everything went smoothly. Thank you, James, Alex, and the entire PipeSpy team—you turned a stressful situation into a positive experience!

We had a major job done, the entire driveway was dug up and pipes replaced, and the workers were great. BUT a bad inspection and the whole thing had to be dug back up and fixed. Then they rushed with a secondary crew and the finish is terrible. The driveway looks awful. If you hire these people, beware, they have no standards or accountability. See the pictures, they are almost laughable.

I just hired pipe spy to look into a problem at a friends restaurant. They only have a camera for larger pipes and we needed a camera for 2 inch or so. No go for pipe spy and it cost us 150. I have worked for a few plumbing co and we had a camera to inspect smaller waste lines... Not happy at all!

About 6 years ago we re-did our back yard--a masonry wall, flagstone patio. Should we have replaced our sewer line then? Of course, but who has the dough? Fast forward six years, ankle deep in the overflow from our downstairs toilet. I'm calculating..."$10k to redo the masonary wall, $10k for the sewer repair, kids are looking at colleges...." A friend recommends Pipe Spy. Paul comes out, researches where the sewer main is, "You know that the sewer main runs right under this tree and through this wall--probably just underneath the wall, actually." I recalculate..."$15k for the sewer repair" I'm sweaty. Paul says, "We can take care of it, we'll dig down here and tunnel over." On one hand I'm relieved, on the other I'm thinking, "Is this guy full of baloney?" I'm sure that this will be one of those projects that will double in scope and cost. Paul gives me an estimate. It isn't cheap, but it's competitive. His crew arrives when he says it will. I'm figuring we'll be without water for a week. His crew has the new pipe in that day and they stay late and hook it up so we can use the shower and toilet that night. Simply amazing. The crew of six guys they throw at this job are quick, professional, and skilled. The following day the inspections are done, and the dirt goes back into the holes. When they are finished, the back yard looks EXACTLY like it did before they started, only cleaner. The cement work they did was perfect. The workmanship was superb. The estimate was honored to the penny. I told Paul about how impressed I was with his crew's skill, and he said, "We pay our workers well, they have medical benefits, paid vacation, retirement plan and profit sharing...they're taken care of. They work hard and stay with us." Clearly a good investment, and a terrific business.

Pipe Spy is an organized, efficient, and focused company. They were a pleasure to deal with and offer an important service at a reasonable price. While repairing a redwood deck, the sewer clean-out was uncovered and it seemed like a good time to inspect the lateral. A quick phone call to Pipe Spy and Alex was able to schedule an inspection in just a few days, which was very helpful in not slowing down the deck contractor's work. Heiko arrived on schedule, did the video inspection and showed us what he was finding on the video screen. As suspected, the original 100 year-old terra cotta sewer lateral had several displacements and one collapsed section. Heiko provided a detailed estimate the next morning via email and we returned the signed estimate via email, too. The trenchless replacement was scheduled promptly and completed in one day. Due to the depth of the city sewer line, it took the crew longer than expected to uncover that connection. They also had to dig another hole to uncover the collapsed section of the lateral. This required the crew to partially dismantle a stone path. The trenchless replacement process itself is fascinating. After the new lateral was in place and connected, the Pipe Spy crew did an excellent job of filling all the excavated dirt and restoring the stone path.They cleaned up carefully and left the path and yard looking undisturbed. A video inspection and pressure test were completed the next day and took less than an hour. Alex, Heiko, and all of the Pipe Spy folks we met were friendly and professional. The were good at communicating price and schedule, they arrived on-time, and stayed until the job was finished. They submitted the inspection to the City and handled all the paperwork. If you want sewer replacement done right, on-time, and at a reasonable price, call Pipe Spy.

I had a broken sewer line and after receiving 6+ estimates, Pipe Spy was initially the most economical choice. And even after they scoped my line and found that my sewer replacement wasn't going to be as straight forward as originally anticipated (therefore more costly), they were still well below the higher estimates that only included pulling through a new plastic sewer, and not trenching and regrading which was what I was faced with in the end. I don't blame Pipe Spy for the additional charges incurred to complete the extra work, in fact I kind of expected to have to pay more (as it usually is in ANY kind of construction project), but I was glad to have a reasonable starting place with them and was able to stay somewhat within budget overall. Now I don't have sewage coming out of my tub or a gurgling toilet when I run my dishwasher or take a shower (YUCK!) and I am so glad for that. Of course dealing with "less than ideal" situations is not fun, especially when they pop up seemingly out of nowhere, but overall, I really liked working with Heiko, who was very attentive and explained the whole replacement process in detail to me. My only complaint was that their scheduling was not very consistent. My job took parts of about 5 days to complete, but they weren't always back to back. But that wasn't a huge problem. More importantly, Heiko was great even after I received my final bill and disputed one of the charges, which he removed immediately and was still happy to help me answer any final questions that I had. I recommend getting multiple quotes when doing any project, but would definitely put Pipe Spy at the top of my list of reasonable and capable plumbers for the next time I am faced with having to deal with some water/waste issue in my home.

Spent time meeting to get an estimate and then never heard from them again. Lack of responsiveness or follow up is never a good look. Update to address owner's response: The owner's lengthy response is mystifying, and I can only guess his employees are equally dishonest to him as they are to clients. We never declined anything. I took an hour or more out of my workday to meet with their plumber to review our sewer line replacement issues. We declined nothing. We expected an estimate, requested an estimate, and even gave our email address to receive an estimate. Second, the homeowner is my roommate and was standing next to me during part of the appointment. This was clearly stated. To imply there was some sneaky ploy by a renter is disingenuous. Once again, the dishonesty here is concerning. Lastly, I emailed two months after the appointment to ask about the estimate and received no response. I get very busy during the days and often emails are the easiest, most efficient, and most trackable method for me to communicate, especially if I am requesting information like a very late promised written estimate. And yet the owner, in his response, seems to be admitting that his own email portal is unreliable and I should have called? And how vague is a request asking where my estimate is? If you do not want people to use the email portal, perhaps remove it rather than blaming clients for using it. And it's sad that my email request received no response and instead it took this review to receive a response, which shows either unreliable service or pure disorganization or both. It appears I dodged a bullet by not receiving an estimate as this company is completely unreliable in word and deed.

In short, Pipe Spy is my new "hero". They saved my plumbing life on a holiday week and I'm forever grateful. It's one day before New Year's Eve (of course) and our plumbing starts to back up into our toilets and showers. Gross! I call a plumber I'd used previously for a rooting job and they came out but said, basically, "Sorry, you're screwed. We can't root the line. Your line has totally failed and needs to be replaced. And we can't replace it...or recommend anyone to do it. Bye." OMG. I panicked. We were facing 4 days with no ability to use toilets, showers/baths or the kitchen sink. Nada. I immediately went on Yelp and started making frantic phone calls to companies who can do trenchless sewer replacement. First call back (in minutes) was from Pipe Spy. The woman was incredibly helpful and spent hours trying to move heaven and earth to get a crew out to our house and not leave us stranded. She kept me updated the entire time and helped me relax. Finally, they got a crew out, who DID root the line (they had a larger, more powerful machine) in 15 minutes. I about hugged the guys. Then, 20 minutes later, Pipe Spy called to say they were sending out another crew to camera the line (which I'd requested) that day, so I didn't have to spend the whole holiday weekend wondering if the line truly needed replacing. They arrived 20 minutes after that, ran the camera and immediately said there was NOTHING wrong with the line that the rooting couldn't fix. They could have snowed me and done the work, but they didn't. They said "just root the line once a year and you'll be fine". I love Pipe Spy. They'll be my first call in ANY plumbing situation in the future.

Talk about crisis: Our old pipes (house built 1890) started backing up right around New Years Eve. After two different plumbers were hired over two weeks time, PipeSpy got it done after a few days. It wasn't easy, we have old clay pipes under our home, and odd connections all over the place. I was impressed with Paul's technical analysis of our problem and resolve to get the job done. yes this is a glowing review, because I have three kids and three adults that depend on first world water conditions in our home-- raw sewage floating down the street past our neighbors wasnt a good look. It was a tough grease plug that two other plumbers couldn't get with over 6 hrs of snaking. I was already in the hole for more than I wanted to pay. Paul, Craig, Sonny and their crew brought all their pro equipment, cameras and hyrdro jets and took care of any ugly plug. (nasty looked like a dead alligator when it floated out) Paul gives great direction and analysis that any Oaklander dealing with these issues long term needs to know. Everyone was personal and invested, even if they couldn't solve the problem on their first try. In the end, they cleared a stubborn pipe, installed a cleanout in a 7ft deep clay lateral, and diagnosed the bigger system problems that brought EBMud out the next day. They also cleaned up afterwards, hauled out sh*t that wasn't their own, and left my yard looking better than they found it. 100 percent professional, and money well spent. PS This is my first Yelp review: I said I wouldn't write anything until I had something good to say. This is it, thanks. R

Of the many estimates I received, Pipe Spy was by far the highest and more than twice the amount of the company I ended up using. It is not necessary to pay a $200 fee for a camera inspection as there are many companies that will do this for free. While I did agree to the $200 inspection that would be taken off my total if I accepted their bid there were two things I didn't know. One, there are companies that will do a video inspection for free and two, Pipe Spy's bid would be by far the highest. I was not home when they came for the inspection. I received a call saying they wanted to do an inspection. They did not identify themselves as Pipe Spy. I gave them the OK to do it as many other companies had come to do visual inspections when I wasn't home. I was surprised when I got a $200 invoice from Pipe Spy. I told them that I had already gotten a free video inspection and that their bid was far too high. They then threatened to sue me and send me to collections if I didn't pay the $200. I really only have myself to blame for since I did initially agree to the $200 inspection but now that I have some experience I would never even consider them again. Pipe Spy can't lose with this arrangement. If you take their overpriced bid they win. If you don't they still get $200 for a service other companies will perform for free. I still have not received the video. There are many companies out there that will perform the work for a far cheaper price, go with one of them.

Tuesday, 1/3: I call to request a plumber to come check out my house. The lady takes my name, number and description of my problem. I tell her I'm calling because I've tried other local plumbers who won't return my calls for some reason. She tells me to expect a call back within 24 hours to arrange an appointment. No call ever came. Friday, 1/6: I call again. The same lady answers, and I tell her no one ever called me back. She says, "Yes, I see your message right here. I'm surprised no one has called you back." Me too, man, me too. She says, "Do you want me to send the office another message to call you back?" "Will that help?" "Uh...yes." "Will someone call me back this time?" "...Yes, sir." "Okay." She confirmed the phone number she had written down the first time was correct and told me I would get a call soon. I'm peeved I never got an "I'm sorry", but she did call me "sir", so, whatever. Maybe it's a fluke and I'm just the 1 out of 1000 people this has happened to at this highly rated place. But no, it's no fluke. Today is now Wednesday, 1/11, and STILL no one has called me back. Incredible. Even after I told them the entire reason I chose to call them in the first place is because other plumbers had been terrible at calling me back, they ignore my call not once, but TWICE. This is apparently how they operate. I'm tired of having to call and beg people to do their jobs and take my money. Call people back when you say you will.

Had a sewer lateral inspection done on a property my client is buying in Hercules. Raymond was the technician. He quickly did the video and right away said that it would not pass. What I didn't like was that he didn't even show us the video, he just did a generic drawing of a circle with a shadow circle and said this is what it looks like and it will not pass. Then told us it would be about $6000 to $7000 to correct it and get it to pass. Well...Thank goodness for Pamela over at Pipe Cam!! I called her to see if they would give a competitive bid and with just a few quick questions she was convinced his findings were wrong. She suggested that we upload the video and send it to her on You Tube and sure enough, she was right. She suggested that we also pay the $125 and have the city of Hercules look at it because she was pretty sure it would pass and it did!! Within a few short hours we had our certificate. Look at all the money my client saved by getting a second opinion. If you are looking for a Sewer Lateral inspector call Pipe Cam...you will be so happy you did! I know my client is:) I'm not saying that Pipe Spy isn't a good company, or that they don't do quality work, but if you do hire them, be prepared to pay a PREMIUM! ... And for what, the fancy little green flags, the fancy business card, or the cool logo? Just based on the cost factor alone, I have to rate them low on the star factor. After all, cost is a significant factor

Call them! When my sewer lateral backed-up I was caught completely by surprise needing to do a major, costly repair. A friend recommended a "discount" guy who oddly enough quoted me an astronomical price, think between a new fully loaded Camry and a basic Porch Boxter. The whole process with "that guy" felt very uneasy, like I was being taken. So I hit pause and started quickly looking around. I got three new bids and PipeSpy was the lowest by a couple grand. I know, not always a good sign. However, the consultation was superb. They scoped the line all the way to the main, instead of just to the curb like the others. They explained the process and scheduled the repair. They handled everything flawlessly... utility marking, obtained the sewer permit, put up no-parking signs the day before, which all happened ahead of schedule. When they came across a sinkhole under the road, they got their most experienced excavator out to devise a solution. They ended up having to excavate twice the area and back-fill a sinkhole that wasn't even their fault. They lost several hours to this and still finished on-time! When the bill came I was expecting an up-charge for that darn sinkhole... they kept to their estimate!!! I was so relieved and am still very grateful. I've been so happy with their work that I want to pay them more, because we need more honest contractors out there. Like I said, call them -they will take care of your plumbing problems.