Bob Oates Sewer & Rooter

Company Facts

Bob Oates Sewer & Rooter at a Glance

By the numbers

Google rating

4.7out of 5

Customer reviews

769on Google

In business

35years

Rating and review count pulled from Google on September 27, 2026. Years counted from 1991.

What We Like

• 4.7 rating from 769 Google reviews, read on 27 September 2026
• Trading in the Seattle area since 1991, per its own website
• Sewer specialism covering camera inspection, CIPP lining and pipe bursting as well as rooter work
• Published hours of open 24 hours, seven days a week
• Service area spans Seattle neighbourhoods plus Bellevue, Renton, Kent, Shoreline and Tacoma

Things to Consider

• The 20 year transferable warranty, free second opinion and non-subcontracted crews are company claims and should be confirmed in writing
• No pricing is published, so after-hours and emergency call-out rates need to be asked about before dispatch
• Large remodel rough-ins and whole-house repipes are not emphasised on the service list, so confirm fit for that work

Google rating

4.7

Based on 769 Google reviews

Review data updated September 27, 2026

View on Google Maps →

Rating Distribution

• 5 stars89%
• 4 stars5%
• 3 stars1%
• 2 stars1%
• 1 star4%

Seattle side sewers are the thread running through most of what this company advertises. The city's older neighbourhoods sit on clay and concrete laterals laid decades ago, and the mature maples, firs and laurels that make streets like Phinney Ridge and Maple Leaf pleasant to walk are the same trees pushing roots into every joint underground. That is the work bob oates sewer rooter builds its service list around: camera inspection to find out what is actually happening in the line, rooter service and hydro jetting to clear it, then a repair decision that might be spot excavation, cured in place pipe lining, or pipe bursting depending on the pipe's condition.

The general plumbing side is real too. Water heater repair, water main work, sump pumps, leaking supply lines, low pressure diagnosis and standard fixture repair all appear on the published service list, and reviewers on the Google profile describe visits for things as ordinary as a leaking dishwasher. So this is not a company that only turns up for five-figure excavations. It does mean, though, that if your job is a bathroom remodel rough-in or a full copper to PEX repipe of a 1920s bungalow, you should ask directly whether that sort of project is in their usual run of work rather than assuming it from the website.

How the work is presented matters here. The company states that a camera inspection comes first and the repair method follows from what the camera shows, which is the right order and worth holding them to. It also advertises a 20 year transferable warranty on sewer repair, a free second opinion, same day service, and that crews are its own rather than subcontracted. Those are company claims, not things a directory can verify, but they are specific enough to raise in conversation. A transferable warranty in particular has real value in Seattle, where a failing side sewer discovered during a pre-sale inspection can stall a transaction, and being able to hand the next owner a live warranty is a genuine bargaining chip.

The Google rating sits at 4.7 from 769 reviews as of 27 September 2026. Volume like that, accumulated over years, tells you more than a perfect score from thirty reviews would. Read a spread of them rather than the first page. The recurring themes in the visible feedback are diagnostic explanation, project managers keeping people updated on longer jobs, and technicians arriving when they said they would.

Location shapes the job in ways worth understanding before you call anyone. Seattle Public Utilities holds the property owner responsible for the side sewer from the house to the main, and side sewer work requires a permit and, in most cases, a registered side sewer contractor. The company lists RSSC licensing on its own site. Steep lots in Queen Anne and Magnolia, narrow rear alleys in Ballard, and the constant risk of hitting other utilities in a crowded planting strip all push toward trenchless methods where the host pipe can take a liner. Where the pipe is collapsed, offset badly, or bellied, lining will not solve it and open cut is the honest answer. A contractor who tells you lining fixes everything is overselling.

Questions to ask before booking: can I watch the camera footage and get a copy, is the quote a fixed price or an hourly rate plus materials, who pulls the side sewer permit and is that cost included, what does restoration cover if you break concrete or lawn, and what exactly does the 20 year warranty exclude. On a 24 hour call, ask whether the after hours rate differs from the daytime rate before the van is dispatched, because that varies widely across the trade and an overnight clear can cost considerably more than the same job at ten in the morning.

Compared with the alternatives in this market, bob oates sewer rooter sits between the national franchise operations, which have deep scheduling capacity and standardised pricing, and the one van drain cleaner who will clear a clog cheaply but cannot line a pipe. The trenchless equipment and the in-house crew claim put it in the middle group of Seattle sewer specialists. If your problem is genuinely just a slow bathroom sink, a smaller outfit may quote less. If the main line has backed up twice this year, the specialist route is usually the better spend.

About This Business Profile

Last reviewed

September 2026

Profile last updated

September 27, 2026

Google review data updated

September 27, 2026

Reviewed by

Dana Whitfield, Senior editor, home services

Sources checked

Google Business Profile, Company website

Sponsorship status

No commercial relationship