Provider profile
Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup
Provider snapshot
What this listing says
Elyria and Lorain County homeowners who need same-day water damage and mold work from a single company with 24/7 dispatch and IICRC credentials.
Best for
- Elyria and Lorain County homeowners dealing with basement flooding that has led to mold growth and needs one company to handle both the water and the mold.
- Anyone who needs emergency mold-related water damage response outside business hours -- they dispatch 24/7 including holidays.
- Homeowners whose insurance company will cover restoration costs, since Roto-Rooter bills insurers directly and documents the job with photos, diagrams, and drying logs.
- Commercial property owners in the Cleveland metro who need scalable water damage and mold work across larger spaces.
About this company
Roto-Rooter's Elyria location operates out of 445 Griswold Road as part of the national Roto-Rooter franchise, covering Lorain, Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Erie counties. Mold remediation is one piece of a much larger operation that centers on plumbing, drain cleaning, and water damage restoration. They handle the full chain: fix the pipe, extract the water, dry the structure, and remediate the mold.
The mold-specific capability here is tied to their water damage restoration team. Their website describes IICRC-trained crews using HEPA filtration, air scrubbers, dehumidifiers, and antimicrobial treatments. The real differentiator is that they fix the plumbing source in-house rather than waiting on a third-party plumber before starting remediation. For a basement flood that turns into a mold problem, that single-company workflow saves time.
Roto-Rooter has operated nationally since 1935. This Elyria branch is managed by Nick DeVries and holds Ohio plumbing license MP 51152 and IICRC certification 21452. They run 24/7, 365 days a year with no overtime charges, and offer financing through Synchrony Bank.
4.8 stars across 1,196 Google reviews is a strong number for a high-volume franchise operation. Most of the positive reviews praise fast response times and individual technicians by name. The negative reviews cluster tightly around pricing, which is a known friction point in the franchise model.
Services
Service area
Headquartered in Elyria, Ohio at 445 Griswold Road. Serves Lorain, Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Erie counties. Named service communities include Amherst, Avon, Avon Lake, Grafton, Lorain, Oberlin, Vermilion, Wellington, and dozens of Cleveland metro suburbs. The four-county claim covers a large geographic area -- confirm dispatch availability for your specific location before scheduling.
Review consensus
Arthur is the standout name across reviews. At least six customers mention him by name for drain work, toilet repairs, and general plumbing, praising his speed, communication, and professionalism. Stephan gets called out twice for overnight emergency calls, including one reviewer (Kayla Sealy) who noted he stayed past 1 AM to address an emergency and returned the same afternoon to finish. Drake earned praise for a same-day Saturday water heater install. Van and Adam got recognition for spending nearly 8 hours tracking down a blockage caused by wood lodged in a pipe. Fast response time is the most consistent theme -- multiple reviewers say technicians arrived within an hour, and several note that Roto-Rooter was the only company available on short notice or outside business hours.
9 found across 1196 total reviews at 4.8★. Pricing and upselling dominate. Kim Harrish describes being told she needed $10,000 in concrete work and kitchen demolition for what turned out to be a standard clog that a second company cleared in one hour. Weston reports a $16,000 excavation quote for a backed-up drain that another plumber fixed in 30 minutes. Jane Wong received an $8,826 estimate plus a $400 diagnostic fee for a blockage another company resolved for $375. Joseph Brailer paid over $600 for what he describes as a 30-minute job. Crystal was told a written quote would cost $190. Nikolai B described the technician as unfamiliar with the fixture he was quoting on and unable to state his hourly rate. Ali details a confrontation with an older technician who threatened to charge a fee for a complimentary service call and refused to diagnose the issue. A T reports being hung up on mid-sentence when calling for a quote. Late arrivals appear in three complaints, with technicians showing up 2-5 hours past the stated window.
The negative reviews follow a pattern consistent with franchise restoration companies that use a two-tier dispatch model: a technician arrives, encounters difficulty, and escalates to a field supervisor who then recommends a large-scope repair. In at least three cases (kim harrish, Weston, jane wong), the customer got a second opinion that solved the problem for a fraction of the quoted price. This suggests the quoting process favors larger scopes of work. Owner responses are template-driven -- Pat Swanson, the Customer Satisfaction Manager, replies to most negatives with the same email-redirect message. Two responses claim they cannot find the reviewer in their system (Nikolai B, Ali), which could indicate subcontractor involvement or record-keeping gaps.
Arthur (plumber/technician -- consistently positive across 6+ reviews for drain work, speed, and communication). Stephan (technician -- positive, praised for overnight emergency response and persistence). Drake (technician -- positive, same-day water heater install). Van (technician -- positive, extended troubleshooting effort). Adam (technician -- positive, worked alongside Van on a complex blockage). Owen (technician -- mixed, described as thorough but overpriced). Pat Swanson (Customer Satisfaction Manager -- handles owner responses to negative reviews).
Ask for Arthur or Stephan by name if your job involves plumbing or drain work tied to mold or water damage. Get any quote over $1,000 in writing and take it to a second company before signing -- the pattern of dramatically lower second opinions is too consistent to ignore. The 24/7 availability and single-company workflow are genuine strengths for emergency situations, but the pricing structure rewards scrutiny.
Keep in mind
- Roto-Rooter does both mold testing and mold remediation. A company that identifies the problem and sells the fix has a financial incentive to find problems. Consider getting an independent mold assessment before committing to their remediation scope.
- Pricing is the dominant complaint in recent reviews. Multiple customers report receiving repair quotes in the $8,000-$16,000 range for issues that a second-opinion company resolved for a few hundred dollars. Always get a competing estimate before approving large scopes of work.
- Arrival windows are unreliable in some cases. Three recent reviewers report technicians arriving 2-5 hours past the scheduled window. Confirm your time slot and ask for a callback if they are running late.
- Owner responses to negative reviews follow a near-identical template directing complainants to email Pat Swanson. The responses rarely engage with the specific complaint, which means you cannot tell from the review page whether issues were actually resolved.
- This is a national franchise, not a local mold specialist. Mold remediation is a small part of their overall business. If your situation involves only mold without a plumbing or water damage component, a dedicated mold company may be a better fit.