Provider profile
Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup
Provider snapshot
What this listing says
Wexford and greater Pittsburgh homeowners who need same-day or weekend plumbing, water damage cleanup, and mold work handled by one company with 24/7 dispatch and insurance documentation support.
Best for
- Wexford, Cranberry, and north Pittsburgh homeowners who need a plumber and water damage cleanup crew in a single call, especially on nights and weekends.
- Homeowners dealing with basement flooding or sewage backup who want one company to handle extraction, drying, mold treatment, and insurance documentation without subcontractors.
- Commercial property managers in the greater Pittsburgh area who need scalable water damage response with IICRC-trained crews.
- Homeowners with frozen or burst pipes during a western PA winter who need same-day emergency dispatch.
About this company
Roto-Rooter's Wexford location operates out of 11565 Perry Hwy and covers the greater Pittsburgh metro, including Allegheny, Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland, and Greene counties. This is a franchise of the national Roto-Rooter chain, founded in 1935. The local office is managed by Bob Morgan and runs 24/7, 365 days a year. Their primary business is plumbing and drain cleaning, but they also handle water damage restoration, mold remediation, and water quality systems.
What stands out is the single-provider model: the same company that fixes the burst pipe also extracts the water, dries the structure, remediates the mold, and files the insurance paperwork. The website describes IICRC training for restoration technicians, containment during mold work, antimicrobial treatment, and post-remediation verification. They use camera inspections for sewer lines and hydro-jetting for stubborn clogs. Financing is available through Synchrony Bank.
The Wexford office is a mature location with deep roots in western Pennsylvania. The website calls out local conditions by name: clay-heavy soil and shale bedrock causing pipe movement, freeze-thaw cycles cracking sewer lines, and basement water intrusion in older homes with full basements. They hold Pennsylvania plumbing licenses (MP: HP 03706, HIC: PA14631) and maintain an A+ BBB rating.
4.8 stars across 530 Google reviews is a strong record for a franchise plumbing operation. Most plumbing franchises in this review volume range sit between 4.3 and 4.6. The high rating is driven by a technician named Steven who appears in roughly one-third of recent positive reviews and consistently earns praise for speed, clarity, and after-hours availability.
Services
Service area
Based in Wexford, PA (11565 Perry Hwy) serving the greater Pittsburgh metro area. The website names Allegheny, Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland, and Greene counties, with specific cities including Pittsburgh, Fox Chapel, Sewickley, Bridgeville, Bethel Park, Upper St Clair, Penn Hills, Murrysville, Canonsburg, Charleroi, Waynesburg, Tarentum, Carnegie, Lower Burrell, Jeannette, and Natrona Heights. This is a broad footprint covering much of western Pennsylvania.
Review consensus
Steven (also referred to as Steve and Stephen) dominates the positive reviews. Reviewers praise him for unclogging drains on Sunday evenings, diagnosing leaks within an hour, explaining options and costs transparently, recommending additional fixes without increasing the price, and leaving workspaces clean. Qwayne earns repeat praise for emergency water heater replacement, weekend sewer work, and fast Saturday dispatch. Chance gets recent mentions for prompt, efficient service. Marc handled a stubborn main-line clog and earned strong praise for persistence. Cory and Steve worked as a team on a backed-up basement floor drain and arrived within an hour. Frank repaired a 73-year-old plumbing system on a Sunday including toilet removal and wax ring replacement. Multiple reviewers note same-day or next-day service, technicians who explain the work as they go, and cleanup after the job.
8 found across 530 total reviews at 4.8★. Pricing drives most complaints. Shawn Blake was quoted $450 for a hose bib replacement that cost $43 in parts and took him 10 minutes. Nick Duarte paid $500 to snake a drain and called it highway robbery, though he praised the plumber JT who did the work. Michael Zezulewicz paid $532 for a sewer unclog, then received a Roto-Rooter coupon advertising the same service for $95. TC left a one-star review consisting entirely of a pricing complaint. Ekta Shah described receiving an inexperienced plumber who called for help with basic questions, with repeat visits that generated new diagnostic fees without resolving the problem. Lynn S accused Vince of fabricating the need for excavation work on a sewer line and refused to let her see the camera footage, though she praised Fitzroy who actually fixed the problem. Chad Kohl described a no-show after a return visit for a prior mistake, with the appointment window changed twice and no one arriving by 2 PM. Ahmed Elshahat waited from 2:30 PM past 6:30 PM with no technician and three different excuses from the call center.
The pricing complaints reveal a structural tension common to large plumbing franchises: flat-rate pricing set by the corporate office versus what the local market considers fair. Multiple reviewers praised the individual technician while condemning the price, suggesting the field staff is strong but the billing model creates friction. Owner responses are uniformly templated, all directing to Pat Swanson's email without addressing the specific complaint. The 88% response rate looks attentive on paper, but the identical language across all responses suggests automated reputation management rather than individualized follow-up.
Steven/Steve/Stephen (plumber — overwhelmingly positive, most-reviewed technician, praised for speed, transparency, Sunday/night availability, and clean work). Qwayne (plumber — positive, praised for emergency water heater replacement and weekend dispatch). Chance (technician — positive, praised for prompt and efficient service). Marc/Mark (technician — positive, praised for persistence on a tough main-line clog). Frank (plumber — positive, praised for Sunday repair of 73-year-old plumbing). Troy (technician — positive, used manual drain auger to clear calcium buildup). Jason (plumber — positive, praised for fast toilet repair). Christian (plumber — positive, praised for timely service and repair recommendations). Cory/Codey (technician — positive, mentioned alongside Steve for teamwork). Darren (technician — positive, praised for kindness and explaining backflow). Tom (dispatch — positive, praised for scheduling coordination). Fitzroy (plumber — positive, praised by a reviewer who criticized another technician). Devin (technician — positive, praised for helpfulness and answering questions). Mike (water remediation — positive, helped with insurance). Mattie (technician — positive, praised for fast drain unclog). JT (plumber — mixed, praised for quality work by a reviewer who condemned the pricing). Vince (plumber — mixed, praised by one reviewer but accused of upselling unnecessary excavation by another). Bob Morgan (manager — mentioned on website, not in reviews). Pat Swanson (Customer Satisfaction Manager — named in all owner responses).
Ask for Steven by name if he is available. Get a written quote before any work starts and compare it against at least one other plumber in the area, because pricing is the consistent sore point. Roto-Rooter's strength here is speed and availability: they show up on Sundays, holidays, and at 2 AM. If your situation is an emergency and time matters more than cost, they deliver. If you have time to shop around, you may find the same work for significantly less.
Keep in mind
- They do both mold testing and mold remediation. The team identifying your mold problem is the same one billing to fix it. Get an independent mold assessment before committing to remediation work.
- Pricing is the dominant complaint. Multiple reviewers describe quotes 5-10x above what they ultimately paid elsewhere or spent on parts themselves. One reviewer was quoted $450 for a hose bib replacement he did for $43 in 10 minutes. Another paid $532 for a sewer unclog, then received a Roto-Rooter coupon offering the same service for $95. Get competing quotes before approving any work.
- Several reviewers report missed appointment windows with poor communication. One waited past 6 PM for a 2:30-3:00 appointment with no callback. Another had their window changed twice with no one showing by 2 PM. If your job is time-sensitive, confirm the arrival window and ask for a callback if the technician is running late.
- All owner responses to negative reviews follow an identical template directing the reviewer to email Pat Swanson, the Customer Satisfaction Manager. None of the responses engage with the specific complaint or explain pricing. This is reputation management, not problem resolution.
- One negative reviewer could not be found in the company's records, which the owner noted in their response. This may indicate a fake review or a name mismatch, but the pattern of the company not locating a customer appeared only once.