SewerOwnerGet a second read

Contractor Visit Preparation

A contractor visit is usually thirty minutes, and the first ten normally go on you recapping what has been happening. That is ten minutes not spent on what they found and what they propose to do about it.

This assembles the questions relevant to what you have recorded, plus the details worth having ready, into one sheet you can print and hold.

The questions are ones a professional can actually answer — nothing designed to catch anyone out. Your answers stay on your device, and no contractor is contacted at any point.

What this page cannot establish

  • preparation does not establish anything about your property
  • these questions are for understanding, not for challenging a professional
  • SewerOwner cannot tell you whether an answer you receive is correct

Contractor visit preparation sheet

Print this and hold it during the visit. The questions below have short factual answers, and writing them down at the time is what makes them useful afterwards.

What was checked

  • Which fixtures did you check, and which behaved normally?

  • Which access point did you use, and how far did you reach?

  • What could you not check today, and why?

What was observed

  • What did you see, and where along the line?

  • How was that location measured, and from what point?

  • Can you write that observation down, with the location, on the invoice?

What is being assumed

  • What does your price assume about material, depth, and length?

  • How was each of those established?

  • What happens to the price if any of them is different?

What would change your view

  • Which of your statements are observations and which are recommendations?

  • What would you need to see to be more certain?

  • What would change your recommendation?

  • What are the alternatives, and why this one for this property?

Have this ready before they arrive

  • a written list of which fixtures are affected and which are not, by level
  • when it started, and whether the change was gradual or sudden
  • the dates of any previous events, however approximate
  • invoices from any previous cleaning or repair
  • any inspection footage or report you hold
  • anything you have already put down the drain
  • where you believe any access point is, if you know
  • a note of which surfaces you would be most concerned about disturbing

The questions in full

Rendered as plain text so the sheet is usable with a pen and no device, and so the questions are readable without the tool above.

  • Which fixtures did you check, and which behaved normally?
  • Which access point did you use, and how far did you reach?
  • What could you not check today, and why?
  • What did you see, and where along the line?
  • How was that location measured, and from what point?
  • Can you write that observation down, with the location, on the invoice?
  • What does your price assume about material, depth, and length?
  • How was each of those established?
  • What happens to the price if any of them is different?
  • Which of your statements are observations and which are recommendations?
  • What would you need to see to be more certain?
  • What would change your recommendation?
  • What are the alternatives, and why this one for this property?

What would change the answer

  • what you have observed, and when
  • any records you hold

What to do next

A printed sheet works during a visit in a way a phone screen does not.

If your situation is different

If you want a second read

You can describe what you have been told and have a person read it. They will say which question is still unanswered, or say that they cannot help — there is no contractor network behind this site, nothing is routed anywhere, and no request reaches a company.

Ask someone to look at what you have been told
Ask someone to look at what you have been told

Related, and why