Good news York. My name is Noah Chrysler. I am
here today with Joey Raffino from sewer cues
Joey welcome to the pod Absolutely Joey what
we want to hear a little bit about sewer cues
and what you do over there at sewer cues So yeah,
so sewer cues drain solutions is the full name.
Everybody calls me sewer cues I started as a
drain cleaning business pretty much with a little
bit of residential plumbing repairs, you know
drain line repairs, maybe a hot water tank, but
my main thing is drain cleaning. So you have
a clog in your drain, call SewerCuse. Beautiful.
Okay. Fantastic. Just any sort of drain, a bathtub,
a sink. Bathtub, sinks, main sewer. Gotcha. Okay.
Dishwashers? Yeah. Cool. Okay. A lot of dishwashers.
Fantastic. Cool. What do Syracuse homeowners
get wrong about drains and sewer lines all the
time? What they can put down them. okay that's
the biggest thing what's the weirdest thing you've
pulled out of a drain the weirdest thing or the
thing i pull out the most which is like an epidemic
in the city are those flushable like cleaning
wipes sure every day every day it's it's insane
cool we got some dude wipes in the bathroom have
you seen terrible i got it okay they flushable
you can flush them but they get stuck gotcha
yeah How can they sell a product that like is
that claims one thing and then like does not
break down in the in the pipes? Like I mean that
seems when they say flushable That that covers
it because it does flush. Yeah, but that's it.
Yeah cloggable It gets stuck. Yeah, they're covered
on their end. Okay, so you're pulling out a lot
of like like Flushable wipes anything else? What
are the grease people just you know, they cook
they fry something pour it down the drain Hits
that cold pipe solidifies Greece, a lot of tree
roots in the city. Interesting. Yeah, a lot of
old pipes in the city of Syracuse. So those joints
break inside the line. Tree roots get right inside.
Interesting. What kind of problem occurs? Like,
how is that visible? What what does the homeowner
call about? Is it like a water buildup in the?
So yeah, so usually like you have your I don't
know if you're in the basement of your house,
you see where you have like that floor drain.
So, you know, if water runs in the basement,
it goes down. If the drains clogged, it comes
right out of there. It'll fill your basement
up real quick. Oh, fun. Cool. And then they call
Joey. Yeah. Gotcha. Cool. Cool. Cool. Got it.
How did you end up taking pride in this kind
of work? You know, if you scroll on your Instagram,
there's a lot of gross nasty videos and lots
of lots of cool stuff there. But like, you know,
I mean, it's a weird thing to be like, this is
my brand. It is a very weird thing. I've been
I've been in like property management. So a lot
of apartments in the city. So I've been doing
this kind of work. Probably I started when I
was like 15. And it is kind of weird, but I always
enjoyed it. Things don't gross me out a lot.
So when I always tell people like. when you're
doing it and you're getting it's almost like
fishing and you pull it back and you're like
oh what did I find on the end and I always like
it was just like always the adrenaline rush of
looking what could I find on the end and then
uh about a couple years ago now um my buddy you
know everybody says sewer cues right it was kind
of like this you know this thing on the city
oh sewer cues we live in sewer cues I'm like
well that'd make a great name for a business
and I always enjoyed doing it so I'm like I was
really good at it I would do it here and there
as side jobs And I'm like, I'm going to make
a business out of that. Cool. The rest is history.
I love it. No, that's awesome. Cool. So yeah.
So tell me about your Instagram, right? So your
Instagram journey seems like it it's taken off,
you know? And if you look, I mean, you've got
tons and tons of engagement and stuff. Tell me
about that. Yeah, that's that's kind of the fun
part. So that's like my almost my second job.
I tell my wife, you know, I record pretty much
everything I do. I got like meta glasses and
stuff. And, you know, I always try to tell the
homeowners like, hey, I'm going to record. Yeah,
when I get home, I just kind of find the stuff
that I know is going to gross people out, which
is kind of easy. Sure. And yeah, I've kind of
been working, you know, I go on TikTok, you know,
learn how to edit and then along the way, kind
of learn what gets the clicks in the engagement.
And now, I mean, I've racked millions of views.
Fantastic. What have been some of the learnings
that you've taken away from that? What gets those
views? What gets that engagement? So I do kind
of this one thing. I'll record something. Like
I showed you earlier, in the trap, there's eggshells
in the trap. And then putting on there, so I'll
say, customer said this. I put my eggshells down
the drain to sharpen the garbage disposal. And
I'll just show that it doesn't work. And people
just see that, oh, I do this every day. So getting
people To comment saying hey, that's actually
not right when I know it's right but just getting
them to say stuff on the videos What do you mean?
So so you've deliberately put in like false stuff
like I put it in is correct and they but people
think that what they're doing They've been doing
it for years, right? Like I've been putting egg
shells down that my my grandma told me that egg
shells sharpen the garbage disposal blades But
really it just clogs it up. Sure. It doesn't
work So just stuff like that where I know people
are gonna comment like I've been doing this for
years. It works fine Gotcha. Yeah cool little
engagement bait yeah gotcha the engagement rage
bait is really that's uh yeah i love it i i always
find that so fascinating right it's like uh i
think i think that when things do really well
on social media consistently right because you've
you've consistently popped off i feel like it
says something about like human nature right
where it's like there's just there's a reason
people want to consume this why is that so yeah
trying to figure that out that's that's kind
of the fun part yeah yeah some i'll do the same
thing i'll get like 500 views i'm like what the
heck Yeah, it should have worked right and it
didn't know it's so funny in that wild and then
like I don't know you have you ever used Instagram's
like trial reels Before no, I've heard about
that. Yeah, you should try it I've heard that
that's really helpful and if you do You can do
multiple variations of the same video and then
it one of them it can like pop off and then yeah
Pretty cool if you because if you change the
text or you change the hook then it could potentially,
you know go go super well cool what separates
a real sewer expert from a guy that just does
basic plumbing so you can just you know you can
call any plumber most most plumbers so when i
say plumbers i mean guys that are like you know
in commercial plumbing they want to go and they
want to repipe a house brand new water lines
brand new drain lines but a customer calls and
say hey i need my drain line snaked right they
don't really want to do it And I enjoy doing
it, which is weird. People think I'm weird, but
I do enjoy doing it. They'll just go in and they'll
snake it out real quick. I go in, I snake it
out. I have a camera. I do full camera inspections,
do pipe. like descaling is the same kind of thing.
So I put a machine in that fully descales it.
So I go above and beyond for the customers. What
is descaling? What does that machine actually
do? So it's called a it's like a chain knocker.
So it goes in. It's called a flex shaft chain
knocker. And when it spins, it expands the chains.
So it's knocking the hole inside of the pipe
instead of just sticking a hole through what's
there and just kind of pulling it back and calling
it a day. Cool. Going to make sure that the whole
line is clear. So yeah, I've seen those things.
Those are pretty cool. Very cool. Cool. When
did you realize that your personality and brand
could help grow the business? Probably like right
when I started. I mean, it was, you know, it
was kind of, it was fun to start at first. And
then I realized like, you know, really engaging
with the customers. It was something I was actually
like really good at. Cause I'm actually like
pretty introverted. So then when I show up at
that house, so it's like the switch, the flips
like, Oh, I'm like actually really good at this.
And I just I love that part of it. I love it.
Do you have any like or specifically though?
When what what caused you to post that first
video? Just like this is crazy and you just post
which the one at the the toenail one I mean that
one or just anything like, you know, what what
caused you to start like posting? Yeah, so I
started I started the social media page probably
like a couple months after I was like I'm just
gonna throw this out and see what it does and
I was on vacation and like ding ding ding ding
ding ding. Cool. All right, this is This is what
people like. Yeah, and it took off. Yeah, very
cool. All right, cool. Tell me like a story.
You got like a customer story. Weird story sticks
out in your memory. Yeah, I got a few. I mean,
the one as far as like helping a customer out.
I had this one lady who I was there and, you
know, you can have the city of Syracuse come
and try to do it. And then if they can't get
it, they tell people to call me. This one lady,
she had, you know, no money, nothing. She just
needed help out. And I couldn't get the line.
I couldn't get it. So I was actually able to
call a supervisor from the city and they came
and they actually dug up her whole yard. I was
able to talk to them and get it done for free,
which for her. So that was really great to a
customer out. Yeah. As far as like helping people
out, that was one thing I really take pride in.
Absolutely. Very cool. I'm sorry. You dug up
her whole yard or you didn't. The city actually
came and dug it up. Oh, sweet. Yeah, that was
nice to help somebody out, you know, a whole
thing for your charge. And that's wonderful.
That's awesome. Well, very cool. OK, we're going
to transition here to some hot takes, OK? Can
you give us some plumber hot takes? Here we go.
What's a plumbing rule homeowners swear by that
you think is complete BS? That's a tough one.
As far as drain lines go. I guess, like I said
before, like what you put down the drain, I wouldn't
put anything except soap, water, toilet paper.
People think that, you know, once you put it
down the drain, you don't see it. It's gone.
And it goes and like it's right out. That's not
true at all. If you can go in and inspect a line,
even though your line's not backed up, stuff
is still sitting there. So don't put anything
down the drain. Good to know. Good to know. What's
one normal thing people do in their house that
plumbers know is absolutely wrecking their pipes?
I mean, we've kind of covered that. Yeah, I mean,
pouring grease down the drain. If you have like
food on your plate, even rinsing food, like even
though the food's not going down the drain, you're
still rinsing oils off. So get everything off.
I mean, that's huge. The grease builds up so
fast. Gotcha. This might be a silly question,
but if I have a big pan of bacon grease, what
do I do with that pan of bacon grease? Like,
what should I do? I'll tell you what my wife
does. She's actually pretty smart. She taught
me this when we got married. She takes tin foil.
puts it in the like the the basket of your sink
there and pours it in and then just kind of wraps
it up and sets it aside so it's a harden up and
then throws it out. Sweet. Yeah. So she taught
me that. That was I like that little tin foil
grenade of bacon grease. I like that. Cool. What's
your hottest take on Drano flushable wipes, garbage
disposals and or tankless water heaters? Any.
Hot takes on those items. Draino works, but it
destroys your drain lines. It'll burn a hole
right through, especially in the city of Syracuse.
We have a lot of old drain lines, a lot of galvanized
drain lines, cast iron. And if it sits, if there's
like a belly in your pipe and it sits, it's going
to eat right through. Even PVC, I find PVC can
handle it a little better. But yeah, you said
tankless water heaters. Yeah, I like them. I
have a very big house. And actually, when I bought
my house, I put one in. It took probably two
minutes to get hot water up to the top floor
of my house. So I took it out. Yeah, okay. I
put a regular tank back in. Wow. Yeah, that's
crazy. Two minutes to just let go. It was brutal.
Gotcha. What's something plumbers recommend all
the time that you think is overrated or unnecessary?
Plumbers recommend all the time. Think sometimes
with water heaters Plumbers will recommend and
not that it's the worst thing in the world, you
know Draining your tank out shutting it off draining
the water changes the anode rods But I find with
a lot of the newer hot water tanks. They're not
even lasting long enough for it to even matter
So yeah, gotcha. Gotcha. How many years you get
on a hot water tank? I swear it all depends these
days. Sometimes like one year on some of the
cheaper ones. You can go with higher -end models,
but it all depends on the condition of where
the hot water tank is. If you have a lot of moisture,
it's gonna rust out in no time. A single year
is crazy. It is insane. I have stories. Let's
hear them. Well, you got one? Yeah, so actually
I have some rental properties myself, and so
we'll buy tanks from Home Depot or Lowe's. You
want to sometimes save money and put a cheaper
one in. But yeah, a little bit of water, moisture,
if it's a really damp basement, they'll just
die in a year. And they'll start leaking, cracking.
It's a pain. If you could ban one household plumbing
habit or product tomorrow, what would it be and
why? Definitely flushable wipes. Gotcha. Like
I said, it is an epidemic everywhere. Yeah. Yeah.
Interesting. OK, cool. It keeps me employed.
I will say that. So I try to say it too much.
But yeah, it's bad. Cool. Sounds good. So like
would you like your biggest sellout moment? If
you like if you ever sponsored by like dude wipes
or one of those flushable wipe companies We know
that like they got you. Yeah It's brutal gotcha
bad people don't know what it is cool. Um Joey
what's next for for sewer cues? What's on the
horizon? That's kind of my next step. I kind
of need to make that decision. Like I am a one
-man company You know, I am very busy and I handle
it pretty well, but it would be nice to have
some help so hiring on at least one more person
for now. Maybe somebody to take the phone calls.
Cool. They have those AI receptionists. But yeah,
so about that, my wife, I'm driving my wife crazy.
Oh yeah. You're taking calls, taking calls and
then I have to go home and edit videos at night.
And yeah, it's a lot of office work, phone calls.
Gotcha. It's a lot full time gig for sure. Yeah.
Like full time jobs. Yeah. Damn. Now that makes
sense though. Like a receptionist potentially
or maybe service. Just something to take the
look. Maybe. Yeah. I don't even know. Cool. I
think they have that. They're probably specialized
for plumbing services. You can probably hire
a full -time... person to take your calls and
things. That's great. Well, cool, Joey. Hey,
thank you so much for coming on. Seriously, it
was wonderful to learn more about plumbing. And
I know what to keep out of my drains now. And
I'm going to go home and make a little tinfoil
bird's nest and put some out to my wife for that.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. She's great. Beautiful. Well,
hey, guys, thank you so much for watching. Good
News York. My name is Noah Chrysler. This is
Joey Raffino with SewerCuse. If you have any
sewer problems, you call Mr. SewerCuse and he'll
help you out. Thanks so much for watching. Have
a great day.