The calls this company gets are the ones nobody schedules: a main line strangled by tree roots, a basement drain backing up on a weekend, a septic pump alarm going off at the wrong hour. Wayne's Drains works out of Burlington and, by its own account, has been family-owned since Wayne and Dot Barme started it in 2000 from their basement — now a 30,000 square-foot yard with pump, jet and vactor trucks. Its BBB profile puts the headcount at 25; the company's own site says nearly 30.
Speed is the through-line. Across 57 Google ratings averaging 4.4, the same shape of story keeps repeating: someone calls, a tech turns up faster than promised, the line gets cleared, the mess gets cleaned up before they leave. A homeowner writing in April 2026 described a sewer line clogged with tree roots and backing into the house, cleared on a Saturday, with the standing water in the basement vacuumed up afterward. A 2025 reviewer got same-day service on a kitchen sink backup. In a 2023 review, a customer wrote that Wayne's came out at 11pm after a bigger outfit cancelled at the end of a four-hour arrival window.
Technicians get named constantly — Tom, George, Mike, Nick, Steve — almost always with thanks attached. The written history runs from 2021 to 2026, and the last stretch has been quiet: three reviews since February 2026, all positive.
The complaints are a minority, but they cluster around the same thing — what happens when a job goes sideways. In 2025 a commercial customer said crews repeatedly failed to show and then walked away from a million-square-foot site. A 2024 homeowner who booked an annual septic inspection said the tech told them to call a plumber for access, then drove off rather than explain the problem to that plumber. In a 2023 review, a customer described a drain that re-clogged inside the 30-day warranty, a $295 charge that took back-and-forth with the office to remove, and then the same invoice arriving again two years later. A 2022 customer said a double sink cracked during snaking and the company pinned it on the plumber who had installed it seven years earlier.
Two things to settle before booking. The company advertises around-the-clock emergency service, but a 2021 caller was told the first opening was two days out — ask what qualifies as an emergency for your job and get an arrival window in writing. And if snaking will happen near old or fragile fixtures, agree up front on who owns any damage. The BBB grades them A+, though they are not accredited, and the company self-reports a US DOT registration number, 981516, which is its own claim rather than anything confirmed against a registry.
For an urgent drain, sewer or septic problem in Greater Boston — especially a root-choked main line — this is a reasonable first call. For a standing commercial contract, ask for references from comparable sites first.