Meet Alex Rodriguez: Local Roto-Rooter man led miraculous journey to small biz ownership

It’s all about God, Family and Hard work for the Mid-Columbia’s Roto-Rooter man. Left to right, Jesus Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez, Natalia Rodriguez and Blanca Rodriguez.

By Tom Peterson

Alejandro Rodriguez or Alex as most people know him learned early the value of work ethic and his belief in God.

While some may say his company’s ability to reline a sewer pipe without having to trench through a driveway, garden, or patio at depths of more than 10 feet is amazing, his life story also gives one cause for pause.

It is that work ethic and belief in God that has seen the 39-year-old through as a carpenter, Army gunner, and the owner of Roto-Rooter Drain Services in the Mid-Columbia.

At 12, Alex started out working for a farmer in Dallesport on crops of chili peppers, eggplant and cabbage. 

Later on, he spent 12-hour hot summer days in Tygh Valley picking up the garlic that was missed by the tractor. 

He worked for Orchard View Farms and Polehn Farms. 

He’s picked cherries, apples and pears. He also had that TD right of passage working with the Staneks at Spookys.   

At The Dalles High School, he got on to carpentry. He said he built cabinets for a couple of local kitchens.

While it did not turn into a career, he made an important discovery.

“I like working for myself,” he said.

At 17, Alex joined the Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, Oregon Army National Guard in the Dalles and graduated TDHS in 2002.

And his eventual journey to ownership of Roto-Rooter was preceded by some miraculous events, he said.

Alex was deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“I lived a miracle over there,” he said. 

Alex was a 50-caliber gunner on a convoy of trucks.

“The first month I was there, my battle buddy woke me up early and told me he had a vivid dream. In the dream, we got ambushed by an IED or improvised explosive device, and it blew up our truck.”

Alex in his gunner’s turret.

“We went to the sergeant in charge of the escort team and told him about the dream, so he switched the route. That’s not easy. It takes a lot of planning with points and maps.”

“When we headed out of the forward operating base, there was a company in front of us, and they took the route we were going to take. An IED exploded and we could hear the sirens.”

Alex said they later found out the gunner was injured in the third vehicle from the front of the line - the same position Alex would have been in.”

“That would have been me,” he said. “Why him, not me? I’m not better.”

“Simple answer - prayer,” he said. “From family and other people. They prayed the rosary for me every day I was over there.”

In the years to come, Alex said he attempted to get a dangerous contracting job in Iraq.

Good money, but dangerous.

On two separate occasions, his application was ready to send via Internet, and the computer failed. His sister accidentally kicked the chord to the computer the first time and on the second attempt the computer screen went black.”

He took it as a sign from God.

And while on leave from the military, he had the luck of overhearing a conversation at a restaurant. He could hear that the Roto-Rooter business in the gorge was for sale.

Alex and his dad Abel in Indianapolis at a Roto-Rooter trade show.

It sounded like a good opportunity for him. He could own his own business. He contacted the owner, but another offer was already on the table.

However, a few months later, the owners called him back and said the deal had fallen through and he could buy the business. 

With the help of his father, Abel and mother Esther, he bought the business and received a book of accounts a van and the equipment. 

Scared?

“Not really, I had just been in Iraq,” he said. “The hard part was doing it all on my own.”

Overtime - the past 15 years - Alex said he has been able to add three service employees and he is a working boss. 

“I’ve got good guys, and I can spread out the weight of the business.” 

Alex and his crew

Alex covers from Arlington to Cascade Locks and North Bonneville to Goldendale. 

He also had the good fortune of finding Blanca, his wife of 8 years, who also helps out in the business. 

He ran into her while using his truck to deliver a hospital bed to her brother Jorge who was in a bad auto crash and had to be Lifeflighted. The couple now have two children, Natalia, 2, and Jesus, 6.

While maintaining his strong family roots in The Dalles, Alex said he loves his work as a Roto-Rooter owner. 

“I always liked doing something that makes someone happy,” he said. “It’s great to provide this service, meeting people and getting to help them out.”

Alex has recently invested heavily in equipment that eliminates trenching when repairing sewer drain pipes. No longer do you have to cut through driveways, move porches or worse. He can literally replace a sewer line with two holes or in many cases perform repairs with no digging at all. 

Here’s what his website has to say about it:

The secret to life is purpose. Here’s three of Alex’s.

At Roto-Rooter Drain Service, we provide three main options for our trenchless work; descaling, pipe lining, and pipe bursting:

• We use pipe lining to repair leaking, old, and corroded pipes. We insert an epoxy-saturated liner which hardens and becomes the new inner wall for the sewer line.

• In pipe bursting, we insert a special bursting head inside the old pipes while exerting huge pressure to disintegrate the old line into pieces. This leaves only the new tube intact, thus giving you virtually a new sewer pipeline.

• Descaling is the process of removing mineral build-up and all the dirt clinging to your pipe walls. This involves using high-pressure water to dislodge the scum, leaving the pipe clean and ready for use. We also use it before performing the liner repair work.