A drain that backs up twice in a year is not a clogged drain. It is a drain telling you something about its slope, its material, or what is growing into it.
AT A GLANCE
- Typical visit
- 1 to 2 hours for a single fixture drain
- Camera inspection
- Recommended on any main line that has backed up twice
- Permit required
- No, for cleaning. Yes, if a line section needs replacing.
- Common cause here
- Root intrusion in clay and cast-iron laterals in older neighbourhoods
When a drain needs cleaning and when it needs fixing
Most drain calls resolve in an hour. Somebody put the wrong thing down a kitchen sink, or a shower has collected ten years of hair, and cabling the line ends it. That is the ordinary case and we charge an ordinary flat rate for it.
The case worth paying attention to is the drain that clogs, clears, and clogs again. Along the Front Range that is usually one of three things. Older neighbourhoods in Denver and Littleton still have clay or cast-iron laterals with joints that roots find. Houses built on expansive soil — which is most of Douglas County — can settle unevenly enough to put a belly in a drain line, and a belly holds water and catches solids forever. And cast iron scales internally as it ages until the effective diameter is half what the pipe size says.
None of those are fixed by cleaning. Cleaning buys months. The point of putting a camera down the line is so you find out which one you have, and can decide with real information whether to keep cleaning it or repair the section.
What we actually do on site
We start by asking which fixtures are affected, because that locates the problem before anyone opens anything. One fixture means the branch. Everything on one side of the house means a stack. Everything, including the lowest drain in the basement, means the main line, and that changes both the tool and the urgency.
Then we clear it — cable for discrete blockages, jetter for build-up along the pipe wall. If the line has backed up before, or if what comes back on the cable looks like roots or scale, we camera it and show you the footage. You get told what the pipe looks like inside, where the problem is, and how far down. Then you decide.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
- Flat-rate quote before any work starts
- Cabling or hydro-jetting, chosen for the blockage and the pipe material
- Camera inspection of the line where the cause is not obvious
- A straight answer about whether the line needs repair or just cleaning
- Fixture and surrounding area left clean — drop cloths, not a mess to deal with
COMMON QUESTIONS
How much does drain cleaning cost?
We quote a flat rate before we start, based on the fixture and the access. You get the number first, and it does not change if the job takes longer than expected. Call us and describe what is happening and we can usually give you a range on the phone.
What is the difference between cabling and hydro-jetting?
Cabling punches a hole through a blockage and pulls back what it catches, which is right for a single stoppage like a hair clog. Hydro-jetting scours the full diameter of the pipe with high-pressure water, which is what you want for grease build-up or root hair in a main line. Jetting costs more and is not appropriate for every pipe, so we choose based on what the camera shows.
Why does my drain keep clogging in the same place?
Repeat clogs in one spot usually mean a physical cause rather than a usage problem — a belly where the pipe has settled and holds water, a root mass at a joint, or a section of pipe that has scaled down internally. Cleaning it again will work for a few months. A camera inspection tells you which of those it is so you can decide whether to fix it properly.
Are chemical drain cleaners a bad idea?
For anything beyond a slow bathroom sink, yes. They generate heat, they rarely clear the actual blockage in a main line, and they sit in the pipe until someone opens it up. If a chemical cleaner has been poured down a line we are about to open, tell us so the crew can take proper precautions.
Do you clean main sewer lines?
Yes, including camera inspection and locating. Main line work is where the diagnosis matters most, because the difference between a cleaning and a repair is thousands of dollars and you should not have to take our word for which one you need — you can watch the camera feed.