Drains and sewers
Drains that have stopped cooperating.
One slow sink is a nuisance. Every drain in the house running slow is the main line, and that is a different job. Here is how to tell which one you have.
What the symptom usually means
Not a diagnosis over the internet, but it is a good guess most of the time.
- One sink drains slowly A local clog in that trap or branch. Usually cleared in under an hour and rarely anything worse.
- The toilet gurgles when the tub drains Air being pulled through a partial blockage further down. It is talking to you before it fails properly.
- Everything is slow at once The main line, not the fixtures. Snaking one sink will not touch this and anybody who tries is wasting your money.
- Water comes up in the basement floor drain The main is blocked and the lowest opening in the house is where it surfaces. Stop using water and call.
- It backs up every few months, then clears Almost always roots. It regrows on a schedule. Clearing it again treats the symptom, and a camera tells you whether the pipe is worth saving.
- A sewer smell with no backup Usually a dried out trap or a vent problem rather than a clog, and it is often a five minute fix.
How we actually clear it
Cable first. A drain machine cuts through the blockage and gets the line running. For a kitchen branch or a bathroom stack that is usually the whole job.
Camera when it repeats. If a line has backed up more than once, we run a camera before charging you to clear it a third time. You watch the screen with us, and you find out whether you have roots, a belly, a crack or just grease.
Jetting for grease and roots. High pressure water scours the pipe wall instead of punching a hole through the middle of the blockage, which is why a jetted line stays clear a lot longer.
Drain and sewer work we take on
- Kitchen, bath and laundry drains
- Main sewer line blockages
- Floor and basement drains
- Root cutting and removal
- Hydro jetting
- Camera inspection with video you keep
- Clean out installation where there is none
- Sewer line repair and replacement
- Backwater valves
- Sump pump and pit work
- Pre purchase sewer inspections
- Odor and venting problems
Questions worth asking
Should I try a bottle of drain cleaner first?
We would rather you did not. It rarely clears anything more than a hair clog, and if it does not work it sits in the pipe as caustic liquid that the next person has to put a hand into. It also damages older cast iron and some plastic joints. A plunger is fine. A bottle of lye is not worth it.
How do I know if it is roots?
The pattern gives it away. Roots grow back at a fairly regular rate, so a line that backs up every autumn, or every four to six months, is almost always roots finding a joint. A camera confirms it in ten minutes and tells you how bad the pipe underneath is.
Do I have to dig up the yard?
Often not. Plenty of lines can be cleared and kept running for years with jetting and a root treatment. When a pipe has genuinely collapsed there are trenchless options that need two small pits rather than a trench down the whole lawn. We will tell you what the camera actually shows rather than what makes the biggest job.
Is the sewer line my responsibility or the city's?
In most of Linn County the lateral from your house to the main is the homeowner's, and the main under the street is the city's. Where the line fails decides who pays, which is another reason to put a camera down it before anybody starts digging.
Can you look before I buy a house?
Yes, and on anything built before about 1980 it is money well spent. A home inspector does not put a camera in the sewer. Finding a collapsed clay lateral before closing is a very different conversation than finding it afterward.
Backing up right now?
Stop running water, including the washing machine, and call. If it is the main line, every gallon you send down has to come up somewhere.