One slow drain or the whole house? How to tell
The most useful thing you can figure out before calling is how many drains are affected. It changes the job completely.
Branch line clog (one fixture)
- Only one sink, tub or shower is slow
- Other fixtures drain normally
- Usually hair and soap in bathrooms, grease and food in kitchens
- Cleared through the fixture or its trap
Main line clog (whole house)
- Several drains are slow, often the lowest ones first
- Toilets gurgle when the washer or tub drains
- Water comes up in a basement floor drain or lower shower
- Cleared from an outside cleanout or by pulling a toilet
Common causes of clogged drains
- Kitchen sinks: cooking grease that cools and hardens in the pipe, coffee grounds, rice and pasta, and food scraps run through a garbage disposal without enough water.
- Bathroom sinks and tubs: hair bound together with soap residue, usually within the first few feet of the drain.
- Toilets: wipes labeled "flushable," paper towels, feminine products and too much paper in one flush.
- Main sewer line: tree roots entering joints, a section of pipe that has sagged and holds waste, grease buildup from years of kitchen use, or a broken pipe.
- Laundry drains: lint from washing machines, which builds up in standpipes and in the line downstream.
How drain cleaning is done
The tool depends on the size of the pipe and what's blocking it.
Cable machine (drain snake)
A rotating steel cable with a cutting head is fed into the drain through the fixture, the trap or a cleanout. It bores through hair, paper and grease clogs and cuts through light root growth. Small cables suit sink and tub lines; larger machines are used on main sewer lines.
Hydro jetting
A high-pressure hose with a rear-facing nozzle scours the inside wall of the pipe. Jetting removes grease buildup and root masses that a cable only pokes a hole through, which is why it's often used on kitchen lines and main lines that keep clogging. It isn't used on pipe that's already badly cracked or collapsed, which is one reason a camera check comes first on problem lines.
Camera inspection
When a main line clogs more than once, a waterproof camera is run through the pipe to see why. It shows roots, sags, offset joints and broken sections, and records the depth and location so a repair can be targeted.
After the clog is cleared, the plumber runs water through the line to confirm it drains at full flow, and cleans up the work area. Chemical drain openers aren't part of the job; they rarely clear a full blockage and can damage older pipe and the plumber's equipment.
Sewer or septic changes what a slow drain means in Cherokee County
Many Canton subdivisions are on public sewer through the City of Canton or the Cherokee County Water and Sewerage Authority, but much of the rural and older housing in the county is on septic. On a sewer-connected home, a whole-house slowdown almost always means a blockage in the main line, and drain cleaning fixes it.
On a septic home, the same symptoms can come from a full septic tank, a clogged outlet baffle or a saturated drain field. Red clay soils drain slowly, and after long rainy stretches a drain field can stop accepting water.
Running a cable into the line won't help in that case. If you're on septic, tell us when you call; we'll check the line between the house and the tank, and tell you if the tank needs to be pumped by a septic service.
What affects the cost of drain cleaning
The cost is mainly about which line is blocked and how it can be reached.
- Branch line or main line. A bathroom sink clog is a smaller job than a main sewer stoppage.
- Access. A cleanout outside the house is the easiest access to a main line. With no cleanout, a toilet may have to be pulled, or a cleanout installed.
- Method. Hydro jetting costs more than cabling, but it removes buildup rather than just opening a path through it.
- Camera inspection. Recommended when a line keeps clogging, and priced as its own step.
- Timing. A backup at night or on a weekend is an emergency call.
When a clogged drain becomes an emergency
- Sewage is coming up into a tub, shower or floor drain
- The only toilet in the house won't flush and is overflowing
- Water is backing up and overflowing faster than you can stop using fixtures
Stop using all water in the house until the main line is cleared. Our emergency plumbing service handles backups 24 hours a day.
Keeping drains clear after cleaning
- Wipe greasy pans with a paper towel before washing and scrape grease into the trash.
- Use hair catchers in tubs and showers.
- Flush only toilet paper. "Flushable" wipes don't break down the way paper does.
- If the main line has roots, plan for a camera check. Repeated root clogs usually mean the pipe has a gap that needs sewer line repair.
Drain cleaning is one of the most common calls we take as a plumber serving Canton homes. Homes near downtown with older cast iron and clay pipe tend to see more root and buildup problems; see our Downtown Canton page for more on older drain systems.
Drain cleaning questions
Why does my drain keep clogging after it's cleaned?
If a main line clogs again within weeks or months, something in the pipe is catching waste: roots, a sag, a broken joint or heavy grease buildup. A camera inspection shows which one, and whether jetting or a repair is the real fix.
Are chemical drain cleaners safe for my pipes?
Caustic and acid drain cleaners can damage older metal pipe and rubber seals, and they rarely clear a full blockage. If they don't work, they leave a pipe full of chemicals for the plumber to deal with. A mechanical cleaning is safer.
Do I have a sewer cleanout?
Most homes built in the last few decades have one: a capped pipe sticking a few inches out of the ground near the foundation or between the house and the street. Older homes may not, in which case one can be added to make future cleaning easier.
Is hydro jetting safe for older pipes?
Jetting is safe for pipe that's in sound condition. On badly cracked clay or deteriorated cast iron it can make damage worse, so older lines should be inspected by camera before jetting.