60-minute guarantee · Coupon
Later than 60 minutes from call to door?
Here’s $60 off.
No code to remember: tell your plumber or our dispatcher and $60 comes off the invoice. Good 24/7 on emergency calls in our service areas. Guarantee terms
Open 24/7 · 60-minute guarantee
Drain Cleaning
A slow drain is a warning. A drain that’s backing up into another fixture is a main-line problem — and it gets worse every time someone runs water. We clear it with the right machine for the line, not a bottle of chemicals.
At your location in 60 minutes or you save $60.
The short answer
If drains are backing up, stop running water everywhere in the building — every flush and every load of laundry adds to the backup — and don’t pour chemical drain cleaner into a blocked line. Then call us. We find out whether it’s one drain or the main, clear it with the right machine, and give you the price before we start.
Is this an emergency?
Call now if…
- Wastewater is coming up through a floor drain or the lowest fixture
- Every drain in the unit or building is backing up
- A commercial kitchen line is down during service
Can usually wait for a scheduled visit
- One slow bathroom sink
- A tub that drains slowly but fully
Not sure? Call anyway — we’ll tell you honestly.
Do this right now
- Stop using water everywhere in the building — every flush adds to the backup.
- Don’t pour chemical drain cleaner into a backed-up line; it can burn skin and damage pipes.
- Keep kids and pets away from any wastewater.
Signs you need us
- Water backs up in the tub or shower when the toilet flushes
- Gurgling from drains when the washer or dishwasher empties
- Several drains slow at the same time
- Sewage smell from a basement floor drain or cleanout
- Kitchen sink that refills from the other side
- A drain that clogs again days after you cleared it
- Water coming up through a basement floor drain in heavy rain
- Drain flies around a sink or floor drain
How we handle the call
- 01
Ask the right questions
Which drains are slow, and since when, usually tells us on the phone whether it’s one branch or the main line.
- 02
Locate the blockage
We open the nearest cleanout or trap and work out where the line is blocked before we pick a tool.
- 03
Cable or jet
Sectional cable machines cut through most clogs; water jetting scours out grease and roots.
- 04
Test the line
We run water through every affected fixture to make sure it flows at full speed — not just “a bit better”.
- 05
Find the cause
Repeat clog? We can run a camera through the line and show you what’s catching — grease, roots, or a broken or sagging pipe.
Know your building
Drain clogs in apartments, houses and restaurants
Most buildings drain into one main line that leaves through the basement wall or runs under the floor slab. In older homes and rowhouses, that line often passes through a house trap — a U-shaped fitting near the foundation wall, and a common place for a main-line clog. When the main blocks, the lowest drain in the building shows it first: a basement floor drain, or a ground-floor tub or toilet. In an apartment building, a blocked stack or main is a building problem, so tell the super or building manager as well as us; in a restaurant, the kitchen line and the grease trap or interceptor are the first places to look.
Who is responsible for the pipe between your building and the public sewer varies. Often the owner is responsible all the way to the sewer main, sometimes only to the property line — the local sewer utility can tell you which applies, and roots or broken sections in your part of the line are yours to fix. Where sewers carry rainwater as well as sewage, as many older systems do, a downpour can push water up a basement floor drain even when your own line is clear. That calls for a backwater valve, not a drain machine, and we’ll tell you which problem you have.
One visit, whole job
Everything covered on the call
- Main drain and sewer line clearing
- Kitchen, bathroom, tub and shower drains
- Floor and basement drains
- Laundry and dishwasher drain lines
- Grease buildup in kitchen lines
- Tree roots in the sewer line
- Hydro jetting for grease and roots
- Camera inspection on request
- Commercial drains and grease traps
Upfront price, every time
What drain cleaning costs
The price depends mostly on where the blockage is and what it’s made of. A single sink or tub clog cleared at the fixture is a short job. A main-line backup takes a bigger machine and more time, especially when the line runs a long way to the street. Grease and roots usually call for jetting, which costs more than cabling but cleans the whole pipe wall instead of punching a hole through the clog.
You get the price before we start. If the camera shows a broken or collapsed pipe, we show you the footage and price the repair separately — you decide whether to go ahead.
Honest advice
Clear it again, or fix the line?
One clog after a holiday dinner is just a clog, and clearing it is the whole fix.
If the same line backs up every few weeks or months, something in the pipe is catching debris — roots, a sag where the pipe has settled, a cracked joint or years of grease. Cabling it again buys time; a camera inspection shows what will actually stop it, whether that’s scheduled jetting or replacing one section of pipe.
Mistakes that make it worse
- Pouring chemical drain cleaner into a backed-up line — it rarely clears it and makes the water dangerous for whoever opens the pipe
- Running the dishwasher or washer “to push it through” — it just adds water to the backup
- Rinsing grease down the kitchen sink with hot water — it sets further down the line
- Flushing wipes, even ones labeled flushable — they don’t break down in the pipes
Keep it from happening again
- Wipe greasy pans and put cooking fat in the trash, not the sink
- Use strainers in kitchen, tub and shower drains
- Flush only toilet paper — “flushable” wipes are a major cause of sewer clogs
- Have a line that keeps backing up checked with a camera instead of cleared again and again
The 60-minute guarantee
The clock starts when our dispatcher confirms your job. If we’re late, $60 comes off your invoice. No forms, no fine-print games. Read the terms
FAQ
Drain Cleaning questions
Why does my tub fill up when I flush?
That usually means the shared drain line below both fixtures is blocked — often the building main. Stop using water and call.
How do I know if it’s the main line or just one drain?
If only one fixture is slow, it’s usually that drain. If several are slow, or water comes up in a tub or floor drain when you use something else, the blockage is in a shared line or the main.
Why does my basement floor drain back up when it rains?
If your sewer carries rainwater as well as sewage — common in older cities — a heavy storm can fill it and push water back up into the lowest drain in your building. If it only happens in heavy rain, ask us about a backwater valve; if it happens in dry weather, your own line is blocked.
Can you clear tree roots?
Yes. Roots in a sewer line are cleared with a root-cutting head or a jetter, and we can camera the line afterwards.
Do you clear restaurant grease lines?
Yes — kitchen lines, floor drains and grease traps. For busy kitchens, regular jetting keeps grease from building up into a backup during service.
Are chemical drain cleaners safe to use?
We don’t recommend them. They rarely clear a real blockage and can damage older pipes and anyone who has to open the line later.
More we handle
Real People. Real Help.
Water on the floor? Call now.
Fast Help. Fair Pricing. Professional Plumbing Service.
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