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
Drainage Service
Sometimes the problem isn’t one clog — it’s how the whole building gets rid of water. We service the drainage system end to end: area and yard drains, roof leaders, basement floor drains, sump and ejector pumps, backwater valves and the stacks shared by every apartment on a line.
At your location in 60 minutes or you save $60.
The short answer
When water comes into a basement, notice where it’s coming from: up through a floor drain, in at an area drain by the door, out of a roof leader, or from a pump pit that has stopped working. Stay out of the water if it could reach outlets, appliances or the electric panel. Then call us — we clear what’s blocked, get pumps running and tell you what would stop it next time, with the price before any work, and if it’s flooding now, we’re at your location in 60 minutes or you save $60.
Is this an emergency?
Call now if…
- Storm water or sewage keeps coming into the basement
- A sump or ejector pump has stopped and the pit is close to overflowing
- Water is reaching a boiler, water heater or electrical panel
- Several apartments on one stack are backing up at once
Can usually wait for a scheduled visit
- Setting up a maintenance plan for a building or restaurant
- Adding a backwater valve or a new drain before the next storm season
- A slow yard drain that still empties by the next day
Not sure? Call anyway — we’ll tell you honestly.
Do this right now
- Stay out of a flooded basement if the water could be touching outlets, appliances or the electric panel.
- If water is coming up from the sewer in a storm, hold off on laundry, showers and flushing until the rain eases.
- Clear leaves and trash off an outdoor drain grate if you can reach it safely.
- If a pump alarm is sounding, stop using the fixtures that drain into that pit.
Signs you need us
- Water pooling at an outside basement stairwell during rain
- A yard or driveway drain that stays full long after the rain stops
- A roof leader that overflows or leaks inside a wall
- A sump pump that runs nonstop, cycles constantly or won’t start
- An ejector pump alarm, or a basement bathroom that stops draining
- A basement that takes water every time there’s a downpour
- Backups showing up in several apartments on the same line
- A backwater valve nobody has opened or checked in years
How we handle the call
- 01
Trace the water
Sewer, roof, yard or a failed pump — we work out where the water is coming from, because each one needs a different fix.
- 02
Clear and restore
Blocked area drains, leaders and lines are cleared, and stopped pumps are repaired or replaced so the basement drains again.
- 03
Camera the hidden runs
Leaders inside walls and drains under the slab are inspected with a camera, so we know their condition, not just whether they flow today.
- 04
Price the protection
If the system can’t keep up, we price the upgrade: a backwater valve, a new ejector or sump pump, or a new drain where water collects.
- 05
Plan the maintenance
For buildings and restaurants, we set a schedule for cleaning drains, testing pumps and checking valves, with a written record after each visit.
Know your building
Rain, pumps and stacks in houses and apartment buildings
In many older cities, sewers carry rainwater and sewage in the same pipe. In a heavy storm they can surcharge and push water back into basements through the lowest drains — floor drains, basement toilets and laundry tubs — even when the building’s own line is clear. Older rowhouses and apartment buildings often tie their roof leaders and area drains into the building sewer too, so in a downpour the roof, the yard and the toilets are all draining through one pipe. A backwater valve on the building sewer, kept clean, is what holds the public sewer back.
A basement below the level of the sewer can’t drain by gravity, so a sewage ejector pump lifts waste from a basement bathroom or laundry up to the main; when it fails, those fixtures back up or stop. Detached and semi-detached houses with basements or crawlspaces often add yard drains, driveway drains and sump pumps to the mix. In apartment buildings, one stack serves a whole line of apartments, so a blockage low in the stack shows up in the lowest units first — and clearing it is a job for the super or building manager, not one tenant.
One visit, whole job
Everything covered on the call
- Area drains and outside stairwell drains
- Yard and driveway drains
- Roof leaders and rain leaders
- Basement floor drains
- Sump pump repair and replacement
- Sewage ejector pumps and alarms
- Building stacks shared by many apartments
- Backwater valve installation and servicing
- Maintenance plans with written records
Upfront price, every time
What drainage service costs
It depends on which part of the system failed and how hard it is to reach. Clearing an area drain or a basement floor drain is usually a short job; a roof leader blocked inside a wall, an ejector pump that has to be replaced, or a new drain cut into a slab is a bigger one. Pumps are priced by type and size, plus the piping, check valve and alarm they need.
Maintenance plans are priced on what the building has — how many drains, pumps, leaders and stacks — and how often they need attention. You get the price before any work starts, and for planned upgrades, a written scope the owner, manager or board can work from.
Honest advice
Keep clearing it, or add protection?
If a drain backs up once after a storm full of leaves, or a pump quits after many years of service, clearing the drain or replacing the pump is the right fix, and that’s all you need.
If the basement takes water in every heavy rain, or the same stack backs up every few months, you’re paying for the same cleanup over and over. That’s when it’s worth adding protection — a backwater valve where the sewer pushes back, an ejector or sump pump where water can’t leave by gravity, or a new drain where it collects. We show you what we found and price both, so the owner, manager or board can decide.
Mistakes that make it worse
- Running laundry, showers and the dishwasher while the street sewer is backing up — your water has nowhere to go
- Plugging a floor drain to keep storm water out — the water can come up the next-lowest fixture instead
- Unplugging an ejector pump alarm because it’s noisy, instead of finding out why it went off
- Letting leaves and trash bury area drain and yard drain grates
Keep it from happening again
- Clear area drain and yard drain grates in the fall and before big storms
- Test sump and ejector pumps on a schedule, before you need them
- Have backwater valves opened and cleaned so the flap can close when the sewer pushes back
- Keep a log of every backup — date, weather and which drains — so the pattern points to the fix
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
Drainage Service questions
What is a backwater valve, and do I need one?
It’s a valve on the building sewer with a flap that lets waste flow out and closes when the sewer pushes back. If water comes up your floor drains only in heavy rain, it’s usually the right fix.
What’s the difference between a sump pump and an ejector pump?
A sump pump moves clear groundwater or rainwater out of a pit in the basement floor. A sewage ejector lifts waste from fixtures below the sewer — a basement bathroom or laundry — up to the building drain. They’re built for different jobs and aren’t interchangeable.
My ejector pump alarm is going off. What should I do?
Stop using the fixtures that drain into it, because the pit is filling and the pump isn’t keeping up. Don’t open the pit — it holds sewage. Call us and we’ll find out whether it’s the pump, its switch or a blockage.
Do you set up maintenance plans for buildings?
Yes. For co-ops, condos, rental buildings and restaurants we put together a schedule — drains cleaned, pumps tested, valves and stacks checked — with a written record after each visit for the board or managing agent.
Who fixes a backed-up building stack?
A stack serves every apartment on the line, so clearing it is usually the building’s job. Tell your super or managing agent right away; owners and managers can call us directly.
More we handle
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Water on the floor? Call now.
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