What the work is
A single slow fixture is usually a local blockage: hair and soap in a lavatory arm, grease in a kitchen line, a toy in a toilet. We cable that branch through the nearest access, run water long enough to be sure it is actually clear, and put everything back.
The part that matters is the diagnosis, not the cable. If one fixture is slow, it is a branch problem. If the lowest fixture in the house gurgles when you run another one, or a shower backs up when the washing machine drains, that is the main line and a different job. We will tell you which one you have before we quote it, and we would rather send you to the cheaper answer.
We do not add a chemical drain opener to anything. Caustic openers sit in the trap when they fail to clear it, and the next person to open that joint gets it on their hands.
What is included
- Cabling one line through an existing cleanout or the fixture opening
- Running the line long enough afterwards to prove it drains
- Resetting the toilet or trap we pulled, with a new wax ring or washers
- Telling you plainly whether this is a branch problem or a main line problem
What is not
- Cutting a new cleanout, if there is no access. That is quoted separately and you approve it first
- The main sewer line. If the whole house is backing up, that is a different job
- Chemical drain openers. We do not use them and we would rather you did not either
- Repairing a drain line that turns out to be broken rather than blocked
What is different here
Two things show up in older St. George houses more than anywhere else. Cast iron drains that have started to scale internally will re-clog on a schedule no matter how well you cable them; the cable opens a channel through the buildup rather than restoring the pipe. And on hard water a kitchen line collects a harder deposit than grease alone.
If you have had the same line cleared more than twice in a year, ask for a camera rather than a third cabling. A recording will tell you whether you are paying to reopen a pipe that needs replacing.
What to ask anyone quoting this, us included
- Is this a branch problem or a main line problem, and how do you know?
- Is there an existing cleanout, or does one need to be cut?
- If this line has been cleared before, what changed?