Service
Drain Cleaning and Sewer Lines in Van Nuys, CA
One slow sink is a clog. Every drain in the house backing up is a main line problem. This page covers how each is cleared, what a camera inspection shows and what should never go down a drain.
- Clogged drains
- Main line backups
- Camera inspection
Drain Cleaning and Sewer Lines
One drain or the whole house?
The first thing to work out with a blocked drain is how many drains are affected. A single sink or tub that drains slowly usually has a clog in its own branch line: hair, soap, grease or a foreign object. When a toilet gurgles while the shower runs, or several fixtures back up together, the blockage is further along, in the main line that carries everything from the house to the sewer.
The lowest fixture in the house is the first to show a main line backup, because that is where the water goes when it has nowhere else to go: a floor drain, a ground-floor tub or shower. If that drain begins to bubble or fill when the washing machine runs upstairs, stop using water and call. Every use makes the backup bigger.
- A drain that empties slowly, or a sink that fills while it is in use
- Gurgling from a drain or a toilet when another fixture runs
- More than one fixture backing up at once
- Water or sewage in the lowest tub, shower or floor drain
- A sewage smell in the house or around the yard
- The same drain clogging again and again after being cleared
How the work goes
What the work involves
The right tool for the blockage
A small branch clog calls for a plunger or a light cable. A main line full of roots calls for a heavier cutter or water jetting. Matching the tool to the blockage clears it without harming the pipe.
A look inside the pipe
When a drain keeps returning, a camera on a flexible line shows what is in the pipe: roots, a crack, a sagging section, a joint that has shifted. It replaces guessing with a picture.
Cleared, then confirmed
After clearing, water is run through the line to confirm that it flows freely, because a pipe that has only been poked through can fill again.
No harsh chemicals
Caustic drain cleaners can damage older pipes and are a hazard for whoever opens the line afterward. Mechanical clearing removes the blockage itself and leaves the pipe as it was.
How drains are cleared
Plunging and a cable, often called a snake, handle most sink, tub and toilet clogs. The cable is fed down the line, turns against the blockage and either breaks it up or hooks it. For heavier buildup, such as grease along a kitchen line or roots in a sewer line, hydro-jetting uses high-pressure water to scour the pipe wall, and root cutters shred what has grown in.
Older clay or cast iron pipe may not tolerate every method, which is one more reason to look inside first.
- Plunging and cable clearing for sinks, tubs, showers and toilets
- Cutters and heavier cables for roots and dense blockages in larger lines
- Hydro-jetting for grease, scale and silt on the pipe wall
- The cleanout: the capped pipe, often outside, that gives direct access to the sewer line
Sewer lines and roots in Valley neighborhoods
Many Valley streets are lined with mature trees, and tree roots are among the usual causes of a main line stoppage. Roots look for water and enter through joints and cracks, especially in older clay or cast iron sewer pipe, which houses of the mid-century era often have. Once inside, they grow into a mat that catches paper and waste.
Cutting the roots out clears the line for the moment. If the pipe is cracked or offset, they come back, and the conversation turns to repairing or replacing that section.
What a camera inspection can and cannot show
A small waterproof camera on a flexible line goes in through a cleanout or a removed toilet and sends back live video of the inside of the pipe. It can show roots, scale, cracks, bellies where water pools, offset joints and a collapsed section, and with a locator it can mark where the problem lies and how deep it is.
It cannot tell you how many years the pipe has left, and it shows only the part of the line the camera can reach.
Questions
Drain Cleaning and Sewer Lines questions
Is it safe to use chemical drain cleaner?
It is best avoided. Caustic cleaners can damage older pipes and harm skin and eyes, and they leave a hazardous standing liquid for whoever works on the line next. They also rarely clear a root-filled or fully blocked pipe. If you have already poured some in, tell the plumber.
What should never go down a drain?
Grease and cooking oil, which cool and coat the pipe, along with coffee grounds, hair and wipes. Even wipes labeled flushable do not break down the way toilet paper does. Only toilet paper and human waste should go down a toilet.
Why does the same drain keep clogging?
A repeat clog usually has a cause the first clearing did not remove: a pipe that sags and holds water, a rough or cracked section that catches debris, roots, or buildup that has narrowed the line. A camera inspection shows which of these it is.
How do I tell whether the blockage is on my side of the sewer?
Who is responsible for which part of the line depends on your city, but the owner's part commonly runs from the house to the public sewer main. If fixtures back up while the cleanout at your property stays empty, the blockage is likely between the house and the cleanout. If water stands in the cleanout, it is further along.
Can a clogged toilet be cleared without removing it?
Often, yes, with a plunger or a closet auger, a short cable made for toilets. If it clogs again, or other fixtures gurgle when it is flushed, the blockage may be deeper than the toilet's trap. Pulling the toilet is sometimes needed.
More services
Other plumbing services
Drain backing up or running slow? Call a plumber.
Call us or send the form with what you are seeing. If water is running, shut off the main valve first.
Get in touch
Request a plumber
Tell us what is going on and we will call you back.