Apartment Building Drain Cleaning in Phoenix

The pattern of backups points to the pipe. One unit's kitchen sink slows and nobody else's does: the clog is in that unit's own branch. A line of units stacked above one another all slow down or gurgle: the clog is in the shared stack they drain into. Ground-floor units across the building back up first, and sewage shows in tubs and floor drains: the building drain or building sewer is stopped.

The reason is gravity. Water backs up in the lowest openings, so the lowest units in a stack feel a blockage first, and a blockage at the base of the building backs up into every ground-floor fixture it serves. If you call and give us unit numbers and floors, we can often tell you which of the three it is before we arrive.

A kitchen stack carries years of grease, food solids and soap from every sink above it, and it is narrow, usually 2 to 3 inches. Grease sticks to the pipe wall, narrows the bore and catches food solids. A stack rarely clogs along its whole length. It clogs in one spot, and the units below that spot find out. Our guide to why kitchen drain stacks clog in apartment buildings explains the mechanism.

Under Arizona law, the landlord maintains the plumbing, and that includes the shared lines. A.R.S. 33-1324 requires the landlord to keep plumbing and sanitary facilities in good and safe working order. In a condominium, A.R.S. 33-1247 splits the duty: the association maintains the common elements and each owner maintains the unit, unless the declaration says otherwise. Whether a shared stack is a common element is a question for your declaration.

The city does not take it on. Phoenix Water Services handles only city-owned sewer in rights of way and easements, and its repair offer in City Code 28-5.1 covers single-family and duplex property. Anything from the connection back into the building is the owner's. Who ultimately pays a particular bill, for example when a tenant flushed something, is a lease question. Before we start, tell us who is authorizing the work and where the invoice goes.

We work from the lowest accessible point and clear the pipe in the direction of flow. A typical visit:

1. 1We confirm the pattern from the affected unit numbers and decide which pipe to start with.
2. 2We find access: a cleanout at the base of the stack, a cleanout in the building drain, or an opening in a unit, depending on the layout. Ask your maintenance staff where they are.
3. 3We cable or jet from that point. The hose is small, because RIDGID's manual pairs stacks and 2 to 3 inch lines with a 3/16 inch hose.
4. 4We flush, then confirm the affected units drain, starting with the lowest.
5. 5If it is a repeat, we run a camera to see whether the stack is scaled, sagging at an offset, or cracked.

When the work needs entry to a unit, Arizona law requires two days' notice except in an emergency, and a tenant's own service request counts as permission. Plan the notice into the schedule, or call it an emergency if sewage is already in a unit.

• It is one tenant's own sink. A jammed garbage disposal or a plugged strainer in one unit is not a stack problem. Check that before you call for the building.
• The pipe is leaking, not clogged. Water staining a ceiling below, or a wet wall, points to a failing stack. Cleaning does not fix that, and leak detection comes first. See leak detection.
• The main is stopped at the street. If neighboring properties are backing up as well, the city's main may be the problem, and Phoenix takes overflow reports on its emergency hotline.
• The stack is old cast iron. Repeat stoppages in an old stack can mean scale, and a camera tells you whether to clean, line or replace. See cast iron drain descaling.

Call with the building address, the affected unit numbers and floors, whether ground-floor units are backing up, where your cleanouts are, and when the line was last cleaned. We run 24/7 emergency service and give an upfront price before work starts, and estimates are free. For a building with a history of stack trouble, a scheduled drain maintenance program puts the cleaning on the calendar. See also our work for multifamily and HOAs, and our commercial drain cleaning and hydro jetting services.