Drain Cleaning in Phoenix

Count the drains. One slow sink or one tub that will not empty is a branch clog inside the building, and it is yours. Every fixture slow at once, toilets gurgling when the washer drains, or water coming up the lowest floor drain or shower points to the main building drain or the lateral to the street, and that is still yours under Phoenix's rule: owners clean and maintain the line all the way to the city main in the street or alley. The city's piece is the main itself. If sewage is coming out of a manhole in the street, call Water Services at 602-262-6691 on weekday mornings or 602-261-8000 after 2:30 p.m. and on weekends.

One more check helps. Find the cleanout, usually a capped pipe near the foundation, and loosen the cap slowly. Water standing in it means the blockage is downstream, between the cleanout and the main. A dry cleanout with drains backing up means the clog is inside, upstream of it. See what a sewer cleanout is.

We clear the stoppage, then we tell you why it happened. For a same-day stoppage we start with a cable through the cleanout or the fixture, sized to the pipe. The jetter rides on the truck, so if the cable opens a hole but grease or roots are still lining the pipe, we can switch tools without a second visit, or quote hydro jetting as a separate job. When the line clears but the cause is not obvious, a camera inspection is the next step.

Clearing a stoppage is one of the jobs Phoenix exempts from a permit, so there is no paperwork and no wait. It stays exempt as long as nothing is replaced or rearranged. Our drain cleaning page covers the equipment.

Phoenix Water Services names the two main causes of sewer backups as grease and roots, and says grease is the most frequent. Cooking grease poured down a drain, even chased with hot water, cools and hardens further down the line. The city's advice is to let it cool and put it in the trash. Roots are the other one. Tree and shrub roots probe sewer lines for any crack or loose joint, then ball up inside. The city recommends not planting near the cleanout or the sewer line, and watching for slower flow when trees are already close.

In older Phoenix neighborhoods, the pipe adds to it. Census figures show about 40 percent of the city's homes were built before 1980, and older clay and cast iron lines give roots and scale more places to grab. See keeping tree roots out of a sewer line.

The usual calls are a kitchen sink packed with grease and food, a bathroom drain full of hair, a toilet line with too much paper or wipes, and a main line that backs up into the lowest shower. If the same main line clogs every few months, the cable is treating a symptom, and a camera inspection shows the cause.

Commercial drains clog on a schedule you can see coming. Grease from fry and prep areas, food solids in floor sinks, paper in high-traffic restrooms, and soda syrup in bar drains. Phoenix's grease manual asks kitchens to scrape plates into the trash, screen every drain, recycle fryer oil and train staff, and it bans enzymes, bacteria and solvents that only push grease further down the line. It also warns that a grease blockage downstream of your building can come back to you as a back bill.

We work before opening or after close so the kitchen stays in service, and we keep a log for accounts on a cleaning schedule. See commercial drain cleaning, restaurant plumbing and scheduled drain maintenance.

Cleaning will not fix a broken pipe. If the line keeps closing in the same spot, if the cable comes back with dirt or pieces of pipe, or if sewage smell lingers after the drain runs clear, the problem is structural, and the next step is a Phoenix sewer camera inspection. If the city main is surcharging, cleaning your line will not help; that is a Water Services call. And a single slow lavatory with a hair clog is a job you can often handle yourself with a plastic drain snake.

Call with the address, how many drains are affected and whether there is a cleanout. We offer same-day service, 24/7 emergency service for backups, and upfront pricing before work starts. For everything else we do in the city, see the Phoenix service area page.