Commercial Kitchen Trench Drain Cleaning in Phoenix

A trench drain is a long channel with a grate over the top and an outlet at one end or in the middle, and it catches everything the floor sheds. That means grease, food scraps, grit tracked in from the dock, and the occasional spoon. The channel can hold more than a round drain, so it fills quietly. By the time water stands in it, the sediment layer in the channel is thick, and the outlet pipe has begun to pack too.

Phoenix's FOG manual lists trough drains among the grease-bearing fixtures in a kitchen, and that fits what comes out of them. A trench drain in a dish room or along the cook line carries the grease and starch of the whole station. Our page on commercial floor drain cleaning covers round drains, and the trap and primer details there apply here too.

We take the solids out before any water goes in. A trench drain visit runs like this:

1. 1Pull the grates. Heavy grates come off in sections. We check each for bends and missing segments as they go.
2. 2Remove the solids by hand. We scoop and vacuum the sediment and grease out of the channel and the outlet basket. Hosing it down first just washes it into the line.
3. 3Scrub and rinse the channel. Once the solids are out, the channel gets a rinse that goes down a clear line.
4. 4Clear the outlet line. A cable or small-bore jet goes through the outlet to the first cleanout, working with the flow.
5. 5Test. We run the dish machine and the sinks that feed the channel, then reset the grates.

If the same trench drain keeps packing up, we run a camera down the outlet to see whether the pipe has a sag or a break.

Jetting is right for the line, not the channel. If the outlet pipe is coated with grease or starch, a jet scours it clean, and the channel stays clear longer because water moves out of it faster. If the problem is just sediment in the channel, a jet is the wrong tool, because it pushes the sediment toward the pipe. Our hydro jetting service covers the line, and the right pass depends on what the camera shows.

The grate is part of the drain, and public spaces have rules about it. The 2010 ADA Standards limit openings in floor surfaces on accessible routes to a sphere of 1/2 inch, and put elongated openings across the direction of travel. In a kitchen work area the standard may not apply, but a bent grate segment is a trip and a heel hazard for staff, and in a customer-facing area, such as a bar or a buffet, it can put the drain out of compliance. We tell you if a grate needs to be replaced when we pull it, and we do not replace it without your approval.

• The drain is working and the grate is just dirty. A scrub and a rinse are enough. You do not need a plumber to lift a clean grate.
• Water stands in the line after we clear it. That means the pipe has a sag, a break or an obstruction past the trench drain's outlet. A camera tells us which. See sewer camera inspection.
• Several drains in the kitchen back up with the trench drain. That is a main line or interceptor question. Our page on restaurant main line jetting and our grease trap service cover it.
• The trench drain smells but drains fine. The trap seal may have dried. The code allows a hand sink or lavatory drain in the same room to prime it, and we can check that connection.

Call with where the trench drain is, what the water does, and whether it has packed up before. We schedule kitchen drain work before opening or after close, usually one to two hours inside, with free estimates and an upfront price before work starts. For an overview of what we do in kitchens, see restaurant plumbing and commercial drain cleaning.