Drain cleaning and clog removal in northern Utah

Stop running water first. Every gallon you send down a blocked drain has to come back up somewhere.

• Do not run the dishwasher, washing machine, shower, or sinks, and do not flush.
• If sewage is coming up, keep people and pets away from it.
• If water has reached outlets, cords, or appliances, stay out of the standing water. Shut off power at the breaker only if you can reach the panel from a dry spot.
• Skip chemical drain cleaner. It sits in the blocked pipe and can burn skin and eyes when the drain is opened.
• Note which drains are slow and which one acted up first. That tells us where to start.

If only one sink or tub is slow, stop using it and book a visit. If sewage is coming up from a floor drain, tub, or shower, call our emergency line. It is answered 24/7.

Count how many fixtures are affected and look at which ones.

One slow sink, tub, or toilet usually means a clog close to that fixture, in its trap or branch line. The rest of the house drains fine.

A main line clog shows up at the lowest drains first. Water or sewage comes up in a basement floor drain, shower, or tub. Toilets gurgle when the washing machine drains. Several fixtures slow down at once.

One quick check comes from Jordan Basin Improvement District, a sewer district in the south end of the Salt Lake Valley: when the problem is in the house plumbing or the private sewer lateral, turning off all water use will generally stop the backup. If sewage keeps rising with every tap off, call your city or sewer district. The blockage may be in the public main.

We match the tool to the clog and the pipe.

1. We ask what you have seen and check which fixtures are affected.
2. We find the closest access point. That is usually a cleanout, a capped fitting on the drain line. Sometimes we go in through the fixture drain or pull a toilet.
3. We run a cable machine, often called a drain snake or rooter. A flexible steel cable spins a cutting head through the pipe. It breaks up the clog or hooks it so we can pull it out.
4. We run water through the line to confirm it drains at full flow.
5. If the cable brings back roots, grease, or mud, we recommend a camera inspection to see why.

Heavy grease, scale, and roots often need hydro jetting, which scours the pipe wall with high-pressure water. We tell you what we found before we do any more work.

We give free estimates. The price depends on the job in front of us, and these are the things that change it:

• Which drain is clogged. A sink or tub line is a smaller job than a main sewer line.
• Access. A cleanout near the clog saves time. Pulling a toilet or working from a roof vent takes longer.
• What the clog is. Hair and soap clear quickly. Roots, hardened grease, and lost objects take more work.
• The method. Some lines clear with a cable. Others need hydro jetting.
• A camera inspection. We recommend one when a clog keeps coming back or the cable brings back roots or dirt.
• Pipe damage. A cracked or sagging pipe needs a repair, not another cleaning.

You get the estimate before any work starts.

A drain that clogs again and again has a cause the last cleaning did not remove. The common ones:

• Grease poured down the kitchen sink. It cools, sticks to the pipe wall, and catches food.
• Hair and soap in tub and shower lines.
• Wipes and paper towels. They do not break down like toilet paper.
• Tree roots. They enter the sewer line through cracks and loose joints, then catch paper.
• A sag or break in the pipe that holds water and solids.

Ogden City tells owners of older homes with jointed lateral pipe to consider whether the roots of large trees or shrubs near the line could invade and break it. Jordan Basin Improvement District tells its customers that a sewer lateral needing regular service is a sign it needs repair or replacement. A camera inspection shows which.

Most clogs start with what goes down the drain.

• Put cooled grease in a can and throw it in the trash. Salt Lake City Public Utilities says it this way: don't dump grease down the drain, can it, trash it.
• Scrape plates into the trash before you rinse them.
• Flush only toilet paper. Wipes, including the ones sold as flushable, are on the do-not-flush list from Jordan Basin Improvement District.
• Use a strainer in tub and shower drains and empty it often.
• Do not plant trees over the sewer line.
• Find your main cleanout now, so nobody has to hunt for it during a backup.

If a line has clogged more than once, have it inspected by camera. Cleaning a broken pipe only buys time.