Slow or Clogged Drain? Drain Cleaning Service in Buena Park

One drain or the whole house? Start with which fixtures are slow

The call dispatchually starts the same way: a sink that drains slowly, a tub with standing water, or a toilet that gurgles when the washer runs. The first thing to work out is how many fixtures are affected.

If only one sink or one tub is slow, the clog is in that fixture's own branch line. If several fixtures back up together, especially the lowest ones in the house, the blockage is probably in the main line that carries everything out. A clogged drain in Buena Park can be either, and the answer changes the work.

Gurgling in a toilet when you run a sink, water backing up into a shower when the washer drains, or a slow drain in every bathroom are all signs of a main line problem. A kitchen sink that is slow while everything else works is almost always local to the kitchen branch.

• One fixture slow: branch clog, often hair, soap, food or grease.
• Two fixtures on the same wall slow: a shared branch line.
• Lowest drains back up first: the main line is restricted.
• Gurgling or bubbling in other fixtures: air is being pushed back through the system by a blockage.
• Sewage smell with slow drains: a main line problem, which the sewer line repair page covers when the cause is a damaged or root-filled pipe.

Kitchen sinks, main lines and yard drains

The kitchen sink is the most common drain call. Cooking fat cools and sticks to pipe walls, and food scraps and coffee grounds build on it. A kitchen drain clog often returns after a quick snaking if the grease layer stays on the pipe, which is why jetting is sometimes suggested for kitchen lines.

Mainline drain cleaning and snaking use a larger machine than a sink snake, and residential drain cleaning of a kitchen line now and then keeps buildup from returning, a form of drain cleaning and maintenance that suits older pipe. The main line is the pipe that carries all of the house's waste out toward the sewer connection.

A clog there affects every fixture. Tree roots, a belly in the pipe where waste settles, flushed wipes and heavy buildup are the usual causes. Many homes have a cleanout, a capped pipe near the house or the property line where a plumber can access the main without removing a toilet. Ask to see where yours is.

Yard and storm drainage is a separate matter. Surface drains and French drains handle runoff, not household waste. A plumber can clear a yard drain, but if the problem is a grading or soil issue, a landscape or drainage contractor may be the right call. Say what you have when you call so the right plumber is sent.

Commercial and restaurant drains are another scale. Grease traps, floor drains, kitchen exhaust drains and kitchen lines need regular service. See the commercial plumbing page if you manage a business.

Whose pipe is it? The owner, the City and who to call

When a drain backs up, it matters whether the problem sits inside the house or on your own lateral or the City's. City code gives the owner two stretches of pipe: the connecting sewer from the main out to the right-of-way line at the street, plus the house sewer. The City keeps the sewer mains.

If the blockage is inside the house or on the lateral, a drain cleaning plumber can handle it. If a camera shows the problem is at or beyond the main, the City is the place to ask. Water service questions go to the City Water Department, (714) 562-3655.

Many Buena Park homes were built in the middle of the last century, so drains and branch lines can be old. Housing data puts about 78.5 percent of units before 1980, though no City document lists the pipe material.

Before you call: drain questions