We recommend homeowners schedule sewer line cleaning every 18 to 24 months to prevent buildup and clogs. Regular cleanings help avoid costly repairs and extend the life of your plumbing system.
For best results, it's a good idea to have your sewer lines cleaned out every two years.
Most stool medicines can be bought over the counter at your local pharmacy without a prescription. Higher-dosed stimulant laxatives are by prescription. Both medicines are taken for an initial 3-day cleanout. This 3-day treatment can be repeated every 2 weeks as needed until you get the desired results.
Drain cleanouts are access points located throughout a home's drain line, usually near the basement wall. Each drain in the house typically has at least one drain cleanout, from which debris and clogged material can be removed.
The national average rate for sewer cleaning prices ranges between $200 and $600, with most people paying around $250 for a main sewer line cleaning with minimal-to-no excavation to access the cleanout. This project's low cost is $150 for light-duty professional sewer cleaning with a snake.
Expert Recommendations for Sewer Line Cleaning
We recommend homeowners schedule sewer line cleaning every 18 to 24 months to prevent buildup and clogs. Regular cleanings help avoid costly repairs and extend the life of your plumbing system.
If you don't have drain cleanouts, backups can still be removed but it can sometimes be more challenging. The plumber has two options in this situation: access the sewer line from the roof or from the toilet. Unfortunately, neither option is as effective as going in through a cleanout.
The only houses that don't are older homes in which a cleanout wasn't installed originally. But even if you're in an older home that was built without a sewer cleanout, it's likely one was needed at some point and was installed. But if you happen to be in a home without one, the system is probably cast iron.
Routine maintenance on a weekly and monthly basis will help you keep drains clean and limit your risk of obstructions in these pipes. Practice correct use of garbage disposal equipment. Don't put grease or certain types of food down the drain.
Many homes have two clean-outs (see below). One is near the foundation of the house and the second is at or near the property line. First, check the clean-out next to the house to see if it has water in it. If it doesn't contain any water, then you know the blockage is somewhere in the house plumbing.
After taking the medicine, your child should pass a large amount of stool within 24 hours. There are no food restrictions during the clean-out. Your child should have almost clear, watery stools by the end of the next day. If the medicine does not work or you do not know if it worked, call your child's doctor's office.
Magnesium oxide is one of the most common and least expensive forms of magnesium for constipation. But there are others, including magnesium citrate or magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts). Make sure you follow the recommended dosage, and give yourself time to be near a bathroom when the medication takes effect.
Plumbing code also requires that the cleanout has to extend up above the ground level, but in some older homes, the cleanouts may be buried just under the surface. In extremely cold climates, the cleanout is instead usually located inside to prevent the sewer line from possibly freezing.
On average, estate cleanout services cost $1,250 but can range from $50 to $6,000, depending on the size of the estate and how much work you leave to the pros.
In addition to cleaning from a pro once per year, keep your drains clean with a weekly and monthly maintenance routine. This maintenance will greatly limit the risk of blockages and damage to plumbing drain pipes throughout your house, as well as buried sewer lines outdoors.
The amount of serosanguineous fluid should decrease each day and the color of the fluid will turn light pink or light yellow. Your surgeon will usually remove the bulb when drainage is below 25 ml per day for two days in a row.
Depending on the job's difficulty, cleanout installation will cost the average homeowner between $650 – $2,000, with the highest cost reserved for those that require extensive digging and retrofitting.
Why do I need a clean out pipe? Over time, grease and debris can build up in your sewer line, forming clogs which prevent proper flow of your wastewater. Tree roots growing into your sewer line can also cause problems.
For long runs of piping, a cleanout is required every 100 feet. This measurement is taken from the highest end of the horizontal drainage piping to the point of connection with the building sewer.
Toilets Flush Slowly
You might find that your toilet doesn't fully flush or flushes very slowly and odd noises occur when you flush your toilet. These noises usually sound like gurgling or bubbling. Additionally, the water in your bathtub or shower takes much longer to drain than normal.
Although all homes should have cleanouts, many older homes do not. That makes it tough for a plumbing service to get into your pipes to auger them out when they need it. It's important to keep your home's main drain clear, inside and outside the house.