Drain Cleaning in Pomona, CA
A slow kitchen sink, a toilet that backs up into the tub, or a cleanout overflowing in the yard. Get a licensed local plumber to clear it and find out why it clogged.
Service provided by Los Carnales Plumbing, CSLB C-36 #1147159.
How to tell what kind of clog you have
- One slow drain. If only the bathroom sink or only the kitchen sink is slow, the clog is probably in that fixture's branch line, close to the drain.
- Several drains at once. If the tub fills when you flush, or the shower backs up when the washer drains, the clog is in the main line that carries everything out of the house.
- Gurgling. A toilet or tub that gurgles when another fixture drains is a sign of a partial main line blockage.
- Sewer smell inside the house or around the cleanout.
- Water coming out of the cleanout cap in the yard.
- Clogs that come back a few weeks after you plunge or snake them.
What drain cleaning involves
- Find which line is blocked. The plumber runs water at different fixtures to tell a branch clog from a main line clog.
- Get access. Through a cleanout if there is one, or by pulling a toilet or going down through the roof vent if there isn't. Many older Pomona homes have no outside cleanout, and adding one makes every future main line clog quicker to clear.
- Clear it. A drain cable with the right cutting head breaks up the clog and cuts through roots.
- Look at it. For main line stoppages and repeat clogs, a camera run afterward shows whether there's a crack, a root intrusion, or a sag holding water. If the camera finds damage, that's a sewer line repair question, not a cleaning one.
Hydro jetting
Hydro jetting sends high-pressure water down the line through a nozzle with jets pointing backward and to the sides. It pulls itself along the pipe and scrubs the walls as it goes. Where a cable punches a hole through a clog, jetting cleans the pipe back to something close to its full width.
When jetting is the right call
- Kitchen lines packed with grease, where cabling only opens a narrow channel that closes up again.
- Root fibers left behind after the roots have been cut with a cable.
- Rust and scale lining old cast iron drains.
- Restaurant and commercial kitchen lines that build up grease fast.
When it isn't
Jetting a pipe that's already cracked, separated or partly collapsed can make a weak spot worse. Old clay sewer lines and badly corroded cast iron should get a camera inspection before anyone puts a jetter in them.
Why drains clog in older 909 homes
Cast iron drains
Pomona homes built through the 1960s commonly have cast iron drain lines, many of them under the slab. Cast iron rusts and scales on the inside as it ages. The rough, narrowed pipe catches grease and paper that would slide through a smooth one.
Clay sewer lines and tree roots
Older neighborhoods like Lincoln Park and the streets around Ganesha Park have mature trees and clay sewer laterals with a joint every few feet. Roots find those joints, grow in, and catch everything that comes down the line.
Kitchen grease
Grease goes down the sink as a liquid, cools in the pipe and hardens. It's the most common kitchen clog anywhere, but old, rough pipe holds onto it more.
Wipes
Wipes don't break apart the way toilet paper does. They snag on roots and rough pipe and build into a mat.
No cleanout
Without a cleanout, every main line clog means pulling a toilet or going up on the roof. That's slower and messier for the same result.
Drain cleaning questions
Should I use a chemical drain cleaner first?
Better not. Liquid drain openers rarely clear a main line clog, they're hard on old cast iron and rubber parts, and they put whoever opens the line next at risk of a chemical burn. For a single slow sink, a plunger or a small hand auger is fine to try.
What's the difference between snaking a drain and hydro jetting?
A drain cable, or snake, spins a cutting head through the clog and opens a path. Hydro jetting uses high-pressure water to scour the pipe walls clean, which removes grease, scale and root fibers a cable leaves behind. Jetting is the deeper clean, but the pipe has to be sound enough to take it.
Why does my drain keep clogging?
Repeat clogs usually mean something inside the pipe is catching waste: roots at a joint, a sag that holds water, a cracked section, or heavy scale. A camera inspection shows which one, so you fix the cause instead of clearing the same clog every few months.
Does my house have a sewer cleanout?
Look outside along the foundation, usually on the side of the house closest to the street, for a capped pipe a few inches across coming up out of the ground. Many older Pomona homes don't have one. A plumber can add one where the sewer line leaves the house.
How often should the main line be cleaned?
If you've had no trouble, there's no need to clean it on a schedule. If roots keep growing back, some homeowners have the line cleaned about once a year until they repair the joint or section the roots are getting in through.
What shouldn't go down the drain?
Cooking grease, coffee grounds, wipes of any kind, including ones labeled flushable, paper towels, and in the garbage disposal, things like rice, pasta, potato peels and celery. Those cause most of the kitchen and toilet clogs plumbers clear.
Clogged drain in Pomona?
Call and describe which drains are slow. A licensed local plumber can clear it.