Drain repair and installation

Cleaning or repair?

If a drain worked well until recently and has one blockage, start with drain cleaning. If the same line clogs again and again, the pipe itself may be the problem. A camera inspection shows what is inside the line, so nobody opens a wall or floor on a guess.

What usually goes wrong

• Rust. Older cast iron can rust from the inside until it cracks or leaks.
• Lost slope. A drain that has sagged holds water and catches everything passing through.
• Failed joints. Leaks start where pipes meet, especially behind tubs and under sinks.
• Damage. Pipes get cut, crushed or disturbed during renovations.
• Roots. Lines outside the house can be broken up by roots. See sewer line repair.

How we repair it

We reach the damaged section, cut it out and replace it with new pipe at the right slope. A drain under a basement floor means opening the concrete at that spot and patching it after the repair. A drain in a wall or ceiling means opening just enough to reach it. We explain what will need to be opened before we start.

Installing a new drain

New drains come up when a fixture is added or moved, such as a laundry sink, a basement bathroom or a kitchen island. A drain needs a route to the main line with a steady slope, and a way to get air through a vent. That route decides what is simple and what is not, so tell us your plan early.

• Laundry room plumbing
• Kitchen plumbing
• Basement bathroom plumbing
• Sump pump installation, if a drain cannot reach the sewer by gravity