Drain Cleaning in Burlington

When you need drain cleaning

Water that lingers in a sink after the tap is off is the first hint. A tub that takes ten minutes to empty, a gurgle from the toilet when the washing machine drains, or a sour smell rising from a basement floor drain all point the same way. A single sluggish sink points to its own trap or arm. Many fixtures failing at once, above all in the basement, suggests the trouble sits further down in the main stack or the sewer lateral.

Store-bought chemical cleaners can soften a hair plug for a day or two, but they do little against grease, scale or roots and can be hard on older pipe. Our letter on why drain cleaners damage pipes explains the trade-off.

How the job is done

We start by asking a few questions: which fixtures are slow, since when, and whether anything unusual went down recently. Then we pick an access point, which may be a cleanout, a trap or a toilet flange. For everyday stoppages, a motorised auger with a cutter is our first tool. Once water runs freely, we run the line again to confirm the flow holds.

If the clog came back quickly before, or the cable brought up roots or heavy scale, a sewer camera inspection reveals the real condition of the line. Sometimes the right next step is hydro jetting rather than another round with the cable.

Burlington homes and this work

Many south Burlington houses built in the 1950s and 1960s still carry cast iron stacks and clay laterals, and both catch debris along rough or shifted joints. Newer subdivisions north of the QEW use ABS plastic, which clogs less often but still collects kitchen grease. Lake Ontario water supplied through Halton Region carries enough minerals that a thin crust also forms in drain lines over the years.

What affects the scope

• Where the blockage sits and how easy it is to reach
• Whether a usable cleanout exists or a fixture has to come off
• Pipe material and age
• Whether roots, collapsed sections or belly sags are involved

We explain what we found before suggesting anything beyond the clearing itself.

Before we arrive

Stop running water into the affected drains. If you know where the cleanout or floor drain is, open up access to it and move stored boxes away from it. If sewage is already on the floor, nobody, kids or dogs included, should walk through it.

A word on prevention

Most household clogs build slowly. Hair catchers in tubs, a strainer in the kitchen sink and a habit of wiping greasy pans before washing do more than any product on a store shelf.