Drain Cleaning & Camera Inspection

A slow sink or tub is usually hair, soap and grease a short way down the drain, and a plumber clears it with a cable snake in under an hour. A blocked floor drain, water coming up in the basement when the washer drains, or every fixture backing up at once points further down: the main drain or the sewer service line under the yard.

For a main line there are two ways to clear it. Snaking cuts a path through the blockage and is the usual first step. Hydro-jetting scours the pipe walls with high-pressure water and is used for heavy grease, sludge and roots, at a higher price. If the same line blocks again within months, the next step is a camera inspection: a small camera on a cable is fed down the pipe and records what is actually there, whether that is roots, a sag holding water, a crushed section or a separated joint.

Ask for the video and a written summary, since a camera finding is what any sewer repair quote should be based on.

If the backup is in the main line, the City of Calgary can run a steel snake to the sewer main to see whether the blockage is on private or public property, at no charge for that assessment. If it is on your side, the City will tell you to call a plumber. City crews will not move furniture, pull back carpet or remove toilets, so clear a path to the cleanout first.

Chemical drain cleaners are hard on older pipes and on anyone who later opens the line, so tell the plumber if you have used one.