Drain Cleaning and Clogged Drain Service in Des Plaines

The drains we are called out for

Kitchen sinks are the most common call in older Chicagoland houses. Cooking grease leaves the sink as a warm liquid, cools in the horizontal run under the floor and hardens against the pipe wall. Layer by layer the opening narrows until the sink drains at a trickle.

A cable can open a path through that build-up and get the sink draining again. Water jetting can remove more of the grease from the pipe wall when the pipe's condition and access allow it, but how long the line stays clear depends on the pipe and on what keeps going down the drain.

Laundry standpipes clog for a different reason. Lint from a washing machine binds with detergent and soap scum and packs into the trap and the branch line, and because a washer dumps a large volume of water in a short burst, a partly restricted standpipe overflows onto the floor long before it fully blocks. If your washer has started backing up onto the laundry-room floor, the line is already most of the way closed.

Tubs and lavatory sinks are usually hair and soap in the trap or the branch. Toilets that gurgle when the tub drains, or a basement floor drain that backs up when the washer runs, are a different story — that pattern means the restriction is downstream of several fixtures, in the building drain or the main line out to the sewer.

Basement floor drains and main-line backups get priority, because everything in the house drains through that pipe. When the main is blocked, running any fixture upstairs pushes water out at the lowest opening in the building, which is almost always the floor drain next to the furnace or water heater.

Cabling, jetting and camera inspection

Cabling — what most people still call rodding or snaking — sends a rotating steel cable down the line with a cutting head on the end. It is the right first move for a solid obstruction: a hair mass, a wad of wipes, a root ball in a main line. It reopens the pipe quickly and it works in lines that are too small or too fragile for high-pressure water.

Water jetting uses a high-pressure hose and a nozzle that directs water backward against the pipe wall as it travels. Rather than only opening a path, it can loosen and flush grease, soap, sludge and scale. It suits some kitchen lines that keep closing up, commercial grease lines and mains that have silted in, but it is not right for every pipe.

We choose between cabling, jetting and a camera after reviewing the pipe's condition, access, diameter and the likely obstruction, and no method guarantees that a clog will not come back.

A camera inspection is worth doing whenever a line has backed up more than once, whenever the house is old enough to have a clay lateral, or before you spend money on a repair. The camera shows whether you are looking at roots at a joint, a belly holding standing water, an offset where two sections have shifted, or a collapsed section — four problems that feel identical from the sink and cost very different amounts to fix.

Tree roots are a common cause of main-line backups in older Chicagoland homes. Many older laterals were laid in short clay sections, and a joint that has opened, shifted or lost its seal can let roots from parkway trees grow inside the pipe. Cutting roots restores flow, but it does not seal the joint, and how quickly roots come back varies from line to line.

When roots keep returning, it is worth looking at the condition of the pipe rather than only the roots.

What happens on the visit

Right Away provides drain cabling, water jetting and camera-guided drain diagnosis in Des Plaines, Chicago and surrounding Cook and DuPage County communities. The appropriate method depends on whether the blockage involves one fixture, a branch line or the building’s main sewer connection. Chicago customers can call 773-250-6060; suburban customers can call 847-550-3322.

We start by asking which fixtures are affected and in what order, because that narrows the location of the blockage before anyone opens a cleanout. One slow sink is a branch problem. Several fixtures on the lowest level is a building-drain or main-line problem.

We work from the nearest suitable cleanout wherever one exists, protect the floors and surrounding cabinetry, and pull the trap or remove the toilet only when there is no better access. After the line is open we run water through it long enough to confirm it drains at full volume, not just that the standing water disappeared.

Before we leave you get a plain explanation of what came out of the pipe and what we would recommend next — nothing, a jetting on the kitchen line, or a camera run on the main. If the camera shows a broken or root-filled lateral, that moves into sewer repair territory and we walk you through the options rather than selling you a cleaning every spring.

A recurring clog: what changes the next step

When a drain clogs again after it was cleared, the pattern matters more than the clog itself. Before choosing a method we review the pipe's condition, the available access, the line size and what kind of obstruction the symptoms point to. Three plain patterns shape the next step:

• One fixture slow or backing up: usually a trap or branch line near that fixture. Note which sink, tub or laundry standpipe it is and whether it acts up only when that fixture runs.
• Several fixtures affected: tell us which ones and in what order, such as the basement floor drain rising while the washer pumps out, or the kitchen sink gurgling when an upstairs toilet flushes. In a two-flat, condo or other shared building, mention whether neighbors on the same line are seeing it too.
• The same drain clogging again after it was cleared: note how long it ran normally and what was going down it. A repeat clog is often the point where a camera look at the accessible pipe is worth discussing.

What a cleaning does and does not tell you

After a cleaning we explain what came out of the line and what we could and could not see. A camera shows only the pipe it can reach, and standing water or leftover debris can hide part of the picture. A drain that runs again does not by itself prove the pipe is sound, and it does not by itself justify replacing the pipe either.

If you would like the home's plumbing looked over before deciding anything, a plumbing inspection is a separate visit focused on what can be observed and documented.

Cleaning is maintenance. If the camera shows damage that needs repair or replacement, that becomes a separate decision, covered on our sewer repair and sewer line replacement page.

Before a kitchen or laundry drain visit

A few steps make the visit safer and the diagnosis more accurate:

• If a drain is backing up, stop using that fixture, and any fixture that seems to make it worse, until the line is cleared.
• Tell the technician whether a chemical drain opener was used, which product and when. Do not add a second product or mix cleaners, and do not open a trap or line that is holding chemical-laden water.
• Clear a path to the sink cabinet, laundry standpipe, floor drain and any cleanout you know about, but leave the cleanout cap closed; a full line can release sewage when the cap comes off.
• In a condo, apartment or other shared building, let the building manager or association know, since shared lines and common-area access may need their coordination.

Holiday cooking and houseguests

A few days of holiday cooking, extra dishes and extra laundry can send more grease, food scraps and lint through a drain than it normally sees in weeks. That added load does not usually create a new problem; it tends to expose a restriction that was already building in the line. Scrape plates into the trash, keep cooking grease out of the sink and space out loads of laundry when the house is full.