The kitchen sink
Cooking fat hardens as it cools inside the trap arm and catches the scraps and coffee grounds that follow it. The plumber you hire clears the plug.
Drain Cleaning in Tacoma
Is the kitchen sink holding water, or does the shower tray fill up around your feet? A basement drain that bubbles while the washer empties is another clue. We can put you in touch with a Tacoma plumber who clears the blockage.
Here you will find the drains that block, where a cleanout sits, and what Tacoma asks when a line has been rootered.
Which drain is blocked
Bathroom sinks, tubs and showers
Strands of hair wrap around the stopper linkage, and soap scum binds them into a mat. Clearing that mat from the trap lets water leave the basin or tub again.
Laundry and basement floor drains
Each wash cycle ends with the machine pumping its water out in one rush, and a laundry standpipe or basement floor drain that is half blocked cannot take it all, so the water comes back up.
The main line out of the house
When toilets, tubs and sinks all drain slowly at once, the trouble is in the line that carries everything out to the street. That points to the side sewer rather than one fixture.
Clearing a clog and the permit rules
Clearing a stoppage sits on Tacoma’s list of plumbing repairs that skip the permit, on the condition that no valve, pipe or fixture gets replaced or rearranged along the way. Swapping out a pipe brings the City’s permit rules back in.
Where the cleanout is
A cleanout is a pipe that rises from the side sewer to about ground level, giving access to clear a blockage. The City’s side sewer tip sheet says most sit within 2 feet of the building where the side sewer comes out, or near where the line crosses into the right-of-way.
In some older Tacoma homes, the tip sheet adds, a cleanout can be found in the basement or in the crawl space under the house. Some side sewers lack the right kind of cleanout altogether.
After the main line is rootered
If you have the main line rootered, Tacoma asks you to have the service provider write down the exact footage where the blockage was found and mark that spot on the ground.
That record helps decide whether the problem falls within the City’s responsibility, and the mark shows where to dig if the pipe has to come up for repairs.
A line that blocks again soon after it is cleared may need work on the pipe itself, so read our sewer line page, and for a sink or toilet that drains but fails in other ways see fixture repair. The homepage lists the rest.
Call for a free plumbing estimate
Call us to discuss your current issue and how we can assist you. The call is free and you get a free, personalized estimate with no obligation. We're here to help.
Call (855) 321-3426