Drain Cleaning

Drain cleaning is the most common reason homeowners call a plumber. It also has the widest spread between honest pros and bad operators. A $99 drain-snake special is often a foot in the door for a $4,000 quote on a “broken sewer line” that may or may not exist.

The pros on our network are vetted on how they handle this exact situation. We watch for partners who push trenchless sewer replacement on every house call, and we watch for partners who actually walk through the diagnosis with you — camera footage, pressure-test results, plain English.

When you actually need drain cleaning

• A single fixture (sink, tub, toilet) drains slowly. Usually a localized clog handled in under an hour.
• Multiple fixtures back up at once. The blockage is downstream, in the main drain or sewer lateral. Bigger job.
• Recurring clogs at the same fixture, every few months. Usually a venting issue or partial blockage, not a real clog.
• Backup into floor drains, tubs, or showers. That’s a main-line issue and should be diagnosed with a camera.

Mechanical snaking vs hydro jetting

Most clogs are handled with a mechanical drain snake (also called a “drum auger” or “drain machine”). It’s faster and cheaper. Hydro jetting uses high-pressure water and is the right call for grease buildup in older kitchen lines, mineral scale in older pipes, or stubborn root intrusion that snaking only opens up temporarily.

Don’t pay for jetting on a job a snake handles in 30 minutes. Don’t accept a snake on a job that needs jetting and will be back next month.

What pricing usually looks like

Standard drain cleaning runs roughly $175–$400 for a single fixture or accessible cleanout. Main-line cleaning with cleanout access runs $300–$600. Hydro jetting is typically $400–$850 depending on line length. Camera inspection is often $150–$300, sometimes credited toward a recommended repair.

Exact pricing is set by the plumbing pro — we don’t quote your job.