Clogged Drain

When this becomes an emergency

• Water backing up into a basement floor drain when the washing machine empties.
• Two fixtures on the same side of the house draining slowly at once.
• Gurgling from a basement shower when the kitchen sink runs.
• A dark ring of water creeping out from under the laundry tub.

What a pro does

The first question a plumber answers is how far down the problem sits. One slow sink is a local clog. A basement floor drain taking water back from the washer means the blockage is out in the main, and those two calls go completely different directions. In the older parts of Omaha and on the Council Bluffs side, laterals are often cast iron that has scaled inward over sixty or seventy winters, so the pipe's usable diameter is already narrow before grease or wipes ever arrive. A plumber picks the access point first, usually a cleanout in the basement, and runs a cable sized to the line rather than the biggest one on the truck. Hard water here builds scale on the inside of a drain the same way it does in a water heater, and that crust gives everything else something to grab. If the cable clears it but the pipe fills again within days, a camera goes down to find out whether the real issue is a belly, a root, or a joint that's shifted in the loess soil. Clearing the blockage and understanding why it formed are two separate pieces of the same visit.

Frequently asked questions

Clogged Drain?

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