Huntersville, NCDrainCleaning

Why young drains still clog

Charlotte Water's crews pull tree roots, wipes and grease out of the public mains. The same three things block private lines. Grease goes down warm and sets on the pipe wall a few feet later. Wipes do not break down the way paper does. Neither one cares that the pipe is PVC from 2004.

Roots are the surprise in a newer house. NC State Extension's point is that a root usually needs an existing leak to enter, which in plastic pipe means a joint. Once inside they thicken and catch paper. Roughly 7 percent of the housing is older than 1980, and cast iron drains are still possible there, where rust and scale do the catching. Some properties in Mecklenburg County are on a septic tank instead of public sewer, and a septic system still depends on a clear line from the house out to its tank.

• Cooking grease that has set in the kitchen line
• Wipes caught at a bend or joint
• Hair and soap in shower and tub drains
• Fine roots at a leaking joint in the yard

How we clear it, and where Charlotte Water's part ends

You tell us which fixtures are slow. One fixture means a branch line, the short job covered on our clogged drains page. Several at once means the main. We run a cable through the cleanout until the line takes a full flow, then test each fixture that was affected. If there is no cleanout, a pulled toilet gives us a way into the main.

If the cable brings back roots, clearing the line is only the first step. Hydro jetting clears what the cable leaves, and a sewer camera inspection pinpoints where they came through. The Piedmont's subsoil is firm red clay, so knowing the exact spot matters before anyone digs. Charlotte Water looks after the public mains. What runs across your own property is yours to maintain, and that is where we work.

Wynfield, Skybrook and Birkdale Village

Wynfield Creek, where the median build year is 1994, is among the earliest subdivisions. Skybrook was built between 2000 and 2017. We also expect calls from Northstone, Cedarfield, Vermillion, Macaulay and Gilead Ridge. In houses of this age the usual drain calls are kitchen lines, bath drains and now and then the main.

Birkdale Village opened in 2003 with about 60 stores and restaurants and 320 apartments. Restaurant kitchens fall under Charlotte Water's grease rule: a new restaurant needs a 1,000-gallon interceptor at minimum, or a smaller one only with the utility's approval. The interceptor protects the main. The line feeding it still needs cleaning, and we do that as commercial plumbing. Property managers with apartments or rental houses get the price before work begins. Agents can book a cleaning and a camera run ahead of a listing.

When we can come to Huntersville, what it costs and what is covered

Someone answers day and night, seven days a week. You can ask for an appointment the same day. Routine jobs are normally booked 24 to 48 hours out. If a shower or floor drain is bringing up sewage, that is an emergency plumber call, not an appointment.

You are told the price before work begins. What moves it: whether the clog is in a branch or the main, whether there is a cleanout, and whether the line needs jetting after the cable. Most clogs in a house from the 2000s are on the simple end. We say so when they are, and our reviews mention the lack of upselling for a reason.

Drain cleaning is excluded from our 1-year labor warranty. Pipe repairs are included. If the camera finds a leaking joint and we repair it, that labor is covered for twelve months.