Matthews, NCDrainCleaning

Why drains clog in a town built in the 1980s and 1990s

Thornblade went up from the mid-1990s on. Hampton Green and The Heathers are 1980s and 1990s neighborhoods, and Brightmoor is from the late 1980s. Drain lines in houses of that age are generally plastic, which does not rust the way cast iron does. What they have is mileage. Grease from thousands of dinners narrows the kitchen line. Hair and soap do the same in bath drains. The clog that finally stops the sink has usually been building for years.

Outside, the issue is roots. N.C. Cooperative Extension says roots cannot break into a sound sewer pipe, but they will follow any joint that leaks, and their reach can be double or triple the height of the tree. A tree does not have to stand over the line to reach it. The few buildings from before 1960, around downtown and in Crestdale, are the likeliest to have cast iron or clay, where joints open more easily.

Clearing the line, and when to call Charlotte Water first

Charlotte Water owns the water and sewer system here, not the town. If sewage is backing up, the utility says to shut off whatever is using water first. If it keeps coming, phone 311 or 704-336-7600 and Charlotte Water will send a crew to look at the public main. Once the main is ruled out, the trouble is in your own line, and that is a plumber's job at any hour.

We open the line with a cable from the cleanout and run water through every fixture that backed up. A cable cuts roots but leaves the fine ones, so a line that slows every year or so does better with hydro jetting. When the same spot keeps catching debris, a sewer camera inspection finds the joint that is letting roots in. Closing that joint is a sewer line repair, often one short section and not the whole yard.

From Brightmoor to Trade Street: the properties we expect to see

Most calls should come from the subdivisions: Brightmoor, Hampton Green, The Heathers and Thornblade. Downtown is the exception. The National Register lists the commercial district by the railroad, where seven of ten historic buildings front Trade Street. One of them, the Heath and Reid General Store, has stood since 1888. Crestdale, to the east, goes back to the 1860s. In buildings that old, we look for the cleanouts and work out how the drains run before we choose where the cable goes in.

Businesses along US 74 and NC 51 bring kitchen and restroom lines, which we can clear outside trading hours. Real-estate agents listing a 1980s house can pair a main line cleaning with a plumbing inspection, so the drain question is settled before the buyer's inspector asks it. Property managers get the price before the work and a short account of what was in the line.

Scheduling, price and warranty for Matthews homes

Alpha Drain keeps its phone on 24/7. Same-day visits are available, and the typical wait for a routine job is 24 to 48 hours. A single slow sink can be booked as a routine job. Sewage in a tub or a toilet that will not stop overflowing cannot wait, and our emergency plumber line is answered day and night.

We quote the price before the work begins. A bathroom sink cleared through its trap sits at the low end. A main line costs more, and the price rises if roots are heavy or if the line has to be reached from the roof. Tell us what you are seeing when you call, and in most cases we can name a range before we set out.

Repairs and installations come with a 1-year warranty on labor. It does not cover drain cleaning, since a cleared line can clog again for reasons that have nothing to do with the work. If we repair the pipe that keeps causing the trouble, that repair is covered.