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Drain clearing
Drain clearing covers blocked sinks, tubs, showers, toilets, floor drains, and main lines. The professional methods are cable augering, which breaks through or retrieves a soft blockage, hydro jetting, which scours the pipe wall clean, and camera inspection, which shows what the blockage actually is. Choosing between them is a diagnosis question, not a price question: grease, roots, and a collapsed pipe all present as a slow drain and need three different responses.
A single slow fixture is usually a trap or branch problem. Several fixtures failing together, or the lowest drain in the house backing up, points at the main line, and that is where a camera earns its fee before money is spent clearing a line that may be structurally failed.
What a complete drain clearing job includes
- Identification of which line is blocked (fixture, branch, or main)
- Cable clearing of the blocked line
- Hydro jetting where buildup, not a single blockage, is the cause
- Camera inspection when the cause is unclear or the clog repeats
- A written note of what was found, kept with your house file
Cost frame
A standard single-line cleaning visit typically runs $150 to $350; hydro jetting $350 to $600; a camera inspection $200 to $500 when priced separately. Recurring clogs are the signal to stop paying for clearing and pay once for the camera record.
Full table: plumber cost guide.
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Questions about drain clearing
Should I use a chemical drain opener first?
We recommend against it. Chemical openers rarely clear a real blockage, sit as a corrosive pool in the line, and make the plumber's later work hazardous. Tell any plumber you hire if you have already used one.
Why does the same drain keep clogging?
Usually because the cause is still there: a sagging section that holds waste, roots regrowing at a joint, or grease coating the wall. A camera inspection shows which one, and the fix follows the finding.
Is hydro jetting safe for older pipes?
Not always. Jetting a fragile or cracked line can damage it, so a competent operator checks pipe condition, often with a camera, before jetting an older line at full pressure.
Go deeper
The full guide: Drain clearing guide and reference. Licensing for this work in your state: licensing by state.