Picking the cable for the pipe
- A 1¼-inch lavatory tail and a 4-inch building drain need very different tools. On small branch lines we use a drum machine with a 5/16 or 3/8 cable and a bulb head that will not chew through older brass traps. On 3-inch stacks and the main we step up to a sectional machine, where the cutter blades bite into grease and root hair without whipping around inside the pipe.
- Running the wrong size is how drains get "cleaned" twice in a month. An undersized cable punches a pencil hole through a grease plug and leaves the walls coated; water drains for a week and then the hole closes again. We size up, scrape the wall, then flush hot water behind the cable.
What usually comes out
- In Richmond Hill kitchens it is mostly fat, coffee grounds and rice starch packed into the horizontal run under the floor. Bathroom sinks give up hair coiled round the pop-up rod with soap scum glued to it. In basements we pull sand, laundry lint and, in the older Mill Pond and Richvale houses, a fair bit of root fibre that came through clay joints.
- We show you the debris on the cable head. It is not a sales trick; it is the best way to decide whether the line needs a camera, a jetting pass or simply better habits at the sink.
Signs you need this
- The tub still holds water long after a shower
- The kitchen sink burps while the dishwasher empties
- The basement floor drain gives off a sewage smell
- Toilets bubble when the washer empties
- Two or more fixtures are sluggish together
After the line is open
- Every cleared drain gets a flow test: we fill the fixture, pull the stopper and watch the vortex, then run the neighbouring fixtures at the same time to check for back-flow into a shared branch. If a trap was disturbed we refill it so sewer gas stays where it belongs.
- You get a written line in our job book listing which drain, which tool, what came out and what we would watch for. If the same pipe plugs again soon, that record tells the next plumber exactly where to start.
How the job runs
- 1
We ask which fixtures are slow and whether the trouble is on one floor or the whole house.
- 2
The nearest cleanout or trap is opened and the cable is sized to the pipe.
- 3
The line is scraped, the debris is pulled back and shown to you.
- 4
Every affected fixture is flow-tested and traps are refilled before we pack up.
Richmond Hill note: most houses here sit on York Region municipal water with fairly hard supply, and many basements have a floor drain tied to the sanitary lateral. Mention both on the phone; it changes what goes on the truck.
The cable head tells the truth about a drain. We pull it back and let you look.
Want a second opinion on your own pipes first? Dial (365) 363-1575; the person answering holds the wrench.