Drain Cleaning FAQ for Long Beach Homes and Businesses

We provide drain cleaning throughout the City of Long Beach, from Downtown and the coastal neighborhoods to Bixby Knolls, North Long Beach, West Long Beach and East Long Beach. See the service areas page for the full neighborhood list. If your property is just outside the city, call and ask before booking.

Yes. Call (833) 652-9344, tell us what is backing up and where, and we will give you the earliest time we can be there. Our emergency drain cleaning page explains what to do in the meantime.

The property address or cross streets, which fixtures are affected, when the problem started, whether water is backing up anywhere else in the building, and any access notes such as a cleanout location, gate code, or tenant contact.

It depends on which line is clogged, how far the blockage is from an accessible cleanout, the cause (hair, grease, roots, debris), and whether a camera inspection or hydro jetting is needed. Call (833) 652-9344 and describe the problem so we can talk through pricing for your job before any work begins.

Yes. We clean drains in rental homes, apartment buildings, condos, restaurants, shops and other commercial properties in Long Beach. For occupied units, give us a tenant contact so we can coordinate access. See commercial drain cleaning.

A single slow sink or tub usually points to a clog in that fixture's branch line. When several fixtures act up at once, especially when the toilet gurgles while the washer drains or water rises in the shower when you flush, the problem is more likely in the main line. Sewage coming up from a floor drain or the lowest fixture in the house is a strong sign of a main line blockage. Learn more about main sewer line cleaning.

We recommend against them. Caustic and acid drain openers can damage older pipes and finishes, rarely clear grease or root blockages, and make the job hazardous for anyone who has to open the line afterward. Never mix products. If you have already used one, tell us before we start work.

For a single toilet or sink, a proper plunger is a reasonable first step. Use a flange plunger for toilets and a cup plunger for sinks and tubs. Stop if water starts rising in another fixture, which suggests a deeper blockage. Small hand augers can scratch porcelain and can kink inside traps, so if one or two tries do not clear it, call for professional drain snaking.

Repeat clogs usually mean the cause was never fully removed. A snake may punch a hole through grease or roots without cleaning the pipe walls, or there may be a sag, offset joint, or crack catching debris. A drain camera inspection shows what is actually inside the line, and hydro jetting can scour the full pipe diameter when the line is in good enough condition.

No. Hot water only moves grease farther down the line, where it cools and hardens on the pipe walls. Let cooking grease cool, put it in a sealed container, and throw it out with household trash, or check the city's household waste programs for larger amounts of cooking oil.

In Long Beach, as in most Southern California cities, the private sewer lateral that runs from your building to the city main is generally the property owner's responsibility to maintain. Long Beach Utilities operates the public sewer system and can confirm where your responsibility ends. If you suspect a problem in the city main, contact the city as well.

Many homes in neighborhoods like Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Belmont Heights and Bluff Park date from the 1920s through the 1950s. Sewer laterals from that era are often clay or cast iron. Clay joints let tree roots in, and cast iron can corrode and scale inside, which narrows the pipe and catches debris. A sewer line inspection shows the condition of your line.

For an older Long Beach home, it is worth considering. Standard home inspections usually do not include a camera inspection of the sewer lateral, and repairs to that line can be a significant expense. A pre-purchase sewer line inspection gives you recorded footage of the line's condition before you close.

Yes. Roots are drawn to the moisture and nutrients in sewer lines and enter through small gaps at joints and cracks. Once inside, they spread and catch paper and debris. Roots can be cut out mechanically or with hydro jetting, but they usually grow back unless the pipe is repaired. See tree root removal.

Most homes only need cleaning when there is a problem. Properties with a history of roots, older cast iron or clay laterals, multi-unit buildings, and restaurants often benefit from scheduled cleaning. The right interval depends on what a camera inspection shows and how quickly the line builds up again. See preventive drain maintenance.

Grease and cooking oil, coffee grounds, eggshells, rice and pasta in quantity, fibrous food scraps, and anything labeled "flushable" other than toilet paper, including wipes, paper towels and feminine products. In bathrooms, use a hair catcher on showers and tubs.

Only rain. Storm drains in Long Beach carry runoff without treatment to the Los Angeles River, the San Gabriel River and the ocean. Never pour paint, oil, grease, cleaners or rinse water from equipment into a storm drain or gutter. If a property storm drain is clogged, see storm drain cleaning.