Drain Cleaning in Coaldale, CO

Coaldale homes and their sewer lines

Coaldale homes include older houses and cabins along the river and highway, plus newer homes and manufactured houses on acreages up Hayden Creek and toward the Sangre de Cristo Range. The population grew by about a third between 2010 and 2020.

Coaldale homes each have their own septic tank and well.

Lots along the river sit on old gravel and sand, while those up the creek drainages have rockier, steeper ground.

Coaldale drain problems

In Coaldale, drain calls involve septic lines, river-bottom roots and cold. Cottonwoods and willows along the Arkansas and Hayden Creek send roots into old joints, cold air settles in the canyon on winter nights, and homes below the 2016 burn area can see sediment-laden runoff in heavy summer storms that buries cleanouts and soaks fields.

What drain work usually costs in Coaldale

A river town below Salida

Coaldale lies along US 50 and the Arkansas River, 21 miles downriver from Salida and 37 miles upriver from Cañon City. The post office opened in 1891, and an old through-truss bridge, Coaldale Bridge No. 1, still crosses the river, though it no longer carries traffic. The community stretches southwest from the river up Hayden Creek toward Hayden Pass and the crest of the Sangre de Cristo Range, and its population grew by about a third between 2010 and 2020, to roughly 340.

River gravel and creek bottoms

Homes near the river sit on gravel and sand left by the Arkansas, while those up Hayden Creek and Stout Creek are on narrower, rockier ground. On river and creek lots, cottonwoods, willows and box elders grow close to the house, and their roots work into older drain lines. Ground near the water also stays damp, which can slow a septic field during wet seasons. Higher lots have the opposite problem: thin soil over rock that keeps lines shallow and exposed to frost.

The 2016 Hayden Pass Fire

On July 8, 2016, lightning started a fire in the San Isabel National Forest near Hayden Pass, just south of Coaldale. It burned about 16,750 acres of steep, beetle-killed forest over the following weeks. Evacuation orders covered County Road 6, County Road 40 and the Fox Creek subdivision, and Fremont County declared a local emergency. Only one structure, a seldom-used cabin, was lost.

Burned slopes absorb less water, so heavy summer storms in the years after a fire send more runoff and sediment down the drainages. For Coaldale homes below the burn, that can mean mud washing over cleanouts and tank lids or saturating the soil around a septic field. Keep those openings visible and clear, and if a storm ever buries them, have the line and tank checked before you rely on them.

Cold nights in the canyon

At about 6,550 feet, Coaldale is lower than Howard or Salida, but cold air drains down the valley and pools near the river on calm winter nights. Drains in crawlspaces, under manufactured homes and in lines over shallow rock freeze first. A drain that stops after a frigid night is probably frozen. A plumber can thaw it from a cleanout, and closing drafts and insulating exposed pipe prevents a repeat.

Newer homes up the creek

Many of the homes added in Coaldale since 2010 are on acreages up the creek roads, often with long drives and long drain lines to the tank. New construction rarely has root or corrosion problems, but long lines can settle, and solids collect where the slope changes. A camera inspection a year or two after building shows whether the line has held its grade.

When a Coaldale drain backs up

1. 01

   Stop using water

   Fill a bucket from the tap rather than flushing again.

2. 02

   Check the cleanout

   Make sure it hasn't been buried by runoff or snow.

3. 03

   Consider the cause

   Ice after a cold night, roots in summer, or a soaked field after storms.

4. 04

   Explain the access

   Mention creek crossings, private bridges or narrow forest roads.

Coaldale warning signs

• Roots on the cable from a river-side line
• A cleanout or tank lid covered by storm mud
• A drain frozen after a still winter night
• Slow drains after heavy summer rain
• Gurgling from a long creek-side line

Older houses along US 50

Some of Coaldale's older houses along the highway have galvanized steel drains inside, often from repairs made decades ago. Galvanized pipe rusts from the inside until its opening is a fraction of its original size, and it clogs over and over. Cast iron does something similar, more slowly. If an older Coaldale house keeps clogging at the same sink or tub, the pipe itself may be the problem, and replacing a short run of galvanized can end it.

Creek cabins used part of the year

Several properties up the Coaldale creek roads are cabins used on weekends or in summer. If a cabin sits empty in winter without heat, water left in traps and low spots freezes and can crack pipe and fittings. Before closing for the season, shut off the water, drain the lines and put RV antifreeze in every trap and toilet. When you return in spring, run water slowly at first and watch for leaks and slow drains.

What changes the price in Coaldale

A fixture clog is simple. Roots, thawing, buried cleanouts, long lines and the drive along US 50 add time. Tell the plumber whether the house is by the river or up a creek road, and ask what a Coaldale call is likely to run.