Drain Cleaning in Colorado City, CO

Colorado City homes and their sewer lines

Most Colorado City homes were built from the 1960s through the 2000s, from modest ranch houses and manufactured homes to larger houses on the hillsides. The population nearly doubled in the 1990s.

The Colorado City Metropolitan District supplies water from Greenhorn Creek, Lake Beckwith and wells. Ask the district whether your street drains to its sewer or your lot has a septic system.

Older homes from the first decades often have plastic, clay or cast iron lines now forty to sixty years old.

Colorado City drain problems

Colorado City drain calls come from aging lines, roots and slope. Lines from the 1960s and 1970s have reached the age when joints open and roots get in, hillside lots have long runs with changes in grade, and the community's many retirees and second-home owners sometimes find problems only after a home has sat unused.

What drain work usually costs in Colorado City

From Greenhorn to Colorado City

The Greenhorn Valley takes its name from Cuerno Verde, the Comanche leader the Spanish called Greenhorn. In 1845, mountain man John Brown and his family set up a trading post where the trail to Taos crossed Greenhorn Creek, and New Mexican families later built irrigation ditches along the creek. A Greenhorn post office operated from 1866 to 1911.

Modern Colorado City is much younger. Its post office opened in 1964, and the community grew as a planned development with a lake, a golf course and lots on the slopes below Greenhorn Mountain. About 2,240 people lived here in 2020, with a median age near 49, and State Highway 165 leads from town up into the San Isabel National Forest past Lake Isabel and Bishop's Castle.

A metro district in place of a town

Colorado City is not incorporated. The Colorado City Metropolitan District, run by an elected five-member board, provides its public services, operates Lake Beckwith and runs the golf course. For water, the district draws on Greenhorn Creek, Cold Springs Creek, Lake Beckwith and several wells. If you are not sure whether your home is on district sewer or a septic system, the district office can tell you. That answer decides who is responsible for which part of the line, and where a plumber should look for access.

Lines from the 1960s and 1970s

The first homes in Colorado City went up in the 1960s and 1970s, and their sewer lines are now fifty or sixty years old. Depending on the builder, they may be clay, cast iron or early plastic. Clay joints let roots in, cast iron rusts and scales, and early plastic can crack or separate at fittings. Slow drains, gurgling and repeat clogs in an older Colorado City house are worth a camera inspection, which shows the material, condition and any trouble spots.

Hillside lots and long runs

Many Colorado City homes sit on sloping lots with views across the valley, and their lines run a long way, sometimes with sharp changes in grade. Water rushes down the steep parts and slows on the flat stretches, leaving solids behind. Kitchen grease also builds up in a long line. Hydro jetting clears the whole length, and a camera shows where grade changes collect waste.

Homes that sit empty

With many retirees and part-time residents, some Colorado City homes sit empty for weeks or months. Traps dry out and let sewer gas into the house, and in winter, a home left too cold can freeze its drains. Before leaving, set the heat to a safe level, and when you return, run water in every fixture to refill the traps. If drains are slow after a long absence, have them checked before a full household's use pushes a weak spot into a backup.

When a Colorado City drain backs up

1. 01

   Stop using water

   Hold off on laundry and showers until the line is clear.

2. 02

   Check every fixture

   If everything is slow, the main line is likely blocked; if one fixture, it's that branch.

3. 03

   Find the cleanout

   Look near the foundation, in the garage or in a basement utility area.

4. 04

   Call the district if needed

   If neighbors are backing up too, the problem may be in a public main.

Colorado City warning signs

• Roots on the cable from an older line
• Slow drains after the house sat empty
• Gurgling when the washer drains
• Sewer odor from a dry trap or floor drain
• Repeated clogs in a long kitchen line

Buying a resale home in Colorado City

Most homes sold in Colorado City are resales, many of them thirty to fifty years old. Before buying, ask the metropolitan district whether the house is on its sewer or a septic system, and have the drain line scoped. If it is on septic, add a septic inspection. A camera inspection shows roots, cracks and sags that a standard home inspection does not, and on a long hillside line those findings can affect the price. Ask the seller for any past pumping, repair or scope records as well.

What changes the price in Colorado City

A fixture clog is quick work. Roots, older pipe and long hillside lines add time. Colorado City is close to I-25, so plumbers from Pueblo and Walsenburg reach it easily. Describe the age of the home and its lot, and ask for a range that fits a Colorado City call.