Drain Cleaning in Cortez, CO

Cortez homes and their sewer lines

Cortez grew slowly through the early 1900s and faster from the 1950s on, so its in-town housing is mostly mid-century ranch homes and small older houses on a grid around Main Street. Clay laterals and cast iron drains are common in those homes.

The Cortez Sanitation District handles sewer service in town. Outside the district, homes on farm and ranch land toward Lebanon, Dolores and McElmo Canyon rely on septic systems.

Newer homes have gone up around the edges of town since the 1990s with PVC lines, and manufactured homes are common both in town and on rural lots.

Cortez drain problems

Roots from shade trees and windbreaks get into old clay laterals, and the fine reddish soil around Cortez can wash into cracked lines. Rural homes back up when septic tanks are overdue. Cold nights at 6,200 feet freeze drains in crawlspaces and under manufactured homes.

What drain work usually costs in Cortez

Mid-century homes on the town grid

A big share of Cortez's in-town homes went up between the 1950s and 1970s, when the area grew with farming, the oil and gas fields to the west and travel to Mesa Verde. Those homes usually have cast iron under the floor and clay laterals in the yard. After sixty or seventy years, clay joints let roots in and cast iron scales up inside. A camera inspection from the cleanout shows which part of the line is causing the trouble.

Fine red soil and silt in the line

The ground around Cortez is a fine, reddish, wind-deposited soil that farmers prize and that washes easily. When a clay lateral cracks or a joint opens, that soil can wash into the pipe along with water, settling in low spots and narrowing the line. A plumber clearing a Cortez main line often pulls back a mix of roots and silt. If the line silts up repeatedly, hydro jetting cleans it more thoroughly than a cable, and a camera can locate the crack where the soil is coming in.

The Cortez Sanitation District

In town, the Cortez Sanitation District runs the public sewer mains and treatment. The district is responsible for the main in the street or alley, and the property owner is responsible for the lateral from the house to that main. If you see sewage coming up in the street or from a manhole, call the district. If the problem is only in your house, the lateral or house drains are the place to start.

Farm and ranch homes on septic

Outside the district, toward Lebanon, Arriola, McElmo Canyon and the farm roads around town, nearly every home has a septic system. Many of these properties have older tanks and fields that have served a family for decades. When drains slow throughout the house, pumping the tank is usually the first step. If the tank was recently pumped, a plumber can clear the line to the tank and check it with a camera.

Cold nights and manufactured homes

At 6,200 feet, Cortez gets cold clear nights through the winter. Manufactured homes, common around town and on rural lots, have drain lines running through the space under the floor, protected only by skirting and insulation. Gaps in skirting, missing insulation or a heat tape that has failed can let those lines freeze. Checking skirting each fall and making sure any heat tape still works prevents most frozen drain calls.

Keeping a Cortez home's drains running

1. 01

   Pump on schedule

   Septic tanks every three to five years, or as your pumper advises.

2. 02

   Check skirting each fall

   Close gaps under manufactured homes before the first hard freeze.

3. 03

   Watch for silt

   Repeated slow mains in town can mean a crack letting soil in.

4. 04

   Scope older laterals

   A camera shows roots and cracks before they cause a backup.

Common Cortez drain calls

• Roots and silt in an older lateral
• Septic backups on farm properties
• Frozen lines under manufactured homes
• Kitchen clogs from grease
• Slow tubs from hair and soap

Travelers, motels and busy seasons

Cortez serves visitors heading to Mesa Verde, Hovenweep and the Four Corners, and summer brings extra guests to many homes as well as to motels and restaurants. More guests mean more showers and more laundry. If you host family in summer or run a guest unit, keep wipes out of the toilets and clean hair from tub drains between visits.

What a Cortez call costs and why

Clearing a single fixture costs about the same in Cortez as anywhere else in Colorado. Travel time to rural properties, long lines to a septic tank, frozen pipe under a manufactured home and silted laterals that need jetting all add time. A camera inspection on the first main line call costs a little more but often prevents a second visit.

Water from McPhee and the Dolores

Cortez gets much of its water, and much of the surrounding farmland its irrigation, from the Dolores River by way of McPhee Reservoir. Irrigated fields and yards around town keep the ground damp through the growing season, and that's when roots in older laterals grow fastest. If your Cortez home's main line backs up most often in summer, roots in a cracked clay joint are a likely cause, and a camera inspection will show where.

Older motels and commercial strips turned homes

Along the old highway routes through Cortez, some older buildings have been converted to apartments or homes, and some homes have been added onto many times. Mixed pipe materials, odd layouts and lines added without cleanouts are common in those buildings. When a plumber knows ahead of time that a property has a complicated history, they can plan for extra access points and a longer camera run.

Ute Mountain views and wide-open lots

Many Cortez-area homes sit on big, open lots with views of Sleeping Ute Mountain, and outbuildings, RV pads and shops are common. RV dump connections and shop sinks tied into a house line add load and debris. If you have an RV hookup or shop sink plumbed into the house drain, tell the plumber, since it may be where a clog started.