Drain Cleaning in Matheson, CO

Matheson homes and their sewer lines

Matheson's houses are a mix of early 1900s frame homes in the old town site, mid-century ranch houses and manufactured homes, plus newer houses on 35-acre and larger parcels scattered across the surrounding grassland.

There is no town sewer in Matheson. Every home treats its own wastewater with a septic system, and most draw water from a private well.

On the ranches, the house drain often runs a long way to a tank placed downhill or away from the well, and some older homes still have the original steel or concrete tank.

Matheson drain problems

Matheson drain calls usually trace back to septic lines, wind and well water. Long, shallow runs to the tank freeze when a cold front sweeps across the open prairie with no snow cover, hard well water leaves scale in old galvanized and cast iron drains, and a tank that has gone years without pumping pushes solids back toward the house.

What drain work usually costs in Matheson

A rail stop on the Big Sandy plains

Matheson grew up along the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific line that crossed Elbert County between Limon and Colorado Springs, one of a string of small stations with Simla and Ramah to the west. The trains are long gone, but the town kept its grid of a few blocks off Main Street, its post office and a scatter of houses, with ranches stretching for miles in every direction across the Big Sandy Creek country.

That layout shapes plumbing calls here. In the old town site, houses sit on small lots with septic tanks squeezed between the house, the well and the neighbor's fence. Out on the ranches, the tank may be a long walk from the back door, and the line to it can run a hundred feet or more under open pasture.

Septic and well on the same small lot

In the original Matheson blocks, a few older homes have the septic tank and the well closer together than anyone would place them today. That is one reason a failing line or tank on an in-town lot deserves quick attention: a leak near the house is close to the water supply. If your drains back up and you notice any change in the taste or clarity of your well water, mention it when you call, and have the well tested once the drain problem is fixed.

Prairie wind and frozen drain lines

Elbert County's eastern plains do not get the deepest snow in Colorado, and that is part of the problem. A north wind clears the ground, and a cold front that follows a dry spell drives frost deep into bare soil. Septic lines laid shallow across a pasture, or under a driveway where plowing keeps the ground bare, are the ones that freeze around Matheson. A dribble of warm water from a leaky toilet flapper or a dripping faucet makes it worse, building an ice plug one layer at a time until nothing passes.

Thawing is done from a cleanout, using a steamer or a jetter running warm water, working outward until the ice gives way. After a freeze, ask the plumber to look at the depth and route of the line. A layer of rigid foam board over the pipe, or a heavier mulch of straw over the line through the winter, often prevents a repeat.

Hard well water and old galvanized drains

Well water across the eastern plains tends to be hard, and in older Matheson farmhouses the drain lines under sinks and showers are often galvanized steel or cast iron. Minerals and soap combine into scale that narrows those pipes year after year. The symptom is a kitchen or bathroom drain that clogs again a few weeks after it was cleared. Jetting removes the scale far better than a cable, and a camera shows whether the old pipe is still worth keeping or should be replaced with plastic while the plumber is there.

Telling a tank problem from a line problem

The question to answer first on any Matheson septic call is how long it has been since the tank was pumped. A tank that has gone five or more years usually needs pumping before anything else, and the pumper can see whether the inlet was blocked. If the tank was pumped recently and the house still backs up, the blockage is in the building drain or the line to the tank, and that is plumbing work. A camera run from a cleanout to the tank inlet tells you whether roots, a sag or a broken baffle caused it.

When a Matheson home backs up

1. 01

   Stop the water

   Hold off on laundry, showers and the dishwasher so the backup doesn't spread.

2. 02

   Check the lowest drain

   A basement floor drain or a ground-floor tub shows a line problem first.

3. 03

   Look at the tank lid area

   Wet ground, a strong odor or sewage near the lid points to a full tank or a failed outlet.

4. 04

   Know your tank's location

   Give the plumber the distance from the house and any landmark, such as a fence line or a pipe stub.

Matheson warning signs

• Toilets gurgling when the washer drains
• Several drains slowing in the same week
• Ice in a cleanout cap after a cold night
• A rotten-egg smell outdoors near the tank
• Rust flakes in the kitchen sink trap

Planning around the distance

Matheson is a long drive from the plumbing shops in Colorado Springs, Elizabeth and the eastern Denver suburbs, so plan visits to get the most out of them. If the line has been slow for a while, ask for clearing and a camera inspection in the same trip. If the tank is due, schedule the pumper for the same day so the plumber can see the inlet with the lid open. Combining jobs keeps the travel charge from landing on your bill twice.

What drives the price in Matheson

A single clogged sink is quick and sits near the low end of the range. Prices climb when the line to the tank is long, frozen or sagging, when old galvanized pipe needs jetting rather than cabling, or when there is no outdoor cleanout and the plumber has to work through a toilet flange. Travel time out on the plains also counts. Ask for the expected range on the phone before the truck heads your way.