Drain Cleaning in New Raymer, CO

New Raymer homes and their sewer lines

New Raymer homes are older frame houses on the townsite, many from the 1910s and 1920s when Centre Avenue had banks, hotels and a tractor dealer, plus later ranch houses and manufactured homes.

Ask the Town of Raymer how your property is served. Ranches and farms around town use private septic systems and wells.

Houses from the town's early decades often have cast iron and clay drains that are now around a century old.

New Raymer drain problems

New Raymer drain calls come from very old pipe and the open plains. Century-old cast iron and clay crack and scale, homes that sit empty part of the year dry out their traps, and cold wind across the grassland freezes shallow or exposed lines.

What drain work usually costs in New Raymer

A Burlington town on Highway 14

The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy built its line from Sterling to Cheyenne across northeastern Weld County in the late 1880s, and in 1888 it platted a townsite here named for George Raymer, an assistant chief engineer. Homesteaders from Nebraska followed. The post office added New to the name to avoid confusion with Ramah, Colorado, and New Raymer is what most people still call it, though the incorporated town's legal name is Raymer.

In the 1910s and 1920s Centre Avenue had hardware stores, hotels, a bank and a tractor dealer. The drought and Depression of the 1930s took much of the population, and most businesses on Centre Avenue had closed by the 1960s. Today New Raymer is a quiet town on State Highway 14, south of the Pawnee Buttes, with ranches and dryland farms spread across the grassland around it.

Pipe that's about a century old

Many houses in New Raymer date from the town's busy years, and their drains are now around a hundred years old. Cast iron under the floor rusts from the inside and builds up scale that narrows the pipe. Clay out in the yard has joints that loosen with frost and settling. When a drain in one of these houses clogs repeatedly, the cause is usually the pipe itself rather than what's going down it. A camera inspection shows whether cleaning will restore flow or the pipe needs repair.

Houses that sit empty

As the town has gotten smaller, some New Raymer houses are used only part of the year, or sit empty between owners. When a house goes unused, the water in each trap evaporates and sewer gas can get into the house. In winter, an unheated house can freeze its drains as well as its supply lines. If you are taking over or reopening a house, run water in every fixture to refill the traps, check for leaks and have the drains looked at if they are slow.

How your property is served

Ask the Town of Raymer how your address is served before planning any digging or major repair. That answer tells you where your responsibility ends and where a plumber should look for access. Ranches and farms around town use private septic systems and wells.

Wind across the grassland

New Raymer sits on open, treeless plains, and winter wind drives cold into every crawlspace and gap. Drains in crawlspaces and older additions freeze during long cold spells, especially where insulation is thin. Close crawlspace vents in fall, keep heat on and open cabinet doors on exterior walls during the coldest nights.

When a New Raymer drain backs up

1. 01

   Stop running water

   Give the line a chance before it overflows.

2. 02

   Check which drains are affected

   One fixture means a branch clog; everything slow means the main line.

3. 03

   Find the cleanout

   Look in the basement or crawlspace, or along the foundation.

4. 04

   Tell the plumber the house's age

   Century-old pipe calls for different tools than modern plastic.

New Raymer warning signs

• Rust flakes or scale in a sink drain
• Sewer odor in a house that sat empty
• Clogs that come back every few months
• A drain frozen in a crawlspace
• Slow septic drains on a ranch

Buying an older house in New Raymer

Homes in small plains towns often sell for less than in the cities, and some buyers plan to fix them up. Before buying, have the drain line scoped. Century-old cast iron and clay can be in good shape or close to failing, and a camera tells you which. If the property is on septic, add a septic inspection.

Ask the seller what has been replaced and when, and whether anyone has had roots cut from the line. Repeated root cutting on the same stretch of pipe usually means a repair is coming.

Water heaters, basements and old floor drains

Several older New Raymer houses have basements or cellars, and many put the water heater and laundry down there beside a floor drain. That floor drain is often the lowest opening on the line, so a blockage anywhere downstream shows up there first. When you notice water around the heater or washer, check whether it is coming up through the floor drain before assuming the heater is leaking. Keep the floor drain trap filled so sewer gas stays out, and if it has ever backed up, ask about adding a backwater valve or a cleanout nearby so the next clearing is quicker.

What changes the price in New Raymer

A fixture clog is quick. Old cast iron and clay, roots and thawing add time. New Raymer is about an hour from Greeley, Fort Morgan and Sterling, so travel adds to the cost. Describe the house and what you've noticed, and ask what a New Raymer visit should run.