Drain Cleaning in Pinecliffe, CO

Pinecliffe homes and their sewer lines

Many Pinecliffe homes began as summer cabins built from the 1900s through the 1920s, including in South Pinecliffe on the Gilpin side and the nearby Lincoln Hills resort area. Many have been winterized and expanded.

Homes rely on private wells and septic systems, often on steep, rocky lots near the creek or up the canyon walls.

Newer homes sit on larger wooded lots in the hills around the old village.

Pinecliffe drain problems

Most Pinecliffe drain calls involve a septic line, a freeze or old cabin plumbing. The canyon is shaded and cold, shallow lines over rock freeze, cabins converted from summer use have drains in places that were never meant to see winter, and roots from creekside trees find leaking joints.

What drain work usually costs in Pinecliffe

Born from the Moffat Road

Pinecliffe began as a construction camp when David Moffat's Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway was building up South Boulder Creek in the early 1900s. In 1905 the Christian Church founded a summer resort and assembly grounds here, and in the 1910s South Pinecliffe was platted on the Gilpin County side of the creek. The Lincoln Hills resort area, formed in the 1920s nearby, became a mountain getaway for African American families from Denver at a time when many resorts excluded them. Trains still rumble through town on the line that uses the Moffat Tunnel, finished in 1927.

Summer cabins in a year-round town

Many Pinecliffe homes started as summer cabins on small lots, with plumbing that was never designed for winter. As owners winterized and expanded them, drains were extended into new rooms, sometimes through crawlspaces and outside walls. Those are the lines that freeze first. A camera inspection of an older Pinecliffe cabin often shows a mix of pipe materials and joints where clogs form.

Septic and wells along the creek

Pinecliffe homes rely on private wells and septic systems. Near South Boulder Creek, lots are narrow and the ground can be damp, so roots and groundwater can affect lines to the tank. On the canyon walls, shallow soil over rock limits how deep lines are buried. When a home backs up, first check when the tank was pumped. If it's current, a plumber can clear and scope the line.

Shade and cold in the canyon

The canyon around Pinecliffe is deep and shaded, and at about 8,000 feet, winter cold settles in for weeks. North-facing lots barely see the sun in December and January. Drains under decks, in crawlspaces and in additions are the most vulnerable. Insulating them and closing crawlspace vents prevent most freeze calls.

Roots from the creek

Trees along South Boulder Creek, such as willows, alders and narrowleaf cottonwoods, have constant water and send roots toward any leaking joint. Older lines near the creek may need root cutting every year or two.

If your Pinecliffe home backs up

1. 01

   Stop using water

   A Pinecliffe tank and line can only take so much before it surfaces indoors.

2. 02

   Check the tank date

   Know when it was last pumped.

3. 03

   Find the cleanout

   Clear snow and mark it for the plumber.

4. 04

   Describe the access

   Mention steep driveways and narrow roads.

Pinecliffe warning signs

• Drains slowing all through the house
• A line that stops during a hard freeze
• Gurgling in the lowest fixture
• Odor near the septic tank
• Wet ground over the line

Two counties, one village

Because Pinecliffe straddles the Boulder and Gilpin county line, septic permits and records may be with either county depending on which side of the creek your home sits. Knowing which county your property is in helps if you need records for an older system.

What affects the cost in Pinecliffe

Simple clogs are quick. Septic lines, frozen pipe, rocky ground and canyon access take more time. Telling the plumber about the road and the tank location helps.

Lincoln Hills and Winks Lodge

The Lincoln Hills area near Pinecliffe was one of the few mountain resorts open to African American families in the early and mid 1900s, and its cabins and Winks Lodge are part of Colorado history. Many of those cabins and others nearby are now year-round homes. Like other converted summer cabins, they often have plumbing that was never built for winter, so drains in crawlspaces and under decks need insulation.

Trains, vibration and old pipe

Freight and passenger trains run through Pinecliffe on the Moffat line. Homes close to the tracks have stood up to that vibration for a century, but older cast iron and clay joints can shift over time. If a line near the tracks keeps clogging at the same point, a camera may show an offset joint.

Well and tank on a small lot

Pinecliffe's old resort lots are small, so a home's well and its septic tank can sit closer together than anyone would choose today. That makes a leaking or broken line to the tank more than a nuisance: wastewater seeping into rocky ground near the creek can reach the well. If your Pinecliffe drains are slow and the line hasn't been looked at in years, a camera inspection is cheap insurance for your drinking water.

Coal Creek Canyon and Highway 72

Highway 72 climbs into Pinecliffe from Coal Creek Canyon on one side and connects toward the Peak to Peak Highway on the other. In winter storms the highway can be slow, and side roads into the old village and South Pinecliffe are narrow and steep. A clear description of where your home sits relative to the railroad crossing and the creek helps the plumber find you.

What a camera shows in an old cabin

A camera run through a Pinecliffe cabin's drain often reveals the house's whole history: original cast iron or galvanized from the resort years, a section of black plastic from a later addition, and newer white pipe from a recent remodel. Each transition is a potential trouble spot. Seeing them helps decide whether to keep clearing the line or replace the worst sections.