Drain Cleaning in Platteville, CO

Platteville homes and their sewer lines

The blocks around Main Street hold homes from the early 1900s through the 1960s, many with clay laterals running to alley mains and cast iron under the floors.

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

The Town of Platteville operates the public sewer. Farms, dairies and acreage around town rely on septic.

Platteville drain problems

Roots from big cottonwoods and shade trees clog old clay laterals near Main Street. Homes on low ground toward the river sit where groundwater can be shallow. Farm homes back up when septic tanks are overdue, and winter wind freezes drains under manufactured homes and in crawlspaces.

What drain work usually costs in Platteville

A river town on US 85

Platteville grew along the railroad and highway that follow the South Platte north from Denver toward Greeley. Just south of town, a reconstruction of Fort Vasquez marks the fur trading post that stood here in the 1830s. The town itself filled in over the following century with farm families, and later with people working the oil and gas fields and commuting to the Front Range cities. That history leaves a mix of old homes in the core and newer houses around the edges.

Alley mains and old clay laterals

Many homes near Main Street drain out the back of the house to a sewer main in the alley. The lateral passes under the back yard, often near garages, sheds and big shade trees. Clay laterals laid decades ago have joints every few feet, and roots find them. When an older Platteville home backs up, the line to the alley is the usual suspect, and a camera with a locator can trace it under the yard.

Low ground near the South Platte

Homes on the east side of town sit on lower ground toward the South Platte, where groundwater can be shallow, especially in late spring and during irrigation season. A cracked lateral below the water table takes in water and fine sand, which settles and narrows the pipe. If a plumber pulls sand out of your main line rather than roots or paper, groundwater coming in through a crack is the likely reason.

Dairies, farms and long septic runs

Around Platteville, dairies, feedlots and farms spread out on all sides, and their homes rely on septic systems. Farmhouses that have grown over the years, with added bathrooms or laundry rooms, can push more water through a tank sized for a smaller household. When a farm home backs up, check the pumping date first. If the tank is current, a plumber can clear the line from the house and run a camera to see why it clogged.

Manufactured homes and plains wind

Manufactured homes are common in Platteville, both in parks and on individual lots. Their drain lines run beneath the floor in the space enclosed by skirting. On windy January nights, cold air slips through gaps in the skirting and freezes those lines. Checking skirting each fall, keeping heat tape working where it's installed and insulating exposed pipe prevents most frozen drain calls.

If your Platteville home backs up

1. 01

   Stop running water

   Hold off on laundry, showers and dishes.

2. 02

   Check the lowest drain

   A basement floor drain or tub on the lowest level shows main line trouble first.

3. 03

   Find the cleanout

   Older homes often have one in the basement or near the back of the house toward the alley.

4. 04

   Ask what came out

   Roots point to a joint problem; sand points to groundwater getting in.

Common Platteville drain calls

• Roots in laterals running to alley mains
• Sand in main lines on low ground
• Farmhouse septic backups
• Frozen lines under manufactured homes
• Grease in older kitchen drains

Hard water and old pipes

Groundwater in this stretch of the South Platte valley carries a lot of dissolved minerals. Over the decades, that leaves scale inside old cast iron and galvanized drain arms, especially in homes that never had a softener. Scale roughens the inside of the pipe and catches hair and soap. If several bathroom drains in an older Platteville home are slow at once, scale behind the walls may be part of the story.

What raises a Platteville bill

A single clogged fixture is quick. Old laterals with heavy roots, lines that need jetting to clear sand, long runs to a farm septic tank and frozen lines under a home all take longer. A camera inspection after a main line is cleared costs a little more, but it tells you whether you're facing a one-time clog or a lateral that needs repair.

Main Street homes and remodels

Many of the older homes near Platteville's Main Street have been remodeled over the years, with bathrooms added in former bedrooms, basements finished and kitchens moved. Each change ties new drain lines into old ones. Where PVC meets cast iron or clay, the joint can leave a lip that catches paper or grease. When a remodeled Platteville home clogs at the same spot repeatedly, a camera often finds one of those transitions.

Commuters on US 85

Platteville has grown as a place for people working in Greeley, Brighton and the Denver area, and newer homes on the edges of town have full basements and several bathrooms. Those homes rarely have roots in their PVC laterals, but busy households put wipes, grease and hair through them every day. Keeping wipes in the trash and grease in a can prevents most of the clogs that send newer homes' basements underwater.

Fort Vasquez weekends

Summer visitors stop at the Fort Vasquez museum on the south edge of Platteville, and town events bring families back home. Homes hosting a crowd for a weekend put a heavy load on an old alley lateral, so clear any slow drain before the guests arrive.