Drain Cleaning in Ramah, CO

Ramah homes and their sewer lines

Most houses in Ramah are older frame homes from the railroad decades and modest mid-century houses, many updated piece by piece over the years.

Ranch homes outside town sit on large parcels with private wells and septic systems, sometimes with long lines between the house and the tank.

Older homes often have small basements or crawlspaces where drain lines are exposed to the cold.

Ramah drain problems

Ramah drain trouble usually starts in the cold or in the ground: crawlspace lines and long septic runs freeze when the plains wind blows the snow cover away, older drain lines under the house are cast iron that has narrowed with scale, and big shade trees around the older homes find any leaking joint.

What drain work usually costs in Ramah

A railroad stop that stayed

Ramah's post office moved here from a settlement called Old Zounds in 1889, after the Rock Island railroad came through, and the town grew to several hundred people during the rail years. It incorporated in 1927. The railroad era faded by the mid-1900s, but the town remained, with its water tower standing over the prairie and its children attending school in Simla. Many of the houses in Ramah date from the railroad decades and have been updated by several generations of owners.

Big Sandy Creek country

Big Sandy Creek flows north of town, and Ramah Reservoir, with its state wildlife area, sits on the creek. Along the creek bottoms, cottonwoods and willows grow thick, and soil stays damper than on the surrounding prairie. Ranch homes near the creek may see roots in their septic lines and a higher water table in wet years, which slows drain fields.

Cold that comes on the wind

Ramah sits at around 6,100 feet, and winter north winds sweep across open ground with nothing to stop them. Snow blows off, so frost reaches deeper, and wind finds every gap in an older house. Crawlspace drains and lines to septic tanks that run shallow are the usual freeze points. If a drain stops during a cold, windy spell and nothing else has changed, a frozen line is the likely cause.

Older pipe under the floors

Railroad-era homes often still have cast iron or galvanized drains under the floor. Over decades they build up scale that narrows the pipe and catches hair, grease and soap. Several slow drains in an older Ramah house, with a working main line, usually means old pipe inside rather than a single clog. A camera shows how much of the pipe is left.

Ranch homes and long lines

Ranches around Ramah sit on large parcels, and the septic tank may be a long way from the house. A long Ramah run only works if it falls evenly the whole way; anywhere it dips, solids settle and the first ice forms. When the clog keeps showing up the same number of feet from the house, a camera will usually find a sag at that spot.

If a Ramah home backs up

1. 01

   Stop water use

   Avoid adding more water to the system.

2. 02

   Check the tank date

   Know when it was last pumped.

3. 03

   Look for a frozen line

   Is the problem only in cold weather?

4. 04

   Clear the access

   Shovel a path to the cleanout and tank lids.

Ramah drain warning signs

• Drains slowing all through the house
• A line that stops in deep cold
• Gurgling after the washer drains
• Odor near the septic tank
• Wet ground over the line

Planning for winter

Before winter, insulate crawlspace lines, close vents, fix dripping faucets and avoid parking or plowing over the septic line. Those steps prevent most freeze calls on the plains.

What affects the cost in Ramah

A simple clog is quick. Long septic lines, frozen pipe, old cast iron and travel time to the plains add to the job. Telling the plumber where the cleanout and tank are saves time.

The tower, the wells and mineral scale

Ramah's water tower is a landmark visible for miles across the prairie, and homes in town draw from it. Out on the ranches, wells supply each house. Water from deep plains wells can carry minerals that scale up fixtures and the inside of old drains. If a Ramah house has several slow drains and white or rusty buildup around fixtures, scale inside the pipes is part of the picture, and jetting clears it better than a cable.

Empty houses on the prairie

Some houses around Ramah sit empty for stretches, between owners or while family members are away. On the open plains, an unheated house cools fast once the furnace quits or the propane tank runs dry, and the water sitting in traps and drain lines turns to ice and can split fittings. Before leaving a Ramah home for a winter trip, top off the propane, leave the heat on low and ask a neighbor to look in.

Septic tanks that nobody has seen in years

On older ranch properties around Ramah, the septic tank may not have been opened in a long time, and nobody living there may know exactly where it is. If your home starts backing up, a plumber can run a camera with a locating transmitter down the line to find the tank, which saves digging test holes across the yard.

Ramah Reservoir and wet years

In wet years, Big Sandy Creek and the ground around Ramah Reservoir hold more water than usual, and the water table under nearby ranch land rises with it. A drain field that handled a household for decades can turn soggy in a spring like that. If the ground over your field stays wet after the snow is gone, cut back on water use, spread out laundry and have the line scoped before assuming the field has failed.