Drain Cleaning in Red Feather Lakes, CO

Red Feather Lakes homes and their sewer lines

Homes range from 1920s to 1950s lake cabins in the village to 1970s and later houses in the surrounding subdivisions, where elevations run from under 8,000 to nearly 9,000 feet.

Homes rely on private septic systems. Water comes from private wells or, in parts of Crystal Lakes, from cisterns filled by hauled water.

Many cabins began as summer places and were later insulated and plumbed for year-round use.

Red Feather Lakes drain problems

Red Feather Lakes drain calls are mostly about freezing and septic lines. Cold winters at 8,000 to 9,000 feet freeze shallow lines and drains in cabins that sit empty between visits, rocky ground keeps septic runs shallow, and old summer cabins have drains that were extended and rerouted as they were converted for winter.

What drain work usually costs in Red Feather Lakes

Lake cabins in the Roosevelt National Forest

Red Feather Lakes grew from a 1920s plan to sell cabin lots around a string of small lakes in the Larimer County high country. The Red Feather Mountain Lakes Association formed in 1923, and several lakes took names from Longfellow's poem "The Song of Hiawatha." Surrounded by Roosevelt National Forest, the village has a post office, a library and a few businesses along County Road 74E, about 24 miles west of US 287 at Livermore.

Around it, larger subdivisions such as Crystal Lakes and Red Feather Highlands spread over thousands of acres of ponderosa and lodgepole pine. Some homes are full-time residences. Many are weekend and summer cabins whose owners drive up from Fort Collins, Loveland and the Denver area.

Granite, gravel and shallow lines

The ground around Red Feather Lakes is thin soil over granite, with boulders and rock outcrops scattered through most lots. That makes it hard to bury drain lines deep enough to stay below frost, and builders often had to route lines around rock or keep them shallow over a ledge. A line to the septic tank may run fifty feet or more and bend several times. Each bend and each shallow spot is a place where ice or solids can stop the flow.

Winters at 8,000 to 9,000 feet

Red Feather Lakes sits between about 8,000 and 9,000 feet, and its winters are long, windy and cold. When snow cover is thin, frost reaches deeper into exposed ground, and a line that never froze in a snowy winter can freeze in a dry one. Lines under plowed driveways, under decks and in skirted crawlspaces are the most exposed. If a drain stops suddenly after a cold night, a plumber can thaw it from the cleanout with steam or warm water, then help you figure out where the cold is reaching it.

Cabins that sit empty

Many Red Feather cabins are used a few weekends a month. If the heat is set too low, or the power goes out during a cold snap, water standing in traps and low spots in the line freezes, and the owner finds out on arrival. Leaving the heat at a safe setting, adding a remote temperature alert and having someone check the place during long cold spells all help. If the cabin will be closed for the winter, have it properly drained and winterized and put RV antifreeze in every trap and toilet.

Hauled water and slow-moving drains

In parts of Crystal Lakes and other subdivisions, homes rely on cisterns filled with hauled water, and even well owners often use water carefully. Low-flow habits are good for the cistern but hard on long drain lines: there is less water to carry solids all the way to the tank, so paper and grease settle in flat or sagging sections. Running a full sink of water through the kitchen drain now and then, and using a toilet paper that breaks up easily, help keep a long line moving.

Septic systems on rocky lots

Every home here relies on a private septic system, and Larimer County regulates how they are installed and repaired. On rocky lots, the tank and field are often placed wherever the soil allowed, which can be far from the house. When drains back up, the problem may be in the line, in the tank or in the field. Clearing the line comes first. If the line is open and water still backs up, the tank may need pumping, and a septic professional should take it from there.

The 2020 Cameron Peak Fire

In the fall of 2020, the Cameron Peak Fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado's recorded history at the time, burned through the mountains west of Red Feather Lakes, and residents were ordered to evacuate. Homes that were left closed and unheated for weeks, or that lost power, can have frozen or cracked traps and lines that only show up later. If your cabin was closed for a long stretch, have its drains checked before you rely on them through a winter.

When a Red Feather drain backs up

1. 01

   Decide if it's ice

   A sudden stop on a cold morning after a quiet week points to a frozen line.

2. 02

   Stop running water

   Don't keep flushing; it fills the line and can overflow inside.

3. 03

   Find the cleanout and tank lid

   Shovel a path and mark them so the plumber can go straight to work.

4. 04

   Give directions

   Name your subdivision, road and any gate, and say whether the road is plowed.

Red Feather Lakes warning signs

• No drainage after a cabin has sat empty in the cold
• Slow drains that worsen through the winter
• Gurgling from a long line to the tank
• Sewer odor near the tank after a busy weekend
• Wet or icy ground over the field in a thaw

What changes the price in Red Feather Lakes

Fixture clogs are routine. The drive from Fort Collins, snow on subdivision roads, thawing and long rocky lines add time. Booking clearing and a camera inspection in the same trip makes the most of the distance. Ask what the trip up County Road 74E is likely to cost before the plumber sets out.