Drain Cleaning in San Luis, CO

San Luis homes and their sewer lines

San Luis homes include adobe houses that are well over a century old, stucco and frame homes from the mid 1900s, manufactured homes, and newer houses on the land grant acreage and along the Culebra.

The San Luis Water and Sanitation District, a special district formed in 1961, provides water and sewer in town and nearby areas, and has treated wastewater in lagoons south of town. Rural homes in Costilla County use wells and septic.

Older San Luis houses often have cast iron or clay drains added long after the walls went up, and some still run to lines that were laid when the district was new.

San Luis drain problems

San Luis drain calls are shaped by high groundwater, cold and old adobe. Parts of town sit low near the Culebra and its acequias, where spring water tables rise; valley winters freeze drains; and old clay laterals take in roots from cottonwoods along the ditches.

What drain work usually costs in San Luis

Colorado's oldest town

Hispano settlers from the Taos Valley took possession of this part of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant on April 9, 1851, and dedicated their church on June 21, the feast of San Luis, naming the village San Luis de la Culebra. Fort Massachusetts went up in 1852 and Fort Garland in 1858. The village was part of New Mexico Territory until Colorado Territory was formed in 1861, became the Costilla County seat in 1863 and incorporated in 1885. History Colorado counts it as the oldest continuously inhabited town in the state.

The town is known for the Stations of the Cross on the mesa above it, a half-mile trail of bronze sculptures to a chapel at the top, and for the Fiesta de Santiago y Santa Ana each July.

Acequias and the Culebra

San Luis still runs on acequias, the community irrigation ditches the first settlers dug from Culebra Creek. The San Luis People's Ditch holds one of the oldest water rights in Colorado. Those ditches and the fields they water keep the ground around town wet through the growing season. That supports the cottonwoods and willows that shade the town, and it raises the water table in low areas, both of which matter for drains.

High groundwater and the district's lagoons

The San Luis Water and Sanitation District, a special district formed in 1961, provides water and sewer service to the town and nearby areas, with wastewater treated in lagoons south of town. In 1987, high groundwater flooded basements in parts of town, residents pumped the water into the sewer, and the extra flow overloaded the lagoons until the state ordered it stopped. The lesson still applies: groundwater and sump water should be pumped outside, away from the house, not into a floor drain or toilet. Clean water in a sewer costs the district money to treat and can push sewage back up in low houses.

If your San Luis basement or crawlspace takes in water in wet years, ask a plumber about the floor drain and sump setup, and whether a backwater valve makes sense.

Adobe, old clay and cast iron

Many San Luis homes are adobe houses more than a century old, with plumbing added decades after they were built. Other homes date from the mid 1900s, when the district's lines were new. Clay laterals from that period crack and take in roots, and cast iron rusts and scales. A drain that was poorly sloped when it was added to an old house will keep clogging no matter how often it's cleared. A camera inspection shows what you have and whether it needs repair.

Valley cold at nearly 8,000 feet

At about 7,990 feet, San Luis gets the deep cold of the San Luis Valley. Drains in crawlspaces, along exterior walls and under additions freeze on subzero nights. Keeping the crawlspace closed up, insulating exposed lines and keeping heat in rooms with plumbing prevents most freezes. If a drain stops on a frigid morning, stop running water and call.

If a San Luis drain backs up

1. 01

   Stop running water

   Every flush in a backed-up San Luis house goes to the lowest drain.

2. 02

   Don't pump into the sewer

   If groundwater is the problem, pump it outdoors, not into a drain.

3. 03

   Find the cleanout

   It's often in the yard between the house and the street.

4. 04

   Say how old the San Luis house is

   A century-old adobe with added plumbing points the plumber toward a camera early.

San Luis warning signs

• Water seeping into a San Luis basement in a wet spring
• Several drains slow at once
• Roots on the cable
• A drain that freezes on the coldest nights
• Sewer smell in a crawlspace

What changes the price in San Luis

San Luis is about 40 miles from the plumbing shops in Alamosa, so the drive by way of Fort Garland is part of every bill. A simple clog in a newer fixture stays at the low end. A clay lateral with roots from the acequia cottonwoods, a line that froze under an adobe addition, or a backup tangled up with groundwater in a low basement takes longer, and often calls for a camera to see what is going on before any repair. Get the trip charge and hourly rate on the phone so the total is not a surprise.