Drain Cleaning in Severance, CO

Severance homes and their sewer lines

Most Severance homes were built since the early 2000s in subdivisions spreading out between Windsor, Eaton and Greeley. They have PVC drain lines, full basements and modern plumbing. The small original town center has a handful of older homes.

Nearly every Severance subdivision ties into the town's sewer, though a few older acreage places on the fringe still run to septic.

With so much new construction, soil settling around new sewer lines is a real factor. Backfill compacts over the first few years, and a lateral can develop a slight sag.

Severance drain calls

Most calls are kitchen clogs, wipes in the main and lint at the floor drain. Newer homes can develop low spots in laterals as soil settles. Basement bathrooms show trouble first, and lines in garage walls can freeze in windy cold snaps.

What drain work usually costs in Severance

A boom town with new pipes

Few towns in Colorado have grown as fast as Severance. For most of the twentieth century it was a handful of homes around a few streets, best known for an annual Rocky Mountain oyster feed. Since the early 2000s, subdivisions have spread across the surrounding farmland, and the population has multiplied many times over. That means nearly every home here has modern PVC drains, and the problems that plague older towns, like roots in clay pipe or rusted cast iron, are rare. Drain calls in Severance are almost all about what goes down the pipes and how the ground under them has settled.

Wipes, grease and lint

The most common Severance main line clog is a mass of wipes. Even ones labeled flushable don't break down the way toilet paper does, and they snag on any rough spot in the line, collecting paper behind them until the line stops. In kitchens, grease poured down the sink cools and coats the pipe. In laundry rooms, lint from washers that drain to a floor drain or laundry sink builds up. All three are easy to clear and easy to prevent: wipes in the trash, grease in a can and a lint trap on the washer hose.

Settling soil and new laterals

When a subdivision is built, sewer laterals are laid in trenches across what was recently farm field, then backfilled. Over the next several years, that backfill compacts. If it settles unevenly, a section of pipe can sag and form a shallow low spot. Water still flows, but solids collect there, and the line begins clogging at the same distance from the house. A camera with a locator finds the sag and measures how deep it is. Shallow ones can be managed with occasional jetting; deeper ones may be worth digging up and re-bedding.

Basements and finishing

Most Severance homes have full basements, and many owners finish them within a few years. Before you do, make sure the main cleanout stays reachable behind an access panel rather than buried behind drywall. Consider a camera inspection of the main line before finishing, since it's far cheaper to fix a sag or a construction defect while the basement is still open than after new flooring and walls are in.

Builder warranties and new homes

If your home is only a few years old and the main line has clogged more than once, it's worth getting a camera inspection and keeping the video. A construction defect such as a sag, a misaligned joint or debris left in the line during construction may fall under your builder's warranty, depending on its terms and timing. The video gives you clear evidence to bring to the builder.

Wind and frozen drains

Severance sits on open ground between Windsor and Eaton, where winter wind blows hard. In newer homes, the most common freeze spots are bathrooms and laundry rooms over or beside an attached garage, and drains on exterior walls. Keeping garage doors closed on bitter nights and opening cabinet doors on exterior walls during deep cold prevent most freezes.

Before you call about a Severance drain

Mention how old the house is, which fixtures are affected, whether water is coming up at the basement floor drain and whether the line has clogged before at the same spot. If the house is still under a builder warranty, say so, because it may affect how you want the problem documented.

Costs in Severance

Most Severance calls land in the lower half of these ranges, since the pipe is new and access is usually easy. A camera inspection adds to the first visit but is worth it for any repeat clog, both to find the cause and to document it.

Disposals and kitchen habits

Most new Severance kitchens have garbage disposals, and they're a common source of kitchen line clogs. Disposals grind food into small pieces, but those pieces still need plenty of water to carry them down the line. Fibrous scraps like celery and onion skins, coffee grounds, eggshells and rice tend to settle and pack together a few feet past the trap. Running cold water for several seconds after the disposal stops, and putting the stringy and starchy scraps in the trash, prevents most of these calls.

Water softeners in newer homes

Water in Northern Colorado is moderately hard, and many new homes include softeners. A softener backwashes on a schedule, sending a burst of salty water down a drain line, often to a floor drain or laundry standpipe near the mechanical room. If that drain slows down or overflows during the backwash cycle, the softener discharge line itself or the drain it feeds is likely partially clogged. It's a quick fix, but worth knowing about so it doesn't flood a finished basement. A plumber can clear it and check that the air gap at the drain is set correctly, which also keeps sewer gas out of the mechanical room.