Drain Cleaning in Springfield, CO

Springfield homes and their sewer lines

Springfield housing is mostly small frame and brick homes from the 1910s through the 1960s, a good share built during the town's postwar peak, plus manufactured homes and ranch houses on the dryland around town.

The Town of Springfield provides water and sewer in town. Its water lines have been surveyed in recent years, and the town announced a $1 million grant for water system improvements in 2025. Ranches outside town use wells and septic.

Older Springfield homes often have cast iron drains and clay tile laterals that have been in the ground for 60 to 100 years.

Springfield drain problems

Springfield drain calls are mostly about old pipe in dry ground. Clay joints shift as the soil dries and wets, roots from shade trees and Siberian elms push into the gaps, and wind-blown dust that gets into houses and mudrooms ends up in the drains.

What drain work usually costs in Springfield

A Missouri name in the far southeast corner

Frank and Jim Tipton came to this part of the plains in 1886 and, in 1888 or 1889, secured title to the 80 acres that became the original Springfield townsite, naming it for Springfield, Missouri. The town incorporated in January 1889 and has been the Baca County seat for most of its life. It grew slowly at first, with fewer than 300 people in 1920, then swelled to about 2,100 by 1950 as dryland farming recovered after the Dust Bowl years that hit Baca County as hard as anywhere in the country.

Since then the population has eased back to about 1,330. The result is a town with a lot of houses from the 1940s and 1950s, many of them still on their original sewer laterals.

Town water, a town sewer and the line that's yours

The Town of Springfield runs water and sewer for homes inside town. In 2023 the town started surveying its water lines for construction work, in 2024 it began an inventory of every water service line under state and federal rules, and in 2025 it announced a $1 million grant for water system improvements. The sewer works the same way as in most Colorado towns: the town maintains the mains, and each property owner is responsible for the lateral from the house out to the main, including the cleanout.

Postwar houses and clay laterals

Many Springfield homes were built during the postwar boom, in brick and frame, with cast iron inside and clay tile out to the street or alley. Seventy years later, that clay is the weak point. Joints have shifted in soil that dries hard and then soaks during summer storms, and some have cracked. A camera in a Springfield lateral often shows offset joints where paper and grease collect. Jetting cleans the pipe walls; a sectional repair or liner fixes a joint that keeps catching.

Dust, wind and grit in the line

The wind that made the Dust Bowl still blows across Baca County, and fine dust gets into every house. It collects on boots, clothes and floors, and a lot of it ends up in mop buckets, laundry and utility sinks. Ranch and farm work adds mud and chaff. That grit sinks in slow spots in the drain line and builds up over time. A screen on the utility sink and an occasional main line cleaning keep it from building into a clog.

Siberian elms and thirsty roots

Siberian elms grow almost anywhere in the southeast plains, including in alleys and fence lines where nobody planted them, and their roots are aggressive. Along with older shade trees in Springfield yards, they push into cracked clay joints looking for water. Root cutting clears the line, but in a line with many root entries, a liner or replacement often costs less over a few years than repeated cutting. A camera inspection gives you the information to decide.

Summer storms and septic fields

Springfield averages about 17 inches of precipitation a year, and much of it comes in short, heavy thunderstorms. On ranches outside town, runoff from roofs and driveways can flood a leach field, and drains in the house slow until the ground dries. Point downspouts away from the field and don't park or drive on it. If drains stay slow a few days after the soil dries, have the tank pumped and the line checked.

If a Springfield drain backs up

1. 01

   Stop using water

   Hold off on laundry and showers in your Springfield house until the line is cleared.

2. 02

   Check for ice in winter

   Springfield's record low is 23 below zero; frozen drains happen.

3. 03

   Find the cleanout

   Look in the yard toward the street or alley, or in a basement or crawlspace.

4. 04

   Ask about trip charges

   Most plumbers come from Lamar, so travel is part of the price.

Springfield warning signs

• A Springfield floor drain that backs up when the washer drains
• Gurgling toilets
• Roots on the cable
• Slow drains throughout the house
• Sewer smell near the cleanout

What changes the price in Springfield

Travel from Lamar or farther is the biggest extra. After that, root cutting, thawing and camera work add time. A simple clog is at the low end; a root-filled lateral or a frozen main moves toward the top. Ask what a Springfield visit will cost before the work starts.