With a median build year of 1954 and a famously heavy tree canopy, Takoma Park sees a lot of root-related and age-related main line clogs alongside everyday kitchen and bath blockages. A plumber clears the line and, where it helps, runs a camera to find the cause. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Takoma Park.
Why do Takoma Park sewer lines clog so often?
Takoma Park was founded in 1883 as a Victorian-era commuter suburb on the District line, about 5 miles from downtown Washington, and much of it lies within a large historic district. The median home was built in 1954. Houses of that age often have cast iron drains inside and clay or cast iron building sewers outside. Cast iron builds scale that catches grease and paper, and clay pipe is laid in short sections with many joints. The city's nickname, Azalea City, hints at the planting, and the big street and yard trees that shade the town send roots looking for moisture at those joints.
Who is responsible when sewage backs up?
WSSC Water provides water and sewer service in Takoma Park and maintains the public sewer. The drains in your house and the building sewer out to the main are the owner's. If several homes on your block have trouble at once, or sewage is coming from a manhole, call WSSC Water's Emergency Service Center at 301-206-4002. If it is just your house, a plumber starts at the basement cleanout, which also shows whether the blockage is in your pipe or beyond it.
Will the plumber recommend more than a cleaning?
Sometimes. A cable or root cutter reopens the line, but in an older home a camera look afterward is often worth it to see whether roots, a cracked joint or a sagging section caused the clog. Water jetting can clear scale and grease more thoroughly where the pipe is sound. WSSC Water lists average hardness of about 140 mg/L for its Potomac plant and about 64 mg/L for its Patuxent plant; minerals and soap add to the film on old pipe walls. If the camera shows damage, repairing the sewer service line requires a WSSC Water permit and a plumber holding a WSSC license.
A Takoma Park note
Many homes here have unfinished or partly finished basements with a floor drain near the laundry. If that drain is the first to rise when the washer empties, treat it as a main line problem, not a laundry problem, and stop running water until the line is cleared.
Drain Cleaning questions in Takoma Park
Can tree roots work their way into an older sewer line?
Are cast iron and clay drains in older houses harder to clean?
Why does a drain we seldom use smell like sewer gas?
Why does the basement floor drain back up before anything else?
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