Temple Hills is on WSSC Water's public sewer, and blockages in the home's own drain lines are the owner's to clear. Much of the housing here dates from the 1950s through the 1970s, so many drain systems are more than fifty years old. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Temple Hills.
Temple Hills is a mostly residential community of garden apartments, duplexes and single-family homes, built mainly from the 1950s through the 1970s, with a median build year of 1973. The Temple Hills mailing address covers a wider area than the census community, including places such as Marlow Heights and Hillcrest Heights. Drain lines of that age are prone to scale, root intrusion and grease buildup, and in duplexes and apartment buildings one blocked line can affect more than one household.
What to do now
- Stop running water if a toilet, tub and floor drain are all acting up together.
- Check the lowest drain in the house for rising water and keep people away from it.
- If you share walls, let your neighbor, landlord or association know right away.
- Report sewage overflowing from a manhole or the street to WSSC Water at 301-206-4002.
- Do not pour chemical openers into a backed-up drain.
- Find the cleanout if you can and clear a path for the plumber.
Symptom and cause
| Symptom | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| A single slow sink | Hair, soap or food in that fixture's trap |
| Toilet gurgles when the tub drains | Partial blockage in the shared drain or main line |
| Floor drain fills on laundry day | Main line restricted by grease, lint or roots |
| Neighbor's drain backs up with yours | Clog in a shared building drain |
| Clogs return every few weeks | Scaled cast iron, roots or a sag in the lateral |
What sets the cost
- How far down the line the blockage is
- Whether there is an accessible cleanout
- Root cutting, jetting or a camera inspection
- Repairs if a broken or collapsed section turns up
- Evening, weekend or holiday timing
Older pipe in Temple Hills homes tends to need more than one pass with a cable, and sometimes a descaling or root-cutting head, which adds time. A camera inspection is often worth adding when the same line has backed up before, since it shows whether the problem is buildup or a damaged section.
Temple Hills is unincorporated. If a drain or sewer line has to be replaced, WSSC Water issues the plumbing permit and does the inspection, the work must be done by a plumber registered with WSSC Water, and Prince George's County DPIE handles any building permit.
Drain Cleaning questions in Temple Hills
How can I tell whether a clog is in my own pipe or in the public sewer main?
Can tree roots get into the drain line from my house?
Should the sewer line be filmed after a main line backup?
Why does a basement drain we rarely use smell like sewer gas?
More plumbing services in Temple Hills
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