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Sewer Line Cleanout: A Dallas Homeowner's Guide

Your sewer line cleanout is vital to your home’s sewer line health. It serves as an easy access point for main sewer line cleaning, repairs and maintenance.

Home sewer line maintenance matters in Dallas — because the city’s not doing it enough for you. A recent Environmental Protection Agency report states Dallas-Fort Worth conducts sewer system cleaning “every seven to eight years” — far below 18-24 month cycle that’s suggested for optimal performance.

Mother offers expert Dallas sewer line cleaning plus non-invasive sewer camera inspection for just $199. Our members enjoy a $200 annual drain cleaning coupon and free sewer leak test at sign-up.

• Your sewer line cleanout provides vital main line access. It’s a direct access point for sewer line cleaning, repairs and maintenance without digging or trenching.
• There are 6 telltale signs of a sewer line cleaning issue. Call us if you notice slow drains, sewage backup near the cleanout, or unusual wet spots in your yard.
• Most DFW sewer cleaning is handled with hydro jetting or augering. Hydro jetting is best for underground pipe clogs, while augering excels at drain cleanout with soft, simple clogs.
• Expect your Dallas plumber to offer a competitive price and warranty. Our $199 sewer cleaning + camera inspection is backed by a 120-day warranty and done in one trip.

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What Is a Sewer Line Cleanout?

Your sewer line cleanout is a pipe that provides access to your home’s main sewer line. 

It’s a main entry point for plumbers to inspect the line, run sewer camera inspections, clear main line drain clogs and perform plumbing system maintenance without digging a trench.

Think of your sewer cleanout as a service station on a busy highway (your sewer pipe). It’s a place to stop and assess any damages or backups along the way without messy maintenance.

Why is your sewer line cleanout important?

Your main sewer line carries wastewater and raw sewage safely away from your home to the city’s sewer system or your septic tank. The sewer line cleanout provides vital access to ensure your sewer line is free of debris, clogs and broken pipes.

Our expert Dallas-Fort Worth plumbers use your cleanout for 3 important jobs:

1. Sewer line inspections. We easily run camera inspections through your sewer cleanout. This allows us to examine your clogged sewer line without digging or trenches.
2. Direct sewer cleaning. Your sewer line cleanout provides one access point for direct sewer pipe cleaning, clearing clogs and debris with no obstruction.
3. No expensive digging. One access point for cleaning and underground pipe maintenance means no expensive trenching, digging or landscape repair.

How to Locate Your Sewer Line Cleanout

Your sewer line cleanout is a 3” to 4” diameter pipe — newer cleanout pipes are made of PVC, while older homes may have a cast iron or brass pipe.

The cleanout pipe has a removable plug or cap. Look for one of these 3 cleanout cap types:

1. A square or round cap made of metal or hard plastic
2. A push-in cap with a snug-fitting plug
3. A screwed on cap with a threaded connection

Sewer line cleanouts may be located indoors or outdoors. Here are the most common areas to find a cleanout pipe:

• Indoors: Garage, basement, or utilities area
• Outdoors, above ground: Several inches above ground level near the property line or your foundation — look for a capped pipe
• Outdoors, ground level: Flush with the ground, covered by a small box or lid

6 Signs of a Sewer Line Cleanout Issue

Slow bathroom drains and bad odors are signs of a sewer line cleanout issue.

How do you know when there’s a potential issue with your sewer line cleanout, or if you need sewer line cleaning service?

Call our DFW plumbers if you notice any of these 6 telltale signs of sewer problems:

1. Sewer backups around the cleanout.
2. Sewage backup into your home.
3. Slow drains throughout the house.
4. Gurgling noises from your drains.
5. Unusual wet spots in your yard.
6. Bad odors in your bathroom or yard.

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Sewer line cleaning: Call a plumber and don’t DIY

Sewer line cleaning is best left to trained, licensed plumbing companies. Avoid health risks associated with exposure to wastewater and sewage, and eliminate the risk of causing further damage to your main line.

Contact with wastewater isn’t just gross — it’s hazardous to your health. Wastewater exposure leads to skin and respiratory issues caused by exposure to bacteria and fungi. 

Raw sewage from sewer line issues exposes homeowners to E. coli and salmonella bacteria, norovirus, gastroenteritis, and parasites like giardia and roundworms.

Inexperienced homeowners who attempt DIY sewer line repairs often create further damage in the main line. Recent Mother customers reported increased pipe breaks, overflow of wastewater into the backyard, and flooding of floor drains.

How Plumbers Clean a Sewer Line

There are 2 primary methods plumbers use when cleaning a sewer line:

1. Drain snaking (augering)
2. Hydro jetting

These approaches to sewer line cleaning don’t just differ in price — they’re widely different in their cleaning methods. There are unique best cases for augering and hydro jetting, so be sure to ask your plumber which is best for your sewer line maintenance project.

Drain snaking (augering)

Drain snaking (augering) is great for drain cleanout services with soft, simple clogs. A drain snake breaks up and removes blockages, debris and superficial clogs near your floor drains, appliance drains, or close to your cleanout.

Hair, toilet paper, soap scum and biofilm residue are easily cleared with augering services. Opt for drain snaking over hydro jetting if your clogs aren’t deep in underground pipes — you’ll usually save a few hundred dollars on the service call.

Hydro jetting 

Hydro jetting is best suited for deep, persistent drain clogs. Hydro jetting uses high-pressure water to clean main line pipes of debris and scaling — they’re blasted off pipe walls to improve overall wastewater flow away from your home. 

Hydro jetting is particularly useful for DFW residents due to high quantities of limestone and hard minerals in our region. Limescale and calcium deposits in Dallas-Fort Worth plumbing systems are a major concern — these minerals impede water flow, create slow drains and build nasty clogs deep in your main sewer line and water line.

Cost to Clean a Sewer Line in Dallas

The average cost to repair a clog in your main sewer line in Texas is between $425-$800. Drain snaking services cost $300-400 on average, while hydro jetting repair calls range from $700 and up.

Labor accounts for 60-70% of overall sewer line repair and cleaning costs in Dallas County.

We strongly recommend trenchless sewer clog repairs when possible. While the average trenchless labor costs are slightly higher than trenching (around $25 per linear foot), you’ll save thousands of dollars on reduced labor hours, no digging, and no landscape repair.

Take a deeper dive into current DFW pricing data with our main sewer line clog repair guide.

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$199, one service trip, and a 120-day warranty

Mother’s team of licensed plumbers lives and works in Dallas-Fort Worth. We know you don’t have money or time to waste on multiple bids or service calls.

Our offer is simple: Dallas drain cleaning plus a sewer camera inspection, all for $199. Our plumbers get the job done on the first trip.

Then, we back that up with the best Dallas-Fort Worth clog removal warranty — 120 days.

Dallas Sewer Line Cleanout Services Made Simple

Call Mother for expert Dallas sewer line cleanout services.

Clean your Dallas sewer line cleanout every 18-24 months for optimal main line performance and flow. You’ll keep clogs out your sewer line, wastewater out of your drains, and nasty sewage backups out of your home and yard.

Mother Platinum Pipeline Club members get a $200 drain cleaning coupon every year — that’s more than the cost of our drain cleaning and camera inspection services. Sign up today and get a complimentary sewer leak test on us!

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