Drain cleaning services in Lakewood, CA

Drain conditions in Lakewood

Lakewood is a flat grid of post-war tract homes on slabs, sitting between its neighbours. The tracts were built together, so pipe and layout are similar from block to block. Laterals are commonly clay under the slab, sometimes joined to plastic, and the lateral is out of sight beneath the concrete. Flat ground gives only a slight fall, so debris settles. Street trees send roots toward clay joints, and root-filled lines are a common cause of backups on a grid like this.

Tell the call-taker where the cleanout is, which fixtures are slow and whether more than one drain backs up. Cable or jetting can clear a root-filled line, though roots can grow back, so if the line slows again, ask for a camera look to see how the pipe sits. The technician can advise on repair after seeing it. Bellflower, Artesia, Paramount and Hawaiian Gardens are the neighbouring towns on the same flat grid.

A flat grid between its neighbours

Lakewood is bordered by Bellflower and Paramount on one side, Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens on another and Long Beach to the south. Within it, blocks of similar single-storey homes repeat, built in the same decades on the same kind of lot. That repetition is useful: a line problem on one street is often a line problem on the next.

It also means a technician can often tell from the street and the age of the home where the cleanout is and what the lateral probably looks like, before a camera confirms it.

Post-war tracts on slabs

Most of the city’s homes are single-storey houses from the decades after the war, built on concrete slabs. The drain lines run beneath the floor, and the branches cross a wide plan to a single lateral. One slow bathroom usually points to its own branch, while several slow fixtures point to the shared line.

Homes of that era sometimes have cast iron inside and clay or fibre outside, and a camera confirms which. Repeat clogs are often the first sign that a line has aged. See cast iron drain cleaning and cleanout location and access.

What is usually under the slab

Under a slab the pipe cannot be reached from below, so cleaning is done from the cleanout or from a fixture. That makes the camera more important, because there is no crawlspace to look into and no way to see a joint without it.

A technician can tell you what each room’s clog tends to mean. A kitchen line points to grease. A bathroom line points to hair, soap and scale. A line shared by several fixtures points to roots or a low spot farther down.

Cable or jetting on a root-filled line

A cable machine with a cutting head opens a channel through roots quickly and suits a line that is partly blocked. Hydro jetting uses high-pressure water to scour the walls and strip grease, scale and fine roots, which leaves a cleaner bore. Every Lakewood home is a little different, so describe yours when you call.

Neither one mends a joint, and both are maintenance. The interval between visits is the real measure of the pipe. A first visit commonly starts with a cable, while a repeat, heavy build-up may justify jetting. See hydro jetting and drain snaking and augering. Every Lakewood home is a little different, so describe yours when you call.

Street trees and roots

Older blocks have mature ficus, liquidambar, jacaranda, sycamore and pepper trees. Roots look for moisture, and a clay joint that weeps even slightly draws them in. A tree rarely harms a sound pipe, because the pipe usually has to leak first.

Cutting clears the line, and the joint stays as it was. Ask the tech what the footage suggests about how often the line needs a look. See tree root removal. Every Lakewood home is a little different, so describe yours when you call.

Flat lots and slow-falling laterals

The ground is flat, so laterals fall slowly. Solids travel slowly and settle at any low spot, and a line that works at quiet times may struggle at peak use, such as a morning shower rush or a big laundry day.

A camera shows low spots. If your line clogs in the same place each time, say so on the call.

Added bathrooms and converted garages

Many Lakewood homes have had a garage converted, a bathroom added or a laundry moved. These tie into the original lateral, and more fixtures on an old line can show up a weak spot. The added branch may be long and shallow.

If the clogs began after the work, say so on the call. See adu and added-bathroom drain clogs. That is true of many Los Angeles County homes, and the technician can tell you more on site.

Why hot water is not the answer

Hot water melts grease and moves it a short way down the pipe, where it cools and sticks again, usually farther along and harder to reach. If you are in Lakewood, mention your cross street so the right technician is matched.

Wiping pans before washing and putting grease in the trash do far more. A technician can clear a slow kitchen branch and show you the wall on camera. See kitchen grease clogs.

What to say when you call from Lakewood

• Ask neighbors if they have had the same trouble. On a tract block, a shared weak point often shows up in several lots.
• Say if you have already had the line cleared once. A repeat clog is the case for a camera.
• Say whether the house is on a slab. It decides whether the technician works from a yard cleanout or from inside.

Common questions