Drain cleaning services in the Eastside of Los Angeles

Small lots and older homes

The Eastside covers Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights and El Sereno, along with unincorporated East Los Angeles. Lincoln Heights was subdivided in 1873 as East Los Angeles and is often called the city's first suburb; residents voted in 1917 to rename it. Boyle Heights was a rural suburb in the late 1880s, and bungalows, duplexes and fourplexes make up much of its older housing.

Most pre-war houses stand on raised foundations, with drains under the floor and a clay lateral crossing a short yard to the street.

Clay laterals and loose joints

Lincoln Heights has one of the older housing stocks in the city, with Victorian houses, some in a historic preservation zone, and the lateral under a house of that age is likely to be clay. Joints are a few feet apart and settle over time. On a narrow lot the pipe runs close to the house and to a neighbour's tree, and open joints take in roots and silt. See clay sewer lateral clogs.

Trees and roots

Mature trees in yards and along the older streets send roots toward moisture, and the joint they find is often in a neighbour's lateral as much as your own. A backup that returns each spring or summer is the classic sign. See tree root removal. We do not advise removing trees.

Raised foundations and old iron

Beneath the floor of a 1910s or 1920s house, the drains may be cast iron or galvanised steel, with plastic added where a bathroom was remodelled. Sagging runs and loose joints turn up often. A cleanout can be at the side of the house or under it. See raised-foundation drain clogs.

Back houses and added units

Many lots have a second unit at the back, tied into the original lateral. Two households on one old line can expose roots, scale or a low spot that did not matter before. See ADU and added-bathroom clogs.

Tell the technician when the unit was added and how many fixtures it has.

Shared lines in duplexes and courtyards

Duplexes and courtyard buildings often share a lateral. A blockage affects every unit upstream. See multi-unit building drains.

Tell us which units are affected.

Repeat clogs

A line that clogs every year is telling you something. A camera shows whether roots, a low spot or old iron is the cause. Every Eastside home is a little different, so describe yours when you call.

Keep the footage and a note of the distances.

Kitchens and busy households

Busy kitchens and larger households make grease and wipes common causes of clogs. A strainer in the sink and wipes in the bin help more than anything else.

Camera inspection

A camera run shows the lateral, the joints and any roots. It is worth doing after a second clog in a year, when you are buying or selling, or when you plan to add fixtures.

A plan for an older bungalow with repeat clogs

Once a line has clogged twice, request a camera run after it is open. Ask where the roots get in, how far that is from the cleanout, and what the pipe is made of. A narrow lot means a short lateral, so each joint is worth knowing.

A cutter and a jetter on a regular interval can then match the pace of root regrowth. Keep the video and the distances. No visit can promise a line stays clear, but a plan beats a surprise.

What to tell us when you call

Tell us the year the home was built, whether it has a crawlspace, where the cleanout is and whether a second unit shares the line. If a tree grows near the sewer line, even a neighbour’s, mention it. If a line has clogged before, say when.

Say which drains are slow and whether several react together. It helps the technician decide where to start and what to bring.

Access on narrow lots

Side yards on older lots can be tight, and a cleanout may be between two houses, behind a gate or under a fence. If you can, clear a path safely, and mention dogs, gates and parked cars when you call.

If the cleanout is under the house, say so. The technician will explain how they plan to reach it, and will not enter a space with standing water.

What a camera usually shows in older bungalow lines

Under an older Eastside house, a camera in a short clay lateral usually shows a handful of joints, a few of them open with fine root hair, and sometimes a section pushed out of line. It may also show a film of grease or soap scum on the pipe floor, and scaled iron inside the house.

What matters is that the technician can point to the single joint where roots enter and measure its distance from the cleanout.

How a visit works, and what you pay

Call at any hour. Someone asks which drains are affected, how old the building is, whether it has a slab or a raised foundation and whether you know where the cleanout is. Then we connect you with an independent technician working nearby. You are quoted before any work starts. If you are in Eastside, mention your cross street so the right technician is matched.

No arrival time is promised, though emergency calls are taken around the clock. Lateral rules vary by city and agency, so check locally if you are buying or selling. Homes across Los Angeles County vary a lot by age and lot, so treat this as general guidance.

Common questions