Drain cleaning services in the Westside of Los Angeles

Tracts, canyons and apartments

The Westside mixes several kinds of housing. There are large post-war tracts of ranch homes on slabs, older homes on raised foundations, canyon and hillside houses on long lots, and many apartment buildings of every age.

As elsewhere, the age and type of the building point at what the drains are made of and what is most likely to clog them.

Post-war ranch homes on slabs

Post-war tracts have cast iron beneath the slab that can scale inside, and laterals that may be clay or, in some tracts, fibre. Homes of that era sometimes have these materials, and a camera confirms. Repeat clogs are often the first sign.

See cast iron drain cleaning and Orangeburg pipe clogs.

Canyon and hillside homes

Homes in the canyons and hills have long laterals that change grade, with more than one cleanout and awkward access. Solids settle where the pipe levels out.

See hillside sewer lateral clogs.

Eucalyptus, pine and other large trees

Tall eucalyptus, pine, sycamore and other large trees stand along many streets, and their roots follow moisture to the joints of older laterals. See tree root removal.

We do not advise removing trees.

Older homes on raised foundations

Older homes have raised foundations and clay laterals, with drains beneath the floor. Sagging runs and loose joints are common. See raised-foundation drain clogs.

Apartment buildings

Many apartment buildings share a stack and a lateral. A clog affects every unit upstream, and grease and lint add to it. See multi-unit building drains.

Additions and low-flow fixtures

Added bathrooms and back units put more flow through an original lateral, and low-flow fixtures use less water to carry waste. On an old line, both can expose weak spots.

Buying or selling

Buyers of older homes routinely ask for a sewer camera inspection. Lateral rules differ by city and agency, so check locally. See sewer scope when buying or selling.

Dense and busy corridors

Busy corridors have restaurants and shops with heavy kitchen loads. Grease is a leading cause of clogs. See restaurant and commercial drains.

A plan for a post-war tract home

If a slab home has had repeat clogs, ask the technician to run a camera once the line is open. Ask what the lateral is made of, whether scale is visible and where roots or a low spot are. Keep the footage.

From there, a schedule is sensible: cabling or jetting at an interval matched to what the camera shows. A line that is clean and sound may need little. We cannot promise a clog will not return, but knowing what you have lets you plan.

Details worth giving us when you call

Tell us the building type, the year it was built, whether it sits on a slab or a raised foundation, where the cleanout is and whether there have been additions. If a line has clogged before, say when.

Say which drains are slow and whether several react together. It helps the crew member decide what to bring.

Habits that help

A strainer in every kitchen sink, a hair catcher in every shower, wipes in the bin and cooking fat in a container help more than any product. In apartment buildings, a short note to residents helps. Every Westside home is a little different, so describe yours when you call.

These habits do not fix a pipe, but they reduce the load on an old line. If you are in Westside, mention your cross street so the right technician is matched.

What a camera usually shows in these lines

In a post-war slab home, the camera usually shows the lateral running in clay or, in some tracts, fibre pipe, with roots at a few joints near large trees. Near the house, it may show scale in cast iron. In canyon homes, it shows long runs, changes in grade and silt on the flatter stretches.

In apartment buildings, it can show where branches from several units meet the shared drain. A recorded run is a record of the line on that day, and a reference for any future visit.

What a visit involves and what it costs

Call at any hour. The person who answers asks about the affected drains, the age of the building, slab or raised foundation, and any known cleanout, and then passes you to an independent technician close by. They tell you the price before work starts. Ask the technician how this applies to your Westside home.

Arrival times are not promised, but emergency calls are taken around the clock. Rules about laterals differ by city and agency, so check locally before a purchase or sale. The details differ from one Westside street to the next.

Reading a Westside line by its street

On the flatter streets of Mar Vista, Palms and Westchester, many homes are post-war houses on slabs, with a lateral running fairly straight to the street, so the cleanout is usually near the front walk. In the canyons above Brentwood, the run is longer and often drops through a retaining wall or terraced yard before it reaches the street, and there may be more than one cleanout. Condominium and apartment towers in Century City and Westwood carry shared stacks, so a backup on one floor is a question for the building manager first. Tell the call-taker which of these sounds like your home, and the right reel comes on the truck.

Common questions