Skip to content
Plumbers in North YorkEvery part, every pipe, one counter. Homes & businesses · call now(365) 990-1521
  1. Home
  2. Our Work
  3. Main Sewer Line Clearing
Leaves piled at a street drain in the rain
Debris piled at the drain.

Home service

Aisle 2 · Sewer lines

Main Sewer Line Clearing for North York homes

When the toilet bubbles while the washer drains, the problem is not the toilet. It is the one pipe everything in the house shares.

  • We start at the basement clean-out to the city lateral
  • On the van: main-line drum machine
  • You see the broken part before you hear a number
  • Every fixture on the run tested before we leave
Call nowTalk to a plumber(365) 990-1521
  • Licensed and insured (details on the call)
  • Price agreed before work starts
  • North York and next door

Symptoms that call for main sewer line clearing

If just one basin is sluggish, the fault sits in that branch. A main line problem shows itself across the whole house. Water comes up through the lowest drain first, which in most North York homes is the basement floor drain.

  • Several fixtures slow or backed up at the same time
  • Water rising at the floor drain when the laundry empties or someone showers
  • A toilet that gurgles or bubbles when other fixtures run
  • Sewer smell in the basement, especially near the floor drain
If water is coming up in the basement, stop running water upstairs. Every flush and every rinse lands on your basement floor until the line is open.

How the job is done

The plumber starts at the main cleanout, normally a capped fitting by where the drain leaves through the front basement wall. If the line is full, the cap gets opened slowly with a bucket ready. A heavy sectional or drum machine then runs a cutting head out toward the street.

Roots are the most common find. They come in through joints in old clay tile pipe and grow into a mat that catches paper. Other times it is a collapsed section, a belly where the pipe has sagged, or a wad of wipes and grease. We pull the cable back, look at what is on the head, and flush the line.

After clearing, a sewer camera inspection is worth doing if roots showed up or if this is not the first backup. The camera shows whether the pipe is intact or needs sewer line repair. Root-heavy lines are also good candidates for hydro jetting.

If just one basin is sluggish, the fault sits in that branch. A main line problem shows itself across the whole house.

From the counter

North York housing notes

A lot of postwar North York houses were built with clay or early cast iron laterals running out under the front lawn. Mature maples and willows on those streets send roots straight for the joints. Neighbourhoods with big old trees and 1950s housing see this the most.

In Toronto, the pipe is split between you and the city. The private part runs from your house to the property line. The city portion runs from there to the sewer main under the road. If a camera shows the blockage past your property line, the City of Toronto can be asked to look at its side by calling 311.

What to do before we arrive

  1. Stop all water use in the house, including the washer and dishwasher.
  2. Find the cleanout if you can and clear boxes away from it.
  3. Move anything you care about away from the floor drain.
  4. Take photos of any water on the floor for your insurer.

Read what to do after a sewer backup and how tree roots get into sewer lines. To keep city sewer water from coming back the other way, look at backwater valve installation.

Questions

Is the sewer line my responsibility or the city's?

In Toronto, the owner is responsible for the pipe from the house to the property line. The city handles the portion under the boulevard and road.

Do roots come back after clearing?

Usually, yes, because the joints they grew through are still open. Regular clearing or a pipe repair is how most homeowners deal with it long term.

What if I do not have a cleanout?

Some older homes do not have an easy one. The plumber may go in through a toilet flange or the floor drain, or suggest adding a proper cleanout.

How the job runs

  1. You callDescribe what is dripping, backing up or cold, and the cross streets.
  2. We ask questionsAge of the building, pipe type if you know it, where the shut-off is.
  3. We open it upTrap off, clean-out open or wall cut: find the actual fault before quoting the fix.
  4. We test itOpen each tap on that run, watch the joints dry and show you what came out.