24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Augusta, GA

Olde Town, Pinch Gut, Harrisburg and the neighborhoods near downtown and the Riverwalk have homes from the 1790s through the 1920s, many on crawlspaces with clay laterals.

Summerville, the Hill, was a summer retreat for wealthy families and has large homes from the 1800s and early 1900s on wooded lots.

Neighborhoods like Forest Hills, National Hills and the areas near Augusta National were built from the 1920s through the 1960s.

West Augusta, Evans and Martinez in Columbia County have grown since the 1970s with ranches and newer subdivisions.

Augusta sits on the fall line where Piedmont clay meets coastal plain sand, along the Savannah River and the Augusta Canal.

Augusta Utilities runs the sewer system and the Messerly treatment plant for Augusta-Richmond County. The private lateral from an Augusta home out to the public sewer is the owner's to maintain.

Hot, humid summers drive roots toward water, and summer thunderstorms soak the ground. Masters week each April fills homes and restaurants across the city.

Mild winters bring a few hard freezes that can catch crawlspace pipes.

Olde Town and Pinch Gut, near downtown and the Savannah River, have some of Augusta's oldest homes, from Federal-style houses to Victorian cottages, most on brick piers with crawlspaces. Their sewer laterals were added long after the homes were built and are often old clay. Roots and cracks are common, and groundwater near the river and the Augusta Canal adds to the strain.

Summerville, on the hill above the city, was where wealthy families spent summers to escape the heat and fevers of the river lowlands. It's now a historic neighborhood of large homes on wooded lots, with the Partridge Inn and Augusta University's Summerville campus. Long clay laterals under big trees fill with roots, and lining protects the landscaping.

Every April, the Masters Tournament at Augusta National brings tens of thousands of visitors, and many Augusta homeowners rent their homes to guests for the week. Homes full of visitors put heavy demands on old laterals, and guests may flush things residents never would. Jetting lines before Masters week is a smart move for rental owners.

During Masters week, a homeowner renting a 1930s house in Forest Hills gets a call from guests that the bathtub is filling with dirty water. The plumber opens the line under the house and cables toward the street, clearing roots and wipes about thirty feet out. The camera shows cracked clay. The owner books a liner after the tournament.

Augusta sits on the fall line, where the red clay of the Piedmont meets the sandy soils of the coastal plain. Neighborhoods on the hill sit on clay that shifts with moisture, while lower areas sit on sand that can settle. Both conditions can move a lateral over time.

Many Augusta homes, old and midcentury, sit on crawlspaces. In the humid climate, crawlspaces stay damp, and drain lines can rust, leak or sag. Leaks can soak the soil under the house for months before anyone notices.

National Hills, Forest Hills and neighborhoods west of downtown grew from the 1940s through the 1960s, many for families working at the Savannah River Site and Fort Gordon, now Fort Eisenhower. Cast iron and clay laterals from that era are aging.

Evans, Martinez and Grovetown in Columbia County have grown rapidly since the 1970s with newer homes and PVC drains. Kitchen grease and wipes, not roots, cause most of their clogs.

Fort Eisenhower brings many military families, and homes near Gordon Highway and in Grovetown turn over often. A camera inspection when moving in helps catch problems before they become emergencies.

The Augusta Canal, built in the 1840s to power mills, still runs through the city. Neighborhoods near it and near the Savannah River sit on low ground with high groundwater, and cracked laterals take in water during wet months.

Harrisburg and the mill villages along the canal have small worker cottages with very old laterals, some without cleanouts.

Broad Street and the Riverwalk have restaurants in historic buildings, and Washington Road near the National is lined with restaurants that run at full capacity during Masters week. Pumping grease traps before April keeps them open when it matters most.

Augusta's winters are mild, but a few nights each year drop into the teens. Pipes in crawlspaces and on exterior walls freeze first. Shut foundation vents and leave a tap trickling during a hard freeze.

Thousands of Augusta-area residents work across the river at the Savannah River Site, at the hospitals of the medical district and at the plants along the river. Shift schedules mean showers, laundry and cooking happen around the clock, and households with several working adults can push a lot of water through a lateral in a short time. A partly blocked line that holds up for a small family can overflow when everyone gets home from a shift at once.

Water runs downhill from Summerville toward the river, and storm runoff from the hill collects in the lower neighborhoods near downtown. After heavy summer storms, the ground there stays soggy, and cracked laterals take in water for days. Homes at the bottom of the hill are the most likely to see storm-related slow drains.

Mention the neighborhood, the home's age, whether it's on piers or a slab and whether guests are staying. Note big trees near the line.