24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Cedar Rapids, IA

Czech Village, New Bohemia, Time Check and the neighborhoods near the river have homes from the 1880s through the 1930s, many rebuilt or repaired after the 2008 flood.

The Wellington Heights, Mound View and Kenwood Park neighborhoods have bungalows and foursquares from the 1900s through the 1940s.

Northeast and southwest Cedar Rapids filled in from the 1950s through the 1980s with ranches and split-levels.

Newer subdivisions on the edges and in suburbs like Marion and Hiawatha have grown since the 1990s.

Cedar Rapids sits along the Cedar River, with clay and loess soils, deep winter frost and spring floods.

Cedar Rapids Utilities runs the city's sewer system and the Water Pollution Control Facility. In Cedar Rapids, the service line from a home to the public sewer is the property owner's to maintain.

Spring snowmelt and rains raise the Cedar River and groundwater, and summer storms and roots stress older lines.

Long, cold winters freeze pipes in garages, porches and exterior walls, and frost can reach shallow service lines.

In June 2008, the Cedar River reached a record crest, flooding more than ten square miles of Cedar Rapids, including downtown, Czech Village, New Bohemia and the Time Check neighborhood. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed. Many were demolished, and others were gutted and rebuilt. Sewer lines in flooded areas filled with silt, and saturated ground shifted pipe. The city has since built flood protection along the river. Homes that survived the flood should have their lines inspected if they haven't been.

Czech Village and New Bohemia, along the river south of downtown, were settled by Czech immigrants who worked in the meatpacking plants and mills. The neighborhoods have been revived with shops, restaurants and the National Czech and Slovak Museum. Older homes there have clay laterals, and many were repaired after 2008.

Wellington Heights and Kenwood Park have bungalows and foursquares from the early twentieth century on tree-lined streets. Clay laterals under big trees fill with roots, and many homes have basements where floor drains show backups first.

Cedar Rapids winters are long and cold, with stretches below zero. In a long cold spell, frost can work its way down to the service line under a cleared driveway. A warm basement and insulated pipes on exterior walls help. A frozen service line needs steam or warm water jetting to thaw.

In June, a family in a 1925 foursquare in Wellington Heights finds water around the basement floor drain after laundry. The plumber opens the cleanout and cuts roots from a big maple about thirty feet out. The camera shows the clay cracked at a joint near the curb. A liner is planned for later in the summer.

Northeast and southwest Cedar Rapids filled in from the 1950s through the 1980s with ranches for families working at Collins Radio, Quaker Oats and the other big employers. Their sixty-year-old cast iron is usually scaled inside, and the clay outside has roots at the joints.

Cedar Rapids is home to one of the world's largest cereal mills and other food processing plants, and many households work shifts. Water use at all hours means partial clogs show up quickly.

In August 2020, a derecho with winds over 100 miles per hour destroyed much of Cedar Rapids's tree canopy. Fallen trees left root systems in the ground, and some uprooted trees pulled up or cracked sewer lines. Homes that lost big trees near the lateral should have it checked.

When the snowpack melts in March, groundwater rises and seeps into basements and cracked laterals. Sump pumps run constantly, and the river rises too.

Homes that flooded in 2008 often have new sump pumps and backwater valves, and those need an annual test to stay reliable.

The NewBo City Market, Czech Village restaurants and downtown's revived dining scene serve a growing crowd. Kitchens there keep interceptors pumped on schedule.

Marion, Hiawatha and the newer edges of Cedar Rapids have homes with PVC drains and finished basements. Grease, wipes and sump pump failures cause most problems there.

Time Check, on the west bank of the Cedar River, was one of the neighborhoods hardest hit in 2008, and much of it was bought out and cleared afterward. The homes that remain on the west side, along with neighborhoods like Taylor and Moundview, are mostly modest frame houses and bungalows from the early 1900s. Their clay laterals have been through floods, frost and decades of tree growth. A camera inspection is the only way to know whether a line came through 2008 intact or quietly cracked.

Nearly every older Cedar Rapids home has a basement, and many were finished after 2008 with new walls and flooring. That makes a sewer backup costly. A backwater valve on the main line, a sump pump with a battery backup and a regular check on an older lateral are the best protection. The city has also encouraged homeowners in flood-prone areas to disconnect downspouts and footing drains from the sewer.

Share the neighborhood, the home's age, whether it was in the 2008 flood zone and whether it's been very cold. Mention big trees near the line.