24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Columbia, MO

The neighborhoods around downtown, including East Campus, Benton-Stephens, North Central and the West Broadway area, have homes from the 1890s through the 1940s, many rented to students, with clay laterals.

Old Southwest and the neighborhoods near Stephens Lake have bungalows and period revival homes from the 1910s through the 1950s.

Neighborhoods built from the 1960s through the 1980s on the south and west sides have ranches and split-levels.

Newer subdivisions to the south and east have grown since the 1990s.

Columbia sits on karst limestone with sinkholes, caves and springs, along Hinkson Creek.

Columbia's Utilities Department runs the sewer system and its wastewater treatment plant, and Boone County Regional Sewer District serves some outlying areas. Homeowners in Columbia maintain the private lateral to the public main.

August move-in and football season bring the busiest stretch, and spring storms soak the ground and open sinkholes.

Winter cold snaps freeze pipes in garages, crawlspaces and exterior walls.

East Campus and Benton-Stephens, between Mizzou, Stephens College and downtown, are packed with older homes rented to students. Many have five or six tenants and a lot of visitors on game weekends. Hair, grease and wipes fill old clay laterals. Owners who jet lines in July avoid many emergencies once classes start.

Old Southwest, near the West Broadway corridor, has bungalows and period revival homes on tree-lined streets, mostly owner-occupied. Big oaks and maples send roots into clay laterals, and lining is a common repair.

Columbia sits on karst limestone, and sinkholes, caves and springs are common, especially near Hinkson Creek and the south side. When the ground drops under a lateral, the pipe can sag or break. Repairs in rocky ground favor trenchless methods.

Mizzou football Saturdays bring tens of thousands of fans to town. Houses near campus host crowds, restaurants downtown run at capacity and old laterals get pushed hard. Preparing before the season prevents game-day emergencies.

Two weeks into the fall semester, five students in a 1915 house in East Campus find the basement shower overflowing. The plumber opens the cleanout and clears hair, grease and roots about twenty-five feet out. The camera finds two clay joints pulled apart under the front yard. The owner plans a liner for winter break.

North Central, north of downtown, has small homes and cottages, many rentals and some recently renovated. Old clay laterals, some without cleanouts, are common. Adding an outside cleanout makes service easier.

Neighborhoods on the south and west sides built from the 1960s through the 1980s have ranches and split-levels. Cast iron and clay laterals from that era are aging, and roots from yard trees find their joints.

Hinkson Creek runs through Columbia, and heavy rain raises the creek and groundwater quickly. Neighborhoods near it see more infiltration through cracked laterals.

Downtown Columbia, called the District, has restaurants and bars in old buildings that serve students and fans. Kitchens there keep grease traps pumped to stay open on busy weekends.

Columbia winters bring cold snaps and occasional ice storms. A garage laundry line or a pipe in an outside wall usually goes first. Some heat in the basement and foam sleeves on exposed runs prevent most of it.

Older rentals with porches converted to bedrooms sometimes have plumbing running through poorly insulated walls, and those lines freeze first.

Newer subdivisions on the south and east sides have PVC drains that resist roots. Grease and wipes cause most clogs there.

The neighborhoods around Stephens Lake Park and along East Broadway have homes from the 1920s through the 1950s, many owned by faculty and families. Big trees shade the yards, and their roots work into clay laterals. A camera inspection every few years catches root intrusion before it blocks the line.

Columbia's hospitals, including University Hospital, Boone Hospital and the VA, employ thousands of people on shifts. Households with nurses, doctors and staff working nights and weekends use water around the clock. Laundry and showers at odd hours can expose a partly blocked lateral at inconvenient times.

Columbia's leasing calendar turns over most student rentals in late July and August. Houses sit empty for a few days, traps dry out and then a new group moves in and immediately runs laundry, showers and dishwashers. A partial clog left by the last tenants often becomes a full backup within the first week. A quick jetting during turnover is cheap insurance.

West Broadway and the Grasslands neighborhood, just south of campus, have some of Columbia's handsomest older homes, many built for professors and businesspeople in the 1920s and 1930s on large, tree-filled lots. Their laterals are long, running from deep setbacks to mains in the street, and the oaks and sweetgums above them are huge. Root cutting buys time, but owners who want to stop calling a plumber every summer usually end up lining the line. Because these homes often have finished basements, a backwater valve is also worth considering.

Some properties outside city limits in Boone County, and a few on Columbia's edges, still use septic systems. In karst limestone, a failing septic system can contaminate groundwater, and a full tank can slow every drain in the house. Let the plumber know if you're on septic.

Tell the plumber the neighborhood, the year the house was built, whether Mizzou students rent it and how many live there. Mention big trees near the line and any sinking ground.