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

Elmwood Park, Cottontown, Earlewood and the neighborhoods near downtown have homes from the 1890s through the 1930s, many on crawlspaces with clay laterals.

Shandon, Rosewood and Melrose Heights have bungalows and cottages from the 1910s through the 1950s.

Forest Acres, Arcadia Lakes and the northeast filled in from the 1950s through the 1980s with ranches.

Newer subdivisions in northeast Columbia and toward Lexington and Irmo have grown since the 1990s.

Columbia sits on the fall line where Piedmont clay meets coastal plain sand, along the Congaree, Broad and Saluda rivers.

The City of Columbia's Utilities and Engineering department runs the sewer system and the Metro wastewater plant. Columbia homeowners maintain the private lateral from the house to the public sewer.

Hot summers drive roots toward water, and August move-in and football season bring heavy use near campus.

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

Shandon, one of Columbia's most popular neighborhoods, and Rosewood have bungalows and cottages from the early twentieth century on streets shaded by big oaks. Many sit on crawlspaces, and their clay laterals fill with roots. Lining protects the trees and yards.

Elmwood Park and Cottontown, north of downtown, have Victorian and early 1900s homes, many restored. Old clay laterals, some without cleanouts, and crawlspace plumbing are common.

The University of South Carolina sits in the middle of the city, and neighborhoods around it, including Wales Garden and the blocks off Greene Street, have many older homes rented to students. On Gamecock football Saturdays, Williams-Brice Stadium fills with 80,000 fans, and nearby homes host crowds. Old laterals get pushed hard.

Columbia sits on the fall line, where the red clay of the Piedmont meets the sandy soils of the coastal plain. Neighborhoods on clay see shrinking and swelling, while those on sand see settling. Both can move laterals over time.

The week before the first home game, five students in a 1930s house in Shandon find the bathtub filling with gray water. The plumber opens the cleanout and pulls out hair, wipes and oak roots about twenty-five feet out. The camera shows cracked clay. The owner plans a liner over winter break.

In October 2015, historic rainfall flooded parts of Columbia, washing out roads and dams and filling homes near Gills Creek and Rocky Branch. Lines in flooded areas filled with silt, and saturated soil shifted pipe. Homes that flooded should have their lines inspected.

Many older Columbia homes sit on crawlspaces, and the humid climate keeps them damp. Old galvanized and cast iron drains under the floor corrode in that humidity, and a sewage odor coming up through the floor usually means one has started leaking.

Forest Acres and the northeast filled in from the 1950s through the 1980s with ranches for families working at Fort Jackson and in state government. Cast iron under slabs from that era is aging.

Fort Jackson, the Army's largest basic training center, brings many military families. Landlords near the base who have the line jetted between soldiers' families see far fewer emergency calls.

The Vista, Five Points and Main Street have restaurants and bars serving students, state workers and fans. Kitchens there pump grease traps before football season to stay open on game days.

Five Points' bars and late-night spots near campus run fryers long after most kitchens close and need frequent interceptor service.

Columbia is famously hot, with long summers in the upper nineties. Trees send roots far for water, and cracked joints attract them. A root cutting in April, before the worst of the heat, prevents a lot of July emergencies.

Columbia winters are mild, but a few nights drop into the teens. Crawlspace pipes freeze first. Shut the foundation vents when the forecast calls for the teens.

Melrose Heights, Rosewood's eastern blocks and the neighborhoods along Gills Creek have bungalows and ranches from the 1920s through the 1950s. Several of these streets took on water in the 2015 flood, and many homes were repaired afterward without the lateral ever being checked. Silt left in a line after a flood can settle in low spots and cause recurring clogs years later. A camera inspection shows whether the line came through clean.

Waverly, near Benedict College and Allen University, is one of Columbia's oldest historically Black neighborhoods, with homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many have been in families for generations, and their clay laterals have rarely been replaced. Roots, cracks and missing cleanouts are common. Putting in an outside cleanout on the first visit saves time and money every time after.

Downtown Columbia has added condos and apartments in old warehouses and office buildings, and new plumbing often ties into very old sewer connections. Where new pipe meets old, joints can fail or catch debris. A camera inspection after a renovation confirms the connection is sound.

Share the neighborhood, the home's age, whether it's a student rental and whether it's on a crawlspace or slab. Mention big trees near the line.