24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Victoria Park, Rio Vista, Sailboat Bend and the Las Olas Isles have homes from the 1920s through the 1950s, many concrete block or frame with cast iron drains and laterals running toward canals and streets.

Postwar neighborhoods across Coral Ridge, Imperial Point, Lauderdale Manors and the western parts of the city were built in the 1950s and 1960s on slabs with cast iron drains that are now failing one by one.

Downtown, Las Olas and the beach are lined with high-rise condos and hotels, where kitchen and bathroom stacks serve dozens of units, and older mid-rise co-ops from the 1960s and 1970s still run on original cast iron risers.

The city sits on porous limestone and sand just a few feet above sea level. King tides push seawater up through storm drains, and groundwater seeps into cracked pipe.

In April 2023, a record rainstorm dropped more than 25 inches on Fort Lauderdale in a day, flooding streets, homes and cars across the city.

The City of Fort Lauderdale's public works department provides sewer service and treatment. The private lateral from the building to the city main is the property owner's responsibility.

Summer thunderstorms and hurricane season bring heavy rain. King tides from September through November push water up through drains in low areas.

Winter brings snowbirds and tourists, filling condos, rentals and restaurants. Spring break crowds hit the beach, and the boat show packs the city each fall.

Victoria Park and Rio Vista have some of Fort Lauderdale's oldest homes, many along canals and the New River. Cast iron drains there have been corroding for decades, and laterals run under big ficus, mahogany and palm trees. A camera run from the cleanout shows how much sound pipe remains and where the worst sections are.

Homes on the Las Olas Isles, in Harbor Beach, Idlewyld and along the city's many canals sit just above sea level. During king tides, seawater rises through storm drains and the water table climbs, seeping into cracked laterals. Sealing the lateral with a liner and installing a backwater valve protect these homes.

Fort Lauderdale's beach and downtown condos have kitchen and bathroom stacks that run the height of the building. A grease plug in a kitchen stack can back up into units several floors down. Associations that jet stacks on a schedule avoid most emergencies.

Neighborhoods built in the 1950s and 1960s have concrete-block homes with cast iron under the slab. Florida cast iron often rots through along the bottom. Slow drains everywhere, sewer odors and hollow-sounding tile are signs to have the line scoped.

During an October king tide, a homeowner in a 1958 house in Coral Ridge finds the shower filling with gray water. The plumber clears the main and runs a camera that shows the cast iron under the slab rotted along the bottom, with groundwater seeping in. The owner schedules lining and a backwater valve.

In April 2023, more than two feet of rain fell on Fort Lauderdale in a single day, flooding neighborhoods like Edgewood, Riverland and Melrose Park. Floodwater carried sand and debris into drains. Many lines still have silt in low spots. A jetting and camera inspection clear it.

Restaurants and bars along Las Olas Boulevard, the Riverwalk, Himmarshee Village and A1A serve huge crowds, especially from Thanksgiving through spring break and during the boat show each fall. Kitchens frying conch fritters and wings push a lot of grease into old lines. Interceptors pumped on a short schedule and lines jetted before the season keep those dining rooms open when they're busiest.

Many Fort Lauderdale homes and condos sit empty from May to November while their owners go north. In that heat, the water in every trap evaporates and sewer gas drifts in, and grease left in a kitchen line hardens. On return, run water at each sink, tub and shower, pour a cup into floor drains and run the dishwasher once before guests arrive. Before leaving, a spoonful of mineral oil poured into each drain slows the evaporation.

Under Fort Lauderdale's lawns is a thin layer of sand over porous limestone, with groundwater often just three or four feet down. Digging up a lateral here usually means pumping water out of the hole and cutting rock, and on canal lots it can mean working near a seawall. That's a big reason owners choose to line or burst the old pipe from the cleanout instead of opening the yard.

Give your neighborhood and whether it's a house or condo, the building's age and whether the trouble started during a king tide or storm. Mention whether the home flooded in 2023, whether it sits on a canal and, in a condo, which floor you're on and whether neighbors are affected.