Drain Cleaning in Garland, TX

Garland was a farm town with a small downtown square until manufacturers moved in after World War II. Between 1950 and 1980 the population grew from about 10,000 to more than 138,000, and most of the city's housing dates from those decades.

Homes from that boom sit on slab foundations, usually with cast iron drains under the floor and clay laterals running to the main. Fifty to seventy years later, the iron is scaled and corroded and the clay joints have shifted.

The older blocks around the downtown square and along Garland Road include homes from the 1920s through the 1940s, some on pier-and-beam foundations with clay laterals under big pecans and elms.

Northern Garland, near Firewheel and the President George Bush Turnpike, was built in the 1980s and later with plastic drains and outside cleanouts.

Garland sits on the same expansive clay as the rest of the Dallas area. Slabs move every summer and winter, and pipes underneath crack where they're weakest.

Garland Water Utilities maintains the city's sewer mains and runs its own wastewater treatment plants. Homeowners own and maintain the sewer service line from the house to the city's main.

Late summer is when Garland's clay cracks widest, and that's when old cast iron under slabs is most likely to split. Roots grow toward any wet joint in the dry months.

Spring and fall storms can drop heavy rain fast, raising creeks and overloading mains. Thanksgiving and Christmas bring kitchen grease clogs.

Most Garland streets between I-635 and Belt Line Road, and south toward Lake Ray Hubbard, were built between 1955 and 1975. These ranch homes almost always started with cast iron under the slab. By now, many lines have lost a third or more of their opening to scale, and some have rusted through on the bottom. A camera inspection shows which kind you have before a backup or slab leak forces the issue.

The blocks around the historic square and along Garland Road have the city's oldest homes. Pier-and-beam houses there make under-floor plumbing easier to reach, but the clay laterals in the yard are often original and full of roots from pecans and elms planted generations ago. Lining is a popular fix because it avoids digging up mature yards.

North Garland, around Firewheel Town Center and the golf course, has homes from the 1980s onward. Plastic drains and outside cleanouts make clearing simple. Clogs there come from grease, wipes and laundry lint, though slab movement can still crack a fitting now and then.

Neighborhoods along the eastern edge of Garland, near Lake Ray Hubbard, include homes from the 1970s and 1980s, some on larger lots with long laterals. Soil near the lake stays damper, and older laterals there can settle into bellies that hold water and catch paper.

In late August, a homeowner in a 1963 ranch house off Buckingham Road notices the kitchen sink and hall bath draining slowly, and a faint sewer smell near the laundry room. The plumber clears the main from the front cleanout and runs a camera, which shows heavy scale in the cast iron and a crack under the slab. A leak test confirms it, and the homeowner gets quotes for lining versus a tunnel repair.

Many Garland homes have had foundation repair. Lifting a slab back to level can crack the pipes underneath, especially old cast iron. Foundation companies often recommend a plumbing test before and after the work. If your home has been leveled recently and drains are acting up, mention it when you call.

Duck Creek and Rowlett Creek run through Garland, and homes in low areas near them can see sewage back up during heavy storms when mains are overloaded. A backwater valve on the service line closes when the main surges and protects the house. If your home has had a storm backup once, it's worth asking about.

Garland has many large and multigenerational households, and family meals send a lot of grease toward the kitchen drain. Let fat cool, pour it into a can and throw it away, and scrape plates into the trash. A kitchen line that slows every holiday season usually needs jetting rather than another snake.

If you're buying a home built before the late 1970s, a sewer camera inspection and a hydrostatic test can save thousands. Cast iron under the slab is common and often due for repair. Knowing before closing lets you negotiate a price that reflects the cost.

Give your neighborhood and the home's age, whether there's been foundation work and whether you've noticed cracks or damp spots on the floor. Mention big trees and whether the trouble started during a dry spell or a storm, and where the cleanout is if you know.