24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Green Bay, WI

The east side neighborhoods around Astor Park, Whitney Park and downtown have homes from the 1880s through the 1930s, with basements and clay laterals.

The west side, around Fort Howard and the neighborhoods near Lambeau Field, has bungalows, two-story frame homes and duplexes from the 1910s through the 1950s.

The far east and west sides and nearby Allouez, De Pere, Ashwaubenon and Howard filled in from the 1950s onward with ranches and split-levels.

Green Bay sits on heavy red clay soils at the mouth of the Fox River on the bay of Lake Michigan.

The city's paper mills and meatpacking plants have long been major employers, with many shift workers.

Green Bay's Public Works Department maintains local sewers, and NEW Water, the regional sewerage district, treats the wastewater. In Green Bay, the property owner is responsible for the lateral between the home and the city main.

Winters are long and harsh, with weeks below zero that freeze pipes and shallow laterals, and spring thaw saturates the heavy clay soil.

Summer storms and fast root growth bring basement backups in older neighborhoods.

Astor Park, Whitney Park and the neighborhoods east of the Fox River near downtown have some of Green Bay's oldest homes, Victorian and early 1900s houses built for mill owners, merchants and workers. Their clay laterals run under big terrace trees, and roots are the leading cause of main line backups. Many homes have full basements, where the floor drain shows trouble first.

Fort Howard and the west side neighborhoods near Lambeau Field have bungalows, duplexes and two-story homes built for paper mill and packing plant workers. On Packers game days, many of these homes host crowds, and old laterals get pushed hard.

Green Bay winters regularly bring weeks below zero, and frost can drive four or five feet into the ground in a hard winter, especially under plowed driveways and sidewalks. Shallow laterals can freeze, and drains in garages, enclosed porches and exterior walls freeze long before that. Keep the basement heated, insulate exposed pipe and leave a faucet running slowly on the coldest nights. A frozen lateral needs steam or warm water jetting to thaw safely.

Green Bay sits on heavy red clay that holds water and drains slowly. Spring thaw and heavy rain saturate it, and groundwater seeps into cracked laterals and old basement walls. The clay also shrinks and swells, shifting pipe over time.

In late January, after three nights below minus fifteen, a family in a 1930s home near Whitney Park finds water backing up in the basement floor drain. The plumber discovers the lateral frozen where it runs shallow under the driveway and thaws it with a steam jetter. The camera then shows roots at a cracked joint farther out. They plan to insulate the driveway section and line the lateral in spring.

Green Bay's paper mills and meatpacking plants run around the clock, and many households work shifts. Laundry, showers and cooking happen at all hours. Grease from home cooking and wipes are common culprits in kitchen and bathroom clogs.

Allouez, De Pere, Ashwaubenon and Howard filled in from the 1950s onward with ranches and split-levels. Older ones have cast iron and clay laterals now aging; newer ones have PVC and fewer root problems.

Packers home games bring more than 80,000 fans to Lambeau Field, and nearby homes, bars and restaurants fill up. Restaurants and taverns along Lombardi Avenue and Holmgren Way do best with grease traps pumped before the season starts.

The Fox River flows north through Green Bay into the bay of Lake Michigan. Neighborhoods near the river and the bay sit on low ground with higher groundwater. Cracked laterals there take in water during spring thaw and wet summers.

When a winter's worth of snow melts in March and April, the heavy clay can't absorb it fast enough. Water pools against foundations and seeps into cracked laterals. Sump pumps run constantly, and basements without them may take on water.

Snowbanks along the driveway and against the house should be moved away from the foundation before the thaw if possible.

Many older Green Bay homes have stone or block basements with floor drains that connect directly to the lateral. A backwater valve and a floor drain plug add protection against backups during storms.

Many Green Bay homes built before the 1970s have roof downspouts or foundation footing drains connected to the sanitary lateral, a common practice when they were built. During spring thaw and heavy summer storms, that clean water floods into the sewer and can push a narrowed lateral past its limit. NEW Water and area communities have worked to reduce this kind of clear-water infiltration because it costs money to treat. Rerouting downspouts to the yard and sending footing drains to a sump pump is one of the simplest ways to keep a basement dry.

Note your neighborhood, the home's age and whether there's a basement cleanout. Mention whether it's been bitterly cold, whether a thaw or storm came first and whether big trees grow near the line.