24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Joliet, IL

The neighborhoods around downtown, Cathedral Area, Upper Bluff and the near east side have homes from the 1870s through the 1920s, many with stone foundations, basements and clay tile laterals.

The postwar east and west sides were built in the 1940s through the 1960s with brick ranches, Cape Cods and bungalows over full basements, often with cast iron drains and clay laterals.

West Joliet, toward Plainfield and along Route 59, and the south and southwest subdivisions grew from the 1990s onward with PVC drains, sump pumps and finished basements.

Joliet sits in the Des Plaines River valley, with limestone bedrock close to the surface in parts of town and clay soils elsewhere that hold water after storms.

The city's history runs through the Illinois and Michigan Canal, the steel mills and the old Joliet prison, and today it is one of the largest cities in Illinois, with casinos, the Rialto Square Theatre and a fast-growing west side.

The City of Joliet's Department of Public Utilities runs the sewer system and treatment plants. Joliet homeowners own and maintain their building sewer from the house to the public main.

Spring rain and summer thunderstorms bring the most backups, as storm water seeps into old sewers and roots grow fast in warm weather.

Subzero stretches in January and February freeze drains in garages, crawlspaces and along cold exterior walls.

Joliet was once known as the City of Stone, because the yellow-gray limestone quarried along the Des Plaines River built churches, mansions, the old prison and many of the foundations on the bluffs above downtown. Homes in Upper Bluff and the Cathedral Area sit on stone basements with clay tile laterals running out under mature parkway trees. The stone walls themselves can make access to the sewer exit tricky, and many of these homes have no modern cleanout, so plumbers often add one during the first visit.

The Illinois and Michigan Canal, finished in 1848, put Joliet on the map, and later the steel mills and railroad yards drew thousands of workers. The neighborhoods they lived in on the east side and near the mills were built quickly, with simple frame houses and clay sewer lines. Many of those homes were updated in pieces over the years, and transitions between old clay and newer pipe are common places for clogs and roots to start.

After World War II, Joliet spread east and west with brick ranches, Cape Cods and bungalows. Most have full basements with a floor drain near the furnace or laundry, cast iron under the floor and clay out to the street. At this age, cast iron scale and roots in the clay are the two most common causes of main line trouble.

West of I-55 and out toward Plainfield and Route 59, Joliet has added thousands of homes since the 1990s. These have PVC drains, cleanouts in the basement, finished lower levels and sump pumps. Root intrusion is rare. Most calls come from grease, wipes, hair and pumps that fail during storms.

In late May, after three days of rain, a family in a 1915 house on Upper Bluff finds sewage seeping from the basement floor drain. The plumber finds no cleanout, pulls a basement toilet and runs a root cutter, clearing a thick mat from a huge oak in the parkway. The camera shows cracked clay and a joint letting in groundwater. The family adds a cleanout and gets quotes for lining.

Joliet sits in a river valley where summer storms can drop heavy rain quickly. Older parts of the sewer system take in storm water through cracked pipes and old connections, and during big storms the mains can surcharge. A backwater valve on the main line and a standpipe for the floor drain can keep sewage out of the basement. Make sure gutters and sump pumps discharge outside, not into the sewer.

Most Joliet basements built after the 1960s have a sump pit and pump to deal with groundwater. When the pump fails in a storm, the basement floods with clean groundwater, which is a different problem from a sewer backup. Test the pump in spring by pouring water into the pit, and consider a battery backup.

Downtown Joliet's restaurants near the Rialto, the riverfront casinos and the busy corridors along Jefferson Street, Larkin Avenue and Route 59 have many commercial kitchens. They need grease interceptors pumped on schedule and lines jetted regularly to keep from backing up during busy weekends.

Joliet winters bring long cold spells and the occasional subzero week. Drains in attached garages, laundry lines on exterior walls and sump discharge pipes are first to freeze. Wrap exposed pipe, keep garage doors closed and make sure sump lines drain freely so ice doesn't back water up.

A sewer scope is well worth it for any Joliet home built before 1970, and especially on the bluffs. Ask the inspector to go all the way to the main and watch the full video for roots, cracks and sags. A repair estimate before closing gives you room to negotiate.

Give your neighborhood and the home's age, whether there's a stone or poured basement, a sump pump or an ejector pump. Mention whether the trouble started during rain, whether neighbors have water too and whether big trees grow near the sewer path.