24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Little Rock, AR

The Quapaw Quarter, MacArthur Park, Governor's Mansion and the neighborhoods near downtown have homes from the 1840s through the 1920s, many on crawlspaces with clay laterals.

Hillcrest and the Heights have bungalows, Tudors and Colonial Revivals from the 1910s through the 1940s on hilly, tree-lined streets.

Midtown, Leawood and the neighborhoods west of University Avenue filled in from the 1950s through the 1970s with ranches.

West Little Rock and Chenal Valley have grown since the 1980s with newer homes on wooded hills.

Little Rock sits on the Arkansas River where the Ozark foothills meet the delta, with red clay, rock and heavy rain.

Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority runs the city's sewer system and treatment plants. Little Rock homeowners are responsible for the private sewer line from the house to the public main.

Spring storms dump heavy rain on the hills, and long, hot summers drive roots toward water.

Mild winters bring occasional ice storms that freeze crawlspace pipes.

The Quapaw Quarter, around MacArthur Park and the Governor's Mansion, has some of Little Rock's oldest homes, from antebellum mansions to Victorian cottages. Many sit on crawlspaces with laterals added long after construction. Roots from old oaks and magnolias and cracks from red clay movement are common. Lining protects historic yards.

Hillcrest and the Heights, west of downtown, have bungalows and Tudors on hilly, wooded streets. Laterals drop steeply to the street, and big trees send roots into the joints. Steep runs can leave debris behind, and jetting clears them well.

Little Rock's hills mean many homes sit above or below the street. Water outruns solids on steep laterals, leaving deposits where the slope flattens. Homes below the street may rely on pumps.

In June, a family in a 1925 bungalow in Hillcrest notices the bathtub filling with gray water. The plumber opens the cleanout on the downhill side and clears roots from a big white oak about forty feet out. The video shows split clay and a dip holding water right before the street, so a liner goes on the calendar.

Little Rock sits on red clay over sandstone and shale. The clay swells and shrinks with moisture, and rock near the surface on the hills makes digging hard. Both shift and crack old pipe.

Midtown and Leawood filled in from the 1950s through the 1970s with ranches on slabs and crawlspaces. Sixty years in, their cast iron is crusted with scale and their clay has roots at the joints.

West Little Rock and Chenal Valley have newer homes on wooded hills, some with long, steep laterals. PVC resists roots, but steep runs and rocky ground can still cause problems.

Many older Little Rock homes sit on crawlspaces, and the humid climate keeps them damp. Galvanized and cast iron lines hanging under the floor corrode in that damp air, and a musty or sewer smell through the floor vents is usually the first hint.

The River Market, SoMa and Hillcrest's Kavanaugh Boulevard have many restaurants in older buildings. Kitchens there need interceptors pumped on schedule.

Little Rock gets about fifty inches of rain a year, often in heavy spring storms. Saturated clay pushes water into cracked laterals, and low areas near creeks see more infiltration.

Fourche Creek and Rock Creek drain much of the city, and neighborhoods near them see the most storm-related slow drains.

Little Rock winters are mild, but ice storms, like those in 2000 and 2021, can freeze crawlspace pipes. Close foundation vents and leave a tap trickling during a hard freeze.

UA Little Rock and UAMS bring students and medical staff to older homes nearby. Heavy use and old laterals mean more clogs.

The neighborhoods around Little Rock Central High School, a landmark of the civil rights movement, have bungalows and cottages from the 1910s through the 1940s. Many families have lived there for generations, and many laterals have been cleared repeatedly but never replaced. Roots from big oaks and pecans and cracks from shifting clay are the usual findings. Adding an outside cleanout where none exists makes every future visit easier.

The Heights, once the separate town of Pulaski Heights, climbs steep hills above the river, and many homes there sit well above the street on rock. Laterals cut through sandstone and shale were sometimes laid shallow, and roots from big trees find every crack. Lining avoids blasting or jackhammering through rock to make a repair.

Because so many Little Rock homes sit on slopes, a lot of them have a partial basement or lower level on the downhill side, often with a laundry, a bathroom or a garage. Those lower drains are the first to show a backup. Some lower bathrooms sit below the sewer and rely on an ejector pump, which needs a check now and then.

Parts of central Arkansas have soft spots and small sinkholes where water has washed away soil around old pipe. A depression in the yard along the sewer path, especially after heavy rain, can mean the line beneath is cracked and leaking. A camera inspection shows where.

Share the neighborhood, the home's age, whether it's on a hill and whether it has a crawlspace. Mention big trees near the line.