24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Madison, WI

The isthmus neighborhoods, including Marquette, Tenney-Lapham, Mansion Hill and the blocks around the Capitol, have homes from the 1850s through the 1920s, with basements and clay laterals.

Neighborhoods around the UW campus, like Langdon, Bassett and Regent, have many old houses converted to student apartments.

Vilas, Dudgeon-Monroe, Westmorland and the near west side have bungalows and period revival homes from the 1910s through the 1940s.

The far east and west sides filled in from the 1950s onward with ranches, split-levels and newer subdivisions.

The isthmus sits between two lakes with a high water table, and the 2018 floods put parts of the east side under water.

The City of Madison Sewer Utility maintains local sewers, and the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District runs the interceptors and Nine Springs treatment plant. Madison homeowners are responsible for the lateral from the house to the city main.

Spring thaw and summer storms raise lake and groundwater levels and load sewers, and roots grow fastest in summer. Late August move-in fills campus rentals.

Winters bring weeks below freezing and occasional deep cold that freezes pipes in porches, basements and exterior walls.

Madison's downtown and its oldest neighborhoods sit on a narrow strip of land between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. Marquette, Tenney-Lapham and Mansion Hill have Victorian homes and worker cottages, many with basements. The water table here is high, and cracked clay laterals take in groundwater, especially when the lakes are up. In August 2018, record rain flooded parts of the isthmus and the near west side.

Langdon Street's old mansions, many now fraternities and apartments, and the blocks of Bassett, Regent and Mifflin are packed with students. Old houses with eight or ten residents send heavy loads through century-old laterals. Hair, grease, wipes and party debris cause most backups. Madison's August 15 lease turnover is the busiest day of the year for landlords, and those who jet lines beforehand avoid many September calls.

Vilas, Dudgeon-Monroe and Westmorland, on the near west side near the Arboretum, have bungalows and period revival homes on tree-lined streets. Clay laterals under big oaks and maples fill with roots.

In early September, six students in an 1890s house on Mifflin Street find the basement shower drain overflowing. The plumber opens the cleanout and pulls out hair, wipes and roots about twenty feet out. The camera shows cracked clay sitting in groundwater. The owner books a liner during winter break.

Madison winters are long and cold, with stretches below zero. Pipes in enclosed porches, unheated basements and exterior walls freeze first. Keep the basement heated and leave a faucet dripping on the coldest nights. A frozen lateral should be thawed carefully with steam or warm water, never an open flame.

Williamson Street, Atwood Avenue and the neighborhoods along Lake Monona's north shore have cottages and duplexes from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Old laterals, big trees and high groundwater near the lake and the Yahara River are common challenges.

Madison's far east and west sides filled in from the 1950s onward with ranches, split-levels and newer subdivisions. Older ones have cast iron and clay; newer ones have PVC. Calls there are mostly grease, wipes and the occasional frozen garage line.

Madison's lakes are connected by the Yahara River, and when heavy rain raises lake levels, groundwater rises across the isthmus and near the shores. Sewers can surcharge, and basements can take on water. A backwater valve and a sump pump help.

State Street, the Capitol Square, Williamson Street and Monroe Street have many restaurants in old buildings. Badger football Saturdays and the Saturday farmers market bring huge crowds. Kitchens there stay open by pumping grease traps on schedule.

When a deep snowpack melts in March, water soaks into thawing ground and runs into basements and cracked laterals. Sump pumps work overtime, and drains can slow until the ground dries.

Snow piled against the house from shoveling and plowing melts right next to the foundation, so moving those piles a few feet away helps keep water out of the basement.

Mansion Hill, just north of the Capitol along Lake Mendota, has sandstone and brick mansions built by lumber barons, judges and politicians in the 1850s through the 1880s. Most have since been carved into apartments and offices. Their sewer connections are among the oldest in the city, often a combination of original clay, later cast iron and modern repairs, and they now serve far more people than they were built for. Owners who put a camera down the line every few years tend to catch root intrusions and cracks while they are still small and inexpensive to fix.

Monroe Street and the Regent neighborhood, between campus and the Arboretum, mix faculty homes, student rentals and small shops. Big terrace trees and clay laterals make roots the most common cause of backups, and Camp Randall football Saturdays bring heavy use to houses that host game-day crowds.

Share the neighborhood, the home's age, whether it's a student rental and how many people live there. Mention whether it's below freezing or whether a storm or thaw came first.